Watchdog

Host:
Michael Kay

Panelists:
Derek Jeter – current captain, New York Yankees
Don Mattingly – former captain and coach, New York Yankees
Harry Carson – former captain, New York Giants
Mike Eruzione – captain, Gold Medal-winning 1980 U.S. Hockey Team

*with special appearance by Yogi Berra – Hall of Fame player, coach and manager, New York Yankees

NFL Hall of Famer Harry Carson talks about being the only Giant to go out to mid-field for the coin-flip in Super Bowl XXI.

Carson: Yeah, and that really is something that is huge for me because, you know, the biggest game out of anybody’s career, and (coach Bill) Parcells told me to go out, and here I was waiting for George Martin and Phil Simms to go out with me, and he (Parcells) said “No, you go (alone to mid-field for the coin toss)”… and so as I’m walking out, I saw the Denver Broncos walking toward me. Yeah, it’s like half the team was coming out. But at that point, I realized I was representing all of my teammates, I was representing a franchise, I was representing all Giant fans and that really is probably the highest compliment that, you know, could have been bestowed upon me.

Yogi Berra discusses the absence of a captain during his time with the Yankees after the passing of Lou Gehrig.

Berra: No, we never did (have a captain while he was playing). We did our own captaincy. (If) We did something wrong, we’d have a meeting in the training room and we would go over (it)… Charlie Silvera, the (backup) catcher said, “I need a new wing on my house, so let’s start playing some ball. We’re fooling around.” (he needed the post-season money) And that’s the truth, that’s the truth. We would have our own meeting. Casey would never go in. We’d talk and we’d say, “You can play better than that.” Everyone picked on each other and we went out and played.

Yogi labels DiMaggio as the unofficial captain during his time with the Yankees.

Berra: A lot of guys looked at Joe, you know. Joe did it like he was the perfect specimen, you know. Going out there, you’d never see him walk out to the outfield, he always ran and ran back, never had a complaint or anything. What I admired about Joe… you know how guys slide for balls? I’d never see him slide for a ball. He caught everything right up here (motions his hands).

Mike Eruzione discusses a few of the pitfalls of being captain.

Eruzione: If Herb (Brooks) had someone to pick on (during practice) it would be usually me… so I would take the brunt, sometimes, of the team not playing well, and the team would know that, and he would send the message through me and the team would go, “Well, if he’s picking on Mike, we better pick it up a little.” I mean, Herb, right before the Olympics, threatened to cut me from the team. And the team’s thinking, “Well, if he’s going to cut the captain, we’re all in trouble, so…”

How Herb Brooks motivated the team by threatening to cut Eruzione.

Eruzione: Part of me said he might (cut me). The other part said no, there’s no way he’s going to do this, but what he was trying to do was tell everyone on that team that this team isn’t set yet. Don’t be comfortable. The Olympic Games aren’t for a few more days away, but he felt that we were getting a little complacent and everybody thought, “Hey, I’m on this team,” but nobody had a spot secured until he finished and sent that lineup in.

Mattingly discusses how former Yankees manager Buck Showalter utilized Mattingly’s captaincy the most during his tenure with the Yankees.

Mattingly: Probably Buck (Showalter) as much as anybody, you know Yogi didn’t like me, he didn’t play me (he says with a chuckle)…You know, Buck probably more than anyone, he was kinda’ more of the guy that talked to the players a lot and kinda’ go around and walk the field and talk to different players.

Mattingly discusses the player/coach relationship with Billy Martin.

Mattingly: Billy was great, he was fun. Yogi and Billy (were) totally different. (But) If you went 0 for 4 (at the plate) with Billy, you did not want to see him at your game because he took it personal, he really felt like you did that to him (personally). I mean, he (would say)… “You went 0 for 4 for me, didn’t ya’?” But “Yog” would see you later and say, “How ya’ doing kid?” You know? So Yogi was so much better to play for. But Billy was just different, ya’ know?

Mattingly discusses the Yankees leaders during Martin’s tenure as manager.

Mattingly: Well, the captain, different guys… (Graig) Nettles at one point and Gator (Ron Guidry) and Willie (Randolph) I think were co-captains. You know, it’s different. Baseball’s different than football and hockey. We play so many games. When you play 162 games and watch a guy like this (motions to Jeter), you know that he’s a leader because he plays hurt, doesn’t complain, doesn’t talk about it, keeps going out there, you know. Guy gets hit… whatever happens to him, it’s just that you see that toughness day in and day out.

You know if you see a Derek Jeter and see his face right, you think, “Oh a pretty boy right?” Right? But you know, but there’s a toughness inside of this guy that you see when you’re in that locker room everyday, and that’s what guys respect. They respect a guy, and that’s where you gain it (in the locker room), cuz’ you know, there’s a saying for me in the locker room, “Guys are naked.” And not just “naked” but, you see their personality, you see them inside and out, you know what a guy’s all about when you see them in the locker room.

Mattingly discusses the captain-like qualities of former Yankee Tony Clark.

Mattingly: There’s lots of guys that I played with that were leaders in all areas, but there’s a guy, and “Jete” knows him too, and I think this guy is a total leader: Tony Clark. Tony Clark was on that 2004 team. This is a man, for me. He will stand up, he will say what needs to be said, he’s not afraid to speak up, he does the right thing; this guy’s a leader.
* In a 13-year career, Tony Clark is a .265 hitter with 244 home runs and 789 RBI in 1,415 games.

Eruzione discusses his responsibility as a captain to play through injuries.

Eruzione: Yeah, I know earlier in the training season (prior to the 1980 Winter Olympics), I think it was October, I broke my hand and one, still trying to make the team, although I was elected captain the week before, but again I’m talking about Herb and if you can’t practice and can’t go out there and skate, and can’t be at team meetings and if you can’t be at, you know, pre-game meals and everything else even though you’re not playing, that’s an example that you set. I’d practice everyday although I couldn’t stick handle, I’d still be out there doing all the drills with the one hand on my stick and I think the players saw that and respected that. You gotta' deal with it and play through it.

Carson discusses his responsibility as a captain to play through injuries.

Carson: Yeah, I feel the same way, you know. Football is not going to always feel good and you’re going to have a little aches and pains and sometimes you have injuries and you have to … sometimes push your way through … and we had a game in Dallas where I got caught on a … on a screen pass and I hyper-extended my knee when two guys hit me at the same time, and I knew I was going to have to have surgery. I went to the doctor and I said, you know, “What are you doing on Tuesday morning?”, and he said, “Why?”, and I said, “Because we have a date.” You know, I knew I was going to have to have surgery. But then I saw Brad Van Pelt (former Giants linebacker) out on the field (that same game) and he went down, and I said, “Just put a sleeve on my knee, let me keep it warm,” and I went back out there and I played the rest of the game. And you know, just dragging the knee…I knew I had a partially torn ligament in and I also had torn cartilage.

Mattingly discusses who on his teams needed some extra TLC, a “hug.”

Mattingly: (Paul) O’Neill needed to be loved all the time. Definitely, he needs the love. Yeah, if… Paulie was the kind of guy who was dead serious. If he went 0-for-4 like two days in a row, he’d say (to Mattingly) “Cap, I swear, I’m going home, I’m leaving,” and he was dead serious too. There was no question about it in my mind, he was ready to quit that day, so he was the one who needed a little hug.

Mattingly discusses who liked to be yelled at while he was playing for the Yankees.

Mattingly: You know who liked to be yelled at? Wickman, Bob Wickman (Yankees 1992-96)… and, like, Pags (Mike Pagliarulo) and I would be on the corners and, like, he’d be out there and be in a little trouble, and every once and a while, you’d go out there and kind of scream at him a little bit. He’d tell you after the game, “I like that. Do that to me (yell at him).”

Carson discusses the team’s relationship with former coaches Ray Perkins and Bill Parcells.

Carson: When Perkins came in, he had absolutely no personality and he really didn’t say a whole lot. He was very demanding, and he brought a lot of rules and instilled a sense of discipline. People talk about Tom Coughlin now, and Tom Coughlin was nothing! I mean, Ray Perkins was a… very difficult coach to play for. Now, (Bill) Parcells was my (position) coach before he became the head coach, and so, when Perkins left to go to Alabama and Parcells took over, we had to adjust our attitude with him because he was one of us. I mean he was just an assistant coach, but he one of us and so we had to, the older guys on the team, had to really show a (new) certain level of respect for him because we knew that if we did not, the younger players would probably take a cue from us and call him “Tuna” and call him whatever.

Carson discusses the team’s relationship with former coaches.

Carson: Yeah, I mean he was one of us. We’d call him “fat”, we’d call him “Tuna”, he was just one of us, but when he became the head coach, I mean we had to change our approach to him and we had to give him respect.