SU has been following the Boston – Baltimore series this week up in Fenway and it’s great to see teams that really hate each other. First, you have the Manny Machado beanball stuff and the Red Sox pitchers’ inability to actually hit him. SU knows this is baseball tradition – you have to protect your players. But I say in this case, as Machado is the one who started the whole mess although obviously unintentionally when he overslid the bag and hit Pedroia in the leg, why not just stage a pre-game ceremony. Instead of having someone throw out the first pitch, have Machado stand in the batter’s box and allow a Red Sox pitcher to hit him in the side. Case closed, game on.
As mentioned earlier, SU says the Red Sox, of all teams, should not be complaining here given their history of throwing at Yankees hitters for years without retaliation. Naturally, Pedro had to weigh in on the MLB Network and say that he would have drilled Machado. Duh. Once a head hunter, always a head hunter. SU says great pitcher but no respect for him here.
The racist taunts towards Adam Jones were quite frankly pretty appalling as well as how other players including CC Sabathia weighed in that they had experienced the same thing over the years up in Boston. Anyone who has gone to a game is used to the drunken fans feeling free to say whatever they want as they paid for their ticket. SU has observed this over the years and quite frankly it’s why I will not sit in the cheap seats anymore. It’s uncomfortable. But no matter how vile and vicious the comments that you hear, I have never heard anything racist. No doubt last year’s presidential political campaign has empowered some to feel they can say anything. While the Boston fan base is mostly white, SU believes what’s happened here is just some stupid, drunken fans and is not representative of the typical crowd. Credit to the team President for being proactive here.
Speaking of bad blood, SU says check out the Celtics – Wizards series. These teams hate each other. Again, that’s how it should be. Back in the late 60s and early 70s, the Knicks and Celtics were bitter rivals. You would never see any of the players talking to each other on the court. The big money contracts, Dream Teams and common endorsements of sneakers has changed all that. SU says nothing wrong with players being as passionate as the fans when it comes to rivalries.
Yankees sitting at 17 – 9 with a +45 run differential, best in the American League. Gary Sanchez is back this weekend. If and when Greg Bird returns to his spring training form, that means 3 young guys in the thick of the line up. I know it’s early but this team has shown the ability to come from behind and play with passion. Of course, you need to have starting pitching to sustain it and that remains to be seen. Enjoy it while it lasts.
So much for the Syndegaard bulking up in the off season and not throwing program. That was an injury waiting to happen. As active commenter S. Goldman says, your rotation on paper never seems to translate on the field no matter how good it may look in the spring.
– The ceremony was well done although I can’t understand the need to bring out the gifts and describe them in detail. Maybe it’s because I never played sports at a high level, but what is the fascination with rings and did any of the fans in attendance really want to hear John Sterling describe the precise location of every stone and etching on the ring they gave Jeter?
– Jeter’s speech and tone were perfect. I know he is criticized as being boring. I think he’s just not a terribly complicated guy but he is thoughtful. He seems to be proud but also humble.
– Was A Rod missed among the Yankee stars in attendance? Not really. Until they had Carlos Beltran come out to present a gift. Maybe he’s a good friend and it’s nice to get the other team involved a little bit but Jeter and Beltran barely played together and won no championships together. This was the only moment where it felt like A Rod belonged there and the distaste Jeter has for him really shone through. For context, A Rod played many more seasons with Jeter than Beltran did. He had a more impressive career. He won a championship with Jeter. He was a Yankee much longer than Beltran. And, he’s still on the payroll so could have made the trip with no appearance fees.
– I loved watching all of the players that were in attendance but felt a little sorry for my kids. They were seeing great players. But they weren’t seeing the greatest players. I guess I was spoiled when I would see DiMaggio or Mantle at the stadium. But who knows? Reggie and Mariano and Jeter may be able to carry the torch.
– Reggie Jackson looks great. He looks like he could walk out and hit a homerun tomorrow. Bernie Williams does not.
– After yesterday, it’s hard to understand why Jeter would want to get involved with the Marlins. I’m sure the Yankees could find him something to do if he wants to be around the game a little bit. The financial benefits can’t be that meaningful to him and if he’s a figurehead investor then he’s throwing away the notion that he’ll always be associated solely as a Yankee. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense.
– Jeter’s career is obviously much more than stats. That much we know. But there are still some stats (batting average, doubles, the post-season stuff, the number of games he played while out of playoff contention) that are pretty impressive.
– Talk radio last week was all about how Jeter stacks up to past Yankee greats. Is he on the Mt. Rushmore? Obviously not. But these discussions got me to re-think the career of Yogi Berra. I have a slightly distorted picture of Berra, driven primarily by his second and third careers as a manager and loveable goofball. But those can be distractions from his playing career which was not goofy at all. The MVPs. The post season stuff. He was a great hitter in the middle of the lineup on great teams for a long time. The Yankee Mt Rushmore is without question Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio and Mantle. But Berra is closer to the Mt Rushmore than Jeter is to Berra. And this is no knock on Jeter.”