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!

The Other Guy: Imagine if A-Rod had "acted" the way Derek Jeter did last night?

Maybe I was wrong about Derek Jeter being a bad actor. After all, his master thespian performance at Wednesday's game, where he pretended to be badly hit by the ball, not only got him first base, but it got Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon thrown out of the game for protesting.

I was out at dinner in Manhattan last night, so I missed seeing the play live. When I was heading home, I talked to Squawker Jon, who saw the play on TV and said that either Jeter was really hurt -- or really faking it! Jon thought Jeter was doing the latter.

Since then, I watched the clip (go here if you haven't seen it.) Let me tell you something --  it just goes to show what I have been saying  for years whenever Alex Rodriguez was caught in an on-field controversy, whether it be the slap play, the Ha play, or the "get off my mound" debacle. And that is that if Derek Jeter had done any of the so-called "bush league" things A-Rod had gotten lambasted for, writers and fans would be praising his gamesmanship, quick thinking, and his willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

Just take a look at what happened in the Yankees-Rays game. Jeter, who has been slumping for the last three months, took the opportunity to get on base, even though he didn't deserve to be there in that situation. When Chad Qualls' pitch hit Jeter's bat, and made a cracking noise, the captain writhed around like he got hit by it, and then literally doubled over in pain. Because of the whole dog-and-pony show Jeter put on, home plate umpire Lance Barksdale awarded Jeter first, which proved crucial when Curtis Granderson hit a two-run homer to briefly put the Yankees ahead. Ultimately, thanks to Phil Hughes serving up another homer to Dan Johnson, Tampa Bay won the game.

Jeter readily admitted in the postgame that the ball hit the bat, and not him:

Jeter, smiling slyly during his postgame exchange with the media, made no apologies for capitalizing on the opportunity.

"Well, (Barksdale) told me to go to first," he said. "I'm not going to tell him I'm not going to first. I mean, my job is to try to get on base."

Asked if he was responding to the vibration from the ball hitting the end of his bat or acting when he shook his arm, Jeter said, "Vibration. And acting. Both."

Let's review. Jeter, the manmany fans consider to have the most integrity of any player in baseball, pretended to be hit by the pitch, and he wasn't. His getting awarded first base could have been the deciding factor in the game. Then he smiled in the postgame as he not only admitted faking the whole thing, but essentially blamed the ump for falling for his act. And to top it all off, media admiringly praised his act. One example -- Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger wrote that Jeter "pulled off a performance worthy of adding another item to his trophy case: an Oscar," and said the struggling shortstop "applied a Shakespearian interpretation."


If you changed Derek Jeter's name to Alex Rodriguez in this scenario, do you think there would be one bit of positive press thrown A-Rod's way? Do you think anybody would be praising Alex's gamesmanship, great acting, quick thinking, and willingness to win? Of course not.

Look, it's not that I'm against what Jeter did last night. Good for him. He's been struggling, and the Yankees have been slumping. He wanted to get on base by any means necessary. You know, kind of like the way a struggling A-Rod tried to get on first to get something going for his team in Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS.

But it just goes to show  that Jeter, the person treated as a living saint by many Yankee fans, can be just as guilty of committing a so-called "bush league" play as A-Rod. Of course, when the captain does it, it's great baseball, but when A-Rod does it, it's a crime against humanity. As Billy Wagner would say, shocker!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

More on Tim McCarver's meltdown, and a new idea for national broadcasts

My Subway Squawkers piece on Tim McCarver's comparing the Yankees front office to Nazis and Communists was the most popular thing I've ever written for this blog. It struck a nerve with a lot of fans, and was featured and linked in a lot of places, including Yardbarker's home page (and the top story in Yardbarker's Morning Bark email Monday), AOL Fanhouse, Yahoo Sports' Big League Stew, Hardball Talk, Bleacher Report, Staten Island Live, and a whole slew of other places. Thanks, everyone, for the linkage, and thanks to Ross from NYY Stadium Insider for being the first to break the story of McCarver's insanity, posting videos of what he said.

I do think the coverage in the blogosphere had something to do with McCarver having to acknowledge Monday that he was inappropriate. And I've written a followup story on it for The Faster Times about McCarver's non-apology apology.

Also, FOX spokesman, Dan Bell gave a statement agreeing his analogy was inappropriate, saying:

"We've discussed the situation with Tim, and relayed in no uncertain terms that his choice of analogies was inappropriate, which he completely agrees with and regrets using," Bell said. "Given his contrition and flawless 25-year track record, we're comfortable no further action is necessary."

The funniest thing about that statement was the notion that McCarver has had a "flawless 25-year track record." What broadcasts are they listening to?

Heck, the infamous WWII analogy wasn't even the only dopey thing McCarver said just in that game. He also went on and on about how A.J. Burnett must have cut his hand on a "pie plate" when celebrating Nick Swisher getting the walkoff win the night before. Um, Tim, "pie" is just an expression. A.J.'s just smearing the guys' faces with a towel filled with whipped cream. No real pie is involved.You would think McCarver, Mr. Baseball Expert himself, would know better.

I just wish that when contract time comes around, FOX and ESPN wouldn't bother with even hiring national announcers. As I've been saying for years, I would love to just hear one person from each team's broadcast booth. How fun would it be to hear, say, Jerry Remy with Michael Kay? Or Vin Scully with Keith Hernandez? Not only that, but they would be a lot better informed on the teams they cover all year. It just makes sense.

Here's what St. Petersburg Times writer Tom Jones noted from fans during Saturday's Rays-Yankees broadcast. He said emails poured in from Tampa Bay fans slamming McCarver right from the beginning. While Jones said that he "thought McCarver and Fox did a decent job talking about the Rays on Saturday," he noted that "McCarver did make two missteps," one being the WWI analogy. The other was this:

One was acting shocked when the Rays attempted two safety squeeze bunts with runners on first and third and no one out in the fifth inning.

"Very unusual,'' McCarver said. "I have never seen that."

Well, it's something the Rays do all the time. In fact, they have become known for that particular play this season, and McCarver probably should've known that. Still, you could give him a mulligan. He has 30 teams to follow, and he can't be expected to know the nuances of every one.

Well, that, and McCarver doesn't seem to do any research on teams beforehand the way he used to - it sounds like he parachutes into other cities without a clue. Not that he's the only guy to do that, but it doesn't make it any better. That's another reason that the local broadcasters idea would make sense.

Look, I get that national broadcasts are supposed to appeal to the casual fan, as well as the diehard. But what better way could a casual fan learn about another team than to hear one of the team's regular voices tell them about them? It would be a lot better than all the inaccurate stuff the national guys do!

What do you think? Tell us about it!