On the Yankees beat

What pitcher Yankees should sign or trade this offseason?

1) Meche

2)Lily

3)Batista

4)Igawa

5)Petite

6)Trade - Willis

who cares about Kennedy...god bless his soul....Can we talk about whether or not the Yanks can get Roger and Andy back for one last title push until some of the youngsters (hope they don't stink) are ready??

Yanks need Roger and Andy....and if Pettitte wants to retire or back to Houston then offer Clemens 20 mil and Ted Lilly 4 for 32 mil!!

How about Melky, Humbero Sanchez, Clippard and another younger player for Willis??? Is that enough?

Want no part of Batista or Meche at high prices. Igawa as the #7 going into camp would be ok but they Yanks pitching is in trouble R now...it stunk last year and so far we are bringing back the same staff as last year. Unit? He maybe done, Carl? enough said-Wang and Moose are real solid but we have no difference maker in the SP department. CAsh should have gave Spier 20 mil for 5 yrs and built the bullpen up....D Baez anyone?

I think that package is decent for Willis but they will want Hughes most likely. How will Willis do against AL hitters? the yanks need a young lefty going forward.

I really can't see the Marlins trading Willis to the Yankees unless they get Hughes in return.

I was in 5th grade in Southern Calif. when the President was shot. School was immediately dismissed, and I recall a few teachers visibly shaken, though not weeping or anything close to that. I have since read roughly 13 or 14 books on whether 1 individual pullled this off. I am of the opinion that there is no way Oswald did this alone. The "pristine" condition of the bullet that supposedly inflicted all that damage on both Kennedy and Connally is what leads me to this conclusion. No test anywhere, at any time, has been successful in duplicating both the damage and the condition of the bullet afterward. Some posters may not appreciate your journey in Dallas. I believe you have had an insightful, and educational experience that I hope to 1 day undertake myself. The scene, pictures, and atmosphere in general will make you ponder this event the rest of your life, even though you were not alive at the time they occured. Thanks for your blog on this monumental day in history.

Thanks for the post, Roy. I appreciate your thoughts and sentiments.

JFK -- Good that you brought it up. It was a day that ended our innocence. I was a HS senior (Chaminade) in French class when word came that JFK was shot. I was driving home to Babylon after school when radio announced he had died. Related tragedy: RFK would have been my graduation speaker at Fordham, but he was killed the night of our senior prom. Folks in my generation can't help but wonder how different things might have been if both had lived.
As for the Yankees: Willis if available (but he'd hate to lose his strong bat to the DH in the AL), otherwise Lilly, who's still young and knows a little about the Bronx. Aurilia at 1B because he's versatile. Backing up behind the plate, go for Mike Lieberthal. He's much better than the career backups on your list.

I say trade for Willis and sign Lilly to go with Wang, Mussina, and Johnson. Get rid of Pavano for a rosin bag.

I also like Aurilia out of the availables for 1B because of his Cairo like versatility and he can hit.

The available C are not a desireable bunch other than Piazza who can still hit.

Jim - on JFK, I was in grade school and like Roy, remember school being cancelled and some teachers being very emotional. It was the end of our innocence.

Jim,
I was in 8th grade, when one of students answered the phone in the principals office, and came out and said,some nut just called and said the President had been shot. Attending Catholic school, and JFK, being the first Catholic President, this news was treated like the Pope had died. We immediately, left and went to Church to pray. The weekend was surreal, with all the TV coverage, topped off with watching Ruby, shoot Oswald. An event that defined my generation.

LMN and Rick -- thanks for the JFK memories. The museum had a wing devoted just to the news coverage that day, and watching the videos, etc., gave you a glimpse of the uncertainty and sheer shock of that day.

Dom -- Great post. Felt like I was there just reading your memories.

Here's Jeters statistics compared to Ray Durhams over the same length of career with the same number of AB's:

Jeter: , AB (J)6790 (D) 6790, Runs (J) 1277 (D) 1166, Hits (J) 2150 (D) 1907, 2B (J) 347 (D) 397, 3B (J) 50 (D) 80, HR (J) 183 (D) 181, RBI (J) 860 (D) 784, BB (J) 705 (D) 738, SO (J) 1191 (D) 1089, BA (J) .317 (D) .281, OBP (J) .388 (D) .354, SLG (J) .463 (D) .443, SB (J) 249 (D) 263, Fielding PCT (J) .975 (D) .982

Jeter leads in 7 of the 14 categories. Postseason statistics you can't compare b/c Durham has only played in 12 games and Jeter has 119. Also the myth that Jeter raises his games in the postseason is way over blown b/c his only numbers that are up on average is his HR's and BB's, his Strike outs go up too. Everything else is down but not by much except for RBI's. So basically Jeter is a glorified Ray Durham during the regular season, but he's the Yankee captain so I guess we should all just assume he belongs on another level.

Most of us who were alive at the time remember the JFK assassination as a defining moment in our lives. We can still see the faces of teachers and friends around us trying to come to terms with the news. Much like 9/11, it changed us forever. JFK appeared invincible, and it made us feel that way. Now we know better, and are better people for it, but it was a heart-rending tragedy. I can still see my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Thompson at Gould Avenue School in North Caldwell NJ herding us to our seats as the principal, Mr. Donovan, announced the news over the loud speaker system. Most of us were shocked and confused. We went home in a daze. My parents hated JFK for some stupid reason and their responses were completely inappropriate. I learned later to understand what went on.

On a brief historical note, a great Christian writer, C. S. Lewis died on the exact same day. We know him as the author of The Chronicles of Narnia and some other good stuff. His death went totally unnoticed because of JFK. Had he died on a different day he would have been remembered as one of the greatest Christian apologists of our time.

Jim,
On JFK, I was in third grade in Catholic School when the news came. The teacher told us what had happened, and the entire school closed for the day. I remember walking home and watching the news all day and night in front of the family TV. I also was watching TV when the news broke in that Jack Ruby was shot, and the shooting being played over and over.
The death of JFK was, as Don Henley would say, the end of the innocence of post-war America.

Jim, I will always recall the day. I was 6 in 1st grade and the teacher, shaken, was explaining to us what this meant after it was announced over the loudspeaker.

It was a parochial school (Lutheran) on Long Island and the pastors spoke with us about what happened. I am not sure I understood it completely at the time.

Here in Boston there is an excellent JFK Museum you might want to visit about 20 minutes or so from Fenway.

The November 22 date will always be important to me because it is also the date my mother died.

Comments now have to be approved by the blog owner?

I do not understand. My question above was posted but my longer post has to be approved by the blog owner.

Paul: I'm not exactly sure of the rules, but I've found that if a post is really long for some reason it has to be approved. Try cutting it down a little maybe.

Jim,

I was a 13 yr.old freshman in HS. I can recall walking out of class and hearing the buzz of Kennedy was shot or killed. I cannot recall. I immediately thought it was the Russians. I believed a war would breakout, nuclear.
I thought this because in grade school, years before. We would practice air raid drills with our little bodies under the desks and facing away from the windows. It was the cold war era and our young minds followed the lead of our parents and those in authority. So, if your practicing these drills then there is a possibilty of them occuring.

Amazing stories, Ralph and Larry. It sounds a lot like how everything was on 9/11, only this was during a different era before the advent of all news channels, etc. Must have been a scary few days, weeks.

Jim,

I was in a catholic school in NJ, 7th grade. I had wonderful nuns - most from Ireland or of Irish decent. They and everyone I knew loved JFK. When we got the news, I remember we were brought to church. I remember the principal, Sr Theresa Rose, standing in the church's lobby w/ tears streaming down her face, on to her white plastic bib.

It was an awful week, spent in front of the TV, just watching and crying. To this day, it upsets me to think about it.

I loved him and RFK (and still love Ted) and like an earlier poster, wonder frequently, what might have been had they lived.

I've been to Dallas, too, Jim. I was amzed at how small the area is. It seemed so big on TV. I haven't seen the museum but will have to one day.

Thanks so much for talking about JFK. I read your blog (and your articles in Newsday via the web) and your readers comments ea day and really enjoy them. But, I appreciate you even more than I have because of your taking the time out to remember JFK.

My best wishes to you and all here for a very happy Thanksgiving.

Peggy

Jim,
i was 20 and in europe with the US Army. it was a friday after 6 pm and we were preparing for saturday morning inspection when the word came JFK was shot. our preparation stopped as we listened to our radio's. we didn't have tv in France, in fact i didn't see any film until i returned home in Feb '65. later word came the President was dead. at that moment the world seemed to stand still. we were shocked. we cussed, we cried and virtually no military business was conducted for the next 3 days. we read articles and viewed photos from the Paris edition of the NY Herald Tribune. we stayed by our radios as the capture of Oswald occurred and were shocked again when he was killed as well. a French woman who was obviously distraught brought a letter to our small post, requesting it be forwarded by our Colonel to Mrs Kennedy. the French loved Jackie especially because she spoke French. i don't know if the letter ever reached the First Lady or not. shock was the feeling felt by all americans on hearing the news that day. overwhelmingly, we feel history and our lives were altered in forever.

Jim, my post was 3 paragraphs.

Basically I was remembering where I was in November 22, 1963. I was 6 in parochial (Lutheran) school on Long Island. I will never forget that day.

I recommend the JFK Museum in Boston if you have not been there yet. It is about 20 minutes from Fenway.

Paul: Weird the site wouldn't accept your post. Sorry about that. Thanks for following up. And I have actually gone to the JFK museum in Boston and really enjoyed it. Thanks for the post.

I was in grade school, but in Germany as an Army Brat so we got the news over Armed Forces Radio as a bulletin around dinner time followed an hour or so later by the announcement the President was dead. No real effect on me. Don't remember it bothering the adults. For me, I was already into reading history and the murder of a politican or president didn't seem like that big a surprise. There have been a lot of attempts in American history with four "successes."

Later, when we got to see the newsreels (remember those?) at the post theater, I remember being perplexed at the hystery. Just another asassination.

As an student in college I did papers on JFK. I've read many of the books since. Other than the one that says Frank Hinkley,with the Secret Service and in the motorcade's follow up car at the time, accidently hit JFK with a round from the AR-15 carried there when he tripped while trying to fire on the book depostitory building, none second shooters theories make sense.

Frankly, if he hadn't been murdered he likely would have been impeached for his sleeping with East German spies, his being blackmailed into agreeing to defense contracts not in the best interest of the soldiers, his spectacular use of illegal drugs while in the White House (do you REALLY want a Chief Exectuive high on SPEED --which what was his doctor was giving him?)

All in all, JFK was lucky, he, like Warren G. Harding died at the right time to protect his reputation.

Oh, and the "magic bullet" theory IS accurate. Despite what other posters might have said the results HAVE BEEN duplicated in tests. Everything has been successfully duplicated, Timelines, angles, etc. There was no second shooter.

Besides, would the CIA, FBI, Mafia, etc. really have killed a president in the open in front of hundreds of witnesses and their cameras when there were so many other ways to remove him in private? Slip a little something into his daily shots to kill him. Have a girl kill him in one of his trysts with mafia girls. Or expose him with a hooker...

Just finding out about his extramarital affairs would have destroyed him politically in that much more straightlaced era. There was never a need to kill him.

One poster states JFK "appeared invincible"...

JFK was the sickest man to be president. He had Addison's Disease and depended upon drugs to keep him alive. These same drugs, like steroids, gave him his "healthy" appearance. But he was quite sick and likely would have died from infection if the bullets on 11/22/63 had not been fatal. His repeated bouts of STDs did NOT help but its also possible that the drugs he was taking to combat his Addison's were causing his increased libido.

we were heading back into the 7th grade classroom after lunchbreak recess. the nuns were talking in hushed tones. we spent the next few days in front of the tv as the events unfolded. my most impressionable moments were probably ... watching on tv as ruby just walked right up and shot ruby... seeing the veil-covered jackie at the funeral and wondering how she could be so stoic, and why wasn't john-john crying (duh, he was probably all of 2 at the time)... being shocked that they actually cancelled the sunday giant/nfl games that weekend.

we'd be better off signing jfk to pitch rather than trading away hughes. hughes, pavano and leave arod alone, and we will cruise to a series title.