Bunch Of Stiffs

The New York Yankees are in unfamiliar territory. Their own home field. Mystique and Aura no longer appearing nightly. Usually played at 161st and River the World Series will surely not be held in the Bronx this year. The Yankees just plain suck. From top to bottom they are a disaster of a team with less identity then the New York Jets. Now that is hard to do.

Nick Swisher has become a folk hero overnight. He is more of a “true yankee” than Giambi Mussina and A-Rod combined and he has been in the Bronx for 3 days. And he is doing it while the team is struggling to even get out of its own way.

Joe Girardi is not managing this team like the guy who won manager of the year in 2006. Where is the Billy Martin in him that we all heard about? You can see in his press conferences and hear it in his voice. He is not himself. You cannot manage like that and win at the major league level. PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN JOE! Step on some toes and get the zoo going man. Tell Hal and Hank to go build some ships and leave the team decisions to you. MANAGE HOW YOU WANNA MANAGE!

Joba: Give it up, you are not a starter. You have the make up of a closer. A big guy with a mean attitude that can crank it up for an inning or two and be untouchable 3 or 4 times a week. Take your place behind Mo while he keeps the seat warm for you. The transition will be seamless… like your fastball after the 3rd inning.

Derek Jeter: Just admit you do not belong in the leadoff spot and you should probably be batting closer to the bottom if not last itself. Joe DiMaggio walked away at your age instead of holding on or taking a lesser role. And those were just whispers. What you are hearing is a LOUD ROAR! You have a caddie now? WOW! That in itself speaks volumes.

Jorge Posada: Give it up man. Molina is a great defensive catcher. You have nothing to prove. You could not throw guys out before you got hurt. Not one person expects you to throw anyone out now or cares if you do. just except the role of DH and back up firstbaseman/catcher and we can move on.

Johnny Damon: Feelin the love now Johnny?

Brett Gardner: Can you have a bigger hole that lefty loop? Shorten up the bat, choke up and be a hitter and get on base. Come on man didn’t you see Major League?

Melky Cabrera: You had to know last year you were competing for your job. You are not a centerfielder. But an outfielder nonetheless. They went out and got Nady and Swisher gave your job to Gardner and offered you in at least two trades. You think you could lose a pound?

A-Rod: take your time

I could go on but it’s not worth it. If you grew up in the late 70’s and suffered through the 80’s like I did watching this team you know that this team is far from greatness. World Series? Yeah right. They wont even make the playoffs. Yes it’s April and I said it.

Prove me wrong!

Greener Pastures For Jeter?

Derek Jeter has been the main man at SS ever since he arrived on the scene in New York. Yet, without a title to show for it in the past eight seasons Jeter is feeling the heat. He spent the first eight years of his carrer taking a beating from fans and media. The topic of conversation almost nightly on New York talk radio would always spawn the debate of who was the best shortstop in baseball. Through all the frenzy though give Jeter credit, he outlasted them all. Silencing most if not all of his critics. Looking back, any one of those guys would give it all back for Jeter’s resume.

Now, those who were silenced have a new focus which stirs their whispering. Jeter’s demise as a shortstop. In fact the whispering is turning into quite a low roar. It was hard to see at first but if you were baseball savvy you saw the writing on the wall. A revolving door on aging veteran outfielders trying to not so gingerly replace Bernie Williams. A huge albatross in Jason Giambi at first base which ulitmately cost Bernie Williams the chance to write his own ending to his Yankee legacy. Tension, angst and ego’s clashing between Jeter and A-Rod blanketed most of the problems. Compounded by the colossal loss in the 2004 ALCS to the Boston Red Sox.

Although I would not have expected Jeter to step aside at shortstop it would have been a tremendous gesture both as a teammate and as a Yankee. He would not be the first Yankees great to move from the infield to the outfield nor would he be the first Hall Of Fame shortstop to do so. Nevertheless it is a no brainer right now. Jeter plays shortstop like a free safety who is not afraid to tackle a fire hydrant. Perhaps not the most talented, he is clearly the most versatile athlete on the field. The Yankees have themselves a gift that could solve all their outfield problems. Robin Yount a true power hitting shortstop made the move because of a shoulder problem and still took in another MVP in center for the Brewers. Jeter does not have to win the MVP or hit home runs in center or left to prove he is a winner but surely he would play like one.

Make the move Derek! If you want to win another World Series you have to do it like you have done it in the past. Take it on your shoulders. Prove to be worthy of the “C”. Put your ego away and put this team on your back and take them and your career, home!

Step Up!

The truth will set you free. How many times have we heard this cliche? Enough is enough already. Getting caught cheating, lying, stealing or any other form of ill repute is not “admitting” to the crime itself. YOU GOT CAUGHT! HOLA? Jason Giambi, Andy Pettitte, A-Rod and any other drug user on the ever growing list of athletes who got caught should not be credited with “admitting” to anything. That is not an admission it is more like a confession of guilt after the fact. So I ask you Sportsroiders will anyone out there really “step up” and come forward under their own volition and speak the truth without ratting out their friends or cousins and just plain admitting to having broken the law and cheated by taking steroids or HGH without having formerly been caught or charged with allegations?

Come on Derek Jeter. Just Do It!

Furthermore for the Curt Schilling Jamie Moyer crowd of athletes who are suddenly outraged by all the cheating I ask you this: Where were you guys for the last 26 years? How come you did not step up and demand testing for illegal substances, specifically steroids, if you are so horrified by all this. Do not tell me you did not see it going on. Do not even think of trying to tell me that the union would not allow it. Squeaky wheel gets the oil my friends and absolutely no one in baseball that is allegedly “clean” has ever come forward before now and been outspoken about this issue. As far as I am concerned you are all guilty. GUILTY! You helped make the bed you now lie in.

Someone please STEP UP!

The Truth In Earnest

In 1986 weather you wanted to believe it or not, the baseball world was introduced to steroids. Then, an 11 year old kid, I was at the height of collecting baseball cards. I still have them and what fun it was to spend most or all of what little money I had buying up as many as I could. By the ripe old age of 12 thanks to Jose Canseco I could identify a “muscle head” or “juice head” from a mile away. By the 7th grade I was already wondering if I would ever even make it as a high school athlete because I thought that everyone who played football was on steroids. In the 8th grade I learned everyone was not on steroids, steroids were bad for you, and if you wanted some I could get them for you. That was 1989. Baseballs were “juiced” not players. The Cold War was ending and the Steroid Era in baseball was well underway. A year later The Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 1990 became law on November 29, 1990, when President Bush signed the Omnibus Crime Control Bill.

Why then since that day does MLB or any other professional sports organization continue to be held at bay by a players union that somehow does not think that the law applys to its members? How can any player who belongs to the union that plays under the same collective bargaining agreement expect anyone to believe they they are “clean” when their own union affords them the right to be “dirty”? Why would any fan, including reporters/beat writers/media etc. of MLB be upset or shocked to find out that Alex Rodriguez or any player for that matter used steroids? Why then would these same people call for everything short of a beheading of said players when they knew all along these “sacred” and “holy” records were already compromised?

As much as I detest Barry Bonds. As much as I hate the Yankees for having signed Jose Canseco, Jason Giambi and Kevin Brown and for resigning Andy Pettitte the lying, cheating, rat. And as much as I hate A-Rod for further disgracing the pinstripes I have to say according to the rules of baseball at that time, they crossed no lines nor broke any rules. (other than the law) But since that does not count in baseball, never has, never will – let the records stand. Everyone including Ownership, MLB Executives, MLBPA and its members, the media and us the fans should all accept our responsibility and just put it to bed and move on.

If MLB, MLBPA, U.S. Congress, or parents/teachers/coaches of children in the United States think that only now steroids is a problem at the high school level, they are sadly mistaken and grossly ignorant.