Red Sox "Occupation" At The Stadium

The 79th All Star Game at Yankee Stadium has to go down as one of the best in ASG History. The starters standing along side their Hall Of Fame counterparts during introductions, George Steinbrenner's surprise appearance, Joe Buck's acknowledgement of Bob Sheppard, and everything else was just great, including the revelation that Ichiro Suzuki gives an annual expletive-laden pep talk to his AL teammates just before the start of every mid-Summer classic.

About the only thing that grated on my nerves during this whole All Star Week, was the media's obsession with the Red Sox "taking over" Yankee Stadium. Way too much was made of Terry Francona occupying Joe Girardi's office, of the all the Red Sox in the starting line-up and about the fact that JD Drew, a Red Sox player, was the game's MVP. I was particularly annoyed with Jeanne Zelasko for talking about all of this garbage during her post-game interview with Drew. She ridiculously tried to tie together the story about the buried Sox jersey at the new stadium construction site with last night's game, bringing that up and then saying that the Red Sox gave the current Stadium a big send-off last night. Uh, hello? The season has another half to go, Jeanne. The Stadium didn't close it's doors last night. If an opposing team is going to give Yankee Stadium a "send-off," it'll be the Baltimore Orioles in September.

All-in-all, though, it was a wonderful night in the Bronx. I don't collect many DVDs, but if the 79th All Star Game makes it onto a disc, it's definitely going in my collection.

The Lady

Memories Of Bobby Murcer

Baseball was still unknown to me in 1965 when Bobby Murcer first donned the Yankee pinstripes, and by the time I discovered the game, he'd been traded to the San Francisco Giants. So when he returned in 1979 I had no fond memories of him. But I remember how happy everyone was to see him back in a Yankee uniform, and I remember feeling jealous, because I hadn't been able to experience the good times that he'd given to Yankee fans in the past.

Those next few years, which proved to be the last of his career, were not terrible ones, but they certainly were not all-star caliber. Being a relatively new baseball fan, I was unimpressed. I didn't understand why he was so beloved. I didn't understand that he had earned that love back in those glory years of the late '60s and early '70s.

Then he retired and moved into the broadcast booth. To me, he seemed in over his head. He was a fish out of water. He'll never make it, I thought. I was alone in my thoughts, it seemed. Even in the broadcast booth, he was the Beloved Bobby Murcer.

Yesterday, after the YES Network announced his passing, Joe Girardi and several players talked about Bobby. The common thread running through all their thoughts about him was that he was always positive and always smiling. YES Network commentators echoed those sentiments and it was difficult for them to maintain their composure as they did so. YES played clips of his playing days and his days in the booth. I was particularly taken with a clip of what was probably his last Old Timers Day appearance. He played left field and wore a mic, sharing the experience with all the viewers. I smiled as I watched, because it was then that I finally began to understand. I could finally see what a great human being he was. I was no longer alone in my thoughts. He was, indeed, the Beloved Bobby Murcer.

The Lady

Yankees Seeking More Funding To Complete New Stadium?

This morning on ESPN 2, Sage Steele mentioned briefly that the Yankees are seeking an additional $400 million in public funding to complete their new stadium and that, if they don't get it, the new stadium might not open in time for the 2009 season. Naturally I was concerned so I did some checking. I found out, of course, that there's a lot more to it than that.

I read two articles, one on Yahoo and the other in the New York Post. Basically, the Yankees would be interested in additional public funding for the new stadium if a change is made to an IRS regulation that prohibits additional public funding to private projects. Changing this IRS regulation would not only benefit the new stadium, but also the Mets new stadium and the arena being planned by the New Jersey Nets. Officials from the both the city and state are working in Washington to try to change the regulation. So, this is not about the New York Yankees, as some in the media would have you believe.

This whole thing will have no affect on the completion of the new stadium. Yankees president Randy Levine denied statements by New York State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, who said he was told by Seth Pinsky, president of the city's Economic Development Corporation, that the stadium might not be completed if the issue is not resolved. (Also, acting like the politician that he is, Brodsky came down hard on the general idea of private organizations securing public funding.)

My guess is that Levine did tell Pinsky the stadium might not be completed, but it was only a weak threat. Even if they don't get the additional public funding, there's no way that the probable richest sports team in the world wouldn't be able to secure enough funding (albeit taxable funding) to complete the new Yankee Stadium.

I can't blame the Yankees for trying to get additional public funding, but I can also see Brodsky's point of view. As much as I love the New York Yankees, I don't want to love them at the expense of the City and State of New York.

The Lady

Heard On YES: Terry Crowley Is Lucky He's In F*cking Baseball

On last night's Yankee game telecast on YES, Ken Singleton was in the middle of talking about Orioles hitting coach Terry Crowley when, all of a sudden, an unknown voice made its way onto the air, saying, among other things: "Terry Crowley is lucky he's in fucking baseball." Here's a clip:




I couldn't believe how quiet it got in that booth after this happened! It was as if Singleton, John Flaherty and Michael Kay disappeared into thin air. There was nothing but dead air for what seemed like ten seconds! Luckily nothing was happening on the field for those ten seconds.

Where did this come from? According to another blog I saw, some have speculated that it was either a producer who was talking in Singleton's ear and accidentally got on the air or it was a YouTube clip of Earl Weaver that someone in the booth was watching. In any case, I think it's safe to say that the number one regional sports network in the country is a little red-faced right now. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the media handles this one!

The Lady

Update, 5/23/08: Mystery solved. It was a clip of Earl Weaver that someone in the booth was watching. Click here for the details.

Dance Class

Well, it all begins again this weekend. With the first round of Interleague Play comes the 2008 Subway Series. Game 1 is tomorrow night at Yankee Stadium: Johan Santana vs Darrell Rasner.

In honor of this year's festivities (so to speak) I've pasted a copy of the new ESPN commercial featuring Jose Reyes. Have a look:



[Thanks Metsgrrl.com]

Peter Abraham On "A Show Of Their Own"

I'm very happy to announce that on tonight's installment of "A Show Of Their Own," our special guest will be Yankee beat writer Peter Abraham. I think most Yankee fans know about Pete's popular blog, The LoHud Yankees Blog, in which he writes about the day-to-day happenings in Yankees Universe. Well, tonight you'll get a chance to hear the guy you've been reading!

My co-host Brittany and I will have lots of questions for Pete, so tune in tonight at 9:00 PM Eastern for this very special show!




The Lady

A Tale Of Two Returns

Joba Chamberlain suffered the first loss of his ML career last night when he gave up the winning run in the ninth inning against the White Sox in Chicago. The man who drove in the gamer winner? Joe Crede. There's an interesting article in the New York Times today about Crede's return to the White Sox after suffering debilitating back problems. That return might be short-lived, however, as this Scott Boras client appears headed for free-agency at the end of the season.

There will soon be another return, of sorts. MLB.com baseball analyst Harold Reynolds was hired yesterday by SNY, the TV network owned by the New York Mets. We all know that HR was fired by ESPN over a year ago over complaints of sexual harassment, and we're all wishing that we knew exactly what happened at "the worldwide leader." We'll never know, of course, but I think everyone is in agreement that Harold Reynolds is an incredible talent and "Baseball Tonight" hasn't been the same in his absence. As I've said previously, I hope that, if there was a lesson to be learned, he has learned it. Good luck, HR.

The Lady

Alex Rodriguez In Men's Vogue

Well, apparently Men's Vogue thought I'd be interested in blogging about their April 2008 cover feature on Alex Rodriguez, so they sent me a heads-up. Whatever gave them that idea? It's not like I spend an inordinate amount of time writing about A-Rod. I've only tagged 30 posts with his name. Where do they get the gall?

Yeah, right.

Anyway, the article is a refresher course on all things A-Rod: from his beginnings in the Mariners organization to where he is today. There's also a breakdown of his off-season workout routine. (I got tired just reading a third of it.) Finally, there's a retrospective that recalls quotes about A-Rod by others, including teammates and Red Sox players.

For the most part there's nothing new in this feature; nothing we don't already know, with the exception of the off-season workout routine. Read it for that.

The Lady

Will Bonds Play In 2008?

I can't believe there are teams out there that are actually interested in signing Barry Bonds. The Rays admitted they were interested and at least one late-night talkshow host thinks he'd be a good fit with the Mets.

Bonds in Tampa Bay sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Bonds in Flushing sounds like World War III.

The Tampa Bay Rays are a team on the come. With pitchers like Scott Kazmir and James Shields, along with other up-and-coming young players, I think they'll have a better record than Baltimore this season. Barry Bonds would only be a distraction to them.

That late-night talkshow host was Gordon Damer, and he thinks the Mets need Bonds because there are question marks in their lineup. The question marks may very well be there and he probably could help the Mets. But then there's the New York Media. For me, Barry Bonds and the New York Media add up to nothing but trouble.

In fact, Barry Bonds and any city's media add up to nothing but trouble. Even if he ends up playing in Kansas City, you can rest assured that all the major media outlets will suddenly have beat reporters in Kansas City.

The best thing for Bonds is to retire, so we can all say, "Bye, bye, Barry!"

The Lady

I Didn't Really Want To Be There Either

ESPN's latest in their series of Verizon MVP commercials shows a young woman trying to keep track of college basketball scores at a baby shower.

I love it!

Yeah, guys aren't the only ones who love sports so much that they're sometimes conflicted when it comes to other areas of their lives. I'll bet I'm not the only woman out there for whom this commercial hits home.

I tried looking for it on YouTube but couldn't find it. If you haven't seen it stay tuned. You just might love it, too!

The Lady

Clemens: Andy's Case Is Totally Separate

During his 60 Minutes interview last night, Roger Clemens made a helluva lot of sense. He was very believable. He had me in his corner the entire time. Well, almost the entire time. The one time I became suspicious was the time Andy Pettitte's name came up:

TRACK: CLEMENS SAYS HE LEARNED THAT FROM THE MITCHELL REPORT, WHICH ALSO MENTIONED HIS FELLOW YANKEE PITCHER ANDY PETTITE, WHO ALSO TRAINED UNDER MCNAMEE. MCNAMEE SAID HE'D INJECTED PETTITE TWICE WITH HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE. AFTER THE REPORT CAME OUT, PETTITE CONFIRMED THAT MCNAMEE HAD GIVEN HIM TWO H.G.H..SHOTS TO RECOVER FROM AN ELBOW INJURY.

WALLACE When Andy confirmed that McNamee had indeed told the truth about injecting him, that gave McNamee credibility, made his claims about injecting you seem more believable.

CLEMENS I have I had no knowledge of what Andy was doing.

WALLACE Why would Brian McNamee tell the truth about Andy Pettitte and lie about you?

CLEMENS Andy's case is totally is, is totally separate. I was shocked to learn about Andy's situation. Had no idea about it.

Clemens struggled to get those words out last night. His body language, which, up until then, had been that of a man who knows he's innocent, suddenly changed to that of someone trying to cover something up. If Mike Wallace hadn't asked about Pettitte, I'd be ready to put all my support behind Roger Clemens. Instead, this makes it even harder for me to believe that Clemens did not use performance-enhancing drugs.

The lady

[Transcript from The Boston Globe]

I Have Questions: Does The Rocket Have Answers?

Roger Clemens has ducked the media ever since the Mitchell Report came out. So now that he has "agreed" to be interviewed on "60 Minutes" by his friend Mike Wallace, writers and broadcasters everywhere are filing their If I Were Mike Wallace reports. I'm hearing things like, "I'd ask him point blank, 'Did you use steroids or HGH?' or, 'What would you say to Brian McNamee if you were face to face?' and, 'What do you think of Andy Pettitte's admission of HGH use?'" Yadda, yadda, yadda...

Mr Wallace probably will ask these very questions, or some variation of them. Clemens probably will not provide any earth-shattering answers and will continue to deny using steroids and HGH. Sounds like a big waste of time to me. I'd bet you could ask Clemens anything in that interview and you wouldn't get any meaningful answers. So why bother with the Mitchell Report? Here's what I'd ask:

1) When you signed your last contract with the Yankees earlier this year, you revealed that George Steinbrenner confided in you about something and it was instrumental in getting you to come out of retirement. You said you'd share what he told you at the end of the season. The season ended two months ago. What did Mr Steinbrenner tell you?

2) Roger, let's talk about Mike Piazza. Did you throw at him because you couldn't get him out? Why couldn't you get him out?

3) You said Andy Pettitte was a big reason you came back to pitch for the Astros several years ago. Can a teammate be that influential? What do you have to say about those who believe money and not Pettitte was a major reason for your comeback?

4) The names of all of your children begin with the letter "K" for strikeout. People have said this is proof that you're self-absorbed. What do you have to say about that?

Just a few things for The Rocket to ponder! Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to the Mike Wallace interview. Clemens also is supposed to make himself available to the rest of the media after the interview airs. The evening of January 5, 2008 should be very interesting, indeed.

The Lady

Good News For Clemens & Pettitte

The LA Times has some explaining to do. They will be printing a retraction in one of their upcoming editions stating that their report about Clemens and Pettitte (along with Miguel Tejada, Brian Roberts and Jay Gibbons) being in Jason Grimsley's affidavit was an error.

This comes after a Blue Jays trainer says he never witnessed Clemens taking steroids.

Could Clemens be telling the truth (through his agent) after all? His name is mentioned in the Mitchell Report more than any other player's, but isn't that really because his long-time trainer did most of the talking to the Mitchell investigators?

The Rocket got win yesterday when this affidavit was unsealed. Are there more wins under his (lawyer's) belt?

The Lady

Justice Calls For Justice

Former MLB player David Justice, whose name was included in The Mitchell Report, appeared on Yankee announcer Michael Kay's radio show last week. He did a very good job of denying HGH use and defending his name:


David Justice Interview

What's most interesting about this interview is that Justice said he'd have taken HGH if it had been offered to him in pill form, as opposed to the injectable kind.

The Lady

Michael Kay Knows How To Throw A Party

Well readers, your Lady was lucky enough to score an invite to the 2nd annual Michael Kay Show Christmas Party! The festivities were held last night at Blondies East here in New York City. I wasn't there representing this blog or in any other official capacity. I was just one of the lucky listeners chosen to attend. For that, I'm truly grateful.

When it comes to celebrities or any kind of media personality I have a tendency to get really nervous and to clam up. It was no different last night as I felt as if my tongue had been ripped out of my mouth. I was so nervous that I was afraid to adjust my camera, whose flash wasn't working properly. I was thinking, What if I mess the camera up entirely? I left it alone and, as you can see in the slide show below, things look pretty dim and grim at the party.



The Michael Kay Show Christmas Party 2007



But it really wasn't dim and grim! Michael Kay and the show's other regulars (Don LaGrecca, Joey Salvia and Christina Stoffo) were really nice and took the time to chat with and pose for pictures with anyone who walked up to them. Joey even gave kudos to the blog! 1050 ESPN Radio provided an open bar and gave everyone a little gift pack as well.

My friend Paula, whom I brought as my guest, also attended last year's party. She told me that this year's party was even bigger than last year's. Paula actually won a pair of Knicks tickets for being brave and singing the show's theme song in front of everyone. I'll be going with her to the game on Monday night. Too bad it's the 2007-08 Knicks and not one of the good teams from the '90s.

The Lady

The Mitchell Report: Do You Care?

Bud Selig now has the Mitchell Report in his hot little hands and he'll reveal what it says tomorrow. Does anyone care? I don't.

To be more clear about this, I don't care about the Mitchell Report but I do care about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball. The Media keeps saying that I don't, but that's simply not true.

Every media organization I turn my attention to says the fans don't care if players are using steroids or HGH. To hear them tell it, all fans only care about seeing their favorite players hit balls out of the park. It doesn't matter how or why they do it, as long as they do it.

That's an insult. Just because attendance goes up every year and the MLB coffers are overflowing doesn't mean fans don't care about steroids or HGH. Heck, I believe the real fans do care. The real fans are the ones who don't miss a game on their regional sports network, who know why a batter bunts, who know why a runner can't score from third on a fly ball with two outs. The real fans, for the most part, can't spend a lot of money on high-priced tickets and merchandise. The real fans, for the most part, aren't rich people who know nothing about the game and only show up at the ballpark to be seen. Fans do care, and I'm tired of hearing that we don't.

As for the Mitchell Report, I refuse to give any credence to someone who was on the payroll of an MLB team, a team who, up until now, has had not a single player come under suspicion for use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The Lady

Ladies & Gentleman, Your 2008 Hall Of Fame Ballot:

Brady Anderson
Harold Baines
Rod Beck
Bert Blyleven
Dave Concepcion
Andre Dawson
Shawon Dunston
Chuck Finley
Travis Fryman
Rich Gossage
Tommy John
David Justice
Chuck Knoblauch
Don Mattingly
Mark McGwire
Jack Morris
Dale Murphy
Robb Nen
Dave Parker
Tim Raines
Jim Rice
Jose Rijo
Lee Smith
Todd Stottlemyre
Alan Trammell

According to baseball writer Peter Abraham, voters can select up to 10 players or no one at all. After looking over the list I couldn't select 10, but if I had a vote, I think I'd choose these 4:

Rich Gossage
Tommy John
Tim Raines
Jim Rice

My reasoning for Tommy John is simple: There are young baseball fans out there who think he's a surgery and not a person. It's not really a reason to vote him into the Hall, but I don't care.

I think the others are self-explanatory. I will say, however, that Rice is long overdue. He's more than paid for his avoidance of the media during his playing career. It's time to end the boycott.

The new inductees will be announced on January 8th. Good luck, gentlemen.

The Lady

Nickled & Dimed?

New York Daily News Columnist Juan Gonzalez has a story out in today's editions in which he presents evidence that the Yankees "had a penny-pinching policy toward expenses racked up by the manager and other team members on the road."

Apparently the Yankees frowned on things like room service and room upgrades, having the costs for these things deducted from the player's and from Joe Torre's paychecks. For instance, in 2005 Gary Sheffield accumulated an extra $2,920 in expenses for a suite upgrade and for a separate from for his buddy. Alex Rodriguez was charged $785 for a room upgrade and $375 for room service. Joe Torre was more careful: $39.98 for grilled chicken, two Amstel Lights and pay-per-view.

Gonzalez appears to sympathize with Carl Pavano: "Not just free spenders got billed. The Yankees had the nerve to dock chronically injured pitcher Carl Pavano for the grand sum of $17.97."

Other interesting tidbits in the article: 1) Yankees president Randy Levine spent around $15 for in-room video services, plus another $2,312 on a rental car, yet there is no evidence that his pay was docked for it. 2) Joe Torre's hotel room always had to be on a floor on which no players were staying and it had to be "a 'corner suite' with 'feather pillows,' stocked with 'fruit/bottled water/soft pretzels.' (He wasn't docked for these perks, by the way.)

I don't know what to say about Levine's expenses but, if the Yankees agreed to give Torre perks that's their business. I also don't have a problem with the Yankees docking the pay of players whose expenses exceed what is allowed. Any business does that! I'm sure if you examined the records of the other 29 Major League teams, you'd see the same thing. Juan Gonzalez is way off the mark, here.

This isn't the Juan Gonzalez who had his salad days with the Texas Rangers. It isn't even little Elian's father. This Juan Gonzalez spends most of his time writing about the injustices (real or imagined) to Hispanics living in or around New York City. He's a good writer, respected by many (including myself), but he should stick to what he knows, and leave baseball to people like his News colleague Mike Lupica.

In Playoff News: I knew the Red Sox could win last night's ALCS Game 6, but it's the way they did it that floored me. JD Drew had 5 RBIs ? JD Drew? The guy's done nothing all year but take the Red Sox to the cleaners. Just goes to show, baseball is, indeed, a very, funny game.

The Lady

Is Manny Really Being Manny?

Did Manny Ramirez really say he didn't care if the Red Sox lost the ALCS? Does he really understand what he did when he raised his arms after hitting that home-run the other night? Well, here are his comments in full, according to Boston.com:

"Man, I'm just happy to do something special like that. I'm not trying to show up anybody out there. I'm just trying to go have fun. If somebody strikes me out and shows me up, that's part of the game. I love it. I like that. I like to compete, and when people strike me out or whatever and they show me up, it's all good. There's no hard feelings. I'm not trying to show anybody up.

"We're just going to go have fun and play the game. That's it. If we go play hard and the thing doesn't come like it's supposed to come, we'll move on. We'll come next year. Why should we panic? We've got a great team. If it doesn't happen, good. We'll come next year and try to do it again.

"We're confident every day. It doesn't matter how things go for you. We're not going to give up. We're just going to go and play the game, like I've said, and move on. If it doesn't happen, so who cares? There's always next year. It's not like the end of the world or something."

Did anyone else get sucked into thinking he only spoke the last three sentences? When will we ever learn? Do big outfits like ESPN really need to do this? Do they really need the ratings so badly that they take things out of context like that? They don't need to but, apparently they think they need to.

The Lady

[Photo: Amy Sancetta/AP]

A Few Words About Suzyn Waldman's Latest Emotional Outburst

"Every person was so busy ripping me for crying, they didn't hear what I was saying. ... If I got choked up doing it, so what?" Those were Yankee reporter and commentator Suzyn Waldman's words yesterday. She spoke to Neil Best of Newsday about the criticism she received for tearing up during her clubhouse report after the Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs earlier this week.

I missed that report and I've been too busy to listen to Mike & The Mad Dog on WFAN, who, I hear, dished out most of the criticism of Waldman's latest on-air emotional outburst. So, they're at it again. Mike Francessa and Chris Russo, two of the most unprofessional on-air personalities in New York radio history, have the f______g nerve to go after a woman who helped put WFAN on the map? Suzyn Waldman was the first voice anyone ever heard on WFAN when it went on the air back in the '80s. She, along with Francessa and Russo, helped put that station on the map. However, those two guys stop at nothing in their quest to undermine her, wanting all the credit for the stations' success for themselves. To borrow from ESPN's Mike & Mike in The Morning, "Hey Mike and Chris: Just shut up!"

The Lady