On the Yankees beat

I can say as a Sox fan, I was more excited about the Tampa Series than the Yankees series... just another example of how insane this season has been

In all fairness... if you click on my name, you'll see my blog posting where I trashed Varitek's all star selection

Here's one move that the Yanks should make:
Sign Bonds for the rest of this year.
He comes cheap. He only wants the league minimum.
Stick him in front of A-Rod and the Yanks would have a 3-4-5 of Bonds, A-Rod, Giambi. Either Bonds or A-Rod will see some really good pitches to hit.
They're not hitting now so how much could it hurt?
I know: the club house cancer stuff. To me right now, the only club house cancer is if the Yanks keep losing.

I think the odds are better that Cashman signs Pope Benedict to play ball this season.

They don't want any part of the toxic mess that would certainly ensue if Bonds and the NY media got together.

It would be an enormous distraction.

Also, even if they signed him tomorrow, he wouldn't be in game shape for a few weeks.

By then, it's quite possible that both Damon and Matsui will be back in the starting lineup.

Why not sign Lofton?

Good one Viper. :-)
Pope Benedict. LOL

It would only be for three months. I still think that Bonds has the fastest bat through the zone and given the short porch at the Stadium, it could be interesting.

I'll give you Damon coming back, but I think that Matsui is going to need surgery for that knee of his.

For my money, even with the Yankee and 'stache discounts, Giambino comes up short in this race. On stats alone, Dye wins pretty clearly, but I'd have to go with the rook from Tampa Longoria. His stats are comparable to both Giambi and Dye, though he's a bit short on HR. He's got a much higher avg. than Giambi, and he's got 22 doubles on the year. He plays a tougher position than either vet, and he's done it quite well for a rook (.977 fielding pct. with only 5 errors). Plus, he's got 6 SB vs. 0 CS (more that Jeter). Sure, the kid's got years of accolades ahead of him, but so what? In terms of pure performance and value to his team, he's done an outstanding job after receiving a tremendous amount of hype. Tough to argue against Jermaine, but with the Rays run so far, Longoria would be my vote this year.

Lofton Sully?
Maybe you guys could use him. Last I looked, Boston ain't hittin' either.
What was Manny doing on Sunday night? Posing for his baseball card?

ESPN is reporting that John Heyman has confirmed that Pope Benedict is under contract and will make a tune-up start in Staten Island before joining the Yankees in Tampa. He is expected to be used out of the bullpen and be brought into each game via the Pope-mobile as a throw back to the old bullpen carts of the 70's.

R.E. Bonds. Why would the Yanks want another base-clogging, lefty-hitting DH? There may be malcontents out there that they'd consider putting in the clubhouse right now to further confuse the young guys that they're fightin to turn into Yankees, but Bonds ain't one of 'em. Not happening.

Addendum to Nudge:

The Pope-mobile will be an only slightly toned-down version of that other famous '70's vehicle: the Pimp-mobile.

DC,

I think it should be a lowrider!

Exactly.

Can't wait for the AP to get wind of this.

Here's my quote as the fan-on-the-street:

"This is simply more proof that God is a Yankee fan."

Only if the Pope-mobile has one of those Yankee caps on it. But I'm not so sure that God is a Pope fan!

As long as the Pope brings some Holy Water with him, I'm for the signing.
DC,
That Bases clogging lefty DH can still turn on a fastball and right now, not too many Yanks are doing that.

John G,

Lofton makes more sense than Bonds... at least he can play the field

The only reason to bring Bonds in is to distract people away from A-Rod's divorce.

The Sox are indeed bat dead right now.
It ebs and flows... hopefully a nice 1-0 win last night is the pick me up the team needs after a lousy road trip

Well, Nudge, I think what's important for fans of the Pope is that he's a big fan of the Big Guy. In fact, to them, he's the biggest. We could argue career batting averages and rbi's and ERA's among Popes, but the standing Pope would still be the best guy around this season. This year's MVP, as it were. So it would be a fruitless conversation. Let's not get into a pointless discussion about his value to the game as a whole. It might alienate some folks who like to read the blog. Don't you think?

John G, yeah, but Giambi's turning on 'em a bit, Damon and Matsui will be back (I hope), Cano's coming around, and how much clogging of the line-up do you really want? I'd rather see some kids. But, just my opinion, of course.

I know Sully. It's a long season and slumps are part of it.
I know that the Yanks would never go after Bonds. Too much baggage, too many distractions, bad attitude, etc.
But if he can still rake, it would be interesting to see him in the line up followed by A-Rod. How many times can he be pitched around knowing that A-Rod looms large on deck.

Besides, the Pope's a soccer guy.

DC,
I'm hoping that Matsui comes back too. It's just that I think his knee is pretty bad right now and given the fact that he had to have it drained twice in a week tells me that surgery may be the only way that he can get it right.

"Only if the Pope-mobile has one of those Yankee caps on it."

And in a related announcement, The Yankees new Popemobile driver, the first female bullpen driver in baseball history, was named today.

Ms. Helen Baacke

I would LOVE to see the Pope ( in his giant hat ) race the Miller Park sausages....while CC and Fielder chase after them wielding giant bottles of mustard!

Just want to say good stuff on the last thread from some of the old timers about the Mick and old days. I was born in 77 and was one of the 10K fans that were in the Bronx while everyone else enjoyed NY's 80's team in Queens. Ill have to say there was a huge benefit being a Yankee fan those days...GREAT SEATS!!!

Love my man Brett Gardner! Im sure Yanks61 remembers ( good to have you back my friend ) discussing him back in the Spring. Every game he would slap a ball to LF, move runners over or swipe a bag. Good to see him up hitting the ball hard, even though those balls dont seem to be finding holes as of yet. Give it time, his BABIP is very low. Dont look at his BA, look at his AB's..stellar stuff! You all know Im a Melk supporter, but if Gardner tears it up while Melk lofts weak flyball outs, he could be in danger of a demotion. Thats no a bad thing, but we really need Melk to step up...more so for next year.

I was invited to tonight's game, but cant make it..DAMN WORK!!! Oh well, I have a good feeling about this series.

GO YANKS!!!!!

I've been living in the Bay Area with a front seat view of Bonds for the last 3 seasons.

A non contending Giants team with a FAWNING fan base and media (save for the 2 Chronicle reporters) was too much for Bonds

To paraphrase Jeff Goldblum in The Lost World... Bringing Bonds to New York would be the worst idea in the history of bad ideas

Nudge, didn't mean to pull the plug on you. That was a fun exchange.

John G. I see what you're saying, but I still don't think Bonds is the answer. Beyond the fact that he doens't fit in the line-up or the field, he's simply the wrong influence for a clubhouse that is dealing with an influx of kids that management wants to be influenced by a particular sector of the team. The Melky-Robby-Abreu connection has been well documented and hasn't proven to be a tremendous boon. Those guys should be looking to Jeter and Posada and Mo for influence. The young pitchers apparently don't have those problems. Mo and Moose have seen to that. But on a team that already has a mega star like A-Rod and all his personality and celebrity issues (and A-Rod works his butt off), the last thing you need is a guy like Bonds coming in to show those young kids his idea of what "team" is all about.

DRU,

I was at NYU from 1990-1994

The Mel Hall/Mike Witt/Scott Sanderson/Steve Sax/Kevin Maas years

Let's just say there was plenty of room to put your drinks down and kick your feet up on the chair in front of you

Back then when the Yankees drew 25,000, it was considered to be a good night

All the talk was moving the Yankees to the rail yards where the Jets wanted to build their park a few years ago.

(No parking? No train line? A PERFECT SPOT!!!)

There were DIE HARD fans there chanting "George Must Go" and booing this green centerfielder named Bernie.

Roberto Kelly was about the only person worth watching.

If you told me that THAT team was about to go on the greatest run of the Free Agency Era, I would have had your head examined... especially after I would up tying Brien Taylor in every single MLB category

Kenny Lofton loves Kenny Lofton

DRU,

You are a traitor! You are a back-stabber! You are a fraud!

One measly little dribble up the middle rbi single and you give up your position as the president of the Melky fan club?

You cannot quit! I fire you!

Melky

;)

Bonds to the Yanks???? rrriiiiiigggghhhhtttt

I know the Yanks love giving out 20M for a half year of + 40 year old mediocrity ( Clemens anyone? ), but lets not get silly now. Remember the Yanks are trying to get younger and cheaper...not older, more expensive and chuck full of drama. We already have A-rod for that, if he cant be Mr Yankee, Mr October or Mr Nice Guy...at least let him be Mr Drama Queen. Man o Man, Arod just cant catch a break in this town can he?

I have an interesting idea for the Yanks. The CC trade netted the Tribe one of the best 1B ( he plays OF as well but is a true 1B ) in the minors. Last year I was praying to Appolo ( the boxer not the deity ) that LaPorta would somehow fall to the Yanks...never happened. What's interesting though is that the Indians now have too many players for 2 spots. 1B/DH....Victor Martinez ( he's going to be a DH more and more as the years go on ), Hafner, Garko and now LaPorta. So Im thinking maybe if the Yanks cannot get Teixeria next year, we can make a small trade to the Indians for Garko. I know he's having a down year ( soph slump ), but is still young, plays a decent 1B and could be a 30 HR guy in the near future. The fact that he's slipped this year, may give us a chance to scoop him up on the cheap. Then we could go out and get the Brewers ace(s)....Sheets or CC next year. I know, its just a pipe dream, but at least I dont have to pay $40 a game to dream...do I????

Speaking of Bonds, there's an interesting discussion on ESPN 1050 right now on Bonds possibly being signed by the Mets.

Sully - exactly my friend!

DC - HAHA..hilarious!

Sully,

What about the press that was following Bonds and the Giants all over the country?
The press won't get to him. It's July and not one team has even given a hint to Bonds about a job. I'd bet that he'd be on his best behavior if he came to NY. One problem related to him and he's gone. He knows that.

DRU,

Everyone's down on Sheets because of the injuries the last 3 years, but before that he racked some impressive IP totals. I don't know what his injuries were, exactly, but not every guy who struggles for 3-4 years turns into Woods or Prior. Plus, he's looked extremely solid this year and had several years in a row of solid production before the injuries.

I read somewhere today (ESPN I think) that some scouts are saying that CC might just be one of those Wells/Reuschel types--a big guy who can carry the weight, and may in fact be the better bet than Sheets. But you're right that Sheets will command much less, and I agree that he might be worth a look-see. Let's see how he pans out over the course of the full year.

I take CC (notice I'm respecting his request to remove periods from CC) over Sheets because he has proven he can pitch a lot of innings and stay healthy and because he is left handed and the Yanks will need one of those since they're not growing any on the farm these days.

I'm just saying that obviously, CC's the more desirable pitcher, but since there are so many questions about his weight and heft, some folks are wondering if he might be able to handle it, like Wells did. Sheets is less desirable, but also a real talent, and even though he's been injured a lot lately, it may not be an indication of what he can handle in the future. Some injuries take a few years to come back from.

And Sully,

You forgot Matt Nokes, and the pleasure of watching Alvaro Espinoza pitch every 7 days or so.

Agreed with Jim A. on the lefties. Seems to be an epidemic in the FO: we simply can't find a guy who can draft a lefty. I know we got a college guy in the sandwich round this year, but do you think we might be able to trade for a FO guy who knows how to scout and draft lefties?

Those Yankee teams were the ones that gave us Pat Kelly, Danny Tartabull and the promise of Hensley Bam BAm Meulens

The Wade Taylors, the Chuck Carys the Lance McCullers and the John Habyans of the world were pitching

I remember my freshman year (1990) seeing Steve Bye Bye Balboni, Neon Deion Sanders, Pasqual Perez and Oscar Azocar all starting.

My sophomore year (1991) the Twins won the World Series and a friend of mine from Jersey was a HUGE Yankees fan.

She said when the Twins won "I'm happy for Mike Pagliarulo. He won a World Series... because he could NEVER do that for the Yankees."

Meanwhile Don Mattingly kept playing with dignity and professionalism... and had the WORST luck of any Yankee star (including Wally Pipp)

You forgot Kevin Maas and Mike Blowers.

I mentioned Maas at 15:38

I think the only highlight I can remember from the Alvaro Espinoza era is when Matt Nokes was the catcher for the Yanks (long after he was productive for the Tigers of course) and he got drilled by Clemens high up in the ribs. He ended up catching the baseball in his armpit and as he walked to first base he turned and fired it at Clemens which had me rolling on the floor laughing. Clemens didn't know what to do and none of his teammates moved a muscle to protect him if there was going to be a fight.....I think everyone was just stunned.

Those were my college years, too, and I would come home and get 9-5 or 10-6 day jobs at about $5/hour so I could hop a train and be in the bleachers by 7 or 7:30. There was never anyone there except the undying faithfull: the Cuban cowbell man--Felipe?--and Tina and the gang. In '87 I think the tix were still under $5 and beers were still about $3.50. By '91, when I graduated, things had gone up, though the Yanks had gone nothing but down. We lost--what?--95 games in '91? A disaster. Scott Sanderson, Tim Leary (19 Losses!). What a joke. But those years were great. I was there the night it was announced that George was banned for the Howie Spira scandal, and the entire crowd gave a standing ovation (all 11,000 or so of it). From then on, it was straight uphill. Buck got hired and immediately there was a different approach on the field. We got to watch the kids come up, and I got to see Bernie Williams and Jimmy Leyritz get their first MLB hits (or at least their first ones at Yankee Stadium). The stands started to fill up, and we had to give up our lounging space to some fair weather fans. But we didn't mind so much, cause it meant the Yanks were finally winning again. Within two years it was tough to get bleacher seats if you didn't wait on line all day, and I would show up to my old hang out in the bleachers and be accused by some teeny-bopper of being a fair weather fan because I hadn't hung around outside the stadium for my tickets all day.

Then came the pennant chases, then came the big money interest fans. Forget about it. I got playoff tix in '96 and had seats for game 7 of the WS, but I was just as glad when they clinched in game 6. I was out of town in '98, but I got to see WS games in '99 and 2000, so I consider myself a very lucky fan.

I want the Yanks to win every year, but for the time being, as far as success and championships go, my allegiance has been paid off in spades. Next year, I'd like to see a mix of young and old Yankee system talent make a run at a pennant like they did in '94 and '95. Maybe one or two big purchases in the offseason--a Sabathia or Sheets and a Texeira, maybe--but primarialy I want to see what Girardi , Jeter, Posada and Mo can do with some kids. The way Stick, Buck and Mattingly did with the kids of the last half-generation that gave us the last great Yankee dynasty.

DC, well said my friend, well said!!!

DC, well said my friend, well said!!!

I wonder if the Vatican would consider selling the Yankees the pope-mobile for use as a bullpen cart?

And can we please never bring up the Matt Nokes/Kevin Maas/Alvaro Espinosa era again...makes me want to vomit all over the computer.

In fairness though, Espinosa was part of the first "Never Trade for an Indians' 2B Deal" when the Mets sent Kent and Vizciano to the Tribe for him and Carlos Baerga...good times...

On another note - there are rumors (and we all know how accurate those are) that the BJays are willing to send AJ Burnett to the Yankees for Alberto Gonzalez and Dan McCutchen

sorry, I guuuguuuguuuguess I stttttttstuttttter.

I know this is not breaking news or anything, but what a ball player Evan Longoria is, a future super star!!! One of the many reasons why the Rays aint going anywhere for a long while. Only one way to beat a team fully of young, hungry, talent...join em.

GO YANKS!!!!!

TAKE OUT KAZMIR TONIGHT!!! GET THE BROOMS OUT!!! WE'RE SWEEPIN UP THE GARBAGE AND TAKING BACK THE DIVISION!!! if only for 2 days.

WOW CHIP, I'd be on board with that deal BIG TIME!!!. Lets hope its true. I think the only catch is that you'd still have to sign AJ to a long term deal. With his health, we could get a sweetheart of a deal worked out with all types of escalators we would gladly pay such as hitting 200in.

On another note - there are rumors (and we all know how accurate those are) that the BJays are willing to send AJ Burnett to the Yankees for Alberto Gonzalez and Dan McCutchen

-------------------------------

Now that's a deal I would jump on.

But the odds of that rumor being true are about as good as Pope Benedict making a start tomorrow replacing Sidney Ponson.

TOR can get two draft picks next season for keeping Burnett and watching him opt out of his contract.

Those draft picks alone are a lot more valuable than McCutchen and Gonzalez.

Where did you see this rumor? That's total BS.

I would think you'd make that trade right now. And you'd toss in Latroy "Andy" Hawkins as a thank you note (keep or take his salary).

Sorry, Chip. Couldn't resist the opportunity to punch another vomit button.

BTW, thanks for the kudos DRU! As bad as the Yanks were, those were some of the best times I had at Yankee stadium. When Dave Winfield came back for the first time, he actually tipped his hat directly at me (I was screaming like a beer-soaked nut and there was no one else around me). Jesse would toss his warm-up balls into the stands and all 36 of us in the bleachers would scramble for them. We were buddies with the security guys, beer flowed through the ninth and into extra innings (although that changed shortly). The chants were unbelievably crude (pretty sure that hasn't changed much), and Red Sox hats were burned frequently. But strangely enough there were almost never any fights, unlike the rest of the stadium, where fights were pretty common. In fact, one of the most popular bleacher chants--and my personal favorite at the time--was "Box Seats Suck!"

Bordering on socialist rebellion? Nah, just the frustrations of a bleacher crowd tired of watching their favorite empire sink. Haven't been in the bleachers since '01--and haven't been to stadium at all since '04; but truth be told, I hope they still chant that.

HAHA...they still do DC, but now it doesnt mean as much since they cut off beer in the bleachers. Its still good times there, but I prefer a seat and a beer now.

Lets talk about some other Yankee memories

Two times I was pissed as a kid...,

1. When ET died, what? I walked out at the end, something happen?
2. Yanks traded Ricky Henderson.

Cried for a day. The Yanks were always breaking my heart, even when I didnt know it at the time. Like a young Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps!!!! or freakin Al Leiter for Jessie Barfield. DAMN THEM!!!!!!

but lets talk about the good times

My parent's backyard was long and narrow with a hedge row at the end. Anything over the "Monster" ( I know ) was a HR. I had every Yankee swing down pat. All elbows and knees for Winfield, turning around for Donnie and Pags. Loved me some Steve Balboni, Mike Pags, Kelly, Velarde, Sax ...listening to Scooter and White on a hot summer day. Now thats better.

Ok time to leave work and watch this lefty duel at the Stadium! Looks like Kazmir is dealin! ...lol...effin Mets.

GO YANKS!!!