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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Yankees 2011 - Pitchers & Catchers Work Out

There was plenty to talk about today at Yankees camp, as A.J. Burnett held court about his challenge to bounce back from a terrible 2010 season and Jorge Posada went into some detail about what life is going to be like as a full-time designated hitter (and maybe an emergency, third-string catcher).

Those will all be covered in heavy detail on Yankees.com tonight, and you can also check out Posada's thoughts on Andy Pettitte -- spoiler alert, he thinks it's not out of the question that Pettitte might appear at some point during the summer. Joe Girardi didn't exactly hold that same opinion, noting that he's always known Pettitte to be true to his word, and Pettitte promised several times that he wouldn't pitch in 2011.

Here are some other quick hits from the day at camp:

Mariano Rivera and Hector Noesi were no-shows on Day 1. Rivera was granted a pass to show up late because his children are sick with flu-like symptoms, but Brian Cashman said Rivera could be in camp on Wednesday. Even if not, Rivera marches to his own beat during the spring anyway, so this doesn't really affect much. Noesi is being stalled by a visa issue.
Posada served as an unofficial assistant catching instructor of sorts. The Yankees don't want him going through the drills just yet, although he will catch some bullpens in camp. For now, he was just along to help out as kids like Jesus Montero, Francisco Cervelli and Austin Romine got their work in.
It's possible Posada might catch a game at some point this spring, but Girardi said he'd prefer Posada get most of his at-bats as a DH. Posada wants to talk to Edgar Martinez and Jim Thome about DHing at some point to get a few tips.
CC Sabathia threw his first bullpen of the spring, to likely Opening Day catcher Russell Martin. On the subject of Martin, Brian Cashman said that Dodgers coach Larry Bowa called him recently to say, "You're going to love this guy. He really gets after it."
Burnett got one new tattoo over the winter - it's across his right forearm, reading "Fortius Quo Fidelius." It matches one that Burnett's wife has across her stomach, and Burnett said he believes it means "Strength Through Loyalty" in Latin. Of course, he said, it could mean "I Love Tacos" and he'd never really know. (It doesn't.)
Larry Rothschild worked with Joba Chamberlain today and also spoke with him on the phone this winter. Rothschild wants Chamberlain to focus on getting the ball downhill so it does not flatten on the way to the plate. He believes that will help make Chamberlain's slider sharper. Also notable - Chamberlain spent some time talking to David Wells today.
Phil Hughes' plans for the evening? Lightning vs. Flyers.
Brian Schlitter, we hardly knew you. The right-hander threw a bullpen session today in Yankees camp and will be with the Phillies in Clearwater tomorrow, claimed off waivers by Philadelphia. He was designated for assignment yesterday to make room for Andruw Jones on New York's 40-man roster. The Yankees originally got Schlitter as a waiver claim from the Cubs.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The Boss Has Left the Office !!! Steinbrenner passes away at 80 !!

0 comments Posted by pece at 5:39 PM

Another Very Sad Day for Yankee Fans.
Love him or hate him he was a TRUE Baseball Man !!!
Rest in Peace George.
The Bronx Zoo will miss it's Keeper !!

Piniella calls Steinbrenner 'father figure'
Cubs manager, a former Yankee, and Ricketts speak of Boss

CHICAGO -- Lou Piniella and George Steinbrenner had their share of run-ins, but the former Yankees player and manager had nothing but respect for "The Boss," who passed away Tuesday.

"George was like a father figure to me," Piniella said in a statement issued by the Cubs. "He treated me well, he treated me fair and he gave me a wonderful opportunity to play and manage the game we all love."

Piniella played for Steinbrenner and the Yankees from 1974-84, winning World Series rings in 1977 and '78, and managed the team in 1986, '87 and '88, although not without some interruptions. Steinbrenner dismissed him twice, replacing Piniella with Billy Martin, then rehired "Sweet Lou."

Piniella guided the Cincinnati Reds to the World Series championship in 1990, sweeping the Oakland Athletics. Piniella reportedly said after the triumph: "See, George, I can manage."

Despite their run-ins, Steinbrenner respected Piniella as well.

"I don't know if I've had another player who cared so much," Steinbrenner said in a 2001 Sports Illustrated article by Frank Deford about Piniella. "Such instinct and desire."

"George will be remembered as one of the most influential and renowned owners of a franchise in sports history," Piniella said in the statement released Tuesday. "He leaves a legacy of winning and an unwavering passion for success.

"My wife Anita and I send our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the Steinbrenner family and the Yankees organization," Piniella said. "George was very special to me and I loved him."

Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts also issued a statement upon the passing of Steinbrenner, who celebrated his 80th birthday on July 4.

"My family and I are sad to learn of the passing of George Steinbrenner early this morning," Ricketts said. "He will be truly missed by players, fans and all of Major League Baseball.

"George will be remembered for the leader he was, the championships he brought into being and his many contributions to America's pastime," Ricketts said. "My family and all of Cubs Nation send our condolences to the Steinbrenner family, the Yankees and their fans."

George Steinbrenner, Who Built Yankees Into Powerhouse,
Dies at 80

George Steinbrenner, who bought a declining Yankees team in 1973, promised to stay out of its daily affairs and then, in an often tumultuous reign, placed his formidable stamp on 7 World Series championship teams, 11 pennant winners and a sporting world powerhouse valued at perhaps $1.6 billion, died Tuesday morning. He was 80 and lived in Tampa, Fla.
The Yankees announced the death without giving a cause. Mr. Steinbrenner had been in failing health for several years and rarely appeared in public.

His death came eight months after the Yankees won their first World Series title since 2000, clinching their six-game victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at his new Yankee Stadium, and two days after the team’s longtime public-address announcer, Bob Sheppard, died at age 99.

A pioneer of modern sports ownership, Mr. Steinbrenner started the wave of high spending for playing talent when free agency arrived in the mid-1970s, and he continued to spend freely through the Yankees’ revival in the late ’70s and early ’80s, the long stretch without a pennant and then renewed triumphs under Joe Torre as manager and General Manager Brian Cashman.

The Yankees’ approximately $210 million payroll in 2009 dwarfed all others in baseball, and the team paid out millions in baseball’s luxury tax and revenue-sharing with small-market teams.

In the frenetic ’70s and ’80s, when general managers, field managers and pitching coaches were sent spinning through Mr. Steinbrenner’s revolving personnel door (Billy Martin had five stints as manager), the franchise became known as the Bronx Zoo. In December 2002, Mr. Steinbrenner’s enterprise had grown so rich that the president of the Boston Red Sox, Larry Lucchino, frustrated over losing the pitcher Jose Contreras to the Yankees, called them the “evil empire.”

But Mr. Steinbrenner — who came to be known as the Boss — and the Yankees thrived through all the arguments, all the turmoil, all the bombast. Having been without a pennant since 1964 when Mr. Steinbrenner bought them, enduring sagging attendance while the upstart Mets thrived, the Yankees once again became America’s marquee sporting franchise.

Despite his poor health, Mr. Steinbrenner attended the opening game at the new Yankee Stadium in April 2009, sitting in his suite with his wife, Joan (pronounced Jo-ann). When he was introduced and received an ovation, his shoulders shook and he cried.

He next appeared at the Yankees’ new home for the first two games of the World Series, then made his final appearance at the 2010 home opener, when Joe Girardi, the manager, and Derek Jeter, the team captain, came to his suite to present him with his 2009 World Series championship ring.

After the Yankees’ World Series victory, Mr. Girardi said, “To be able to deliver this to the Boss, to the stadium he created and the atmosphere he created around here, it’s very gratifying to all of us.” Mr. Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ principal owner and chairman, had ceded increasing authority to his sons, Hal and Hank, who became co-chairmen in May 2008. Hal Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ managing general partner as well, was given control of the team in November 2008 in a unanimous vote by the major league club owners, who acted on his father’s request.

Mr. Steinbrenner lived year-round in Tampa, but he became a New York celebrity and a figure in popular culture. He was lampooned, with his permission, by a caricature in the sitcom “Seinfeld,” portrayed by the actor Lee Bear, who was always photographed from behind at the Boss’s desk, flailing his arms and suitably imperious, while Larry David, the show’s co-creator, provided the voice. George Costanza (Jason Alexander) became the assistant to the team’s traveling secretary, whose duties included fetching calzones for Mr. Steinbrenner.

Mr. Steinbrenner also appeared in a Visa commercial with Jeter, calling him into his office to admonish him. “You’re our starting shortstop,” Mr. Steinbrenner said. “How can you possibly afford to spend two nights dancing, two nights eating out and three nights just carousing with your friends?” Jeter responded by holding up a Visa card. Mr. Steinbrenner exclaimed “Oh!” and the scene shifted to Mr. Steinbrenner in a dance line with Jeter at a night spot.

Mr. Steinbrenner was the central figure in a syndicate that bought the Yankees from CBS for $10 million. When he arrived in New York on Jan. 3, 1973, he said he would not “be active in the day-to-day operations of the club at all.” Having made his money as head of the American Shipbuilding Company, based in Cleveland, he declared, “I’ll stick to building ships.”

But four months later, Michael Burke, who had been running the Yankees for CBS and had stayed on to help manage the franchise, departed after clashing with Mr. Steinbrenner. John McMullen, a minority owner in the syndicate, soon remarked that “nothing is as limited as being a limited partner of George’s.”

Mr. Steinbrenner emerged as one of the most powerful, influential and, in the eyes of many, notorious executives in sports. He was the senior club owner in baseball at his death.

Yankee Stadium underwent a major renovation in the mid-1970s, but that did not satisfy Mr. Steinbrenner with the passing of years and the building of many new stadiums with luxury boxes catering to corporate America. He cast an eye toward New Jersey, pressed for a new stadium in Manhattan and ultimately got a $1.5 billion stadium built in the Bronx, alongside the original House That Ruth Built.

Mr. Steinbrenner found new revenue streams from cable television, first in a longtime deal with the Madison Square Garden network and then with the creation of the Yankees’ YES network. The franchise also engineered lucrative marketing deals, notably a 10-year, $95 million apparel agreement with Adidas.

In 2005, the Yankees became the second American League team to top the four million mark in home attendance (the Toronto Blue Jays did it from 1991 to 1993), drawing a league-record 4,090,696. Their home attendance rose during the next three years, reaching a league-record 4,298,655 in 2008. But attendance dipped to 3,719,358 in the first year at the new stadium, which had fewer seats and higher ticket prices.

Mr. Steinbrenner usually adored his players but at times insulted them. He called outfielder Paul O’Neill “the ultimate warrior.” (Steinbrenner idolized Generals MacArthur and Patton.) But he derided the star outfielder Dave Winfield, with whom he feuded, calling him Mr. May, pointedly contrasting him with Reggie Jackson, who had been known as Mr. October for his clutch hitting in the postseason.

He denounced the portly pitcher Hideki Irabu as a fat toad when he was late covering first base in an exhibition game.

Mr. Steinbrenner feuded with his fellow club owners, baseball commissioners and umpires. He was twice barred from baseball, once after pleading guilty to making illegal political campaign contributions. By October 1995, when he was fined for complaining about the umpires in a playoff series with the Seattle Mariners, Mr. Steinbrenner had accumulated disciplinary costs of $645,000.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Yankees announcer Bob Sheppard dies

0 comments Posted by pece at 9:19 AM

Very sad day for Yankee & Giants fans.
His voice will echo in my head forever,
from memories I will never forget.
RIP Bob

Bob Sheppard was honored by the Yankees on May 7, 2000, during his 50th season as the team's stadium announcer.
NEW YORK -- Bob Sheppard, the iconic Yankee Stadium public address announcer whose impeccable introductions of stars from Joe DiMaggio to Derek Jeter earned him the nickname "The Voice of God," has died. He was believed to be 99.

The Yankees didn't immediately release additional details but were to do so later in the day, team spokesman Jason Zillo said Sunday.

Sheppard started with the Yankees in 1951 and he last worked at Yankee stadium late in the 2007 season, when he became ill with a bronchial infection. He recorded a greeting to fans that was played at the original ballpark's final game in September 2008, and his audio recording still is used to introduce Jeter before each at-bat at home by the Yankees captain.

When the team moved into new Yankee Stadium last year, it honored him by naming the media dining room after him.

While Sheppard didn't like to give his age, a former Yankees official had confirmed in 2006 that Sheppard was born Oct. 12, 1910.

The Yankees' lineup for Sheppard's first game on April 17, 1951, included DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Mize, Yogi Berra, and Phil Rizzuto. And the opponents that day, the Boston Red Sox, were led by Ted Williams.

Sheppard became as much as a fixture in the Bronx ballpark as the familiar white stadium facade or Monument Park, tucked behind the blue outfield wall.

In May 2000, after 50 years and two weeks on the job, the team honored him with "Bob Sheppard Day" and put a plaque in his honor in Monument Park. Fans gave Sheppard a standing ovation, and legendary news anchor Walter Cronkite read the inscription. Berra, Reggie Jackson and Don Larsen were among those who stood on the field during the ceremonies.

Bob Sheppard was honored by the Yankees on May 7, 2000, during his 50th season as the team's stadium announcer.
"The voice of Yankee Stadium," read the plaque. "For half a century, he has welcomed generations of fans with his trademark greeting, 'Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Yankee Stadium."

He also served as the stadium voice of the NFL's New York Giants from 1956 through 2005, and for men's basketball and football at St. John's, where he taught. But baseball is what made him famous.

He announced at 62 World Series games and a pair of All-Star games, and introduced more than 70 Hall of Famers across his career. It was one of them, Jackson, who dubbed Sheppard "The Voice of God."

His player introductions remained consistent throughout the decades, with Sheppard imbuing each name and number with a gravitas more befitting a coronation than a ballpark: "No. 7. Mickey Mantle. No. 7." Or even "No. 58. Dooley Womack. No. 58."