2007 Baseball Season is about to start--talk about anything you want

[GeorgeSteele]

^ Rumor was that his back was acting up (http://www.courant.com/sports/baseball/hc-redsoxnotes1018.artoct18,0,5022423.story).? Also, adequate rest for Schilling these days is about a month.

[GeorgeSteele]

Torre turns down offer to return as Yanks' skipper

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3069115

[The Dog]

Torre turns down offer to return as Yanks' skipper

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3069115

was just about to post the same....

whats that sound you say??   I think....its the end of an era.

who is next to leave the yankees?

[tim_m]

Torre turns down offer to return as Yanks' skipper

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3069115

was just about to post the same....

whats that sound you say??   I think....its the end of an era.

who is next to leave the yankees?

Indeed an end to an era. I don't blame him for rejecting it. I think the incentive laden contract was a bit of a slap in the face.

I think their best chance to keep their free agents Posada, Mo and Pettitte now would be to hire Mattingly. The players love him too. I really think its his job if he wants it and i think he does.

[Loaded NightraiN]

Again George is a pussy... Talk shit but then offer him a contract 


Wish Joe woulda stayed, but  to him saying fuck this guy....

Thanks Joe for 12 great years!! 

[tim_m]

Again George is a pussy... Talk shit but then offer him a contract 


Wish Joe woulda stayed, but  to him saying fuck this guy....

Thanks Joe for 12 great years!! 

Actually it appears Randy Levine is the culprit in this. He's the one that really wanted Joe gone. I don't think George had much input. I think it was Levine and Steinbrenners sons.

[Loaded NightraiN]

Well then George shoulda kept his mouth shut 

[tim_m]

Well then George shoulda kept his mouth shut 

Agreed 

[freedom78]

I guess we now know that (currently) Beckett is better than Sabathia.  The question is whether the Sox are good enough to win two more in a row (assuming they don't blow a big lead tonight).

[tim_m]

It all depends on which shilling and DiceK show up the next two games. If they pitch the way they are capable of doing so, I like the sox chances.

[freedom78]

It all depends on which shilling and DiceK show up the next two games. If they pitch the way they are capable of doing so, I like the sox chances.

I think they have decent chances, but those are two big "ifs" (actually, one "if," if Schilling doesn't perform). 

[Mal Brossard]

Dice-K has been on the decline since the All-Star break.  Meanwhile, Westbrook has been on the rise.  Indians though I think would be better off starting Paul Byrd rather than Westbrook if it goes to 7.

[tim_m]

I would be more concerned about which Schilling shows up more then Dice-K.

[pilferk]

Torre turns down offer to return as Yanks' skipper

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3069115

was just about to post the same....

whats that sound you say??   I think....its the end of an era.

who is next to leave the yankees?

Indeed an end to an era. I don't blame him for rejecting it. I think the incentive laden contract was a bit of a slap in the face.

I think their best chance to keep their free agents Posada, Mo and Pettitte now would be to hire Mattingly. The players love him too. I really think its his job if he wants it and i think he does.

This was the Yanks way of firing him withoug firing him.  They made him an offer that no one could possibly have thought he would accept, simply so they could say "Joe left" rather than dealing with the media shitstorm and fan backlash (which I think they're going to see anyway, but maybe the animosity will be a bit less) of firing one of the, if not the, greatest managers in Yankees history.  It was a punk, disrespectful move and I'd have had more respect for the Yankees front office if they'd "shit or get off the pot": Either offer him 2 years at his '07 salary, or shake his hand, tell him you want to take the organization in a different direction, and move on. 

Instead they chose to offer him a contract that basically called him a money grubbing whore who could do better if offered the "right incentives".  It implies that Joe wasn't doing his best to make the Yanks win the past few seasons, and could do better if they dangled a financial incentive in his face.  I promise you, if Joe HAD returned, those "incentives" would not have had ANYTHING to do with the Yanks postseason performance.  It was a dumb, boneheaded move.  I have no issues with incentives for players...and not really even with managers as a "bonus", rather than an "incentive"...but cutting his salary 33%, and then holding up the dangling carrot was, IMHO, assinine, disrespectful, and classless.  Joe deserved better.

It's gonna be very odd watching the Yanks next year with Torre at the helm.  I've gotten so used to him being there, it's going to be VERY jarring to see someone else as the "face" of the Yanks.  I also wonder just what effect this is going to have on the free agents and potential free agents.  This one domino could  (not "will", but "could") have a drastic effect on the look of this team next year.  Time will tell....

[GeorgeSteele]

This was the Yanks way of firing him withoug firing him.? They made him an offer that no one could possibly have thought he would accept, simply so they could say "Joe left" rather than dealing with the media shitstorm and fan backlash (which I think they're going to see anyway, but maybe the animosity will be a bit less) of firing one of the, if not the, greatest managers in Yankees history.? It was a punk, disrespectful move and I'd have had more respect for the Yankees front office if they'd "shit or get off the pot": Either offer him 2 years at his '07 salary, or shake his hand, tell him you want to take the organization in a different direction, and move on.?

Instead they chose to offer him a contract that basically called him a money grubbing whore who could do better if offered the "right incentives".? It implies that Joe wasn't doing his best to make the Yanks win the past few seasons, and could do better if they dangled a financial incentive in his face.? I promise you, if Joe HAD returned, those "incentives" would not have had ANYTHING to do with the Yanks postseason performance.? It was a dumb, boneheaded move.? I have no issues with incentives for players...and not really even with managers as a "bonus", rather than an "incentive"...but cutting his salary 33%, and then holding up the dangling carrot was, IMHO, assinine, disrespectful, and classless.? Joe deserved better.

It's gonna be very odd watching the Yanks next year with Torre at the helm.? I've gotten so used to him being there, it's going to be VERY jarring to see someone else as the "face" of the Yanks.? I also wonder just what effect this is going to have on the free agents and potential free agents.? This one domino could? (not "will", but "could") have a drastic effect on the look of this team next year.? Time will tell....

Agree with you 100%, it was a gutless move on the part of the organization.  Valid arguments on both sides on whether he should have been brought back, but no excuse to handle the situation in this manner.  Thing is, I think he would have accepted the 1/3 pay cut so long as it was still a multi-year deal.

[freedom78]

I haven't read any stories about this...is it a FINAL offer, or was it a first offer?  If it was their final offer, then good for Joe in rejecting it!  Having to play out the postseason thinking you were about to be fired (because your boss said so!)...the man probably already gave his lockerroom "I'm proud of you, I'll miss you" speech to the players...who wouldn't want off that emotional roller coaster?

[pilferk]

I haven't read any stories about this...is it a FINAL offer, or was it a first offer?  If it was their final offer, then good for Joe in rejecting it!  Having to play out the postseason thinking you were about to be fired (because your boss said so!)...the man probably already gave his lockerroom "I'm proud of you, I'll miss you" speech to the players...who wouldn't want off that emotional roller coaster?

Reportedly, it was the ONLY offer.  As in, it was presented to Joe as "Take it or leave it".

And IMHO they knew full well he'd "leave it".....

[tim_m]

I'm glad he rejected it. It was a total slap in the face. He's done so much good with this team. He is without a doubt a hall of fame manager. Six world series appearances in 8 yrs winning 4. 9 straight division titles. In the playoffs 12 straight years. Second on the yankees all time win list for manager and less than 70 away from McCarthy. The first manager to have 2000 hits as a player and 2000 wins as a manager. I personally think he's a first ballot entry to the hall as yankee manager. This was absolutely just their way of firing him without firing him and trying to make it look like its his fault and not theirs.

Now the question who replaces him? I think its Mattingly's job if he wants it. I think Girardi might be the better choice at least for now though.

[sandman]

Rockies-Indians series would likely be TV ratings nightmare
COLUMN By LARRY A. HICKS The York Dispatch

So far, so good, as far as I'm concerned.
Almost all the big-name teams have bitten the dust -- at this writing, only the Boston Red Sox are left in the American League playoffs.

And though the Red Sox could rebound from a 3-1 deficit to win the American League Championship Series, it seems highly unlikely. So what we'll probably end up with at the end of a long season are two teams that hardly anyone knows, hardly anyone (outside their own cities) cares about and hardly anyone is going to want to watch on TV.

The wild card Colorado Rockies in the National League and the Cleveland Indians in the American League. Could anyone have predicted, at the beginning of the year, that the Rockies and Indians might play in the World Series in October? I doubt it.

Let's be honest -- even the most rabid baseball fan would have had trouble just a week ago naming more than two or three Indians players -- Kenny Lofton, maybe pitcher C.C. Sabathia and possibly designated
hitter Travis Hafner -- and probably one Rockies player, first baseman Todd Helton.

These two teams are as big a bunch of no-names as I've ever seen. Like I said, I'm fine with that.

From where I sit, that's not a bad thing. It's good for baseball, at least in the long term. I like the idea that the two best teams in baseball aren't the Yankees, Dodgers, Giants, Cardinals or any of a bunch of others that seem to make it to the playoffs year after year after year.

I like the fresh blood, young players no one has ever heard anything about.
 
MLB playoffs got off to a great start a week ago with record TV ratings. In the early rounds of the division playoffs viewership was almost 20 percent ahead of last year. Of course, at that point, big-market teams such as the Red Sox, Yankees, Angels and Cubs were still in the mix. Surely that helped.

At the same time, though, markets don't get much smaller in MLB than the Rockies and Diamondbacks. And those two teams were involved in the four lowest-rated playoff games ever to be played during TV's prime time.

Be prepared. There could be more of the same coming up. Viewership ratings for the World Series might be the worst in baseball history. Short of an unbelievable comeback by the Red Sox, can you imagine a championship with less national interest than the Indians and Rockies? Well, maybe the Texas Rangers and Florida Marlins. Then again, maybe not.

It's my hope that the true baseball fans among us will get excited about an American League team that hasn't been to the World Series for 10 years playing a National League team that's never been to the World Series.

You can bet your last dollar TV execs can't (or won't) say the same thing.

But it doesn't matter. TV ratings don't mean a hill of beans to anyone but the TV powers that be.

Come to think of it, that's what the TV wizards get for scheduling playoff games that start after 10 p.m. on the East Coast. Four-and-a-half hours later, at 2:45 a.m. Saturday, the game mercifully came to an end.

TV deserves a slapdown for such scheduling nonsense.

Sports columns by Larry A. Hicks, Dispatch columnist, run every Thursday. Reach him by e-mail at: lhick s@yorkdispatch.com.

[freedom78]

Rockies-Indians series would likely be TV ratings nightmare
COLUMN By LARRY A. HICKS The York Dispatch

Let's be honest -- even the most rabid baseball fan would have had trouble just a week ago naming more than two or three Indians players -- Kenny Lofton, maybe pitcher C.C. Sabathia and possibly designated
hitter Travis Hafner -- and probably one Rockies player, first baseman Todd Helton.

If you didn't know about the MVP caliber season that Matt Holliday was having, then you're not a rabid baseball fan.  Period.