Farewell to Jason Varitek: the catcher who fights like a girl

So new Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine is trying to ingratiate himself with Red Sox Nation by, among other things, praising retiring catcher Jason Varitek saying the Red Sox captain was "able to beat up Alex" Rodriguez. (Bobby V also said that Derek Jeter never actually practiced the flip play, and he nearly hurt himself the next day having to do a 180 and take that back!)

Anyhow, I have never understood why Red Sox fans praise that "fight" as being some great moment for their team, nor do I think that Tek "beat up" anybody. Because, frankly, Jason Varitek fought like a girl in the brouhaha. First of all, you cannot be considered a tough guy when you keep your catcher's mask during a fight. Some warrior. Second, he kept his catcher's mitt on, too. Third, he grabbed at A-Rod's face like a girl would in a hair-pulling snit fit or something. Fourth, he grabbed at Alex's crotch, too. Again, that's fighting like a girl, too.

The whole "fight" was stupid -- and orchestrated. If you may remember, Rodriguez helped the Yanks beat the Red Sox the night before, so Bronson (aka "Brandon," as A-Rod always called him) Arroyo plunked A-Rod to start something, one of the many, many times Yankees got plunked over the years by Boston pitchers. (And how long did it take for David Ortiz to get his? A decade? But I digress.)

Here is what one Red Sox blogger said the other day praising Varitek in the week that, as he puts it, "the warrior is hanging up his armor" (you mean the catcher's mask he hid in?) Emphasis added by me:

Arroyo buzzed him squarely in the back on his second trip to the plate. Rodriguez didn't like it and started jawing (that's polite for cursing out Arroyo) as he slowly walked to first base.


Sox catcher Jason Varitek decidedly didn't like what he heard, stood between Arroyo and ARod, asked ARod to repeat himself, ARod obliged and it was on. Rodriguez's head jolted back as Tek mashed his face with his catcher's mitt and then, frankly, raunched him by getting his right arm under ARod's crotch and clasped his left hand behind the ARod's buttocks and lifted. It hurts just to write about it.

Oooh, what a fighter! Puh-lease.

Look, other than the fight, I really don't dislike Varitek -- he stood up and participated in the "It Gets Better" project, and he seems like a decent enough guy, although his leadership during the fried chicken and beer brouhaha last year left something to be desired. For years, he hasn't even cracked  my least favorite Red Sox list. But please, stop telling me what a great fighter Varitek was against A-Rod. I've seen tougher fights in the girls' bathroom in high school.

What do you say? Does Jason Varitek fight like a girl?

A.J. Burnett, "The Godfather," and Fickle Fandom

It's a miracle! As I had hoped and predicted, A.J. Burnett kept with a contrariness of his career by actually pitching a great game Tuesday, after a shaky first inning.

Two things settled him down, I think. That first was Curtis Granderson's great catch (the first of two terrific Grandy Man catches of the night.) The second was the little discussion pitching coach Larry Rothschild had with Burnett after the first. Supposedly, the two talked mechanics, but I would like to think the talk went a little more like this:



Anyhow, while I wrote the other day that A.J. "could erase the last two years with one gutty, gritty performance," I then remembered the fanbase the Yankees have, where some scapegoated players never get redeemed, no matter what they do. (Not that A.J. hasn't given people a lot of reason to be frustrated with him, but he did save the Yankees' 2009 season with a great performance in Game 2 of the World Series. To me, that's what's the most frustrating about Burnett -- there is a Good A.J. in there!)

But the next time Burnett has a bad start, this game will be forgotten with some of the fan base, even though Derek Jeter said: "Trust me -- I'm pretty sure all New York fans will remember this game as opposed to some of the other games." Not everybody will. Remember that the A-Rod haters have forgotten his two MVPs as a Yankee, and his 6 homers and 18 RBI in the 2009 postseason.

I saw it on Facebook Tuesday night. One person I saw screamed "TradeRod" when he only hit a sacrifice fly to drive in a run. (Good luck with trading that contract!) Another posted on my wall that he read that AROD stood for "Another Regular October Disappointment," and when I responded "Who cares?," he said that "True Yankee fans care." (Um, I thought that True Yankee fans remembered what he did in 2009 to get the team No. 27!) A third said that the only reason Rodriguez got two hits Tuesday is because the game was already in hand. (And if he hadn't gotten a hit, he would still be Chokey McChoker, of course.)

Anyhow, A.J. did built up some goodwill with the fans with his great performance Tuesday. But unlike some Yankee players, who will never get criticized, Burnett's leash with the fans will be about as short as Joe Girardi's leash on him Tuesday night. Expect this game to go down the ol' memory hole with some fans, the way A-Rod's 2009 performance for the ages has been forgotten.

* * *

Squawker Jon had this to say, after Jesus Montero got his first hit in his postseason, after his first at-bat in the postseason. He noted that it only took Montero one at-bat with runners in scoring position to get an RBI, while it took Nick Swisher 30 at-bats to do it. Harsh!

One other thing. I listened to the presser of Ivan Nova. Some members of the media were annoyed that he said he didn't feel any pressure over Game 5, asking him over and over why not? I guess they expected him to appear in the fetal position or something, hoping that he would cry "It's all too much!"

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Why Some Yankee Fans Feel the Need to Put the Goat Horns on A-Rod

The Yankees can never just lose a game in the postseason. There always has to be a goat. And it should be no surprise that many have already decided that Alex Rodriguez is the Game 2 goat. It's amazing how the tone in Yankeeland changes so quickly -- Saturday night, everything is sunshine and lollipops. But less than 24 hours later, you'd think the series was already lost.

Anyhow, it really ticked me off last night when Alex Rodriguez was getting booed by his own team's fan base during the game. Sometimes, I really can't stand some so-called Yankee "fans." As I've said over and over in this blog over the years, booing your own home players doesn't fix anything. All it shows is that you're a fair-weather, petulant moron. And that goes for the Met fans who booed David Wright, too.

The booing yesterday -- and the subsequent media attacks on A-Rod-- are nothing but predictable. (Although I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by ESPN New York writer Wally Matthews defending Rodriguez, saying about that the scapegoating: "It isn't fair and it isn't right.")

As I have been saying for years, no matter what he ever does in the postseason, A-Rod will always be held as a scapegoat. Those booing Yankee fans who pride themselves on being so knowledgeable on Yankee history seem to have conveniently forgotten that if it weren't for him, the Bombers wouldn't have won the 2009 World Series. And all the talk back before 2009 how if he would just have one great postseason, all would be forgiven is just nonsense, as I said at the time.

Sure, A-Rod is hitless in this series, although he does have an RBI and a walk. But the Yanks only got five hits yesterday, and Jorge Posada was the one batter in the lineup to have two hits (including a triple, my favorite moment of the day.) Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano, and Curtis Granderson were the other batters to have hits. And how did Derek Jeter, aka Captain Clutch, do? He went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts, left five runners on base, did nothing when the Yanks were trying to rally in the ninth, committed an error that led to a run, and helped cause a Boone Logan balk.


Also, I wasn't crazy with Joe Girardi pitching Luis Ayala in the ninth inning. Best bullpen in baseball, and he goes to the last man in the lineup? Hey, Joe, we're not playing Tampa anymore!

I've already heard talk about switching Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira in the starting lineup -- one ignorant writer from NBC Sports' Hardball Talk even sez A-Rod should be batting eighth, with Teixeira batting cleanup, because Mark is "the better option right now." This, even though Tex has exactly one hit in the ALDS this year, and has a .168 average in the postseason as a Yankee over the last three years. When, exactly, did Tex become Mr. October?

Anyhow, CC Sabathia better win tonight, or there will be full-scale panic in Yankeeland, given that A.J. Burnett is the Game 4 starter!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Yankees vs. Detroit, 2006 and Now

I really hope the Yankees win the ALDS this week, not just because I want to see them win the World Series, but because I'd also like to see them avenge what went down in the 2006 ALDS against th TIgers. There's some real unfinished business there, with the cruelest cuts self-inflicted. I rank it second to the 2004 ALCS as the playoff series in this era that angered me the most. Here's why.

Squawker Jon and I starting writing Subway Squawker in March 2006, with the idea of capturing the Yanks and the Mets when both of them were expected to make a run for it in the playoffs. Imagine my chagrin when the Mets actually made it to within a Yadier Molina home run of the World Series (more on that in a sec!), surpassing the Yankees in the postseason.

Arguably the biggest issue for the Yanks that year was that A-Rod, coming off an MVP season, was 1) having an "off year" for him: .290, 35 homers, 121 RBI and a .914 OPS, 2) getting thrown under the bus again and again by his manager and his captain. I think Torre was trying to get him to force his way off the team by making his life miserable. He certainly wasn't trying to get the most or best out of him. (An aside -- compare and contrast with the truly classy way Terry Francona stepped away from the Sox today, acknowledging that he failed with getting players to listen to him, and being genuinely broken up about the way the season ended. But I digress.)

Anyhow, that situation was brewing all summer, and it was obvious to me at the time what was going on, from the way Torre refused to tell the fans to stop booing Rodriguez to the way he blew up, instead of tamping down, every story brewing on Rodriguez, that Joe had a nasty agenda. But every time I pointed out how much Rodriguez was being undermined and gaslighted by Joe Torre, I would hear critical responses from readers, telling me I didn't know what was going on in the clubhouse. True, but I do know a little about human nature, and a lot about passive-aggressive phonies!

And the mainstream media wouldn't acknowledge the undermining, not even when Torre hooked up with his past and future ghostwriter Tom Verducci to orchestrate "The Loneliest Yankee" hit piece, set to run on the eve of the playoffs, just when Rodriguez was in the midst of a great September. Funny thing is, though, that years after the fact, Torre finally acknowledged in "The Yankee Years" that the clubhouse was divided. Duh!

Anyhow, I think that year that Torre wanted to make sure that Rodriguez would fail in the playoffs again, so A-Rod would be off the team, even if it meant sacrificing his team's October chances. First, he batted Rodriguez sixth in Game 1, even though A-Rod hadn't been in that role all year, just to make sure to give him more scrutiny.

Also, Torre's lack of preparation for that series was breathtaking. The team never took Kenny Rogers seriously, which haunted them in Game 3, and Torre let Jim Leyland flatter him with that "Murderers Row and Cano" nonsense, playing St. Joe like a fiddle. He also never asked for the umpire to check if Rogers was doctoring the ball, something Tony LaRussa did in the World Series.And don't forget the sight of Gary Sheffield at first base.

The Yanks did win Game 1 at home,  but they never won again in that series, although they did lead in Game 2 before Mike Mussina blew that lead. Remember Mussina blaming the fact that the game was a day game, with a quieter atmosphere than it would have been if it hadn't been rained out the night before? Good grief.

Game 4 was the infamous day where Torre decided to hang the entire series on A-Rod's shoulders, scapegoating him by batting him eighth, and never telling him beforehand. Then, when the media hordes inevitably descended on Torre, he chastised them for not asking them about why he had also benched Jason Giambi. I thought what Torre did was one of the nastiest, most cowardly things I've ever seen in my life. He wasn't trying to win the game. He was trying to put the goat horns on A-Rod. And I wished that the Yankees would have fired him then and there for what he did.

Anyhow, Game 4 was the day of my cousin's wedding, so I fortunately missed seeing much of the carnage live, although I knew it was hopeless. I spent most of my cousin's wedding reception in a rage about the Yankees, capped off seeing the Mets' chanting about "Party in Queens, Funeral in the Bronx" on the TV at the banquet's room bar when the Mets clinched the NLDS.

I really hoped that Torre would be gone after that year, but the Yankees were stuck with that gold-plated phony another year. There was talk that the Yanks might get rid of him, but Steve Swindal didn't want to pay him without him managing. I said when the team brought Torre back that they would never win another playoff series until he was gone, and I was proven to be right.

Anyhow, I'd like to see the Yankees beat Detroit this year, and for A-Rod to have a huge series in October, as a little cosmic payback for the 2006 ALDS. In fact, that's my prediction -- A-Rod will have a big series, and the Yanks will win in four games.

MLB Eyes A-Rod Role in Earthquake

Did you feel the earthquake yesterday? I did, as did Squawker Jon, although neither of us quite realized what it was at first. Then, we heard what it was, we both wondered if some bitter MLB writer would find a way to blame it on Alex Rodriugez. After all, A-Rod gets blamed for everything these days. So, given that he jammed his thumb this week, we figured the injury could be blamed on him shaking the earth to cause the quake! Thus, today's silly headline.

Speaking of A-Rod, the New York Post has written about the latest casino kerfuffle.Alex reportedly went to Ruth's Chris Steak House at Mohegan Sun, tipped $100 on a $260 meal, and still had some snarky waitress say Jeter was better. And he was also criticized for supposedly not wanting to pose for photos at the casino saddened somebody who watched it. Um, A-Rod not posing for a photo at Mohegan Sun that could end up being sold for five or six figures to the, um, New York Post is about the most sensible thing he's done all year!

Anyhow, the Post also wrote that A-Rod "was spotted last Monday in a high-stakes gaming room" for two hours. But here's the deal -- Bobby Soper, the CEO of Mohegan Sun, said that Rodriguez did not gamble:

“He did have dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steak House,” Bobby Soper said of Rodriguez. “He went straight there and straight back out. He did not gamble.”

According to TheDay.com, "Soper said the casino does not generally discuss what celebrities do at the casino but noted he wanted to set the record straight about Rodriguez’ visit." But even though the New York Post story was updated more than once, they somehow never got around to including that quote. Neither did most of the other breathless reports about A-Rod at a casino. Shocker, I know.

* * *

In other news, Brian Cashman is at it again, defending A.J. Burnett's juvenile actions on the mound Saturday:

“I’ve got CC Sabathia cussing in his glove, I’ve got Paul O’Neill, who for a huge run here, was kicking water coolers. It’s not an issue. It’s just silliness. I’ve got other guys on our team doing the same stuff,” Cashman said. “I like seeing passion. I don’t want a guy walking off the mound singing ‘Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah’ and having a skip to his step after a performance like that.”

Oh, please. Aside from the fact that Cashman has to bring down other players to A.J.'s level to prove his point, his argument is stupid. Nobody would be mad if Burnett was cursing at himself over his poor performance. But instead, he cursed at Joe Girardi, his manager, something The Powers that Be in Yankeeland don't want to acknowledge, and something that none of his other teammates have done for the world to see.

At any rate, plenty of times in the postgame Burnett was practically singing "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" in interviews, not seeming the least bit upset. Of course, if some reporter were to point that out to Cashman, he'd find a way to defend that, too.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Why the Timing Is Suspicious on A-Rod Poker Story

Not to put on a tin foil hat here, but isn't it interesting timing that the Alex Rodriguez poker story broke this week just in time for the Yankees-Red Sox series? Especially given that two of the games will be nationally televised, which means that we can have Tim McCarver tell us about how in his day, Bob Gibson would never play poker. And ESPN's broadcasters can be shocked, shocked, that any ballplayer would ever be playing cards for money. You know, just the way that when A-Rod was caught cheating on his wife, they all pretended to act like he was the only baseball player to ever do such a thing?

Yes, I'm pretty cynical, but here's the thing. This is not even a new story that just happened to break about ARod; this is a story that was originally published over a month ago. So why is it being regurgitated again?

Let's take a look at the timeline:

* The week of July 1, Star Magazine ran a story about A-Rod being involved in high-stakes Hollywood poker games. Patrick Courtney, MLB Senior Vice President Of Public Relations, told RadarOnline, The Star's online partner, "This is the first we have heard about this and we will look into it."

The New York Daily News wrote about the article July 1, but the story didn't get much traction.

* A month later, just in time for the Yankees getting national media attention via Fox and ESPN game broadcasts, Star Magazine runs another story about the exact same topic -- A-Rod playing poker at these high-stakes Hollywood poker games. But they threw in some salacious details to get more media attention. There was titillating details about a near-fight, about some poker player using cocaine, and about rumors of sexual shenanigans as well. They re-released the story again this week, just in time for Yankees-Red Sox.

This time, the article proved to be catnip to the media, and it's been wall-to-wall A-Rod coverage in the press for the last two days. This, even though Dan Blizerian, the sole named source in the Star story, told the Daily News that the Star messed up the details about what poker match Rodriguez was at, insisting that A-Rod wasn't at the one with cocaine and a near-fight:

"A-Rod was not at that game," pro-poker player Dan Bilzerian told the Daily News. "It's ridiculous."


Bilzerian claimed to be the main source of the Star story, but insisted the magazine got it wrong.


"I would remember because I got stiffed," said Bilzerian, adding that the game took place at Leibel's house in November 2009.


"He wasn't there, I'm telling you," Bilzerian said of A-Rod. "He was playing in the World Series at the time."

Shockingly, Bilzerian's defense has made it into very few stories about Rodriguez playing poker.

And of course, as is usually the case when it comes to Alex Rodriguez, nothing is ever put in context. In 1997, Albert Belle admitted to not just gambling, but illegally betting on professional sports, and losing at least $40,000. (Hat tip -- Baseball Think Factory.) MLB investigated it to see if he had bet on baseball, determined that he hadn't, and never instituted any sort of disciplinary action about his bets. At the time the story broke, Sports Illustrated ran this about the issue (emphasis added):

The revelation that Albert Belle indulges heavily and frequently in sports betting had barely come to light last week when the pooh-poohing began. Even before pledging that baseball would investigate Belle's gambling, acting commissioner Bud Selig reminded the press that betting pools and friendly wagers are a part of every big league clubhouse. Jerry Reinsdorf, chairman of the Chicago White Sox, the team that signed Belle to a five-year, $55 million free-agent contract in November, said he was "not worried" because "there is no indication Albert bet on baseball." Belle himself downplayed the gambling issue, telling USA Today that he did not bet on baseball and that he and his teammates merely bet casually on other sports. Said Belle, "It's no different than anyone else's office pool."

Aside from the fact that nothing was done to Belle, I also found that Selig information interesting. Players owing money to each other, especially when some of them may be rookies or journeymen making the league minimum, is apparently okay with Selig. (And remember that anybody tells you about MLB's zero tolerance policy on gambling.) But a guy worth hundreds of millions playing poker with Hollywood A-listers is the crime of the century. Good grief.

There's also been all sorts of speculation about whether MLB will suspend Rodriguez. Aside from the fact that baseball will look to have misplaced priorities in suspending somebody for playing cards, when six MLB players have gotten DUIs this year, and none of them received any disciplinary action from baseball, there is the fact that there is nothing in MLB's rules that prohibit playing poker for money. The only rule regarding gambling is Rule 21, which specifically addresses betting on baseball. Not playing poker with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.

And forget about the idea of having A-Rod's contract voided. In contract terminations, MLB's Collective Bargaining Agreement allows the Players' Union to get an arbitrator to hear the case. And historically, the players have usually won here, as a Sports Illustrated story from last year shows. Lamarr Hoyt was convicted on drug charges, and still ultimately got paid. And Sidney Ponson and Denny Neagle ended up getting most of the money owed to them, despite drunk driving (Ponson) and prostitute solicition (Neagle) issues.

Anyhow, I guess it's too much to expect any sort of perspective or context from the press when it comes to Alex Rodriguez. But, what else is new?


What do you think? Tell us about it!

Poker Face: A-Rod Could Face Suspension for Card Game

I was just about to write about how I jinxed the Mets with my presence last night (more on that in a later Squawk) when I heard the big news that Alex Rodriguez could face suspension from Major League Baseball for being rumored to have played in high-stakes poker games.

First off, as was emphasized the last time A-Rod played in one of these poker games, it's not illegal to play in them. It is illegal to charge admission into the games, or to take a cut of the pot. In "Guys and Dolls" talk, good ol' reliable Nathan Detroit (Frank Sinatra in the movie) would be in trouble, not Sky Masterston (Marlon Brando in the film.) But I digress.

Also, as ESPN New York Wallace Matthews' interview with an MLB executive notes, while the league has two investigators working on the case, "MLB has yet to positively determine that Rodriguez took part in the games," but that same executive is talking to Matthews about suspension time , saying that "Because he had been warned about this before, I would say a possible suspension would be very much in play." Glad to know MLB is talking about punishment before finding out if he were actually involved in the crime! Who said due process was dead?

This same exec tells Matthews, "I could see us trying to pursue this a lot further. The truth is still out there somewhere." Good grief. Are they going to get Scully and Mulder on the case?

Someone else quoted in the article said:

"Bud's totally fed up with him," said a baseball insider. "It's like there's something new with him every day and it's impossible to keep up with it."

Actually, it's been very quiet on the A-Rod front in recent years, unless you consider being fed popcorn by Cameron Diaz in the Super Bowl the scandal of the century.

At any rate, whether or not Bud Selig is tired of A-Rod drama shouldn't matter. What is at issue is whether he broke the rules of baseball. And if playing poker for money is against MLB rules, then shouldn't that be enforced with events involving the team, like poker games in clubhouses and on team planes? Heck, I seem to remember Rickey Henderson and Bobby Bonilla playing poker when their New York Mets were losing a playoff game, yet there was no big investigation of them.

Anyhow, my friend Stacey Gotsulias had an excellent point in her "Spreadin' the News" blog. She noted that six players have been arrested this year for drunk driving, and none of them were suspended from baseball for their DUIs. As Stacey notes, "If MLB isn’t going to suspend people for being arrested, why are they going to suspend someone for not being arrested for something?" Excellent point!

Finally, would any of this be the subject of an MLB investigation if it weren't A-Rod? Of course not. Former Met Jeff Francoeur wrote a $50,000 check last year to then- Mets clubhouse manager Charlie Samuels. Jeff said $35,000 of it was to repay a loan from Samuels (who made 80K a year) so Frenchy could buy his parents a car in cash without his parents knowing the cost.

As Craig Calceterra wrote in the article linked above, "No one ever suggested that Francoeur did anything wrong... but it did raise eyebrows."

But imagine if it had been A-Rod instead of Francoeur. Would "fed-up" Bud Selig have looked at it differently?

What do you think? Tell us about it!

LeBron James Outdoes A-Rod in Dopey Comments

There are all sorts of columns making the comparison today that LeBron James, whose Miami Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs, is the new Alex Rodriguez, a great regular-season player who chokes in the playoffs. I can see the comparison a little, but I don't totally buy it, for several reasons.


First of all, as clueless as A-Rod can be when it comes to how to handle his image, from opting out during the World Series to saying all sorts of dopey things over the years, he never did anything as self-aggrandizing as "The Decision." When he was traded to the Yankees in 2004, the team had a press conference for him, not a pep rally. (And when he re-signed after the 2007 season, he talked to the media via conference call -- on the day the Mitchell Report was released. For once, he low-keyed it.)

Second, the comparison of LeBron to A-Rod in the 2004 ALCS, as I've heard some say, doesn't quite work. If the Yankees had been able to win Game 4, Rodriguez would be perceived as a great postseason hero. Why he gets the goat horns, when the entire team tanked the last three games, doesn't add up.

But the thing that really irks me about the comparison is that even A-Rod, somebody who didn't get that kissing himself in the mirror wasn't exactly a good look, would never say anything as offensive as what King James did last night:

James agreed the loss felt like a "personal failure" but also said  "it hurts of course, but I'm not going to hang my head low."

And he said he wouldn't let it bother him that so many were so happy to see him fail.

"Absolutely not, because at the end of the day, all the people that were rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day, they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today," James said. "They have the same personal problems they had today. I'm going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want to do with me and my family and be happy with that.

"They can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy about not only myself, but the Miami Heat not accomplishing their goal. But they have to get back to the real world at some point."


Good grief. First of all, you can't trash the fans as losers who don't have the great life you do, even when they're rooting against you. The last player to pull such a thing was Red Sox reliever Keith Foulke when he slammed Boston fans who booed him as being "Johnny from Burger King." That move didn't exactly work out well for him.

Second, fans who root for you want to hear that you actually care about losing. LeBron sounds more upset with basketball fans cheering against him than he does about losing the series. We know that LeBron is still famous. And rich. And talented. But for somebody who just lost in a spectacular fashion, he seems more concerned with getting back to his fabulous life than anybody else. And that's something not even A-Rod would be foolish enough to say.


What do you think? Tell us about it!

Did Wally Matthews' Boxing Talk Spur A-Rod to Hit Two Homers?

Even though Squawker readers tell me over and over to stop paying attention to what ESPN New York's Wallace Matthews has to say, I still read him every time he writes. Yes, it's a guilty pleasure, although I wouldn't exactly call it a pleasure!

It's more like a "there must be a pony in here somewhere" thing; while he writes a lot of silliness and hyperbole, every so often there is actually something worthwhile or interesting in his columns. And I do appreciate that Matthews has a sense of humor about himself, as evidenced in his tweets.

Anyhow, the reason I am bringing him up today is because of the pre-game talk the baseball (and occasionally, boxing) writer had with Alex Rodriguez yesterday. Matthews details it in his column:

Before the game, sitting in the Yankees' dugout, A-Rod felt like talking. And he felt like talking not about baseball, but boxing.

"What makes this guy Pacquaio so good?" he asked a reporter he knew had covered a fair number of fights.

"Relentlessness," he was told. "Determination. Viciousness."

With each adjective, his eyes got wider. Then, he went out and channeled his inner PacMan, swinging for the KO on every pitch, and later he would say that when he ripped a 3-2 pitch right at the third baseman in his first at-bat, he knew he was coming out of the funk he had been in for the past month.

"I thought my first at-bat set the tone," he said. "I was happy with every swing I took tonight, and I felt like my legs were under me. Just like a boxer."

 Heh! Maybe it was Wally's boxing talk that did it!

Matthews is teasing on Twitter about his influence on Twitter:

I am taking credit for A-Rod's big night so far. B4 the game, we talked boxing and Manny Pac in the dugout. Now, A-Rod's hitting like him

For once, a journalist was a force for good with the Yankees!

Of course, as Matthews points out later in his article, the last Yankee to break out of a slump with a two-homer day was Derek Jeter. Since then, the captain has been hitting just .138 since the slump "ended." So don't get too excited about A-Rod just yet.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Why I Always Think of Right Said Fred During Rays Home Games

Our long national nightmare is over. The Yankees finally win a game. Oh, what a relief that win last night was. It felt to actually see the Yankees doing the handshakes after the games again, after six pretty painful losses in a row.

Before I get into details of the game, I have to ask if other fellow Yankee fans think of this song -- Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" -- whenever a ball gets hit on the catwalk of Tropicana Field. Specifically, the part of the song about the catwalk! When there was the controversy over where Kelly Shoppach hit the ball last night, I got this song stuck in my head, and it won't come out!



Anyhow, I was happy to see Alex Rodriguez hit two homers, Ivan Nova show some passion when he threw his glove in the dugout (although I did flinch at first, worried that he might hurt himself!), David Robertson help the Yanks get out of that jam that got Nova out of the game, and that the Yankee lineup was actually able to rally! And welcome to The Show, Chris Dickerson!

Oh, and Jorge Posada got two hits in his return to the lineup. Although my brother says that Posada won the battle with Girardi by being batted seventh again, not eighth or ninth. Speaking of which, why is Brett Gardner batting eighth? After a rough start, he's actually hitting again -- he is .406 over his last nine games.

Anyhow, the win doesn't solve all the Yankees' issues as of late, but it's a nice start!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Did Brian Cashman Insult Derek Jeter or Compliment Him?

Quick note while watching tonight's game. Brian Cashman spoke today about Derek Jeter's importance to the Yankees. When I first heard fans griping about what Cash said, I didn't get at first why they were mad. After all, his comments looked very complimentary -- he said Jeter was "a championship-caliber contributor and an above-average shortstop."

Then Squawker Jon pointed out something else in the interview. Here is the money quote from what the GM said on ESPN 1050 radio today:

"I think he's an above-average shortstop in major league baseball," Cashman said. "He's not the same player he used to be, and how many people are when they start to get older? But I think he's a championship-caliber contributor and an above-average shortstop, and that's more than enough. We have other guys on offense that are charged with leading the way. Derek has always been a table setter, but Derek's offense isn't gonna make or break us. That's gonna come from other guys in the lineup that are expected to do more."

Squawker Jon sent me an email with the last part of that paragraph, asking, "Isn't this pretty much what A-Rod said about Jeter in the infamous article a decade ago?"

Let's take a look. Here's A-Rod's quote, from the infamous 2001 Esquire interview:

"Jeter's been blessed with great talent around him," Alex says. "He's never had to lead. He can just go and play and have fun. And he hits second—that's totally different than third and fourth in a lineup. You go into New York, you wanna stop Bernie and O'Neill. You never say, Don't let Derek beat you. He's never your concern."  

I don't think what Cashman said is that big a deal, but I do agree with Jon that the similarity in the quotes was amusing. However, I don't think the Captain will be quite as amused!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Post Publishes Juicy Tidbits From Ian O'Connor's New Book About Jeter/A-Rod Feud

Sorry I haven't squawked for a while -- I have been working on two real-life projects that have consumed almost all of my time. I knew I had better get back to squawking soon when I got this email the other day, with the subject line "Do You Know there are 2 teams in NYC?"  Here's the email:

Hey…do you guys know that there is another team in town. They are called “the Yankees.”

Would think that there is only one team in NYC, to read your blog lately.

What’s the story???

Harsh, dude! Ouch!

Anyhow, on a brighter note, Happy Easter! When I got online this morning and saw that the New York Post had information from Ian O'Connor's upcoming book, "The Captain" (you know, the one that he's been working on at the same time he's been carrying Jeter's water in his columns), I knew I'd better squawk, or some might think I was comatose!

This "exclusive" article has inside details on the feud (although, for some odd reason, the Post calls it an "unauthorized" bio), and has pretty much vindicated a lot of what I've said over the years. Some tidbits:

* Jeter, the modern day Joe DiMaggio in a lot of ways -- including holding grudges -- so intimidated one Yankee front office person who admitted to being afraid to talk to Jeter about burying the hatchet with Alex. "It would've been the last conversation I ever had with Derek," he said. "I would've been dead to him. It would've been like approaching Joe DiMaggio to talk to him about Marilyn Monroe."

* At the 2001 All-Star Game, according to the Post's account of the book, "a smitten Rodriguez introduced him to Latin songstress Joy Enriquez. Jeter wasted no time -- the singer and the shortstop began dating."

* Don Mattingly tried to get Jeter to make up with A-Rod. "I faked it with Boggs," he said. "And you have to fake it with Alex." Heh!

* Brian Cashman also asked Jeter to "fake it" with Rodriguez, after noticing Jeter's lack of defense when it came to other players and fans criticizing the third baseman. "You've got to lead them all, the ones you like and the ones you don't," he told Jeter. He asked Jeter to defend A-Rod to the fans. "I can't tell the fans what to do," Jeter countered. (Of course, Jeter did just that when it came to Jason Giambi and Chuck Knoblauch, although the article doesn't mention that.) I don't know how many times I wrote over the years that the captain's job was to stand up for all of his teammates, not just his buddies. So good for Cashman that he told him the same thing!

Then there's this tidbit:

It all came to a head during a Yankee loss in August 2006 to Baltimore.

An easy pop-up hung in the air between A-Rod and Jeter. Both players closed in and Jeter bumped into A-Rod, knocking the ball out of his glove. Jeter shot A-Rod a withering look.

The gesture did not go unnoticed. Cashman pulled Jeter aside and ordered him to knock it off.

"Listen, this has to stop," Cashman said. "Everybody in the press box, every team official, everyone watching, they saw you look at the ball on the ground and look at him with disgust like you were saying, 'That's your mess, you clean it up.' "

A-Rod also felt betrayed by manager Joe Torre, who players said added fuel to the fiery feud.

"He would never call Jeter on anything, but he'd have no problem doing it to Alex," one player told the author.

I remember that well. And I remember how much grief I got from fans for pointed out that obvious dis. Believe it or not, readers used to argue me all the time when I said it was pretty obvious Jeter couldn't stand A-Rod. But It was pretty clear to me starting with the way Jeter mumbled and grimaced through A-Rod's introductory press conference in 2004 that the Captain didn't want him on the team.

It's funny -- people would tell me over and over how Jeter would do anything to win. Yes, except for making the peace with Rodriguez!

Even though most of the New York media mostly ignored the issue as it was happening, it was pretty clear that there was a huge issue here. And since I was one of the few people anywhere writing about it, I got a lot of "How do you know, you're not in the clubhouse" in response, and people insisting that Jeter would never be so petty. Oh, really?

What's funny is that O'Connor's book, written with the cooperation of the Jeter camp, has such tidbits which reflect so negatively on Jeter (although, to be sure, the information also reflects negatively on Rodriguez, saying that Jeter didn't like A-Rod acting as a diva as a Yankee, and that A-Rod obsessed over Jeter. IMHO, I think A-Rod could have been Mother Teresa as a Yankee, and it wouldn't have made any difference!)

After all, so much of Jeter's mystique has been on his vaunted leadership skills. But instead of embracing getting the best player in baseball at the time for the team, this article makes it clear that Jeter was "less than thrilled" when A-Rod became a Yankee. And that one of the reasons the Yankees gave CC Sabathia $161 million was to mend the clubhouse, From the article:

"CC's main concern was our clubhouse, and how people got along," Cashman told the author. "I told him the truth. 'Yeah, we are broken. One reason we're committing [$161 million] to you is you're a team builder. We need somebody to bring us together.' "

I guess it would have been too much to expect the team's captain to bring the Yankees together, eh?

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Media Runs A-Rod, Cameron Diaz Movie Story With Pretty Much No Evidence

I always laugh when I hear some pompous journalist tell that old cliche, "If your mother says she loves you, check it out," implying that people in his profession wear out shoe leather (another journalistic cliche) to get the story. Because, unfortunately, the reality is sometimes a lot less glorious, especially when it comes to Alex Rodriguez.

Remember how after the Super Bowl, pretty much every single media outlet pubished an anonymously-sourced story from the Chicago Sun-Times that A-Rod went "ballistic" after being filmed getting fed popcorn by Cameron Diaz at the Super Bowl? And that it turned out the Sun-Times columnist Bill Zwecker used that exact word, "ballistic," to anonymously describe a half-dozen other anonymous celebrity reactions (what a coincidence!)? And that it took until spring training for anybody to even ask Rodriguez about the incident, which he convincingly laughed off?

Anyhow, the UK tabloid the Daily Express is now claiming that Cameron Diaz wants to make a romantic comedy about baseball, and hopefully have A-Rod co-star in it. The article, written "by Daily Express Reporter" (now there's a name to hang a story by!) claims that Diaz has created a scheme for her to spend more time with who the paper calls the "distinctly average-looking" Rodriguez. From the article:

It appears the actress is crazy about the New York Yankees player, cooking up a new project involving him so they don’t have to be apart during the new baseball season.

"Cameron actually has an idea for a romantic comedy set around Major League Baseball," reports a source close to the actress.

She’s very excited about developing her own projects and the fact this one is about a baseball player means she has good reason to spend more time with A-Rod and the Yankees.

“She’s even thinking that Alex could star in the movie with her."

There are a few gaping problems with this story, as it's clear that the writer doesn't have a clue about how either Hollywood or the baseball season works:

* Diaz has never produced a movie. And most films take years to get developed and get made, so it's extremely unlikely that she would somehow have a romantic comedy about baseball ready to go for this season. Unless they're going to remake "Fever Pitch" or something, and I really don't think that would work.

* More importantly, A-Rod is kind of busy with his day job playing baseball for the New York Yankees for the next six (hopefully seven!) months. Besides, the idea that somebody who has never acted (his IMDB credits include things like being "Audience member" at the Super Bowl, and a deodorant commerical) would not only get to star in a movie, but film it during the regular season, is just ludicrous. Even if he wanted to do that, which is extremely doubtful, there is no way the Yankees would give him permission to do so.

* There's not a single on-the-record source; the piece is solely sourced by a "friend" (an imaginary friend?) of Cameron Diaz. And the unnamed reporter never bothered to even attempt to reach A-Rod or Diaz for comment.

You would think that this ridiculous story would stay in the realm of items you see in Weekly World News or something. But you would be wrong.

Google News shows that over 150 news outlets have picked up the story and rewritten it for their own papers and sites, including the New York Daily News, Huffington Post, the Washington Post website, MSNBC's Off The Bench website, and Business Insider. But not one of them have appeared to actually, you know, call either A-Rod or Diaz for confirmation, or do any original research, let along use a modicum of critical thinking. Guess they didn't want to wear out the old shoe leather.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Shocker! Joel Sherman Says Criticism of A-Rod Is "Unfair"

Will wonders never cease? I almost spilled my morning coffee on myself when I read that the New York Post's Joel Sherman wrote a column today entitled, "Continual digs at Alex unfair."  Joel Sherman, who has taken as many cheap shots at A-Rod as any sports columnist in this town, has had enough? I can't believe it.

Sherman writes that while Rodriguez has often been his own worst enemy, he notes:

...at some point legitimate critique of Rodriguez has been usurped by something close to piling on. He is the fish in the barrel and shooting at him has become a hard-to-break habit. It feels like the fun, easy game that anyone can play.

It's 2011, and Sherman just realized this? (I thought the criticism went over the top in 2006, when his paper blamed A-Rod sunbathing in Central Park for the Yankees losing a game to the Red Sox.) But better late than never, I guess. Of course, Sherman doesn't admit the obvious truth when it comes to the media -- that writing about A-Rod sells papers and generates page views. There's a reason sportswriters are addicted to yakking about him!
 
Sherman also criticizes Hank Aaron for taking potshots at A-Rod in the Post a few weeks ago (I wrote about the unfair criticism at the time.) Aaron said, among other things, that "Rodriguez has got too many irons in the fire, right now. I think his head's not level enough to the point where he can have the kind of year that it takes in order to go by all of the records in the book."

Joel responds:

Again, Rodriguez is an easy target on many things, but focus on baseball is not one of them. His harshest detractors would concede Rodriguez obsesses on preparation; that he has the mentality of a baseball gym rat. If you think Cameron Diaz, for example, is keeping him from being ready for the 2011 season, you are wrong.

I agree with Sherman, but I wonder why it took three weeks for somebody else in the media to acknowledge that Aaron's criticism was unfair.

Sherman also criticizes "Player X "in the upcoming ESPN the Magazine for disparaging Rodriguez when saying that Albert Pujols deserved to make more than him. Of course Pujols does -- he's been the most underpaid guy in baseball for years now. (An aside --Sherman has another piece on Player X firing at Scott Boras -- and Boras firing back.)

I think Sherman's column today is a good and fair one. But I wish he, and some of his brethren in the media, would take their share of responsibility for making Rodriguez a baseball punching bag. Sure, A-Rod did bring some of it on himself by saying and doing dopey things (there's an article in the Wall Street Journal about the Yankees' media training for players, where he wryly acknowledges that he "wouldn't be the ideal guy to ask" about how to handle the media.)

But the press also has a lot to do with it. There are a lot of fans who form their opinions on players based on what they read in the papers. And players know that they can pretty much say whatever they want on A-Rod, and get lauded for it in the press, no matter how unfair. Dallas Braden, I'm looking at you! The media should be more responsible with the power they hold, because the perceptions they make on players are hard to change.

Another example of the power of the press -- after the way the media has lionized Derek Jeter in this town, why should anybody be surprised that he topped a poll as New York's all-time greatest athlete and beat out Babe Ruth? The press has written about Jeter for years as if he deserved that spot. Heck, Mike Lupica didn't bat an eye when Jeter's agent Casey Close compared Jeter to Babe Ruth in an interview! Sure, blame the fans for being short-sighted in that poll. But the press deserves their share of blame for miseducating them, too.


What do you think? Tell us about it!

Hank Aaron Questions A-Rod's focus, And I Question Hank Aaron's Logic

I wrote something for The Faster Times the other day criticizing Hank Aaron for his recent comments about Alex Rodriguez criticizing A-Rod's supposed lack of focus. Aaron complained because A-Rod said he had a "great winter" (actually, he said he had a "good winter") and said that Rodriguez should always have a good winter. Never mind that back in Aaron's day, ballplayers -- Hammering Hank included -- worked at jobs during the offseason, instead of on their physiques, and used spring training to get into shape. Aaron is entitled to his own opinion. He's not entitled to his own facts!

Anyhow, check out my article, if you haven't done so already. Thanks!

* * *

Also, in other news, I won a $50 gift certificate from FansEdge.com, thanks to a contest run by Lady Loves Pinstripes. How cool is that? Thanks, Kate, for running the contest!

Get Your Popcorn Ready: A-Rod Seems Anything But "Ballistic" at Press Conference

Yesterday evening, Squawker Jon and I were trying to figure out what would be the big sports story in the tabloids in today's papers. Would it be Hank Steinbrenner dissing Derek Jeter, or would it be A-Rod's very funny, self-deprecating remarks explaining that he really wasn't ticked off over the country seeing Cameron Diaz feeding him popcorn? Jon and I both thought it would be Yammering Hank, but as it turns out, the Knicks' trade for Carmelo Anthony knocked them both off the back page -- and in some cases, the front page!

By the way, I checked today's Chicago Sun-Times to see if Bill Zwecker, the Chicago Sun-Times gossip guy who reported that some anonymous insider claimed A-Rod "really went ballistic" after being seen on camera at the Super Bowl, would have a followup to the story. After all, Rodriguez isn't exactly known for a poker face (or for being a convincing actor), and he seemed pretty pleased recounting the story yesterday, directly contradicting Zwecker's claims. "I thought it was humorous," A-Rod said. "Who would be upset about getting fed popcorn?"

Anyhow, I didn't expect much from Zwecker as a followup, given that the columnist didn't even try to ask for A-Rod's side of the story in the first place. And there was nothing at all today on the Sun-Times' site about what Rodriguez said, although the sports department did have an article about Hank Steinbrenner's mansion-building comments.

Funny thing is, though, that Zwecker, whose source claimed A-Rod "really went ballistic" over being shown on TV, also used the word "ballistic" again in a column today about Miley Cyrus' supposed reaction to her father's disparaging interview in GQ, writing that Billy Ray's criticism of her show "Hannah Montana" is what "really made her go ballistic, according to sources close to the young superstar."

This got me curious as to how often Zwecker, or one of his anonymous sources, uses the word "ballistic" to describe a celeb's behavior. So I did a Nexis search of his Chicago Sun-Times columns, and found that word in Zwecker's column several dozen times. Now, it's one thing if a writer uses the same favorite words over and over, the way I use "good grief," "sheesh," and "puh-lease." But I do find it interesting that Zwecker's anonymous sources also use the word "ballistic" to describe anger. Here are some examples:

* An anonymous source told Zwecker that Cybill Shepherd had "gone ballistic" over her son's arrest -- January 14, 2010

* An anonymous source told Zwecker that Gerald Butler "went ballistic" over being linked romantically to Lindsay Lohan -- November 5, 2009

* An anonymous source told Zwecker that David Letterman "went ballistic" when a Letterman staffer moved in with the man who later reportedly blackmailed him -- October 8, 2009

* An anonymous source told Zwecker that LeAnn Rimes' new boyfriend Eddie Cibrian's wife Brandi Glanville went "completely ballistic" over the reported affair -- July 23, 2009

* And an anonymous source told Zwecker that Ryan O'Neal "went ballistic" when his son Redmond was arrested -- April 7, 2009

All quotes taken from a Nexis search of Zwecker's Chicago Sun-Times' columns. 

What do you think? Tell us about it!  

Is A-Rod Being a Diva or Not Over The Popcorn Incident?

I wrote Monday about the goofy-looking clip of Cameron Diaz feeding Alex Rodriguez popcorn at the Super Bowl. But the story doesn't end there.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, A-Rod was not happy about Fox cameras catching them at that moment. Bill Zwecker claims that "Alex Rodriguez wanted to slug a few folks after he spotted himself and his girlfriend Cameron Diaz being shown to the 111 million people watching the game."  His story quoted an anonymous source saying:

“He really went ballistic — thinking the cameraman was out to get them in a paparazzi-like shot. … That’s so crazy,” said my source. “Anyone who knows anything about producing a live sports event — especially something as huge as the Super Bowl — would know that those celebrity shots are purely random.

“A-Rod, of all people, should know that.”

A few points:

* Zwecker's prose is more than a little overwrought here. A-Rod "wanted to slug a few folks"? Really? I don't doubt that he was ticked off over being caught on camera in that awkward shot. But that doesn't translate into physical violence. I know the Sun-Times is a tabloid, but still. Does anybody really think A-Rod would punch somebody over this? Come on now.

* The writer fails to mention that none other than broadcaster Joe Buck himself commented at the time the clip was shown that Rodriguez wouldn't be happy with the image, implying that anybody would be embarrassed at being caught at that particular moment.



* The columnist's source is very disingenuous in saying that "A-Rod, of all people, should know that” regarding the way live events are filmed.  A-Rod, of all people, should know that the media loves to make him look stupid. Is it possible that the camera just happened to catch Rodriguez at that moment? Of course. But it's just as plausible that the camera was filming him for a while the way the paparazzi do, waiting for the "perfect" shot to make him look ridiculous. Why is that "crazy," to use the source's words? This is Fox, not PBS, after all.

* It was unclear when Fox ran its clip as to whether it was live or on tape. Granted, as my brother noted to me, it doesn't take long for Alex to do something dopey. But call me a little skeptical over the idea that the camera just happened to catch him at that moment only. Fox uses a ton of things on tape during "live" broadcasts, as we've seen when they'll be interviewing a manager "live" on the field, only to see him get thrown out of the game at the very same time he's shown in an interview (I think that happened with Ozzie Guillen a few years ago.)

* At the same time, Rodriguez has to know that when you go to a high-profile event like the Super Bowl, with a movie star on your arm, chances are that you're going to be on camera. If you don't want to get caught looking awkward with Cameron Diaz feeding you popcorn, then don't let her feed you popcorn.

* At any rate, the fact that this story has become such a big deal shows how everything involving A-Rod gets blown out of proportion. This isn't exactly Charlie Sheen on a wild night out, or Lindsay Lohan at the jewelry store. A-Rod did absolutely nothing illegal or immoral. As I noted Monday, he's sitting at the Super Bowl, with a movie star on his arm.  That "should have been a real coup for Alex," I wrote, but instead it's turned into a punch line. Which invariably happens when A-Rod is involved!

Squawker reader Symphony decried the attention to this incident, saying:

Sorry, but I continue to believe what one focuses on, criticizes, has a problem with, etc. says just as much about them as the object of their feelings.

The focus on this moment has been silly.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Why is the Derek Jeter deal taking so long, when the A-Rod deal was so quick?

Of all the gazillion articles written in the past month about how the potential Derek Jeter contract compares to the 2007 budget-busting deal with Alex Rodriguez, I haven't seen anybody write about the very short time frame -- just 19 days -- between A-Rod opting out, and Rodriguez getting another record-setting contract.

I was looking up some numbers today on it. And in my research, I discovered that although Hank Steinbrenner gets the blame from nearly everyone on the deal, Randy Levine was the Yankee front office person who did most of the actual negotiating with A-Rod, although Hank did pay the bill. And most of it was done over the phone, and away from the prying eyes of the media. Here's how it all breaks down:

* October 28, 2007: Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman breaks the news during Game 4 of the World Series that A-Rod is opting out. Word on the street is that Boras wants $350 million over 10 years. (An aside -- A-Rod ended up with $275 million, around 22% less than Boras asked for. And if A-Rod ends up achieving all the incentive goals, he'll end up with 15% than the original request. Big difference between that, and what Casey Close did in first asking for triple what the Yankees wanted to pay!)

* October 29, 2007:  Brian Cashman says the Yankees will not negotiate with A-Rod. Hank Steinbrenner agrees, saying there is "no chance" A-Rod will be a Yankee again. "It's goodbye," he says.

* October 31, 2007:  Boras says the Yankees are free to negotiate with his client, but the Yanks aren't budging -- yet.

* End of October/Early November 2007: Buster Olney's paperback version of his book "The Last Night of the Yankees Dynasty" reveals that A-Rod talked to people in the Yankees clubhouse, blaming Boras for the opt-out mess, and saying that he wanted to be a Yankee. Word reaches higher-ups, but they think it's just a bargaining tool.

* Early November, 2007:  A-Rod reaches out to Warren Buffett to ask him for advice. I wasn't able to find an exact date, but it appears to have happened around November 5. The Oracle of Omaha advises him to ditch Boras.  A-Rod contacts Joe Mallory of Goldman Sachs (the firm does business with the team) for advice on how to approach the Yankees. Mallory suggests Alex talk to Gerald Cardinale of their company.

* November 7,  2007:  Cardinale calls Randy Levine. Cardinale assures Levine that A-Rod wants to be a Yankee. But according to Olney's book, Levine is skeptical, since he knows Boras has been talking to teams at the winter meetings. However, according to Olney, the Yanks have no good options to replace A-Rod's bat in the lineup, or at third base. They tell Levine to call Cardinale back the next day.

* November 8, 2007: Levine, Malloy, Cardinale, and Rodriguez talk on a conference call. A-Rod apologizes. According to Olney, Levine says that any negotiations will proceed quickly, or not happen at all. A-Rod proposes over $300 million. Levine says the Yanks were prepared to offer Rodriguez $296 million, but would subtract $21 million because of A-Rod opting out early and costing them the Rangers' subsidy.

* November 9--10, 2007:  After around a dozen calls, the two sides agree on a basic framework for the new contract -- 10 years, $275 million, with future talk on incentives. But nothing will happen until A-Rod meets with the Steinbrenner family later that week to  apologize.

* November 14, 2007: A-Rod and then-wife Cynthia Rodriguez visit Hal Steinbrenner's house. Rodriguez apologizes to Hal and Hank. The apology is accepted.

* November 15, 2007: Word leaks out in the media about the new deal. The basic framework of the deal is done, but there is some time spent over the next week on the incentive clauses.

* November 26, 2007: The home run incentive clauses are finalized, and publicized in the press.

* December 13, 2007:  As best as I can tell, the deal has been completed for weeks, but A-Rod doesn't have a press conference with the New York media -- done via conference call -- until this date. Ironically, it's the day the Mitchell Report is released, and that garners most of the share of the media attention.

Anyhow, from what I can tell, the basic contract deal appears to have taken only took a dozen or so phone conversations to get done, in a very short time frame. As best as I can guesstimate, it took only between a week to 10 days between A-Rod reaching out to Warren Buffett, and the framework to the contract being completed. And of that time frame, it only took several days of phone conversations between Levine and A-Rod to get the deal done. I thought that was very interesting, given that the Yankees first met with Jeter and his people last month, then met again for five hours on Tuesday, and not much has happened since.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Separating Derek Jeter's playing abilities from all the hype

A friend of mine accused me the other day of "hating" Derek Jeter. Not true. What I can't stand is the nauseating myth built around the captain, giving him superpowers that simply aren't there. And some of the mythmakers need a dose of reality potion nearly as much as Jeter does with his ridiculous contract demands.

Jeter got a 10-year, $189 million from the Yankees not because of his intangibles, or his leadership, or his calm eyes, to use a Tim McCarverism. He got that kind of cheddar because he was a great player in the prime of his career. And really, all the focus on this other stuff takes away noticing the actual tangible baseball skills he has shown over the years, albeit much less so as of late.

Why isn't him being a first-ballot Hall of Famer enough? Why do we have to hear this myth, that Jeter isn't just a great player, but he's the best person to ever walk on the baseball field? That he was a better player than A-Rod, when he never was? That he doesn't care about money? That he's the greatest leader ever? It's nonsense. That's why they're called intangibles -- because you can't measure them!

I never thought Jeter was a good captain. Even before the A-Rod stuff, there was his annual "it's not the same team" post-playoffs speech he'd make every time the Yankees would lose in the postseason. Not exactly the kind of leadership that Paul O'Neill and David Cone provided in the late '90s dynasty.

As Newsday columnist Ken Davidoff noted:

Remember, when free agent CC Sabathia voiced concerns about the Yankees' clubhouse to Cashman, the GM admitted to the big lefty that the clubhouse was "broken."


That's because Jeter, the team captain, could never work through his issues with Alex Rodriguez (and he apparently still can't, since you'd be naive to think Jeter's current contract demands have nothing to do with A-Rod). It's because Jeter did not help create an open, welcoming environment....


It did indeed take the arrival of Sabathia - and even A.J. Burnett a little bit, at least in his first year - to eliminate the "Choose a side, Jeter or A-Rod" - vibe that existed in the Yankees' clubhouse for a long time.

If Donovan McNabb could welcome dog killer Michael Vick to the Philadelphia Eagles -- a dog killer who ended up taking his job, yet -- then I don't think it was too much for Jeter to get over his issues with A-Rod. It was up to the captain to make the peace there. No less than Joe Torre admitted in "The Yankee Years" that the clubhouse was divided. How is that conducive to winning? How does that make Jeter any sort of great leader?

I remember watching A-Rod's first press conference with the Yanks, where he looked as happy as a clam. Meanwhile, Jeter mumbled through the whole thing, and looked like Vick killed his dog or something. I don't care if A-Rod is the most annoying person in the world; he was also the greatest player in baseball at the time. The fact that Jeter allowed his personal feelings to cloud what was good for the team was contrary to what he's supposed to be all about -- winning.

Then there are Jeter's ridiculous contract demands after coming off the worst season of his career. Yet except for Ken Davidoff and Bill Madden, most of the New York writers have given him a pass, just avoiding directly criticizing him. Are they worried that if they say something, Jeter will cut off their access or something? It's very peculiar.

One writer --MLB columnist Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com -- did say what needed to be said:

Jeter gets bonus points for the respectable way he's gone about his business the last 16 years, but he's pushing the limits. Yes, he's the face of the Yankees, but he is not bigger than the Yankees. His agent's contract suggestions, however, suggest he believes otherwise, and that's more of a slap in the face to "the Yankees brand" than anything the Yankees themselves are bringing to the table in this ridiculous melodrama....


Let's not make this a matter of respectful worship for a sacred cow. This is a negotiation between a team and a player, plain and simple. And if Jeter is adamant about receiving anything resembling $23 million a year, then the Yankees ought to instruct him to negotiate elsewhere.

I agree!
What do you think? Tell us about it!

What would have happened with Derek Jeter's contract situation if A-Rod hadn't opted out?

I wrote a piece for The Faster Times the other day wondering about what would be happening in the Derek Jeter contract saga if there weren't Alex Rodriguez's contract in the picture. Check it out here.

Also, my Red Sox friend Sully of Sully Baseball interviewed me yesterday for his podcast. It was great fun to talk to him -- we actually have very similar takes on sports, despite the teams we root for. One of Sully's main points over the years is how Boston fans and New York fans have more in common than you'd think. For example, the baseball season never ends in these areas -- fans talk 24/7 about their teams, even in the dead of winter. You go to most other parts of the country, and that isn't the case.

Will let you know when you can hear the podcast. It should be very entertaining.