Say Goodbye, Harvey

Javier Lopez came to spring training this year with the Atlanta Braves in a bid to become Brian McCann's backup behind the plate. [Wouldn't THAT have been ironic?]. Javy, 37 years old and his best years far in the rearview, hit .188, an anemic sum which consigned him to the minor-league camp.

Instead, he retired. Now, you all may not know of this, but I've been a Braves fan for a very long time [1971], only exceeded by my loyalty to the Yankees [1958] and the Metsies [1969]. My boys grew up Braves fans, back in the days of TBS, and lil' Kevvy Pooh-Bear [who always has a way with words], when Lopez would come to the plate, Kev would always crow "There's Harvey Lopez!"

True story. So long, Javy, and thanks for the memories.

Morgan Dollar$

Morgan Ensberg has made the cut and will be a member of the Yankees this season. What other roster changes will follow? Tampa needs a third baseman whilst Eva Longoria recuperates - perhaps we will trade them Wilson Betemit? Will Alberto Gonzalez then make the big club, or Nick Green? Chris Woodward? Someone else? I don't have a feel for this just yet, but I'm thinking we might be surprised a little.

Oh, Morgan [to his credit!] wants a number change. He's #21 right now, but wishes to show deference to Paul O'Neill. Good man, Morg.

Cy Wang and Celebration

What a difference a year makes. Last season, Carl "The American Idle" Pavano took the hill on Opening Day for the Yankees, and it was a microcosm of sorts for the Yankees' season.

This year, erstwhile ace Chien-Ming Wang gets the nod, and all looks to be right in Yankee Universe. Happy Jack Chesbro and Whitey Ford, Red Ruffing, Lefty Gomez, David Cone, all have started the year for the Bombers, more often than not in the correct fashion. Again in a microcosm, our lads overcame the presence of Pavano to ultimately prevail.

Maybe there IS no stopper as I write this, but looking back through Yankees history, just how many totally dominant aces have we had? Chesbro, Ford, Guidry all had monster seasons, and each had other good years, but we've never really had a Mathewson, a Grove, Spahn or Walter Johnson. Then again, we haven't needed to in order to reach 26 World Championships. Many good pitchers will often trump one gigantic one ;-) Wang, Pettitte, Hughes, Mussina, Kennedy, for starters. I like our current crop pretty well.

Here's part 2 of my comment, though: Happy Jack Chesbro. Ever hear of him? Won 41 games for us in 1904. As fans of the New York American League franchise, we do not celebrate Happy Jack well enough, in my opinion. He never won a title for us, alas. The Highlanders, as they were known back then, lost the pennant race on the last day of the season to those Bostonians, and languished, title-less, for the better part of two decades until that most holy icon, George Herman Ruth, arrived to reverse our fortunes. Chesbro. Good pitcher, good man. Happy Jack!

Yankee Thursday

New York Yankees icon Joba Chamberlain is heading to the bullpen, as a "back end" sort of reliever. This is pretty much the same situation that he excelled at, late last year [when not being threatened by biblical plagues].

No one is sure if he will be a starter this year, at this point, although all believe that he will be a starter in the future [too many plus pitches to waste in the BP forever]. Manager Joe Girardi does not care for timetables or the inherent binding feeling, so schedules and such are just speculation.

In other news, the Yanks went up to Blacksburg, Virginia, to play an exhibition against Virginia Tech. Raised some money for some good charitable causes and got some people smiling [which is maybe even more important than the contributions]. Let me set aside political considerations for a moment and say this: what a nice gesture by the Yankees organization. Classy.

Saint Padraig's Day

I stayed far awa' frae those madding crowds, preferring instead to dine at my local fave, Daruma of Japan. By the way, Kathy has many nice Thai items on the menu now, so I had the Green Curry Chicken to honour Saint Padraig ['twas the green or mayhap the two bombs next tae it on the menu....] Some got up the back of my nose, so my nose and eyes ran and I sneezed. The tall, gangly gal who tripped coming in the door that time blessed me, and bless me!! She was made up and wearing a suit and heels [working TWO jobs now and still not marrit, and actually lookin' quite comely] but alas, no fishing, eh? haha, no. Yeah, it's cryptic. You'll have to ask if you want to know. Had a really nice convo with Miss Anastasia, who lit up when we talked about Easter egg colouring [so, I sent her an egg colouring kit. Cost me nine bux for the kit and twenty to get it there on Wednesday, when next she works.]. Gosh, she is magnetic! No, not chasing her - got me sights set on someone else, and Staci has a boyfriend anyhow. But, I think she will enjoy the egg kit [at least, I hope so]. No gift card available - hope they don't put my name all over it [gifts should be a surprise!!] Always nice to see Hiro and Kathy and Mom and tonight, Anastasia, who informed me that I have been visiting more on nights when Marina works lately. I asked her if she was jealous ;-) We laughed. Have a Happy Saint Pat's, and lift ane fer me, eh?

Injuries

Here's two ones which are completely new to me; new, in the sense of "Gee! I had never heard of someone going on the injured report before for this ailment".

Kazuo Matsui, Houston Second Baseman, just had surgery to repair an anal fissure, and will be out for two weeks. You might remember Kaz, much-ballyhooed signing by the Mets a few years back [as SS], multi-coloured hair and not a lot else except promise. Had a decent year for Colorado last year; signed to replace the retired Craig Biggio as second sacker for the 'stros. Anal fissures?

Felix Pie [uh, it's not actually pronounced "Pi"], Chicago Cubs' Centerfielder, just had what the Cubs described as minor surgery. Felix had suffered a testicular torsion injury, and the surgery attached the edge of the testicle to the wall of the scrotum. Now, if it were MY nut I was describing, and the procedures involved snipping AND sewing, I would not describe the surgery as minor. Maybe if it was your nut, though. Pie is expected to miss a handful of games ;-)

Snake, or Cake? [Reposted from my other blog]

If anyone wants to read the original, unedited version, let me know and I will send it right along. Didn't have anything original to say, today, but wanted to put something up for my Faithful Few ;-)

Are you a snake eater, or a cake eater?
Current mood: contemplative.

Are you hardcore? I wont judge anybody, but I want to hear your story. In kindergarten, I liked a Chicano girl named Tina, who was rather chubby. Joe, my classmate, called her fat. I whacked Joe upside the head with a building block. We got to visit with the Principal.

At six, I wrestled with my sister Pam. In the process, I smashed her head into the terrazzo floor, and broke her front teeth. My other sister, Jo, and I disagreed, so I stabbed her right under the eye with a pencil. I argued with my dog, Lucky. He snarled at me as he walked away, looking back at me as he walked. He walked right into the wall. I howled at that son of a bitch.

We had a play in eighth grade about boxing. I got to act across from that retard, Archie. He got carried away and really began to fight as we rehearsed. I popped him upside the head as the principal came along and asked what the Hell we were doing. I replied rehearsing.

We played slaps in ninth grade. I jumped my hand out of the way three times and had to endure free slaps from Mark Harris. After high school, he became a Florida State Trooper. He pulled some woman over on the Sunshine State Parkway, raped her and killed her. He lives in Raiford State Prison [Rapeford].

In indoor soccer, I was in goal and took a knee in the ribs. Broke two ribs. I finished the game. We lost, 14 8. I slept on a water bed. Boy, THAT was a hoot.

In Aviation Officer Candidate School [AOCS think that old Richard Gere movie An Officer and a Gentleman], the dentists pulled out all four of my wisdom teeth. We had to eat everything on out plate or face the consequences with our USMC drill instructor. We had corn tortillas that night. I ate them. Later, I noticed a bone sticking out of my gum. The dentist numbed the area and stuffed it back in. Several times. Finally I got pissed-off at the process, and used a tweezers to pull the bone fragment loose. About the size of a toothpick, and stank to high heaven. Shades of Joe Charbonneau.

The theory was that the stress of sitting on the flight deck, awaiting the steam catapult to shoot you into space, was about equal to the stress of someone trying to beat your head in. So, we all got boxing training. I got to fight Pete Tomczak, Tomcat. He hit me on the nose, which pissed me off, so I rat-a-tatted his head. Dave Busch "Busch Pilot" proclaimed Theres Machine Gun Wally. It stuck. Later, in a drunken midnight Taco Bell fiasco [drive through] he would loudly proclaim "I want a beanreeno". Classic. That was right after drunken nude midnight pool volleyball, where the Shore Patrol got called. We didnt get caught.

Outdoor soccer. We played against the SEALS I got hit so hard once, I rolled over backward and couldnt get off my head for many seconds. The SEAL got a yellow card. Go to McGurks in Coronado.

I tracked down a fly ball in left field once, and hit the chain link fence as I caught the ball. Got a white stripe on my jeans, but no blood. Scar tissue to match, though, and dropped the ball.

Outdoor soccer again, my friend Pedro hit me so hard my Xiphoid Process popped. I got 20 goals that year. Word.

Fell asleep walking once, in the Indian Ocean, where we had been on three hours of sleep for months. I was driving USS FLINT [AE-32], and lost a couple of steps coming in from the bridge wing. Woke me right up!

I bite my fingertips until they bleed for the release I feel afterward. Really. Sometimes they turn green or black. I wear a kilt at certain events. I listen to the Sex Pistols and the Clash. Are you hardcore? Tell me about it. machinegunwally sends

Unleash the Beast

Shelley Duncan v Aki Iwamura. Duncan out, Iwa cut on the thigh.

Joe Maddon called it "borderline criminal". So, let's recap for a moment, shall we?

• Having your runner round third and go helmet-first into the catcher, breaking his wrist IN SPRING TRAINING is good, hard-nosed baseball, being played the "right way".
• Your runner trying to extend a single into a double through aggressive baserunning but being gunned-down, sliding hard and going in spikes-up, the way one does when they are trying to jar the ball loose, resulting in a minor cut on the second basman's thigh, i "dirty" and borderline criminal"?

Joe Maddon, I'm calling you out, hombre`.... You, sir, are a hypocrite.

Jonny Gomes, you are a punk instigator and a poor speller.

I have no respect for either of you.

Akinori Iwamura, you are entitled to have your opinion. Please know, however, that this is America. You suffered a cut on your thigh. In America, whining about this is tantamount to admitting that you are a wussy. You are from a culture that prides itself on saving face. You have lost face, tomodachi. What if Ty Cobb had slid in on you? He went to the extra effort of sharpening his spikes, ya know?

Yankee-haters: shut up. Y'all are just scared that our lads now have huevos to go with that talent. Fear us.

Mellie, no offense meant in your direction, cher` [but, you can fear us too if you like ;-)]

Go Yankees!

27 in '08

Crash!

So Elliot Johnson ran over Frankie Cervelli at home plate yesterday.

Johnson, an obscure infielder and member of the Tampa Rays' 40-man roster, was assuredly playing hard, trying to make an impression on Rays' manager, Joe Maddon.

Cervelli, the 22 year old catcher with perhaps a big league future, suffered a broken bone in his right wrist. How long this sets him back is not immediately apparent as he probably would not have made the Yankees' roster this spring.

So, here's the deal:
How do YOU, the reader, feel about this?
Was Johnson right in running over a catcher in Spring Training?
Is NY manager Joe Girardi right in feeling that the play was excessive and unnecessary?
Will this ignite a more bitter rivalry between Tampa and New York?
Is Shelley Duncan unchained and ready to locomotive somebody?
Stay tuned......
and write your opinions here! :-)

Swings

Kei Igawa had a bad first outing in Spring Training the other day. Yankees fans, some of them, called for his head. Let's look at this rationally: he's a second-year player. He did not find immediate success in the bigs, despite his $45 million price tag [I know, total cost was even greater]. In his second outing, he and several other hurlers combined on a five inning perfect outing. Any love, fickle fans?

I notice Joba and Ian got hammered yesterday. What's next - hatin' on them as well? Roger Maris, anybody?

Here's my point: if you are a Yankee fan, shut it up, suck it up and be supportive of your team. I know several who do [Old Goat, Wolf, Charmaine, thank you] - many could stand to learn from these fine individuals. 27 in '08 and have a nice day :-)