Yeah, baby, believe it! Johan Santana pitches a no-hitter for the Mets!

Finally! I am happy for Squawker Jon and his fellow Mets fans that their franchise finally has a no-hitter. And I'm especially glad it was Johan Santana, one of the game's great pitchers. I even got a little teary-eyed watching it, and I have no heart! 

However, this means that much like I helpfully reminded Red Sox friends about 1918 before the 2004 ALCS, I now have one less thing to mock Jon about. You see, every single time an MLB pitcher has taken a no-hitter into the eighth or ninth, I always am sure to tell Squawker Jon that the Mets never had a no-hitter. You know, in case he forgot! 

Like when Justin Verlander nearly had his third no-hitter a few weeks ago. I informed Jon about how those no-hitters were more than his franchise ever had. I also have helpfully teased him over the years about how many ex-Mets have hurled no-hitters, making sure to remind him about how Dwight Gooden and David Cone did it as Yankees!

But last night was a little different. I watched the last three innings of Johan Santana's no-hitter instead of the Yankee game, as soon as Jon called me in the sixth to tell me what was what. Jon feared that Terry Collins may pull Santana even if he were pitching a no-hitter, due to the high pitch count. I told him flat-out that there was no way that Santana was going to allow that to happen. After all, this wasn't some rookie on the mound. It was Johan Santana! I just couldn't see any way that Santana was going to willingly leave the game. There would have been blood on the mound!

All teasing and trash talk aside, I really wanted Santana and the Mets to finally get that no-hitter, even if it means less ammunition when it comes to mocking my Met fan blogging partner. Until last night, the most historic thing to happen at CitiField was when Mariano Rivera got his 500th save on Mets' turf, a game Jon and I were at, and an event I love to remind Jon about, especially when K-Rod walked Mariano!

Now the Mets have their own no-hitter, on their own field. Good for them. Now I will have to find something else to mock Squawker Jon about!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

I've waited my whole life for a Met no-hitter

When I was growing up, I was obsessive about not missing a Met game, not just because I was a big fan, but because I didn't want to miss the first no-hitter. I had been fortunate enough to attend Tom Seaver's "imperfect game" that was broken up by Jimmy Qualls, and while I was too young to fully appreciate what nearly happened, it helped make me look forward to when the Mets would produce a no-hitter.

In the mid-70s, when the Mets were good, but not great, a no-hitter was something to look forward to. And why not? The Mets of course had Seaver, who would take two other no-hitters into the ninth, but they also had strong pitchers such as Jon Matlack and Jerry Koosman. They played in a pitcher's park.

Instead, it turned into the Mets' version of 1918 or 1940, only unlike the Red Sox or Rangers, there was no "not since..." to mark - it had never happened. In recent years - the Mets haven't even come that close - no no-hitters entering the ninth since Seaver in 1975. It looked so hopeless that if you had asked me before the game what the Mets would do first - pitch a no-hitter or win a World Series, I would have gone with the latter, and it's not as if I expect a title anytime soon.

As for who might be most likely to pitch one on the current team, a few years ago, I might have said Oliver Perez, who did have flashes of brilliance at one time. But that goes to show just how cursed the Mets had been in this area.

I would not have guessed Johan Santana. I was just glad he was back pitching at all.

Whenever I hear a no-hitter is going on, I call Squawker Lisa, but never before the ninth. Tonight, however, I called her after the sixth. I just had a feeling. Maybe it was because Carlos Beltran's ball that hit the third-base line chalk was called foul. Santana seemed in control. His biggest hurdle seemed to be the pitch count.

When Mike Baxter crashed into the wall in the seventh, it looked like another omen. In the eighth and ninth, it seemed that no out was routine. Maybe they were bloops, but fielders had to run to catch them, and avoid running into overeager fill-in shortstop Omar Quintanilla.

By the ninth, I thought Johan was going to do it. But I'm glad he got David Freese out and did not have to face Yadier Molina one more time.

And I'm glad that Beltran's ball down the line was called foul, not just because I'm glad Santana got the no-hitter, but because I didn't want Beltran to be the one who broke it up. I thought Beltran was very underrated as a Met and I didn't want Met fans to have something else to criticize him for. I'm glad he got a good reception tonight.

Squawker Lisa likes to tease me about Dwight Gooden and David Cone going on to pitch no-hitters for the Yankees. I was irritated about Gooden at the time, though after Johan became the first pitcher to have a no-hitter after missing the previous season, I have more appreciation for what Gooden accomplished. I was happy for Cone. As with Johan, Cone had come back from serious injury. Lisa reminded me how Cone was pulled after seven no-hit innings in his first game back in 1996 after his aneurysm.

By the way,  Lisa, do you remember who started for the Expos against Cone when he pitched the perfect game? A young pitcher named Javier Vazquez.

As I rooted for Johan to complete the elusive no-hitter, I fully appreciated the grim look on Terry Collins' face. This franchise has not had much luck with injuries in recent years and they pushed their luck with Johan tonight.

But as the magnitude of what Johan did sinks in, I have no doubt that Collins made the right decision. I hope I still feel that way in a few days when we find out how Johan is recovering from his 134-pitch outing. Right now, though, I am still having a little trouble believing that, after 8,020 games, the Mets finally have a no-hitter!

***

Just added my keywords for the blog entry. "Mets" and "Johan Santana" were of course already in the label list. This entry marks the first use of the keyword "no-hitter."

***

On Saturday afternoon, I will be participating in a "Progressive Game Blog" run by the United Cardinal Bloggers. Mets and Cardinals blogs will take turns writing about the game and about their teams in general. I will be covering the first inning along with the Cardinals blog Pitchers Hit Eighth.

Tabloid sez, without any evidence, that Steinbrenners could sell Yankees

Journalists whine that bloggers make something out of nothing, but that was my reaction after reading today's Michael O'Keeffe and Bill Madden piece for the New York Daily News saying that the Yankees could be up for sale soon. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I think that sportswriters ought to have something more than hearsay and rumors and anonymous quotes before writing such an explosive story.

O'Keeffe and Madden write that:

Multiple baseball and finance sources told the Daily News they are hearing that the team the Steinbrenner family has led to seven World Series titles could be put on the block in the wake of the record sale price of $2.175 billion the Los Angeles Dodgers went for in April.

“There has been chatter all around the banking and financial industries in the city for a couple of weeks now,” one high-level baseball source told The News.

This is worthy of front-page and back-page covers in the New York Daily News? Because some anonymous Wall Street workers and baseball names are speculating about how much the Yankees could be worth, because the Dodgers were sold for so much? Spare me.

Look, it is always possible that the Steinbrenners could sell the team one day, or even sell it in the near future. But where is any evidence that this is going to happen? O'Keeffe and Madden do not have a single hard fact or on-the-record source showing that this could happen, yet they have written a news story, not an opinion column, saying that the Yanks could be for sale soon. There is only one named source in the article, Yankees president Randy Levine, who gave a flat denial to the News saying: "The Steinbrenners are not selling the team. Heck, there's not even an anonymous source saying that they will sell the team; just that they could sell the team. 

Full disclosure -- as long-time readers know, I used to work at the News, but my opinion would be exactly the same on this article whether I had worked there or not.

O'Keeffe and Madden not only make a whole lot out of supposition and rumors, they insinuate that Hal Steinbrenner may want to sell the team because he said this spring that he was a "finance geek" and that a good team didn't need a $220 million payroll in order to win. Then the article misrepresents Hal's position on the A-Rod re-signing in 2007, blaming Hank Steinbrenner for it.

They continue, "Hal Steinbrenner rarely attends games, and according to those who know him, abhors doling out the huge money long-term contracts such as the Rodriguez deal." Really? Then why did Hal sign off on that deal, as well as the CC Sabathia (seven years, and then an additional two years) and Mark Teixeira (eight years) contracts? Not to mention paying A.J. Burnett $82 million, and then paying nearly 2/3 of Burnett's last two years on the contract for him to pitch for the Pittsburgh Pirates?

Buster Olney wrote the definitive version of what happened in the A-Rod contract -- I talked about it in Subway Squawkers last year. The gist of it is that Randy Levine, not bogeyman Hank Steinbrenner, did most of the negotiations with A-Rod and his people. And A-Rod had to go to Hal's house and apologize in person for the opting-out shenanigans before he would sign off on the contract, which he did. Contrary to this story, there is no evidence that Hal opposed the A-Rod deal, just that he was ticked off over the opting-out stuff.

But who needs actual facts when the News can have sources who say stuff like this:

“Hal’s a smart businessman,” the source said. “And I’m just not sure that he considers baseball to be a smart business. I think he looks at some of these other owners, throwing $200 million at players and thinks they’re idiots — idiots that unfortunately can affect the way he does business. You have to understand, it was in Hal’s formative years in the ’80s when he saw George at his worst in terms of throwing more and more good money at bad players like Pascual Perez, Dave LaPoint, Steve Kemp, Ed Whitson and Andy Hawkins.”

Let's review. By buying the Yankees in 1973, George Steinbrenner was able to take an under $10 million investment and build a team worth several billion. Tell me in what other legal business you can get that sort of rate of return.  Sounds pretty "smart" to me.

Again, Hal signed off on all of the modern big-spending Yankee deals. He also agreed to bring back Brian Cashman, the GM who has one tool in the toolbox -- the ability to spend money. Sure, Hal has made it clear he wants the payroll to go down, but that doesn't mean 1) that he doesn't bear his own share of responsibility for the Yankee payroll and 2) that he is going to sell the team anytime soon. Besides, there are four Steinbrenner children who would have to sign off on the sale.

O'Keeffe and Madden end their piece by quoting yet another anonymous source who says: “Hal hates the players and he hates the media.”

So there you have it. Michael O'Keeffe and Bill Madden have declared that the Yankees could be for sale soon, with the "evidence" for this based solely on rumors, speculation, and twisting around of the facts. I am eagerly waiting for the News' next report, about how Ferris Bueller passed out at 31 Flavors.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Squawker Media Alert: Lisa on radio at 12:30 p.m. today

Lisa will be squawking baseball with Mike Lindsley of Syracuse's The Score 1260 at 12:30 p.m. today. If you are in the Syracuse area, you can listen to her on 1260 AM on the radio. If not, check out the station's web site and listen to her there. Thanks!

Oh no! Mets have a better record than the Yankees!

Yeah, yeah, I know that it is still early. But the fact is that on May 18, 2012, with nearly a quarter of the season played, the New York Mets have a better record than the New York Yankees, despite the over $100 million payroll differential between the two. The Mets are 21-17, and the Yanks are 20-18.

Yankee fans are used to saying "See you in October" when it comes to slow starts. After all, they have had several very sluggish starts in recent years, and still made the playoffs. But to me, so far this season seems to have more of a 2008 feel (when they didn't make the postseason at all) than a 2006 feel.

You cannot go 3 for 41 with runners in scoring position in your last five games and expect to win. And really, I've had it with seeing Joe Girardi not bench Mark Teixeira to get some rest.

I once ended up in an emergency room due to a bad case of bronchitis -- I could not breathe. So I know how debilitating a bronchial infection can be. Meanwhile, Tex has a bad bronchial infection, yet he keeps on playing, despite not exactly doing the team much good by doing so. Teixeira keeps on saying how he's going to grind through this, which is silly. Take some time off, or, more to the point, Girardi ought to make him take some time off, and maybe Teixeira might actually get better at some point.  Put it this way -- if you cannot get through a day or a game without at least one coughing fit, it's time to take a day or two off, for goodness sake. Now there's talk that Tex might finally get a day off -- about a week or so too late.


So yeah, I am a little cranky this morning, especially knowing that the Mets have a better record than the Yanks. And that is with me jinxing the Mets with my appearance twice this year!  Squawker Jon and I were at Tuesday's Met loss. Believe it or not, we sat in front of a row of eight nuns, and they still couldn't outdo my jinxing powers!

Jesus Montero's Yankee Stadium batting average falls to .471

Before the Squawkers attended last night's return of Jesus Montero to Yankee Stadium, Lisa predicted that the former Yankee would hit a home run. And he did! 

Since Lisa has managed to jinx most Met games she has attended, I was hoping to return the favor, and it looked like it might happen when Montero's homer put the Mariners ahead in the sixth inning. But it was not to be.

Last night, the Mets blew a ninth-inning lead and their five-game winning streak came to an end. The only other notable win streak the Mets have had this year (four games) came to an end when Lisa and I went to the April 10 loss to the Nationals. Maybe I should just stay out of all ballparks with Lisa when the Mets go on a winning streak.

The apologists for the disastrous Montero-Michael Pineda trade can take heart in the fact that Montero's 1-for-4 evening dropped his Yankee Stadium batting average from .500 (15-for-30) to .471. His OPS in Yankee Stadium plummeted from 1.483 to 1.462.

Meanwhile, current Yankee catcher Russell Martin isn't enjoying the cozy confines of Yankee Stadium quite as much this season. Martin is hitting just .071 (3-for-42) at the Stadium with an OPS of  only .347.

While at Yankee Stadium, I got the meatball sandwich from Parm in the Great Hall. Along with the Lobel's steak sandwich, Yankee Stadium now has two concession stands with food worthy of the offerings at Citi Field.

Mets have better record than the Yankees

Squawker Lisa, in case you don't have access to the standings, I thought you should know that the Amazing Mets are 18-13 while the Yankees are 17-14. If the season ended today, the Mets would be in the playoffs thanks to the new system, while the fourth-place Yankees would be playing golf (maybe they could invite Josh Beckett).

Despite the NL East being much improved this year while the Mets cut their payroll by $50 million, the Mets are 13-5 so far against their divisional rivals. They have already swept series from the Phillies, Marlins and Braves. In the just-completed sweep of the Phillies, the Mets had to face Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, while both Johan Santana and R.A. Dickey missed the series.

Tonight, however, I won't get to watch the Mets make their first visit to the new Miami stadium because the Squawkers will be heading up to the Bronx to see Jesus Montero's first game back in New York.

Lisa was opposed to the Montero trade from the start, while I thought it was more evenhanded, though not without risk considering how poorly Michael Pineda did in the second half last year and how bad his record was pitching outside of Seattle.

Montero has played 29 games for Seattle and been the catcher in 12 of them. Montero is now hitting .268 with 4 homers and 16 RBI.

Current Yankee catcher Russell Martin is hitting .188 with 3 homers and 7 RBI.

Tribute to Mariano Rivera from a Mets fan

For those who think that a closer's importance is overrated, let me discuss something I usually bring up about as often as I offer tributes to Yankees - the 2000 World Series.

The Mets led Game 1, 3-2, going into the ninth. If they won the first game it could have changed the tone of the whole series. The Yankees were two-time defending world champions. They had swept the last two World Series and had won 12 straight World Series games going back to 1996. The Mets, though, had won 94 games that year to the Yankees 87.  A Game 1 victory by the Mets at Yankee Stadium would have had a lot of people believing that the Mets could win. 

But the Mets had Armando Benitez as their closer. They didn't have Mariano Rivera.

Instead of an important win establishing the Mets as a serious challenger to the Yankees' title, the difference in closers resulted in a devastating loss that might have sealed the Mets' fate right there.
 Imagine if the events of Game 2, where roid-raged Roger Clemens threw a bat shard at Mike Piazza and Mariano gave up a three-run homer to Jay Payton in the ninth as the Mets rallied for five runs, only to lose, 6-5, had left the series tied, 1-1, heading to Shea, instead of giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

Mariano's reputation was already such that the fact that the Mets rallied against him would have added to the sense that the Mets could win the series. (Mariano would never allow another homer in the postseason. In 141 postseason innings, the only other homer he's given up was to Sandy Alomar Jr. in 1997.)  But because of Benitez' blown save, the Mets knew they still had to win four of five from a team that had Mariano at the end of the game.

In Game 4, it was the Yankees' turn to lead, 3-2, going into the ninth. Only the Yankees didn't have Benitez, they had Mariano, who had already pitched a scoreless eighth. In the ninth, Mariano pitched a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts. The Yankees now led the Series, 3 games to 1.

Game 5 was tied, 2-2, going into the ninth. Al Leiter gave up two runs in the ninth and left the game after throwing 142 pitches. Manager Bobby Valentine might well have taken Leiter out earlier - if he'd had Mariano in his bullpen.

With the Yankees now ahead, Mariano pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth, picked up his second straight save, and the Yankees won the World Series.

Some of you are probably thinking, so what if Mariano is no Benitez? The 2000 Mets also would have had a better chance if their shortstop had been Derek Jeter instead of Mike Bordick.

But Benitez was actually a pretty good closer. In fact, in 2000, he had a better season than Mariano did:

Benitez:  41 saves; 5 blown saves; 2.61 ERA; 1.01 WHIP; 106 K in 76 IP
Rivera:  36 saves, 5 blown saves; 2.85 ERA; 1.10 WHIP; 58 K in 75 2/3 IP

For his career, Benitez had 289 saves with a 3.13 ERA and 1.22 WHIP.

But in 30 1/3 postseason innings, Benitez had a 3.56 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP.

Mariano, as everyone knows, has spectacular career numbers: 608 saves, 2.21 ERA, 0.998 WHIP.

But his postseason numbers look like typos: 0.70 ERA; 0.76 WHIP in 141 innings with, appropriately enough, 42 saves. 

So for those who think a closer's value is overrated, think of what it means when a pitcher with those sorts of numbers is waiting for you at the end of a postseason game.

***

Three years ago, Squawker Lisa and I saw Mariano get his 500th save in a Subway Series game at Citi Field. It was also the game where Mariano got his first career RBI when Francisco Rodriguez walked him with the bases loaded. Coming only a couple of weeks after the Luis Castillo game, I was pretty fed up, especially when the Mets later sent Mariano the pitching rubber from the game.

But now I'm just sad at the likely end of a great Yankee's career that even I can admire.

Oh no, Mo! Mariano Rivera tears his ACL; career in jeopardy

This is one of the saddest posts I have written for our Subway Squawkers blog since we started writing the blog in 2006.  Mariano Rivera's career may be over, thanks to a torn ACL and a torn meniscus. Geez, it's painful even to write that. I'm still in shock over what happened.

I was out for a walk last night, talking on the phone with one of my brothers, when Squawker Jon kept on trying to call me. After a few times, I finally picked up. Jon then said he wouldn't keep on calling me if it weren't important, and told me that Mariano Rivera was carted off the field after shagging flies. Yikes, talk about a punch in the stomach.

Although Jon did say that Mo was smiling on the cart while leaving the field, as soon as I saw the clip when I got home, I figured his initial reaction indicated a torn ACL, and unfortunately, that suspicion turned out to be correct. What a nightmare.

I was very tired last night, and went to bed before the game was over, so I didn't get to hear the official diagnosis. But Squawker Jon did stay up and watch the postgame, and he sent me an email about it last night, saying that "Just saw Mariano interviewed and he was teary. Even I'm upset." I also heard from some other Met fan friends, sending prayers and positive thoughts Mariano's way.

Needless to say, Mo's absence will be felt with the Yankees. He is the greatest closer of all time, and the Yankees would never have won four rings in five years without him. He is also a great human being, too. I got to meet him a few years ago, and was very impressed with him as a person.

Some in the media are trying to insinuate that him getting hurt while shagging balls was a preventable injury. Nonsense. We're not talking about him jumping on a trampoline; Mo was doing something baseball-related. This is why I have so little patience for those who get injured off the field being reckless; there is enough that can happen within baseball to hurt a career, without going out looking for things!

There will be enough time in a later blog entry to speculate about who will ultimately replace Mo. Today isn't the time for it. I'm still heartbroken over the loss of Mariano Rivera.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Mets "Schwindle" their fans with slashed payroll

The Mets went into the season with no starting pitching depth. After Chris Schwinden's latest outing, the Mets' inability to spend any money on rotation depth has come back to haunt them.

Schwinden has now given up five earned runs with two homers in four innings in both of his starts. His ERA is 11.25. Even if you give him a pass for his first start being at Coors, you want to see a lot more against the Astros.

But Schwinden is only in there by default. If he gets pulled from the rotation, the other candidates appear to be Jeremy Hefner, claimed by the Mets after being waived by the lowly Pirates, and 41-year-od Miguel Batista, who has already bombed in a spot start this year, giving up six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings against the Giants.

The Mets got an unlucky break when Mike Pelfrey went down for the season, but it's not as if they could expect that the entire rotation could stay healthy all year. Not when Johan Santana is returning from a serious injury, R.A. Dickey is 37 years old and Jon Niese has been on the disabled list each of the last three seasons. Ironically, Pelfrey was the pitcher who never got hurt - until now.

Technically, the Mets do have a backup plan for the rotation - Chris Young, who is recovering from his own serious injury. Young went down for the year after just four starts last season. His last full season was in 2007. Young is rehabbing in the minors, but wouldn't you know it, he just suffered a setback.

At least there's no talk so far of rushing Matt Harvey or any of the other pitching prospects to the majors to fill the hole in the rotation.  Let's hope that doesn't change. Not having rotation depth could be writing off this season - no need to risk the future as well.

Andy Pettitte's Frankie Pentangeli moment

When I heard today about how Andy Pettitte indicated that he might have, um, misremembered what Roger Clemens said about HGH, my first thought was that it was something out of a movie. The Godfather, Part II, that is!

Specifically, I am referring to the infamous scene in which Frankie Pentangeli, who is set to testify as to what he knew about Michael Corleone's crimes, all of a sudden clams up. That's because Corleone has arranged for Frankie Five Fingers' brother to come in from Sicily. Seeing his brother keeps him from testifying -- he tells the Senate committee that he doesn't know anything:

The FBI guys promised me a deal. So I made up a lot of stuff about Michael Corleone. Because then, that's what they wanted. But it was all lies. Everything. They said Michael Corleone did this, Michael Corleone did that. So I said, "Yeah, sure."

The final script of the movie movie doesn't really explain why just seeing his brother would compel him not to testify, other than it being about Sicily and omerta, although Michael tells his wife Kay that "it was between those brothers." (An aside -- Pentangeli's character wasn't in the first movie, and he serves as a replacement for Clemenza after Richard Castellano, the actor who portrayed Clemenza in the movie, couldn't come to terms with Francis Ford Coppola on a new contract. While The Godfather, Part II is a great movie, I think Pentangeli's role would have been much more powerful if he were still Clemenza, like in the first film. But I digress.)

Anyhow, back to Andy Pettitte. According to his Congressional testimony, he told Laura Pettitte of what Clemens said back in the day about using HGH. However, as Ken Davidoff, now of the New York Post, reminds us:

The government’s best weapon to fight back would be to reveal that Pettitte acquired HGH from Brian McNamee, who will say he injected Clemens with illegal performance-enhancing drugs, and that Pettitte shared the details of the conversation with his wife, Laura. District Judge Reggie Walton has closed both doors, however, saying the McNamee connection would be “guilt by association” and the Laura Pettitte testimony “hearsay.”

Oh, great. Thanks, Andy, for potentially helping to set Roger Clemens free, by saying this today in court:

“As you sit here today, you believe in your heart and mind that you very well might have misunderstood Mr. Clemens in 1999 or 2000?” asked one of Clemens’s defense lawyers, Michael Attanasio. “Could have,” Pettitte said. “It’s 50-50 that you might have heard it, might have misunderstood it?” “That’s fair,” Pettitte replied.

The thing of it is, being so ambiguous, and unsure, will not change anybody's minds who thinks that Pettitte was a rat. It will not repair his friendship with The Rocket. But what it could do is give a jury reasonable doubt on finding Clemens guilty. Lovely. Thanks for nothing, Andy!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Why Brian Cashman is like Kim Kardashian, and other Yankee thoughts

Brian Cashman, the GM who brought us that wonderful Jesus Montero-Michael Pineda deal, took a cue from both "Undercover Boss" and Kim Kardashian with his appearance in the bleachers Sunday. By wearing that same stupid wig/visor than he did while rappelling a building, he had about as ridiculous -- and as obvioius -- a disguise as the bosses do on "Undercover Boss." (An aside -- is anybody on that show ever really fooled? You have some new low-level staffer wearing wigs out of the Harpo Marx Collection, and being followed by a camera crew, and nobody catches on? C'mon now.)

And Cashman was like Kim Kardashian in trying his best to make a spectacle of himself to get publicity. He's been GM since 1998, yet it took him until 2012, after he was finally on the hot seat a little bit, for him to go hang out with the proles in the bleachers? Spare me. It is about as shameless a publicity ploy as Kardashian's faux-mance with Kanye West, where they have hit up nearly every high-trafficked tourist spot in New York to show off their "love." How perfectly fake. Come to think of it, maybe we're going to see Kanye and Kim in the bleachers soon, too. Good grief.

* * *

When the best you can say about Phil Hughes' pitching is that he didn't stink as much as he has in his previous four starts, it is not a good night. Especially when he didn't even pitch as well as Hector Noesi (traded as part of the Jesus Montero/Michael Pineda deal) did last night for the Seattle Mariners.

Speaking of Montero, he went 4-for-4 last night for Seattle, and hit a home run the night before. His batting average is now up to .294 (better than every Yankee starter except for Derek Jeter) and he has hit 4 homers (as many as Jeter and A-Rod) and driven in 13 runs (which would put him at third on the Yankees). Not that the Yankees could use him or anything, especially with Nick Swisher out of the lineup.

Meanwhile, rumor has it that Pineda caught up on his reading, finishing "The Hunger Games" just in time so he could catch the movie in the theaters. Next up, to steal a joke from my friend Sully Baseball, a thrilling game of Sudoku. Good times!


What do you think? Tell us about it!

Why should Yankee players and fans have to keep Mickey Mantle's open?

There was a whole to-do in the media this weekend about how the Mickey Mantle's restaurant is in financial trouble, and may have to close. They haven't paid rent for four months, and may be evicted soon. (Imagine that!)

So Bill Liederman, the former owner of the place, is trying to raise one million dollars to keep the restaurant open. He has been trying to hit up retired Yankee players like Goose Gossage and David Cone for $10,000 each, and current players as well, and seemed annoyed that they weren't jumping to do so. "Their agents just laugh," he complained about the current team.

And this morning, I heard Liederman being interviewed on 1010 WINS asking for fans to donate $1,000 or more each and "band together" and save the restaurant, because "most Yankee fans have been there." To which I say, you have got to be kidding me in expecting fans -- or anybody -- to give money for this!

I guess I missed when a restaurant with an unusable website, serving overpriced, lousy food, with terrible service from wait staff and bartenders alike (check out the reviews online for the place -- they're brutal!), became a charity. Especially when the place's owners haven't bothered to pay their rent for this entire year.

Am I supposed to be outraged that the landlord is trying to evict them? Absolutely not. He's not running a charity, either. Of all the worthwhile things that people can spend their money on, and donate their money to, and Liederman is trying to keep a tourist trap open? No thanks, I'll pass. Especially given what a jerk Liederman is. Let me explain.

I can have a long memory on things. And I remember the stunt Liederman pulled when he owned the place. In 2004, when the Boston Red Sox beat the Yankees in the ALCS, it was naturally one of the most horrible times ever for Yankee fans. So what did Liederman do? He announced that he was renaming the place from Mickey Mantle's Restaurant to Ted Williams' Restaurant through the end of the World Series. He also sold Red Sox hats in the store.

I was appalled over that, as were many, many Yankee fans, who called and showed up to complain. That was a terrible time, and to have the owner of Mickey Mantle's, whose restaurant's existence was based on Yankee fans, do such a thing was ridiculously tasteless. Way to kick your fan base in the stomach, dude.

Then Liederman had the gall to say that The Mick gave him the idea: "His spirit came to me when the game was over and said, 'Bill, let's do this for my favorite player. Let's put Ted's name up there for a week,'" Liederman told the press at the time. How ridiculous.

Since Liederman's "joke" didn't go over well with either the Yankee fan base or with the Mantle family, the sign was pulled down within a few days, and he ended up selling the place within the year.

Now he's back in the picture, trying to get Yankee fans and players to give their hard-earned money to keep it open. To which I say, why don't you hit up your beloved Red Sox Nation for donations, dude? Sell your scheme somewhere else. I ain't buying it.


What do you think? Tell us about it!

Why trading away Jesus Montero will haunt the Yankees for years

Today's a big day for baseball -- one highly-touted rookie is making his major league debuts, and the other got a callup. Bryce Harper, who was Baseball America's No. 1 prospect in 2011, got called up from the Washington Nationals and will make his MLB debut tonight. And Mike Trout, No. 2 on that list, is getting to play today for the Los Angeles of Anaheim (they released Bobby Abreu to make room for him; Trout did get to play a bit last year, but now he's getting a more of a chance). Guess who was No. 3 on that Baseball America list? Jesus Montero, who hit a homer last night. Meanwhile, Michael Pineda (No. 16 on the list) cooled his heels after his visit earlier this week to the Carl Pavano Memorial MRI tube. Thanks for nothing, Brian Cashman.

I was getting some grief on Facebook this week, being accused of "second-guessing" the Montero-Pineda trade. Excuse me? I didn't second-guess; I first-guessed! And one of the reasons I had such misgivings over the trade was this -- that generally speaking, Yankee fans feel much more passionately, and have more invested, in homegrown players. And that it would have been awesome to see Montero hitting up a storm in pinstripes for the next decade or two.

It was exciting last September to see Montero in the big leagues for the first time, and watch him start to show the promise we had heard so much about. Now we will get to see him show that promise in Seattle, while we hear how Pineda is progressing from torn labrum surgery. Lovely.

Yet there are still some Yankee fans and media shills who insist it's still "too soon" to judge the trade. Are you kidding me? Right now, it's as big of a rout as Peyton Manning over Ryan Leaf!

Yet the pro-Cashman voices among New York sportswriters -- which is to say, pretty much all of them -- gave Cash a pass. Again. Shocking, I know. Even if you believe Cashman's story, that Pineda wasn't damaged goods, that there were no red flags due to him having a 5+ ERA and losing velocity at the end of last season, you have to wonder what the heck the Yanks were doing with the way they managed -- more like mismanaged -- Pineda.

Like why didn't the Yankees pony up and get the dye-contrast MRI in the first place? It's a true fact that the regular MRI does not catch partially torn labrums. When Pineda was shut down, they should have put him in the dye-contrast version of the Carl Pavano Memorial MRI tube. Why didn't they?

And again, let me remind you of what injury expert Will Carroll wrote on April 4, after Pineda was diagnosed with "tendinitis":

As for Pineda, he might be better served looking to another starter on his staff for a better comp. CC Sabathia had some shoulder issues early in his career. A trip to Glenn Fleisig's lab in Birmingham helped him change some things, and the results speak for themselves. Why Pineda isn't heading down there is beyond me.  

It is also odd to me, given Cashman's insistence that Seattle did not give him "damaged goods," that he would have this conversation with Pineda this spring:

Cashman said he, too, had wondered about the condition of Pineda's shoulder during spring training, when he struggled to get his fastball above 90 mph on a consistent basis.

"I asked him several times through an interpreter if he had ever been in an MRI tube at Seattle," Cashman said. "Each time, the answer was the same.

"Nunca."

Never.

Yet there is not a single voice in the mainstream sports media who covers the Yanks who will criticize Cashman for any of this, or even ask questions wondering about it all. The closest there has been to any criticism came from the New York Daily News' sports media columnist Bob Raissman, who pointed out how much the press is in the tank for Cashman. He notes that this stems from the days when Cashman was "George Steinbrenner's whipping boy," and writes:

Cashman gained the reputation of a humble nebbish who had the misfortune of working for an intransigent bully. In Cashman, the media discovered a sympathetic figure.

Those days are long gone. Cashman is a powerful executive who can mix it up, even taking on some Steinbrenner characteristics. Like playing the role of threatening bully. Yet in the mind’s eye of many who cover him, he’s still seen as the same old sympathetic figure.

Few find fault with the way he handled all aspects of the Pineda deal. Judging by the tone of the stories and commentary, the scribes/voices are dismissive and downright disgusted when any conspiracy theories are even mentioned.

This is why I laugh when people talk about the tough New York media. Because they are a bunch of marshmallows when it comes to Brian Cashman, falling all over themselves to defend him here. The way they did with Joe Torre.

One day, after Cashman is gone, and wields no power, you might actually get a real assessment of what a crummy job he has done over the last few years, but until then, fuggeddaboudit, as they say in Brooklyn.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Some Yankee fans think that with Michael Pineda-Jesus Montero trade, there must be a pony in here somewhere

I was in Whole Foods yesterday when Squawker Jon called to tell me that Michael Pineda had a torn labrum, and would be out for the year. Needless to say, my reaction didn't exactly fit the peace-and-love vibe of the store! And I am still positively irate, over 12 hours later.

Best case scenario is that Pineda comes back some time early next summer. Meanwhile, Jesus Montero is starting to heat up, and even getting enough time at catcher to qualify in that position in fantasy baseball. Not bad for somebody who we were told could never catch.

And Hector Noesi is a major league pitcher for the Mariners getting a start tonight. Given that Pineda is out for what could be a year and a half, and given that there is no guarantee he will be able to pitch the way he once did, this trade is a complete and utter disaster for the Yankees so far.

Yet there is a sizable contingent of sportswriters and Yankee fans who still say that it is "too soon" to evaluate the trade. Really? Frankly, they remind me of the naive boy in the story presented with a mound of animal excrement as a Christmas gift. In that anecdote, the little boy keeps on digging through the poop, saying, "There must be a pony in here somewhere."

Newsflash: there ain't no pony. It's not Jose Campos, who is now being touted as being a superstar to justify the trade, even though he is only in Single A. And it certainly isn't Michael Pineda, who may never live up to his promise, and could end up being more like Phil Hughes Part Deux than anything else (and Hughes was terrible again last night.)

There is no bright side for the Yankees to this trade, as much as some try to downplay this as being no big thing. And don't tell me it's simply bad luck. It should have occurred to Brian Cashman that the Mariners might have been selling him a bag of beans here. It's not just that the Mariners have a history of trying to hold up the Yankees -- remember how they demanded more in the Cliff Lee trade? It's that why would they want to trade Pineda in the first place, if he was supposed to be so great?

I was against this trade from the beginning -- it never added up to me, the way it did to the "experts." So I'm not the least bit surprised that this has ended so poorly. (Incidentally, at least trading Montero for Cliff Lee, as costly as it would have been, may have helped the Yankees win No. 28 in 2010. Instead, Cashman gave up the team's best prospect for what is turning out to be a whole heap of nothing.)

And let's review the fact that Pineda's 2011 second-half numbers were so terrible -- he went from 8-6 with a 3.03 ERA and a 1.035 WHIP to a 1-4 record in the second half, with a 5.12 ERA and a 1.224 WHIP, and a significantly diminished velocity. Gee, did it ever occur to Cashman that there could have been a physical reason for that decline?  How can he be so naive?

Then again, we're talking about a GM who actually thought that signing Everyday Pedro Feliciano to a two-year, $8 million deal was a good risk, and who seemed to be the only person in the world to be shocked that Feliciano got injured so quickly into his Yankee tenure!

Then there is what injury expert Will Carroll of Sports Illustrated wrote on February 29 of this year, before Pineda ever even threw a pitch in a spring training game, giving Pineda a "red light" as an injury risk:

The Pineda trade seems like a coup for the Yankees, even giving up a solid hitter in Jesus Montero, but Pineda is in a bad situation. He's young, coming off a season where he saw a massive innings increase and a hit-the-wall moment as bad as any we've seen in several seasons. He's a red flag risk on that alone, which is horrible. (DAN STAT). On top of that, the records of Joe Girardi and Larry Rothschild in dealing with precisely this type of situation is terrible. As much as I like Pineda the pitcher, I can't handle Pineda the risk.

Then Carroll wrote this on April 4 about Pineda:

The parallels between Pineda and Phil Hughes are too perfect. Well, not perfect, since we're talking about young pitchers and injuries. Hughes injured his leg, started overthrowing a bit, and ended up with a sore shoulder. It set back his career more than we realize, even now. Pineda came in out of condition, still showing signs of last year's workload, and finally admitted that his arm was hurting.

An MRI came back with "no structural damage" and the calming diagnosis of tendinitis. Don't be fooled. The biceps tendon is a structure, one that's important to a pitcher. One of the buzzwords in sports medicine is the "biceps-labrum complex." Essentially, the labrum and biceps tendon work in concert, in ways doctors are still figuring out. The classic "buckethandle" labrum tear might have a different mechanism than doctors long thought.

As for Pineda, he might be better served looking to another starter on his staff for a better comp. CC Sabathia had some shoulder issues early in his career. A trip to Glenn Fleisig's lab in Birmingham helped him change some things, and the results speak for themselves. Why Pineda isn't heading down there is beyond me. 

So why didn't the Yanks do what Carroll recommended? And why didn't they take Pineda's condition seriously?

All spring, we heard Cashman downplay Pineda's lack of velocity this spring and make excuses for him. Now he admits that this was a sign that he was hurt. Gee, ya think?

I have to wonder, what is it that Cashman is going to have to do to get some of his defenders to stop justifying his actions? He gave away the franchise's most highly touted prospect, somebody who he himself compared to Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols, for a player who may very well have been damaged goods in the first place. Boy, that Cash is sooooo smart, isn't he?

I have said it before and I will say it again. Brian Cashman has exactly one tool in the toolkit -- the ability to spend a lot of money. Yes, he got Nick Swisher for Wilson Betemit -- this is the trade Cashman fans always bring up whenever the subject of  his record comes up. But he got to make that trade for two reasons. One was that Ozzie Guillen despised Swisher and wanted him out. The second was that it was a salary dump -- the White Sox still owed Swisher $20+ million, and the Yanks could afford that type of salary.

Even the Curtis Granderson trade involved the ability of the Yanks to pay for his salary. (And it's not like the Yanks got a steal on getting him in the first place -- they still had to give up Ian Kennedy, Austin Jackson and Phil Coke. Granderson is a superstar now, but he didn't come cheap.)

So tell me, what are the great Brian Cashman deals in recent years that he has made on his baseball savvy? Trading for Javier Vazquez again? Trying to get back Carl Pavano? Signing Kei Igawa?

And sorry, I don't buy Cashman's story that Pineda fully tore his labrum just this weekend. Some of his acolytes think it's cute, the way Cash constantly plays fast and loose with the truth. I don't. Why should I buy anything Cashman says, when it is clear he has a very long track record of saying what he needed to, regardless of whether it was accurate or not, in order to deflect criticism? When you do things like tell reporters about how A.J. Burnett really has great numbers, and that we all need to smoke the objectivity pipe to see it, then you pay the Pirates $20 million on Burnett's salary just to get rid of him, you don't exactly come across as a truthteller.

I think it's time that some folks wake up and drink the reality potion, to use a Cashmanism. And the reality is that Brian Cashman is a pretty crummy general manager. I said at the time of the trade that I had zero faith in his judgment. My faith in his judgment now? It's less than zero!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Cheering for Jose Reyes

I went to Citi Field last night specifically to cheer Jose Reyes in his first game back in New York. I appreciate all he did for the team and can't see how anyone can blame him for leaving when the Mets did not make him an offer. I stood and cheered for his first at-bat, then treated him like any other member of the Marlins, rooting for the Mets to get him out, but not booing him, either.

I was actually more disappointed in the size of the crowd than the number of boos, which grew steadily with each of Reyes' at-bats. At least the people booing were presumably passionate Met fans, even if I disagreed with them. Unfortunately, with the latest injury news concerning Mike Pelfrey and Jason Bay, the Mets may be doomed to a lot more small, angry crowds.

As bad as it was for the Mets to allow the homegrown Reyes to leave, it was an even bigger payroll sin to skimp on depth. You simply can't go into a season assuming that nobody will get hurt, especially a member of the starting rotation. Sure, Jason Bay doesn't seem like a big loss, but he's tied for the team lead in homers with 3, and his .776 OPS is fifth-best on the team. And because the Mets have no depth, he'll have to be replaced by Mike Baxter and minor leaguer Jordany Valdespin, who's actually a middle infielder. Andres Torres is due back soon, but there's no assurance that he can stay healthy or productive?

And now there has to be an assumption that Kirk Nieuwenhuis is for real and that Lucas Duda will be for real.

As for Pelfrey, he had a 2.29 through three starts. Now the Mets appear ready to replace him in the rotation with Chris Schwinden, aka a warm body from the minors.

In today's Post, Joel Sherman says the Mets should model themselves after the Cardinals, a team that continues to be successful with a mid-level payroll. Sherman notes that while the Mets might not get back to a $140 million payroll in the near future, "they should at least be in the Cardinals’ $110 million range — and soon."

Unfortunately, they are now in the $90 million range. Imagine what the Mets could have done this year with another $20 million. Here are three possibilities:

• They could have have a bench. 
• They could have acquired another player to help make up for the loss of a star through free agency, just as the Cardinals did when they lost Albert Pujols and signed a free agent named Carlos Beltran. Obviously Beltran is no Pujols, but he is tied for second in the National League with five homers.
•  They could have re-signed Reyes.

On the bright side, Johan Santana turned in a vintage performance and reminded people that he's worth the money when he's healthy.

And, most amazing of all, the Mets won with Squawker Lisa in the ballpark!

Yes, we are showing up at Citi Field to see Jose Reyes' return

While "showing up at Citi Field" does not quite have the same ring as "showing up at Shea," Squawker Jon and I are going to be at Citi Field tonight for Jose Reyes' return to Flushing. Jon is showing up because he is a Reyes fan. I am showing up because I can't resist a chance to stick it to the Mets for not even making an offer to their best position player of the last decade (yes, Reyes is better than David Wright!)

Anyhow, we will be at the first Citi Tuesday at the ballpark. The folks at Citibank sent us information on what that entails. Here is the information we received. If you are a Citi customer, you are eligible to participate:

CITI TO INTRODUCE “CITI TUESDAYS” ADDED VALUE SPECIALS FOR METS FANS WHO ARE CITI CARDHOLDERS

New Season-Long Promotion to Offer Citi Customers and Mets Fans Rewards and Savings During Each Tuesday of the Season Beginning April 24

A Citi Tuesdays information booth will be set up by the Shea Bridge at Citi Field every Tuesday for fans to learn about the special offers. Citi customers who show their Citi credit or debit card at the booth will receive a $10 gift card (supplies are limited, offered on a first come first served basis) valid at Citi Field retail stores, concessions, restaurants, clubs, in-seat service and ticket window locations. Other Citi Tuesday rewards and benefits include:

· 10% off Mets Tuesday game day walk-up ticket purchases made with a Citi credit or debit card at Citi Field, while supplies last.

· A free gift for fans who make a purchase of $75 or more with their Citi credit or debit card, after all other discounts have been applied, at Citi Field retail locations during Tuesday games.

· Special access to the Acela and Caesars Clubs for Citi cardholders and a guest who visit the Citi Information Booth by Shea Bridge. Access is limited and will be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis.

· A complimentary dessert of their choice for fans dining in the Acela and Delta Clubs with the purchase of one entrée with a Citi credit or debit card with a maximum of two desserts per table.

· 50,000 ThankYou points to be given away to one lucky fan during Tuesday home games. All fans in attendance are eligible.

· And all season long, 10% off purchases Monday through Thursday and 5% off purchases made from Friday through Sunday when using a Citi credit or debit card at Citi Field retail locations.

On Michael Pineda, A.J. Burnett, Pedro Feliciano, and the media's double standard

I just want to, for once, admit that Squawker Jon was totally right on something. Specifically, he called the Michael Pineda injury issue correctly three weeks ago, comparing it to Phil Hughes' tendinitis, and mocking Joe Girardi for calling the diagnosis at the time "great news:"

When reporters noted that Hughes was also diagnosed with shoulder tendinitis last year, and he missed three months and finished the season with a 5.79 ERA, here was Girardi's response:

"They both got tendinitis, but I wouldn't necessarily say they're similar [injuries]," Girardi said. "There's a lot of parts to that shoulder."

Girardi's rationalizing about Pineda's injury reminds me of how some people said that Johan Santana would make it back faster than Chien-Ming Wang and others who had the same injury because all injuries are different.

Jon also noted in that column about how the Mets and Yanks get treated differently in the media when it comes to such injuries. He also has been saying to me in person that Andy Pettitte would be pitching before Pineda would.

Anyhow, now Pineda has had a setback that looks to be pretty bad -- he isn't expected back for what could be months. You know, just the way that Hughes shoulder tendinitis kept him out until after the All-Star Break.

Marc Carig wrote something rather shocking for the Star-Ledger about Pineda, talking about why the Yanks are so upset on the recent news on the pitcher (emphasis added):

When the Yankees placed Michael Pineda on the 15-day DL, they did so for two reasons.

They wanted to rest his right shoulder, which the Yankees believed to be afflicted by minor tendinitis. And they hoped to give him a chance to mentally regroup after a difficult first spring training with the Yankees. Conveniently, the minor injury afforded the Yankees the benefit of time, which they hoped Pineda would use to catch up on the conditioning he did not do in the winter.

Which is why, privately, the Yankees were stunned Saturday when the 23-year-old Pineda reported lingering pain in the back of his right shoulder.

I was against the Jesus Montero/Michael Pineda trade from Day One, and nothing has changed my mind. And to hear that he was put on the DL in part because of his conditioning is appalling. Didn't the Yankees have enough pitchers -- Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain, to name two -- who have shown up to spring training overweight and out of shape? They had to trade Montero to get another one? Good grief.

Obviously, I knew Pineda showed up fat to spring training, but to hear that he was put on the DL for said lack of conditioning is outrageous. Let me get this straight -- Pineda is in only his second season, and he is already acting like an entitled veteran? Who did the due dilgence on his personality? Yet again, Cashman shows a breathtaking lack of judgment, something he never gets called on by his buddies in the press.

Granted, Montero hasn't exactly set the world on fire as a Mariner just yet, but at least he is in shape and playing, two things Pineda is not. And I have to wonder if, yet again, Cashman got taken to the cleaners by another GM.

Also, when Cashman is not outwitted by other GMs in the game, he does dumb signings, like signing Everyday Pedro Feliciano for two years and $8 million after the Mets completely overworked him. And guess what? Chances are that Feliciano, who is recovering from rotator cuff surgery, will never pitch for the Yankees, something completely unshocking to every Met fan out there.

In other news, A.J. Burnett, the pitcher we Yankee fans are paying over $20 million for to *not* pitch for the Yankees in the next two seasons, pitched seven shutout innings Saturday for the Pittsburgh Pirates, giving up only three hits and striking out seven. And yes, he came back from an orbital bone fracture quicker than Pineda will return!

The trade of Burnett to the Pirates really did not get enough media scrutiny. As maddening as Burnett was as a Yankee, it makes no sense to me to pay him $20+ million of the $33 million owed to him to pitch somewhere else. Some Yankee fans acted like Cash was some magician for getting rid of him. Gimme a break. The Yanks would have been better off keeping him and sticking him in the bullpen than paying him so much money to pitch elsewhere, simply to keep their options open.

Anyhow, the Yanks are stuck with Pineda being injured -- he's going for a dye-contrast MRI this week -- and with Brian Cashman, the most overrated GM in all of baseball. Oh, joy.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

On "Knuckleball!" and our evening at the Tribeca Film Festival

Thanks to the folks involved with the movie Knuckleball! for getting one of our readers into the VIP section of the premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, and getting Squawker Jon and myself in as well. We all also received autographed copies of the movie poster Saturday night. Oh, and I got to meet not just renowned chef David Burke -- I was just at his Bloomingdale's eatery the night before -- but I got to meet Mr. Met, too!  How cool is that?

Anyhow, Jon has given his review of the Knuckleball! I thought the movie was really good, and that you couldn't help but feel empathy for R.A. Dickey, and (gulp) Tim Wakefield! (Wake seems like a decent guy, as he did with the Sox -- he always seemed to make No. 1 on the "Boston player I can tolerate" list!) There was footage after the Aaron Boone home run of him slumped in his chair in his locker room, and teammates comforting him. It's funny, though -- giving up that homer hasn't really stuck with him as far as his reputation, because Grady Little, not Wakefield, is the one who gets the blame for that loss. (There isn't any talk about the Red Sox's horrendous 2011 collapse, though. Too bad!)

I covered my eyes during the 2004 and 2007 Red Sox stuff, and booed Joe Torre when he was seen in a clip being interviewed for the movie. (What else would you expect from me? Torre's gotta be the bride at every wedding, and the corpse at every funeral. Enough!)

It was cool sitting with John of the Mighty Quinn Media Machine, as well as Ed from Studious Metsimus and Taryn from A Gal for All Seasons. Nice to see our blogging friends in the flesh!

The movie was fun, and the evening was a great one. Thanks, everyone!

Is this Red Sox team unlikable not just to Yankees fans, but to Boston fans?

I just finished watching Saturday's Yankees-Red Sox game on the MLB TV broadcast hooked up to my television. Well worth watching, even though I knew how it ended! What was really obvious was that Bobby Valentine is the designated Boston scapegoat for the team's woes this year -- he was getting booed way more than anybody else on the team.

Now, Bobby V certainly isn't perfect, but man, the Red Sox are an extraordinary unlikable team, and the lion's share of the blame ought to go on them, more than the manager. Boston is, what, 10-34 since September 2011? Those are 1962 Mets numbers. That speaks to a real dysfunction. Maybe the players are just mad that their little country club got busted up; maybe they are peeved they can no longer booze it up in the clubhouse or eat fried chicken during games. Boo bleeding hoo.

And what a bunch of jerks there are in the Boston clubhouse now -- even more than usual! I was struck by something Friday when watching an interview with Pedro Martinez Friday, after he spoke at Boston's 100-year celebration for Fenway Park -- how he was somebody Yankee fans loved to hate. He was a worthwhile opponent -- talented and intelligent, and a real warrior (although him pushing Don Zimmer to the ground was pretty ridiculous.) He was a real character, and fun to watch, no matter if you were rooting for him or against him.

Who do the Sox have now as their warrior, their ace? Josh Beckett, an ignorant clown who 1) has never apologized for being the ringleader of the fried chicken and beer brigade, 2) who is obsessed with finding the "snitch" who told the media about it, and 3) who reportedly blames Kevin Youkilis for the leak. Whatta guy.

Here's what Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston wrote the other day about Beckett. For all the media interest in Valentine calling out Youkilis, the more interesting story to me was this:

Josh Beckett complained bitterly about clubhouse "snitches," and it turns out he and other players made some effort to identify who the "snitch" was, the person or persons Beckett and others felt had leaked damning information about things that went on in what the players considered their inner sanctum.

There were reasons to believe Youkilis was one of the players called out by Beckett.

So, let me get this straight. You have arguably the worst September collapse ever, even with a record payroll, you think it's okay to get your drink on during games, and your biggest concern is finding the snitches? Good grief.

Then there's Dustin Pedroia, who is apparently bent out of shape that his buddy Francona is no longer in the team. Dustin, who some fans compare to Derek Jeter, had this to say the other day when it came to Bobby V calling out Youkilis:

“I know Youk plays as hard as anyone I’ve ever seen in my life and I have his back and his teammates have his back,’’ Pedroia said. “We know how hard he plays. I don’t really understand what Bobby’s trying to do, but that’s not the way we go about our stuff around here. I’m sure he’ll figure that out soon.’’...


When he was asked if Valentine’s was to try to motivate Youkilis, Pedroia replied: “Maybe in Japan or something, but over here in the US we’re on a three-game winning streak and we want to feel good and keep it rolling.

Calling out his own manager? And what is the "that’s not the way we go about our stuff around here"? No, the way the Red Sox go about their stuff around there is stinking up a storm in September, drinking in the clubhouse during games, and isolating good guys like Jacoby Ellsbury (remember how Youkilis called him out?) Take that quote that Pedroia said, and put in in the mouth of somebody that you may not like in baseball. It would be considered insubordinate by anybody else, that's for sure. Pedroia's only 28, but he already has that spoiled, entitled veteran thing down pat!

Bill Madden wrote this about how the inmates are running the asylum in Beantown, talking about the mess Valentine is in:

And this doesn’t include the near player revolt he had on his hands the very first week of spring training when, the Daily News has learned, he got all over shortstop Mike Aviles in what sources described as “a very ugly scene” during infield drills. After a group of Red Sox players confronted him with outrage, Valentine had to apologize to Aviles.

I wasn't there, but it sounds like most of the Red Sox team are all too happy to keep the place a country club, where they don't get challenged on anything. The thing is, though, I can't imagine that Red Sox fans are real happy to be rooting for these guys. Who wants to cheer for the clowns on this team? But man, is this delicious to watch for this Yankee fan!