The Yankee Years

I just finished reading Joe Torre and Tom Verducci’s The Yankee Years, and I’d definitely recommend it.  An excellent, well-written, engaging, and insightful book, not without its faults, The Yankee Years is unlikely to break new ground for many fans who assiduously followed the team throughout Torre’s amazing tenure.  It adheres to the narrative of rise, greatness, and decline that we all know painfully well.

What the book does very well is several things.  At its most basic level, it lends Torre’s words and thoughts to many games, scenarios, confrontations and dealings with the dysfunctional Yankees front office, and dealings with players throughout his twelve years at the helm.  It breaks significant ground by including many of Torre’s views of his players, primarily the stars who filtered in and out of the team, and more so as the team struggled in vain to regain its greatness from 1996-2000.  Not to be overlooked, the book offers a cogent argument into more than the shortcomings in performance that befell the team for the majority of Torre’s tenure, but indeed the fissures that developed into chasms in the philosophical, mental approach the 1996-2000 teams and their players had perfected.  Impressively, a few chapters take a step back from the immediacy of Torre’s and the Yankees’ experiences to situate their decline and recent playoff malaise into larger milieus, such as the prevalence of steroids, the innovative statistical information networks and changing financial structures that gave rise to new rivals percolating in baseball, and the team’s own grappling with these phenomena as, in the book’s argument, the Yankees went from far ahead to far behind other teams in the span of several years.

[Warning: If those who have yet to read the book do not want to get its details spoiled beforehand, you might want to stop reading this lengthy review now.]

There is no question that Torre, and Verducci for that matter, hold certain players such as Jeter, Mariano, Posada, O’Neill, and Cone up with a healthy reverence.  The player who emerges from the book with as lofty a persona, in addition to Jeter and Mariano, is Cone, clearly defined by The Yankee Years as the spokesperson, leader, and pulse of the Yankees from 1996-2000, even as his body betrayed him from injuries and ineffectiveness in 2000.  Cone quite frankly gave everything he had to win, pitching the end of the 2000 season, including the one-batter stint in the World Series against Piazza and the Mets, with a separated left shoulder.  It was Cone who blistered the team at the beginning of the tremendous 1998 season, when the team started 1-4 and got pasted by Seattle 8-0, in a scathing locker room diatribe the day after the embarrassing loss.

Like Torre, Cone was angered by what he saw the previous night.  He watched Seattle designated hitter Edgar Martinez, batting in the eighth inning with a 4-0 lead, take a huge hack on a 3-and-0 pitch from reliever Mike Buddie–five innings after [Jamie] Moyer had dusted [Paul] O’Neill with a pitch.  Cone knew some position players were grumbling after the game that [Andy] Pettite, the Yankees starter, did not retaliate for Moyer’s message pitch, a problem Cone calls “a brewing situation in the clubhouse  between pitchers and hitters that can really cause divisiveness in the clubhouse–a hot-button issue I’ve seen over the years.”

…

“Listen, everybody knows Andy’s a gamer, but the hitters need to know we’re going to protect them.  We’ve got to get the emotion going here.  We’ve got to look across the way and find something in our opponent we don’t like.  That team took us out in the ’95 playoffs.  I hate this place, the Kingdome.  I left half my arm out on that mound!  I left a vein out on that mound in ’95, and it pisses me off to see these guys walk all over us and us have no pride being the Yankees!”

Cone looked at Tino Martinez, the former Mariner who played on that ’95 Seattle team that knocked off the Yankees. “No offense, Tino,” Cone said.  “You’re over here now, but I f*&%ing hate those guys.  I hate this place.  If you want to find some motivation here, that’s part of it.  It’s also Edgar swinging 3-and-0 trying to take us deep.  They’re sticking it in our face! And there’s only one way to react to that.” (Yankee Years, 43-44.)

That night, the Yankees blistered Seattle 13-7, leading by 11-1 in the fourth inning.  After that, the rest of baseball watched the Yankees as the languid field did Secretariat in the 1973 Belmont Stakes–from way behind, looking at their backside from farther and farther away. Cone would talk people into battle, and did so for that team, setting a win-at-all-costs tone that other leaders such as O’Neill, Tino, Posada, Jeter, Strawberry, Bernie, Pettite, Clemens, and others shared over the years.  From the book, I get that same impression from Tino, although he was someone who, according to Torre, needed to be told how important to the team he was.  Tino was notoriously tough on himself, and Torre would have to call him into his office to discuss things.

“Let me ask you a question,” Torre told Martinez one time.  “I know you don’t want to hear this, but you’re sitting here in the clubhouse and you’re thinking you’re letting everybody down.  If Derek Jeter went 0-for-8, would you feel like he was letting you down?”

“No,” Martinez replied.

“Well, that’s the way we feel about you.” [Yankee Years, 52.]

Paul O’Neill symbolized that self-effacing attitude as well–playing with injuries such as a broken rib, a bum hamstring in the 1996 and 1998 seasons and playoffs, and berating himself to a fault over not hitting in the clutch.  O’Neill was not one to get in the face of teammates.  Rather he rode himself mercilessly for not hitting when it counted.  Said bullpen catcher Mike Borzello:

I remember one time when we played in Detroit and I think he left nine men on base himself.  And I remember him coming in and we lost the game by one or two runs.  We came into the clubhouse, and I remember him saying, ‘You left nine men on base! Nine f*&%ing men on base!’…He wanted to get his hits, but his hits were important to him because of the success of the team.  There are a lot of guys who want a hit every at-bat, but this guy, it was more about not letting the other 24 guys down.  If he didn’t do enough to help the team win the game, he felt like he let everyone down.  And I think people fed off that, that his passion for success and how that translated to the team’s success was what was important to him.” [Yankee Years, 54.]

That typified the dynastic Yankees.  They didn’t need others to berate them, certainly not often.  For the most part, they took care of that themselves, they rode themselves.  They were consistently desperate to win.

That got lost along the way, with a long string of high-priced, self-conscious, self-centered but often talented players, yet nonetheless players who did not fit into the mold of the previous, amazing dynasty.  Players such as Sheffield, Giambi, A-Rod, Rondell White, Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano, Randy Johnson, and others matched these descriptions to various degrees.  Some such as Giambi were good teammates, but Giambi balked at playing in Game 5 of the 2003 World Series because of an injured knee, something that players such as Jeter failed to understand [Yankee Years, 235-236]. I might add this was something that riled Bill Russell about Wilt Chamberlain, his friend but bitter rival during their respectively great and intertwined careers, when Wilt took himself out with about five minutes to go in a tight Game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals.  Russell just couldn’t understand how a guy, regardless of the pain he was in, would have taken himself out of that situation.

Torre reserves interesting assessments of Clemens, whom he likens to A-Rod but more focused.  According to Torre, each was overtly obsessed with their appearances, each was sensitive for a superstar, worrying about what others thought of them, wanting to be good teammates but often lost as to how, but both gamers with tons of ability who worked very hard.  The difference, it seems, was that Clemens learned to acclimate himself with the team and trust himself to be himself, while A-Rod never really did, never got over the media criticisms, never got past the inevitable comparisons between him and Jeter.

The way that Torre discusses A-Rod gives the reader the impression that he wanted to be fond of A-Rod, and to a degree was, but couldn’t get past A-Rod’s innately self-conscious demeanor.  In this example, while Torre does not draw a direct correlation to O’Neill, the analogy is all too apt.

About midway through the 2004 season, for instance, Rodriguez was walking past Torre in the dugout toward the bat rack.  Torre offered some encouragement to help him relax.

“You know, you’ll be fine,” Torre told Rodriguez.  “It just takes a little time to adjust to playing here.”

Said Rodriguez, “Well, my numbers are about the same as this time last year.”

Torre was disappointed in the response.

“I wasn’t talking about the numbers,” Torre said. “I was talking about getting used to playing in this environment and what you were expected to do.  The expectations with the Yankees are about winning, and people aren’t really concerned about what your stats are.” [Yankee Years, 241-242.]

It’s true that this account, while told by Verducci in the third person when discussing him, is as much by Torre as it is about him.  Yet despite that built-in bias, I find it difficult to doubt Torre’s perspective on him, especially when it is layered with so many other anecdotes about A-Rod’s selfish demeanor in demanding his own clubhouse attendant, his ostentatious gesticulations drawing attention as much attention to himself as to the depth of the outfielders he noticed, and more. [Yankee Years, 246-247.]

Torre is much harder on players such as David Wells, who breached his trust by lying to him about the incident with a fan in a diner who punched out Wells’s two front teeth in 2002. [Yankee Years, 199-202.] Worse, Wells’s braggadoccio about his slothful “preparation” before games, immediately before his notoriously testy back gave out in Game 5 of the 2003 World Series, perfectly summed up the costs of Wells’s blithe demeanor and its costs to the team, especially as its core chemistry was irrevocably altered well before 2003. “Goes to show you don’t need to bust your ass every day to be successful,” Wells bragged not a day before his doughy body gave way, the very game after the Yankees’ bullpen logged five innings, forcing them to cobble together seven more the very next night. [Yankee Years, 236.]

Not surprisingly, no one sounds worse in the book than Pavano, a gutless miscreant in Torre’s eyes and certainly those of his teammates.  Tim Raines passed along word about the turd that Pavano had always been to Borzello, saying, “He’s never going to pitch for you.  Forget it…The guy didn’t want to pitch in Montreal.  There was always something wrong with him.  In Florida, same thing.  He didn’t want to pitch except for the one year he was pitching for a contract.  I’m telling you, he’s not going to pitch for you.” [Yankee Years, 318] That was unquestionably true, so obviously so that Mussina derisively referred to the disabled list in April 2007 as the “15-day Pavano…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.” OUCH.  Even the more reserved Jeter, who typically handled things one-on-one, apparently walked by Pavano one day and said, “Hey, Pav.  You ever going to play? Ever?” [Yankee Years, 388, 319.]

Kevin Brown’s wall-punching received ample attention and a good Torre blast in September 2004 for punching the concrete wall in anger, for coming within a hair (like Chuck Knoblauch in 2000) of quitting in 2005 because of his grotesque struggles and wanton inability to get out of the first inning without getting roughed up. [Yankee Years, 291, 322.] Interestingly, Randy Johnson comes across a nothing short of flaky and paranoid, being continually concerned that other teams were tipped off to his pitches.  Torre referred to him as “probably the most self-conscious superstar I’ve ever been around.  By far.” [Yankee Years, 328.] Torre even said at one point that he wished he knew in 2001 how Johnson could be eaily rattled.

More than succumbing to tell-all anecdotes, Torre and Verducci are more concerned with their contention that the team’s overall comportment changed and devolved in the last several years of his time with the Yankees.  Wells, for example, was the same in 2002 and 2003 as he was in 1998, yet the surrounding team had changed and, without Cone, the Yankees lacked a built-in stabilizing influence–and quite possibly desire–to keep Wells’s odd, self-destructive personality under wraps.  Others reveal themselves to be complex, if still likable personalities.  Mussina, for example, was brash enough to level a stinging critique of Mariano’s (very) occasional post-season failures in 2001 and 2004.

“We were up 3-0 and Mo came in again with the lead and lost it,” Mussina said. “He lost it again.  As great as he is, and it’s amazing what he does, if you start the evaluation again since I got here, he has accomplished nothing in comparison to what he accomplished the four years before.  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’ll remember about the ’04 series.” [Yankee Years, 312.]

In some ways, Mussina is right.  Mariano failed in those instances.  Yet the characterizations–“He accomplished nothing in comparison,” “He lost the Boston series”–ignore a lot.  Mussina ignores that Mariano’s success meant team success; the two were never anything but intertwined.  The team utterly collapsed and was mentally weak in 2004, by Torre’s own admission.  Additionally, in the grand scheme of things, Mariano has had three big failings in the post-season: 1997 in Cleveland, 2001 in Arizona, and 2004 in Boston.  That’s it.  Mussina, on the other hand, has had some terrific post-season moments with the Yankees.  He’s also had some duds: he was poor in Game 1 of the 2001 World Series, setting a bad tone right away; he was lousy in Game 3 of the 2002 ALDS against the Angels; he faltered badly in the Game 5 clincher in Anaheim in 2005; and he coughed up the lead in Game 2 of the ALDS against Detroit.

Yet those failings aren’t really the point.  Heck, I respect Mussina’s record with the Yankees, his toughness, and his candor.  I’ve advocated him for the Hall.  Yet when he talked about things not having been the same, I can’t help but think that he too made things a bit different from previous teams and players.  Why?  Ask yourself this: could you ever imagine Paul O’Neill, Tino, Jeter, Bernie, Posada, or others saying such things for a book or in public about a teammate, much less someone who bailed them out of countless jams?  Would you ever imagine one of them taking shots at a teammate, especially one as usually and historically great as Mariano, without taking deep, hard looks at themselves first? Hardly. I still have a lot of respect for Mussina but, as I made notes for this review, wrote when I came across this quote and the lack of self-analysis, “Mussina sounds like an ass.” I’ll stand by that remark about his comment quoted above.

There is really much more to discuss about The Yankee Years, including the mounting tensions between Torre and the dysfunctional front office, including Brian Cashman, as Torre’s tenure came to a close.  I’ll say just a few more things.  The book is much too cursory to me about so many great games and incidents, especially in the 1996-2000 years.  For example, Torre recalls how relaxed El Duque was before making his tremendous Game 4 start in the 1998 ALCS in Cleveland, helping to tie the series at 2, and serving breakfast to people in the hotel restaurant that morning. [Yankee Years, 59-60.] Yet that crucial game received such cursory treatment despite how pivotal it was, how great El Duque was, how vital it was that he pitched out of a two-on jam in the first to protect a one-run lead, with Thome’s long blast to the right field wall that O’Neill caught the first and really last, huge threat the Yankees faced that game, how key it was to escape the first inning with a lead–thanks to O’Neill’s solo homer in the top of the first–considering that the Yankees were blown out the game before to fall behind in the series to the team that eliminated them from the ALDS and themselves nearly won the World Series the year before.  Pity, for October 10, 1998 was a great day in Yankees history.

Why no mention of Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon and what tremendous jobs they did in 2005, bailing out a desperate and injured team? It’s quite telling, for perhaps not just Verducci but Torre himself may have maintained too prominent a focus on his superstar players during his reign.  Maybe not; maybe it was a product of the book’s narrative strategy discussing the team’s failed strategy of focusing on acquiring aging superstars who fell short.  Yet this was an odd, telling oversight, especially since it wasn’t so long ago.

Torre also spends remarkably little time assessing his own decisions, his own perspectives on acquisitions.  Much of the latter is left for Verducci, despite Torre’s obvious proximity to those situations and the book itself.  As a result, the book often allows Torre to play a safe role in crucial areas such as these–facilitated by the story being told in the third person and not his own voice–while continually appearing to be the voice of reason.  It may well be an accurate portrayal on the whole; it may well be that Torre is not prone to second-guessing, that he got much right the first time.  Yet in various instances, there is a clear need to second-guess and reconsider, but it passes.  For example, in September 2007 when the Yankees blew a 5-0 lead in Tampa and lost 7-6 in 10 innings, this moved the Yankees from two to three games behind Boston in the AL East with five games to play.  Who knows what would have happened had they won that game to clinch the Wild Card instead of the following game? if they had pressured a very good but reachable Boston team that was ahead of New York 14 1/2 games in late May, only to see the Yankees storm back? No, it was nothing more than passing along calm reassurance to the brass in a Tampa meeting that they’d win the next game, despite the fact that Torre was summoned to a meeting after the loss.  Sorry, Joe, that one was a gimme review.

Yet on the whole, it’s very well done, very readable, quite lucid and impressive, and a good, detailed retrospective that, while obviously pro-Torre, is a salient reminder of the importance of chemistry and good leadership–from managers as well as players–on championship clubs.  Additionally, the chapters on steroids (Chapter 3, “Getting an Edge”) and the rise of other teams using innovative statistical data to acquire fairly good and complementary players (Chapter 6, “Baseball Catches Up”) are highly impressive views of the game that are mostly the work of Verducci.

I disagree with those who say this should not have been written.  If anything, it lays out how much is required to foster and maintain greatness, how tenuous the grasp on it can be and, for us as Yankees fans waiting and rooting for another title, how appreciative we all must be when we do encounter it.  The years from 1996-2000, as I knew all too well then but am thankfully reminded of now in light of additional information detailing little-known quirks and setbacks, were nothing short of majestic.

Joba Slated to Begin 2009 HDLR Season; Good Vibrations from the Kids

Joba Chamberlain is slated to get the start Saturday for the first HDLR of the season.  I couldn’t reach him directly, but he texted me today and said he’s so excited to get the chance to impress several people from across the nation and world, who will watch him admiringly and discuss him via the famous tele-comforts of the Heartland Digital Living Room.  We’ll do him proud next weekend.  We should discuss some form of digital potluck during the week.  And don’t worry–there are plenty of digital leather recliners available at all times in the HDLR.

Meanwhile, more good news via Pete Abraham at LoHud about the Yankees’ young arms:

Jorge Posada liked what he saw from Melancon. His fastball, he said, has a late cut and that is what was leading to the swing and misses. Posada also liked his curveball.

Meanwhile, here’s a little tidbit from the catcher. As he was walking away from his locker, he turned around and called a few of us over. “Keep an eye on (Eric) Hacker,” he said. “It’s 95 and he does it easy. Very impressive.”

This team needs continued youth infusion; it also needs its young, talented pitchers to develop into contributors.  We’ll see, since it’s early, but the Yankees seem on their way to getting that from Melancon, Hacker, and others.  Thus far, a very encouraging camp.

New Faces to Watch

Ken Davidoff of Newsay has a really good piece on Mick Kelleher, the Yankees’ new first-base and infielders coach.  Kelleher is different from Larry Bowa, the outstanding and outspoken former third-base and infielders coach for the Yankees, in that Kelleher’s approach is based more on positive reinforcement.  Given Robinson Cano’s struggles last year, including bouts of pouting and laziness, one might think that Kelleher will have difficulty reaching Cano and A-Rod.  We’ll see, but the positive, honest, and people-oriented approach didn’t seem to hurt Joe Torre much.  The real issue will be Cano, A-Rod, and the players themselves.  Can they motivate themselves? Can they take a dedicated, no-nonsense, positive, winning mindset day in and day out?  Not to be overlooked, will the Yankees get an infusion of personality with experience and dedication from newcomers Sabathia, Teixeira, Burnett, and Swisher that will help set a good example? In sum, can Kelleher’s approach be coupled with an overall fine-tuning of not just Cano’s and A-Rod’s mindsets, but that of the team as a whole that has sorely needed some rewiring from the neck up?

If so, I couldn’t care less if it’s the positivism of Kelleher, a defensive specialist in the organization from 1996-2002 and in recent years, or Bowa’s hard-nose approach that reaches players and helps them realize new heights.  Adding on to Davidoff’s fine piece, I think there’s the possibility that Kelleher just might complement and balance Girardi’s generally positive but certainly intense, no-nonsense attitude, just as Bowa was bad cop to Torre’s good cop.

Pete Abraham has been watching the throwing sessions of Mark Melancon, CC Sabathia, and Chien-Ming Wang and has come away quite impressed.  On Melancon:

Just watched Mark Melancon face Derek Jeter, Robbie Cano, Austin Jackson and Austin Romine.

Wow. 30 pitches and there were four swing and misses. He also broke Cano’s bat. There were two balls put in play, singles by Jeter and Romine.

Melancon’s fastball was as advertised. He also threw five curveballs and all but one were strikes. It’s a big curve, too.

After his TJ surgery, the Yankees used him carefully last season. But he’s ready to be unleashed now.

That’s awfully good to hear.  Melancon has been groomed for set-up work in the minors and has done quite well, even saving a few games.  Reiterating his 2008 stats shows that the hard-throwing righty, turning 24 in late March, may be ready for The Bronx with a good Spring Training:

8-1, 2.27 ERA, 95 IP, 89 K, 22 BB, 69 hits, .202 BAA.

What stands out is that, as Melancon steadily progressed through the ranks from Tampa to Trenton to SWB last year, he logged a lot of innings–95–and his results stayed excellent as he faced better competition.  At Trenton, Melancon was 6-1 with a 1.81 ERA, fanning 47 in 49 2/3, while allowing only 32 hits and a .183 BAA.  He was also very good at SWB, going 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA, striking out 22 in 20 innings, and only yielding a .163 BAA, 11 hits, and 4 walks.  The guy dominated.  Not to be overlooked–in 95 minor-league innings last year, Melancon only allowed 6 home runs.  Melancon unquestionably deserves a shot to make the show this Spring, and I hope he continues to impress when facing live competition.

I might try to catch the Celtics-Suns game starting soon.  The Celtics will be without KG for at least a couple weeks with a knee injury, while the Suns will be without Amare Stoudamire for a couple months while he recovers from surgery to repair a partially detached retina in his right eye.  It will be interesting to see how the Celtics will defend without KG against the Suns who, under new coach Alvin Gentry, have returned to their run-and-gun ways and scored over 140 points in three straight games–all blowout wins against inferior opponents.

Briefly on The Yankee Years, Center Field

I’ve added some new baseball books on the right-hand sidebar, including Joe Torre and Tom Verducci’s The Yankee Years which I’m reading now.  I’ll add a review of the book soon enough, and I’m about halfway through.  It’s quite good, well-written, and engaging.  I’ll add this: while initial reactions from many were that it should not have been written, I disagree. I think many of the points and anecdotes raised thus far are not only easily justified, but also salient reminders of what characteristics made the 1996-2001 Yankees great–unselfish team play, focus, preparation, hard work, self-motivation, and experience in addition to talent, balance, youth, great play and very good managing.  There are also plenty of anecdotes about guys such as David Cone, Derek Jeter, Roger Clemens, Paul O’Neill, and others getting out and playing despite significant injuries, something that worthless Pavano could never have mustered.  The comportment of the Yankees of that era–of those players–was something special, and the book is a terrific reminder of that.  Thus far, I think a couple of the best chapters are those only partially related to the Yankees, dealing with steroids and changes in assessing and acquiring players.  It’s well worth getting.

Chad Jennings has another good summary with predictions of the upper ecchelon of outfield players and prospects in the Yankees organization.  He forecasts Brett Gardner as the starting center fielder for the Yankees.  I agree, or at least hope that it will occur.  He shone late last season as the Yankees actively sought to replace Melky’s distracted, indifferent play with someone more energetic, more prone to hustle, and more capable of quotidian contributions.  Gardner provided that in the last several weeks.  As Jennings reminds in his Worth knowing category,

…Gardner has a history of slow but inevitable adjustments at each level. He spent half of 2006 in Double-A and hit .272. When he returned to Trenton in 2007 he hit .300 while raising his slugging percentage 101 points and his on-base percentage 40 points. Bumped up to Triple-A at the end of 2007, he hit .260. When he returned to Triple-A last year Gardner’s average went up to .296 while his slugging percentage climbed 91 points and his on-base percentage went up 71 points. In New York last year he hit .228 for the season, but .294 in his final 25 games.

In addition to good, helpful reporting from Jennings, that’s encouraging information about Gardner.  Who knows how much the Yankees and we as fans can expect from him.  However, if he’s a player with a learning curve as Jennings contends, perhaps Gardner is on track to make some steady contributions after struggling when first called up last season.

The Yankees need a good Spring Training from whoever will start, either Gardner or Melky.  Yet Cano’s robust ST last year, which was quickl;y followed by myriad bad habits, poor plate approach, a lack of focus, and pouting, was an object lesson that Spring Training is one thing, and the regular season quite another.  Whoever earns the jobs this Spring needs to earn it every day from April onward.

[Edit: As Pete Abraham mentioned this afternoon, what might affect this competition is the fact that Melky has no options left, so the Yankees risk losing him if he’s not on the 25-man roster.  Abraham adds, if Melky can’t beat out Gardner for the job, what difference does it make?  Fair enough.  Regardless, there’s a very important position battle for center that will transpire over the coming weeks.]

On(-ward,) Jeter

Last week, I believe it was one of the authors at the excellent blog Pride of the Yankees who asked readers whether or not they thought Derek Jeter was in decline.  It’s an interesting question and, in some ways, an easy one to which to answer yes.  He’s turning 35 this June, his power numbers have been declining the last few seasons, he doesn’t run nearly as much as he did even in 2006, and his defensive range has been limited, questioned, and at times downright maligned for years.  Yet I’m hesitant to declare 2009 part of Jeter’s decline for a few reasons.

One must consider that Jeter played through significant portions of 2008 with hand injuries, all the while making no excuses, taking the field every day, and playing through pain that last year involved hand, wrist, and quadriceps injuries.  Despite those maladies, his numbers were pretty good: 11 HR, 69 RBI, .300/.363, 88 runs, 179 hits, 11/16 SB in 150 games. It is important to add that, when Daniel Cabrera of the O’s plunked Jeter on May 20, Jeter was hitting .312.  Over the next 27 games he played, Jeter’s average dropped 40 points, just as lead-off hitter Johnny Damon emerged from his early-season swoon with a tremendous hot streak.  The top of the Yankees lineup, throughout most of the first half of 2008, simply didn’t click.  While Jeter’s 2008 numbers represent dips and slides in important areas, it’s important to note that Jeter has experienced such offensive ups and downs since 2001.  To wit:

• 2001: 21 HR, 74 RBI, .311/.377, 110 runs, 191 hits, 35 2B, 27/30 SB.
• 2002: 18 HR, 75 RBI, .297/.373, 124 runs, 191 hits, 26 2B, 32/35 SB.
• 2003: 10 HR, 52 RBI, .324/.393, 87 runs, 156 hits, 35 2B, 11/16 SB in 119 games after Ken Huckaby piled on and separated Jeter’s shoulder.
• 2004: 23 HR, 78 RBI, .292/.352, 111 runs, 188 hits, 44 2B, 23/27 SB, bouncing back from an 0-32 early-season slump.
• 2005: 19 HR, 70 RBI, .309/.389, 122 runs, 202 hits, 25 2B, 14/19 SB.
• 2006: 14 HR, 97 RBI, .343/.417, 118 runs, 214 hits, 39 2B, 34/39 SB; 2nd in MVP to Justin Morneau.
• 2007: 12 HR, 73 RBI, .322/.388, 102 runs, 206 hits, 39 2B, 15/23 SB.
• 2008: 11 HR, 69 RBI, .300/.363, 88 runs, 179 hits, 25 2B, 11/16 SB.

I’m not saying that Jeter is not in some form of decline.  Rather, I’m saying that his decline might be confined to certain areas such as home runs and RBIs.  Jeter may not reach 20 homers or above 85 RBIs anymore, though I particularly wouldn’t rule out the RBI totals.  Yet would those be harbingers of decline? Not necessarily.  Jeter could hit 12-16 HR but still have 35-40 doubles, which he did in 2006 and 2007, when he turned 32 and 33 mid-season.  Plus, given the power in the rest of the lineup, Jeter doesn’t need to belt more than 20 homers. His job is to hit and draw walks to get on base and score, hopefully abetted by more running than he did the last two seasons.  He has had many opportunities to do that played ahead of Abreu and A-Rod, and should get at least as many with Mark Teixeira in all likelihood hitting third now.

Speaking of running, Jeter has gone through spates of not running as much.  He didn’t run much in 2003 because he was trying to protect his previously injured shoulder.  Nor did he run much in 2005.  I think at least an important indicator as age of how often Jeter runs is health–clearly not unrelated to age but also, as Jeter’s history has amply illustrated, an independent variable.  When Jeter is healthy, he runs much more often and effectively.  That Jeter had a quad injury early last year does not mean that he necessarily fully recovered from it.  The fact is the guy just doesn’t say much about his injuries, putting him in the category of Tony Gwynn, David Cone, Cal Ripken Jr., and many more.  A byproduct of adhering to the play-at-all-costs code is the difficulty in correlating statistical downturns to age-related decline.

All this isn’t to say that Jeter is not in some form of decline; he might be.  Yet it just wouldn’t surprise me to see Jeter have a 2009 look something like this–16 HR, 83 RBI, .319/.391, 112 runs, 201 hits, 17/24 SB.  Backed by the dangerous, productive, and importantly clutch Teixeira, Jeter should continue to reap benefits in the two-hole.  While we wouldn’t know the extent of any injuries as long as he’s in the lineup, Jeter may well be healthier in 2009, and when Jeter’s healthy, he produces.  Even turning 35 this year, Jeter hits.  He may not regain power, but I’m less concerned about that than his hitting, on-base, and scoring numbers.  If the latter are there, I’ll take less in the former (power), especially as the Yankees’ offense is constructed.

One other thing to consider is more intangible but no less significant with Jeter–his will.  He has always been a player to rise to occasions, to perform when it counted most, to get clutch hits (in Game 2 of Boston Massacre III in 2006, despite his career struggles against Mike Timlin, I just knew Jeter would get a hit with the bases loaded; I doubt I was alone.)–to raise his level of play.  This is an internal and intrinsic thing that the greats in sport have had–Russell, DiMaggio, Mantle, Jordan, Magic, Bird, Navratilova, Graf, Sampras, Sorenstam, Nicklaus, Woods.  Jeter has that quality, too.  I have no doubt that he willed himself to a prtety good 2008 despite various injuries.  He could will himself to even more if his body is there.

Goodness knows, with not having won the World Series since 2000 and with all the A-Rod nonsense, Jeter has extra incentive this year.  The Captain leads by example, and in recent days more by words than usual.  Don’t rule out a resurgence in 2009, age notwithstanding.

Thanks to regular reader Mike F. for sending along this story in The New York Times about an impressive drill the Mets use to emphasize and improve situational hitting.  There are several Yankees who could use such a regimen.

Steve Politi of The Newark Star-Ledger has a very good story on new Yankee Mark Teixeira and his team-oriented, focused demeanor.  I’m hesitant to anoint him, or anyone who has yet to actually play as a Yankee, a future face of the franchise.  However, it seems pretty evident that Teixeira’s seemingly mature personality should provide some much-needed calm in the face of various recent storms, and that his defense and bat provide the team with the best chance for all-around productivity since Tino Martinez.

Some ST Browsing

Down at Spring Training, Pete Abraham had some interesting insights into Andrew Brackman, his mechanics, and what fans and the organization should expect from him.

Brackman was fun to watch, especially when he faced Jesus Montero. Now keep in mind that the hitters aren’t really doing much hitting in live BP. They’re tracking the ball and letting the pitchers work on whatever they’re trying to do. But Montero did take a couple of cuts and made solid contact a few times.Brackman has a lot fewer moving parts in his delivery than I expected. He sort of brings the ball from behind his ear and has a nice downward plane to his delivery. But I can’t see him in the majors before the end of the 2010 season. The Yankees will keep him in Tampa and there’s a chance he sees Trenton this year. He has so little experience and probably knows next to nothing about holding runners, fielding his position and setting hitters up.

This seems similar to what we discussed here a few days ago.  He’s needs polish but has lots of ability.  Especially after his prolonged recovery and with his height, the Yankees will surely focus on his mechanics and other aspects of the position.  But he should get a long look from the organization this Spring, and would further add to the stockpile of young pitchers in the minors should he develop.  I have to say it’s exciting to see Brackman, a first-round pick in 2007, finally out there, and hear even initial impressions.

Chad Jennings has nice overviews of the catchers and infielders the Yankees have, and projects where they may land.  He projects the Yanks will have Cody Ransom in The Bronx as the backup infielder, unless they acquire another veteran, and former Royal Angel Berroa will be released unless he accepts playing in SWB.  The Yanks have Doug Bernier in camp, who has spent six years in the minors in the Rockies organization.  A utility infielder but primarily a shortstop, Bernier’s last two years were at AAA Colorado Springs, where he hit .310/.396 with 2 homers and 27 RBIs in 2007, and .255/.383 with 9 homers and 42 RBIs last year.  He’s a defensive standout, as Jennings has reported.  Berroa might need a standout camp just to stick with the organization.

Also worth watching is the play of first baseman Juan Miranda, who hit .287/.384 with 12 homers and 52 RBIs in 99 games.  He had an excellent winter league stint, going .301/.378 with 5 homers, 20 RBIs, and 14 runs in 19 games.  Yet with the Teixeira signing, Miranda has a long-term roadblock again before him, now one with a much better glove than the previous positional cholesterol in Giambi. But he has a good bat, and could fill in if needed.  He’s also getting up there for a minor-league prospect–he’ll turn 26 this April.  Should his status in the Yankee organization continue, he may soon enough transition from prospect to career minor leaguer.

Tyler Kepner has a nice piece about Girardi’s perhaps learning a lesson in handling Cano, and maybe some maturity from Cano to accompany his renewed commitment to hard work this off-season.  We’ll see but, after a sub par and frustrating 2008, Cano needs a good, resurgent 2009 every bit as much as the team and Girardi do from him.  Good to see Girardi a little more contemplative about his decisions and indecision last season.  He too had his ups and downs, and needs a lot more ups with a talented, expensive, beefed-up roster this season.

Something’s Cooking

I’ve been burning the candle at both ends for some time now, especially the last two weeks, with my own research and writing, family, two jobs, some union work, and more.  I like being this busy in some ways–working up to and maintaining a heavy workload–but in other ways, there have been negative ramifications to sleeping four hours a night for a couple weeks straight.  One is overlooking some obvious things in recent posts, but the other is not getting back to a few comments until a few days afterward.  My apologies to all for any recent oversights.  They were not intentional.

I’ve tried to carve out some time for modest pleasures, including making a homemade spaghetti sauce yesterday that my wife, no pushover as a critic, deemed “excellent,” between meetings, work, and grabbing the kids from school.  It is a meat sauce with 1 1/2 pounds of ground sirloin, 1 1/2 pounds of ground pork sausage, a big can of diced tomatoes, a big can of tomato sauce, and a small can of tomato paste with the requisite garlic, oregano, and basil.  I eschewed onions and peppers for two reasons–my son cannot stand them, and I had little time for prepping when the process was already perilously close–sans drug deals and bust–to the extended scene in “Goodfellas,” when Henry Hill negotiated making sauce with various drug deals and dodging police copters.  After just over two hours on the stove (including browning the meat and simmering), that chunky coating of tomato goodness went extremely well with a heap of thin spaghetti and a loaf of garlic bread.  There is a lot of leftover sauce, and it has thickened up very nicely.  Since I’ll have time between the gym and a writing group tomorrow, I plan to lay waste to some of it with pasta for lunch.  Good times, just like writing this with a Goose Island Honkers Ale in the trusty ol’ Yankees pint glass, and a small bowl of the aforementioned sauce with a big piece of garlic bread.

Sometimes it’s the little things that grab and hold our attention.

One such thing for me recently has been observing the speech and demeanor of Derek Jeter in interviews.  Alex Belth’s Bronx Banter has a good, edited video clip of The Captain speaking forcefully about and against steroids, objecting to the recent epoch being dubbed “The Steroids Era,” and asserting that steroid use is cheating oneself.  I won’t recount or transcribe his various comments, and the link is sufficient.  I also disagree with Jeter’s somewhat simplistic characterization that 104 players testing positive for banned substances in 2003 meant that the rest weren’t using.  It also means that many didn’t get caught.

What I appreciate about Jeter’s comments are the unusual forcefulness with which he delivered them, the brisk cadence in which he spoke, and the refreshing candor.  Readers here know how much I respect, appreciate, and revere Jeter, his talent, and his many contributions.  The guy ate a seat handle July 1, 2004 after catching a ball on the dead run against Boston, covering extra ground because he was shading toward second.  With his clutch hitting in the playoffs and World Series, Jeter is The Man–in spite of the fact that he typically gives safe, downright banal answers in interviews.  This entails far more than his straightforward, always positive assessments of baseball games and situations that I think are genuine enough, but includes a pattern of safe public speaking that too often equals spewing platitudes.

This interview is markedly different from so many others he’s given.  Yes, he could have done and said more.  Yes, he gave the requisite replies of standing by A-Rod, which he and others should.  Yes, some things such as his assessment of implications of the 2003 drug test results I don’t buy.  But Jeter was frank enough overall, including about not revealing the other 103 players who tested positive in 2003. Jeter and I see eye-to-eye on that, as I’ve discussed more than once at The Heartland.  To a degree, Jeter was actually venting.  But I think there’s more.

I think Jeter’s interview put a certain, if subtle, stamp from him on this team.  One could almost hear Jeter sending along the message that the Yankees during this period, his Yankees, bear far more than the scarlet “S,” that Jeter can and does speak for the team when he so chooses, that Jeter can speak with some vim, that he can express more than his disappointment with but his disdain for steroid use. It was as if he said, “I’ll be damned if steroids are the first thing people associate with the Yankees.”  I also think that Jeter’s response and that of other Yankees has shown enough support for and reaching out to A-Rod.  At the same time, there has been a consistent undercurrent to the comments of Jeter, Cashman, Damon, and others–that A-Rod needs to do more than own up to this self-made mess but grow up from it.  For all his scripted superficiality, A-Rod doesn’t seem to have ever pulled any little thing over on his teammates, especially on the Yankees.  They’re no dummies in The Bronx.  They’ve seen genuine articles throughout the championship years, and they know that for all his abilities (innate or enhanced), A-Rod has been lots of show for lots of dough for long stretches, but not enough go when the chips were down–all with lots of baggage for which others need to answer.  I sense a certain attitude of “grow up,” of “time to make a man out of you” from Yankees players and brass–including Girardi–in recent days.  I sense that A-Rod will get some tough love treatment for a change, and that it’s started already.  Cashman practically dehumanized A-Rod by repeatedly referring to him as “an asset.” Rarely has Cashman ever sounded so clinical.  Then again, rarely has he ever had to deal with and answer for someone, for all his athleticism and coordination, so painfully stilted and stunted as A-Rod unfailingly appears.  So much from the Yankees screams, “We’ve tried things your way, A-Rod.  Now we’re doing something different.”

I know I’m reading into these things by necessity, but I think there’s something to all that.  It’s not a bad thing to see this side of Jeter, either.  I think, as much as ever, Jeter wants winning to characterize the Yankees again.

Back to Baseball, Please

I can’t say that I had no interest in A-Rod’s public confession of sorts, watching the last few minutes after I got home from union meetings.  By that point, the press conference had devolved into a series of insipid questions such as whether or not the injections hurt A-Rod.  Primarily, my interests were in hearing whether or not there was any new information he revealed, and there was some.

But you’ll need to read about all that elsewhere.  Regular readers here know I care little about the soap-opera qualities about sports, politics, and other matters.  I’d rather discuss details, policy, and results.  We can debate until our fingers fall off if A-Rod is still telling the whole truth, if more details will be revealed, and lots more based on some public statements and even more conjecture.  None of that matters much to me.  The revelation of his steroid use was what mattered most.  Most of the rest is just superficial window dressing, navel gazing, and print fodder.

Speaking of navel gazing and superficiality, Bud Zelig yet again cast the blame elsewhere for the steroids problem in the sport he ran.  Bordering on hilarious was his comment to Wallace Matthews of Newsday that

“I’m not sure I would have done anything differently,” Selig said. “A lot of people say we should have done this or that, and I understand that. They ask me, ‘How could you not know?’ and I guess in the retrospect of history, that’s not an unfair question. But we learned and we’ve done something about it. When I look back at where we were in ’98 and where we are today, I’m proud of the progress we’ve made.”

As if the public hasn’t heard enough and forcefully rejected such lame defenses of a track record from our disgraced former President Bush.  Sorry, Bud.  Like others, I read The Mitchell Report, and the league’s turning a blind eye to steroids is an almost favorable assessment of how baseball responded–or didn’t–to the long-term problem of steroids in baseball.  Yes, the Players’ Association deserves blame for this.  I’m a union guy–always have been, always will be–but I am not shy about criticizing unions for various reasons when warranted. The MLBPA deserves blame; so does Zelig–lots of it.

How fascinating that, on the same day that A-Rod’s interview has been rehashed ad nauseam about adequately taking responsibility for his actions, a published interview saw Zelig mount such a staunch and problematic defense of his stewardship of baseball through the steroids era, and adamantly fail to accept blame for the steroids problem rampant throughout his watch. For shame, Zelig, but I am not surprised.

First HDLR of 2009 Saturday February 28

The first Heartland Digital Living Room of the new season, if only Spring Training, will be on Saturday February 28 at 1:15 against the Twins.  It’s a YES game.  Feel free to come by for a hearty and fun chinwag on the boys.  I might stick to a weekend HDLR format with the weekdays rather busy, but we’ll see.  Either way, count on some Digital Living Room banter this Spring.

The more I listen to Sabathia, Burnett, and Teixeira, the better I feel about the chances the Yankees will form good team chemistry.  Those three and Nick Swisher, who seems to have been overlooked but I believe will play an important role on the team, handle themselves well, are enthusiastic but measured, show some maturity, are calm and savvy with the media, and especially for Sabathia and Swisher, have already bonded with some teammates. I have little doubt that fans as well as their teammates will connect with them quickly, all the more important given their newcomer status with the team and A-Rod’s steady stream of distractions.  The Yankees seem to have acquired not just very good and talented players, but also solid, eye-to-eye people.  That’s very refreshing.

I can’t stress how important chemistry is for a team, any team.  When players and managers discuss the vital components of previous Yankees championship teams, chemistry is one of the most important and primary factors discussed.  Joe Torre’s The Yankee Years reinforces that in spades.  I’ll have much to say about the book when I finish it.  Thus far, it’s quite good.

I also can’t stress enough the importance of a deep, solid, and productive bench.  I know that the Yankees tried to move Nady and/or Swisher this off-season; I understand the rationale.  I also disagree with it.  Swisher brings versatility, good power, and patience.  Nady is a pretty good hitter and decent outfielder. Provided Posada returns healthy and productive, Matsui will get the majority of the DH at-bats, but Swisher can rotate occasionally into right and first base to give Nady and Teixeira a breather or DH stint.  Should JD come close to replicating a very good 2008–after a painfully slow start the first several weeks–of 17 HR, 71 RBI, .303/.375, 29/37 SB, OPS+ 118 (tying his 200 with KC as his highest OPS+ ever), he’ll be a mainstay in left but he too can get a blow now and then.

The point is this: we have clamored for a solid bench for some time.  The Yanks need a good utility guy for the infield, and Cody Ransom is at least decent enough to fill in defensively while his strength lies at the plate.  Molina is the opposite, being an outstanding defensive catcher and a below average hitter.  Otherwise, the Yankees have the makings of a good and versatile bench offensively with Swisher.  I’d like to see the Yanks keep all players, rotate Swisher in early to get some at-bats and not collect rust, keep some competition going among him, Nady, Damon, and Matsui for playing time, and give Girardi the chance to go with a hot bat or three.

Heartland Fantasy League?

Regular reader Nick from across the pond e-mailed me last week, wondering whether or not I’d be interested in having a fantasy league through The Heartland.  I can’t say that I do fantasy sports; nor do I know how to go about setting one up.  I can surmise that participants would draft players, but don’t know if players are chosen day-to-day, or week-to-week.

However, since I’m all about democracy, I do know that I will throw this pressing question open to you, the readers here.  Feel free to answer the poll question below and to leave comments on this.  If you so choose, we can do a Heartland Fantasy Baseball League, as long as I get some help from the more experienced fantasy hands about conducting it.  In the event it transpires, and given a very busy schedule, I’d be more than willing to confer the commissioner post for it to someone else.