1. The suddenly hot Mets will take two of the remaining three games against Joe Torre's Dodgers. But late Sunday night, when the team refuses to say what meal will be served on the overnight, cross-country flight to San Francisco, Carlos Beltran will grow upset, saying, "I think they should say that and come out with something like that. Because it is a distraction."
2. The Yankees will take three of four games from the Twins in Minneapolis, but it won't be easy. With Joba Chamberlain preparing for his new job as starting pitcher, Joe Girardi will see late-inning leads blown by Kyle Farnsworth, LaTroy Hawkins, Ross Ohlendorf, Edwar Ramirez and Chris Britton _ prompting Brian Cashman to make phone calls to Seattle, New Jersey and Florida in search of answers.
3. After reading Newsday's coverage of Jason Giambi's mustache and Jay Horwitz's improbably bright orange jacket, writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson will stand up and say, "Finally, I am inspired to make a sequel to my most famous film!"
4. Not sure who will prevail in the three-game set between the Tigers and the Mariners, but the loser will inherit this title from the 1992 Mets.
5. The information concerns Wally Backman, who has been mentioned (and supported here) as a candidate to replace Willie Randolph. Thanks to jb for providing the initial link and to Jim for getting it to work. Here it is.
If Backman were really dedicated to being a big-league manager _ if you remember, the Diamondbacks actually named him as their manager in the fall of 2004, then fired him four days later _ he would be completely humble, understanding that one misstep could cost him dearly.
But read the link, and see the trouble that Backman found: Multiple suspensions. A run-in with an opposing broadcaster. And then, he just quit; as you can see in this story, he did agree to come back, although the indepdendent South Coast League is currently shut down.
So I retract my semi-endorsement of Backman. There would be way too much baggage here - and, even more important, there's scant evidence that Backman can control himself, going forward. Richie G., you've cited the Mets' hiring of Darryl Strawberry as an SNY analyst. But there's an immense difference between hiring someone as a TV broadcaster and hiring someone as your manager. The bar is raised considerably for the latter.
Comments (35)
You mention Strawberry working as an anaylst for SNY. I am sorry but he contributes absolutely nothing to this show. Nice to see him working though.
Ken, Backman dig his own grave with all his off the field problems. The mess he made with the Arizona Diamondbacks has gotten all the Major League teams to shy away from him. I doubt he will ever be a manager for a Major League Baseball team.
Ken - your taste in movies and music has to be upgraded to a New York minimal cultural level. I still can't get the Bay City Rollers reference out of my mind and now you add Molly Ringwold!
LOL, Bob. I can run the spectrum from cheese to Oscar- and Grammy-winners.
Not meaning to digress, but a question for Bo Tufts, if he doesn't mind. What was it like pitching in Candlestick Park for The Giants in 1981? I remember Stu Miller(in earlier years) being blown off the mound at one point.
Ken - incredible year so far from Chipper Jones... any doubt that he'll make the Hall? Will you vote for him when he first appears on the ballot?
I had to look at Chipper's all-time stats, Jon, so I guess he's not a no-brainer. But I'd say he's a probable yes.
Steve - the night game time temperature was always 70 degrees, then the fog came over the hills, it dropped 20 degrees and you couldn't see the upper deck part of the time. During the day, the winds swirled so much that a pop up to third could eventually end up being caught by the second baseman.
Pitching wasn't the problem - warming up was the issue. And Frank robinson didn't exacly know how to hadnle pitching early in his mangerial career. He'd take a step out of the dugout and point to the pen and the umpire would come to get the reliever, but sometimes you weren't ready. We told Don McMahon our desire for added warmup time, but....he never passed it on
Thank you for the insight. It sounds like a very interesting life experience, that one would have to have lived thru, to appreciate. It is a good thing that you never expressed your feelings too emphatically to Frank Robinson. That could have led to other issues.
Hey Ken.
I hope your Mets prediction comes true but am afraid come Monday morning we'll be asking 'Donger, WHERE is my automobile?'
~Howard
Perfect, Howard! LOL.
Bob, who's the best player you play with and face against?
Best player (and dedicated teammate) - George Brett
Opposition hitter - Pedro Guerrero
Ken, I hope we don't start hearing that the Yankees should retain Giambi past this year for a couple of million a year plus incentives. Same goes for Mussina, Pavano, Farnsworth, et al. We need to be delivered from this crew.
Yeah, I know my buddy Joel Sherman blogged that on Giambi, Jim. Even Joel conceded it was a longshot. I don't see it. The guy has really embarrassed the organization so much, and he's a walking time bomb, to boot.
Thank God we agree on this. If this is really a transition year, then we need to let these guys play out their contracts, get the most out of them and then head in a different direction. I wouldn't care if Giambi gave us a year for free - enough is enough. If he hits 30 HRs I am prepared to listen to calls for his return. If the Yankees go along with that, the organization can truly be called SOFT. Dave Kingman hit a lot of HRs, too.
Ken, Giambi and Abreu will be free agencys at the end of the season. The Yankees might need to replace both. I say the Yanks will go after Mark Teixeira with all the money coming off the payroll. If not Teixeira, who do the Yanks go for a 1st Baseman? Abreu, I can see the Yanks re-sign him to a short-term deal. If the Yanks don't re-sign Abreu, who do they go after?
Dennis, if Cashman continues to call the shots beyond the season, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the Yankees didn't put in a monster bid for Teixeira. I could see them lurking and putting in a quick, take-it-or-leave-it bid, as they did for Damon after '05. If they don't get Teixeira, then they'll have to figure out first base in some other way. A Nick Johnson trade, perhaps? I don't see too many other options out there.
As for Abreu, if he's willing to come back for a short-term deal, one or two years, I could see a return. Otherwise, the Yankees will go with a stopgap while Tabata, Jackson and Curtis continue to develop.
A Nick Johnson trade? Don't the Yankees have enough experience with guys who spend more time on the disabled list than on the 25 man roster?
A trade for Nick Johnson is a terrible idea. The guy is always hurt and the Yankees have been burned by too many of these types. I can't get Pavano out of my mind. I know, I know, these are different people, but the end result is similar. They pay a salary and get next to nothing in return.
I love the idea of a take-it-or-leave-it offer. Too many times in the past the Yankees were bidding against themselves. Cashman is definitely right on that one. Figure out what a player is worth, come up with a package that makes sense from the club's perspective and pitch it. If it isn't accepted, move on. Great idea.
If the Yankees can stay close to playoff contention, I think they should try to get Freddy Garcia for the rest of the year. Why not?
Jeez, not much love for Nick Johnson! ;) Jim, please take my word for it: Nick is a good guy who is incredibly brittle. Pavano is nothing short of a thief.
As for Garcia, I'll have a note tomorrow in my Sunday Insider - sounds like he's now targeting a September return. So he's not quite going to be anyone's second-half savior.
I don't want Johnson either. He hasn't really shown he has come back from the broken leg yet, plus he can't stay off the DL. I'd rather get Dimetri Young from them if I made a deal with Washington. He seems to be a better human being now. Preferably, I'd rather have the Yankees spend a season seeing what Duncan can do at first.
Oh Ken, I believe you that Johnson is a good guy. No reason to think otherwise. I was an early fan but became dismayed with the never-ending injuries. Too risky for the Yankees, considering their recent history. Pavano is a dog. I have no idea what happened to his professionalism and work ethic. He should be ashamed, but probably isn't.
Great inside info on Garcia. Too bad for him and for any team that might need him a lot sooner than Sept. Even if the Yankees don't re-sign either Pettitte or Mussina, I am very hesitant about signing Garcia to a 1-year deal for 2009 with an option for 2010. I think the Yankees need a break from this type of player.
At what point does the organization learn from its past mistakes. Is such a risk the cost of doing business in pro baseball? I like Garcia but would really like to see the Yankees go in a different direction; i.e. younger and hungrier players.
Ken no doubt the manager has more responsibilities than a sportscaster. But what I meant was if you're saying (or the Wilpons) you wont hire Backman solely based on him allegedly hitting his wife, then I dont want any employee (including potential star player) on the payroll who struck their wife. And if they implemented that...I'd be a much bigger Mets fan.
I know Backman has a ton of issues, and I've read some strange stuff about him, but wherever he went he's won. And that says something.
Ken, what did you think of phenom Clayton Kershaw? I was really looking forward to seeing him -- since pitching is my favorite aspect of baseball, and I love seeing good young pitchers -- but I was left slightly underwhelmed. I'm not going to judge a 20 year old period, and certainly not on one start. But he wasn't quite as impressive as some of the other young starters I've seen this year. His velocity was 92-96, which is a ton for anyone, especially a lefty, and he has a good curveball, but his command was off, he couldn't throw to both sides of the plate, and he didn't have a third pitch. I'm really surprised the Dodgers took him straight from AA to the majors without even a token start in AAA. Even great pitchers like Santana, Peavy and Sheets cannot exist in the majors with only two pitches.
But he's a really big guy (looks a lot bigger than his 6'3" listed height) who throws hard from the left side, so it should be fun watching this year and the rest of his career play out.
Seems like prospects come into pro ball (the minors) more prepared than ever and make it to the show quicker than they ever did.
Richie G., sounds like we're on the same page. With Backman, it's more than just the issue with his wife. It's the fact that he behaved so horribly last year, even though he had to know that he had to reform himself after the Arizona fiasco. Yes, he is a winner, but the trade-off - a guy just too big of a threat to wind up on the front page, rather than the back page - isn't worth it, IMHO.
baileywalk, didn't see Kershaw pitch last night. I'm here at Shea today, and yeah, he's a tall, lanky kid; he, Charlie Steiner and I were chatting about the weather. Torre was just saying that Kershaw didn't feel comfortable with his fastball last night, and therefore he didn't throw his changeup - he didn't want to give them what would have been, essentially, a fastball with nothing on it.
Ken, Nick Johnson is too big a injury risk to take a chance for any team. He has to prove that he can stay healthy. How come Bob Brenly isn't getting a chance to be a manager. He did win a World Series in 2001 with the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Yankees. Brenly is currently working games for the Cubs. I don't understand why Brenly hasn't gotten a shot to manages again.
Nothing sinister, Dennis. I think people just didn't regard Brenly as a very good manager, his World Series victory notwithstanding (sorry, Bob T.).
Ken, Cito Gaston is another guy that hasn't gotten another chance to manages a team. Gaston made the playoffs 4 times and won the World Series twice and is the only African-American manager to win the World Series. Seems to me that Gaston hasn't been given any chance to be a manager again by any Major League team.
You're right, Dennis, but once again, I think the marketplace kind of speaks for itself. I think Cito came close to getting the White Sox job when they wound up hiring Ozzie Guillen instead.
I had to laugh yesterday when the announcers lambasted the Twins for building an open air stadium instead of a new domed park. It was said that Bud Selig is very much opposed to this new park because it is "insane" to have an open air park in Minnesota due to the possibility of bad weather creating the need for doubleheaders, especially late in the season. Evidently Selig didn't see any such problem pushing through an open air stadium for the Brewers, which vastly increased the value of the franchise, which served to further line his pockets despite putting peanuts into it for decades. Selig is one of the worst commissioners in MLB history. But, alas, I a resigned to the fact that one day his stooges will push him for induction into the HOF. It will be even more sickening than Bowie Kuhn getting in, if that's possible.
Jim, while I always enjoy a good Bud-bashing, a point of clarification: Miller Park has a retractable roof. It's open-air like Safeco Field, in that the air always comes in, but no games get rained out.
My mistake. Sloppy on my part. Bud is still one of the worst commissioners. I assume the retractable roof in Minnesota would have greatly added to the cost. I will have to look into the financing of that stadium. I know that Selig threatened various levels of government in Wisconsin to get them to pay millions for his park, which allowed him to get much more for himself when the team was sold.
Dead-on accurate assessment of Bud-Milwaukee, Jim. As for Minnesota - my understanding is yeah, they ran out of money and that's why there won't be a roof. Very foolish. This is why MLB should have some sort of central fund for stadiums, as the NFL does.
Ken, The Twins worked for more than 10 years to get the money to build a new stadium. Retractable roofs are very exspensive to build, and the Twins thought that getting a stadium is all they can get from the stadium. That's also the reason the Giants and Jets did not add a retactable roof as part of their stadium plans. Look at the cost all the new stadium with retractable roofs. I'm sure the cost very exspensive. The NFL has started to run out of money in their funds to help teams builds new stadiums. I doubt baseball will ever do it because you need all 30 teams contributed to a fund, and I can't see it with all the big market teams already contributing money to revenue sharing and luxrary tax.