Brett Gardner one of the backbones of the Yankees

Brett has always been underrated, remember when all the experts were saying he would only be a 3rd or fourth outfielder. Yet every year someone always wants to trade for him.
Even last year look what happened when he was hurt (he tried to play for a week hurt) they took him out because of his injury and the team slowed down.

Every team needs someone like him in the lineup, and the Yankees have he and Ells...which is even better for the hitters behind them.
He is playing out of position as a left fielder, he hasn't got the offensive power tools for that spot but then again he has some things other power hitters don't have...speed, clutch hitting, all-out hustle and never quits!
I saw him play in Trenton back in 2006 and mentioned him on a blog I was on as being a very good guy to put on the fast track. As things have a way of happening with guys that aren't big time power hitters and the team needing right handed hitting at that time, they took their time with him...too much time!
As an all-out player, he needs rest, which he hasn't gotten for a long time because of Ells injury. Ells goes down and Brett slows down at the plate, too much time without rest is his worse enemy!

Why Buy Players, What about our Farm

Why do some fans want to buy pitchers when we have enough now? Most everyone complains about the farm system, but keeping kids on the farm is not the way to go. We lost a good pitcher in the rule 5 draft, plus a few others. One can only protect 40 players then what do you do?

It has to be a "Use'um or lose'um thing. Depending on injury reports we have about 5 pitchers to fight it out for the number 5 spot and the same or more for the bullpen all of them are good... are they a good enough force to be reckoned with...no one knows until they pitch against live major league hitters. A few of them have a few innings under their belt already and did well.

Who was it that said, we had to have the best players at every position, the core 4+1 came from the farm...so can others. Jeter, Mo, Posada and Andy all came to spring training not knowing if they would make the cut...except Jeter, he was the replacement for our injured SS.

Once a player gets to AAA and does well...after 4-5 years on the farm...they can develop a real bad attitude quickly.

The history of minor league players is hard to figure out. One reason is because some are better than what they have shown on the Farm or not as good. There have been many players come up to the Show and take-off like a pro and then fizzle out, conversely, much more adjusted to the game and became Jeters and or Andys.

One prime example was Don Mattingly, he was a double and Avg. hitter, so they said, but he adjusted. The great Mickey Mantel was sent back down because he didn't adjust to the big show and the speed etc. Brett is another one, all the experts said he would be a good 4th or fifth outfielder at best.

A-Rod...One of the Games Great Talents

One of the greatest talents to play baseball in my lifetime, and he screwed it all up thinking he needed that something extra. What a jerk, fans may say his ego got to him, I say nay, nay! 

I think it was his lack of self-confidence, not his ego! Playing with the two teams before the Yankees, he got little recognition for his game, it was always Nomar and Jeter. Is there anyone out there in the baseball world that can honestly say; "A-Rod wasn't the best SS or player in baseball"? When one stipulates he hadn't used drugs until he joined Texas. take his first 8 years and compute what might have been without the dirt he inflicted upon himself.

What A-Rod said of Jeter was the truth, just think about it. If Jeter had played for any other team than the Yankees or Boston he would have been a very good singles hitter playing SS and nothing more! All those years A-Rod was the best SS but who knew, not the baseball fans! Jeter would never have played SS for 20 years on other teams as he did with the Yankees. Being the poster boy for the Yankees made him out to be much better than he really was. Pitchers didn't worry about him or any other singles hitter, but they pitched very tough to guys like Tino, Bernie, A-Rod, O'Neill, Giambi and Posada. Power hitters don't get 3,000 hits 
very often...A-Rod will be one of nine power 
hitters to make the 3,000 hit club, joining 19 single hitters in said club! He will also be one of three in the 3,000 hit and 600 home runs club

Jeter gave the Yankee fans someone to look up to and kids to emulate for over 20 years and go in the HoF because he played for the Yankees just the same as Joe T got into the hall for the same reason. Being on the right team at the right time gives one a much better chance than others with as much if not more talent going into the Hall.

You fans are Spoiled

You guys are spoiled, you grew up with the core 4+ and thought it was going to be that way every year.

Hell, I grew up with the greatest winners of all-time, 16 World Series Wins out of 21 tries. Then the depression hit the Team, nothing at all from 1965 thru 1975 and again from 1982 thru 1994.

And now because of three years not making the playoffs some of you sound like the world is coming to an end and want to pick up your balls and go home. Some fans you are!

Yes, there are many problems with the team from Ownership on down to some of the contracts we have that are not productive.

As I have stated a few times, the good teams had about 4-6 home boys and some of the rest were FA or trades. Which was detrimental to the Farm system, we always gave up too much for a player near the end of his rope. Everyone (King George etc.) forgot the keyword in any endeavor, "Balance" in the sports field, war, business or life...one must have Balance! Spend when needed, trade when needed but balance all that with the kids down on the farm.

Bryan's article above is a good one to read and think about, do you see how he has replaced players with our very own Farmers? Now that is the way to go, have any of you given a thought to the next 5 to 10 years at all? I kind of doubt it very much? Have any of you ever played 3 Dimensional Chess, you should try it, the first kills only mean something in the "now" of the game but, not the outcome of said game.

For all we know, the Yankees are being taught to play like "Chess", not paying too much for guys ready for the downslide and using our own guys when they show they are good enough or better than what is on the market.

If there had been a 26-30-year-old very good SS out there to be had (without giving up players we could use ourselves) then one goes for it...because of "need", not because we wanted him.

"Chris" a True Fish Story

I was fishing one day when a young man joined me. we started talking about baseball and he said he was taking a few weeks off from baseball.
It seamed he was a pitcher for a minor league team and was not getting the job done.
I began by asking him what he threw and the speed of each.
He said a 90-93+/- FB, very good change, curve (working on) a power slider that is workable and a so so cutter.
I asked him how he threw, short or long arm, side, over the top, 3/4 what?
He started by saying, what do you mean short or long arm? I asked him to show me, he did, he was another Ewell Blackwell type (long arm). I told him there were a bunch of kids (17-21) playing at the park (very good park), the fish don't like us, let's go.
He was a bit impressed when I told him I had a big time fast ball at about 82-86, he laughed and said most people say they had a 92-95 fastball, let's go.
Well, to (try) and make this short I asked him (with the blessing of the kids) to just pick up the ball and throw to 1st a few times, well it showed me his natural motion is short arm. I asked him to throw all his pitches.
His fast ball had good pop and jump, his change could be a big time pitch (had great feel for it) but, I asked him to throw his cutter after 3 changes and change again. I asked him how many times he was beat by throwing a cutter after a change or a change after cutter. Then do the same with a curve and cutter and a slider and a curve.
Then I asked him to just mix-up the FB, curve, and change. It seemed as though a light went off in his head. After explaining what Eddie Lopat told me about using short and long arm with the same pitches gave one six pitches not three (and worked for me somewhat) junk the cutter and slider. Unless they are dependable pitches...they go a long way when hit.
The following spring he showed up while I was fishing, we talked an had a good day with our catches. As we were leaving he said he had done very well in the winter league and would be moved up a step.
His pitching coach liked his idea of dropping his cutter and slider and try short arm but, the coach told him to stay with his motion (as had I) he said he is getting a bit more bite on his pitches and was thinking about adding his cuter to the mix come ST. I suggested he forget about the slider and concentrate on making his pitches great.
His name was Chris ???????. I moved to another state, later that year. Never have seen him again. I hope it worked out for him.

THE PORE YOUNG 'UNS, YOU NEVER SAW SOME OF THE BEST!?

Bob Gibson

Some of the young-uns think, cutting the pie is an after game treat! Just kidding!
I some times pity the younger generation, They missed out on seeing some of the greatest players of all time in their best years.
How many of them would be shocked to see Bob Gibson just throw bee-bees and not let anyone crowd the plate…Jeter, Posada and some of those guys that are diving over the plate would get a high hard one stuck in their ear. Or the tandem of Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax along with Osteen and Podres (4man rotation). Sal “The Barber” Maggly(SP). These guys would go 9 or more innings almost every game.
Remember the “Cleveland Jet” Herb Score, Bob Feller, Bob Turly or Ryne Duren…now those four guys could bring hot hot hot heat and I don’t care who you are, you would never dig in against Turly or the others…at least, not twice.
There were many other old timers pitchers and Pos. Players that some never saw, in real life.
This is why I always say, “Stats are a very good tool but, not a bible,” a very well trained eye lets the stats show him a problem but, it depends on the person putting them together to be good at his job also. Also, stats don't tell you if a problem can be corrected and how to do it.

Sandy Koufax

Take the stats of Jeter compared to Rizzuto, the stats say Jeter was heads above Phil but, how can Ruzzuto (a very good SS in his time), from 60 years ago be compared to Jeter and his stats of today. If one had never seen Phil or Jeter play, one would say Phil couldn't carry Jeters Jock...and they would be right. Having seen both of them play, Jeter was the better of the two but not by as much as the stats show.
Can anyone of you see A-Rod, Tex or Cano swinging a club like they use to just 25 years ago...38 to 40+ ounce bats were used by many players back then, have any of you seen the gloves of 30+ years ago?
According to the stats, Hammering Hank was a better player then "The Babe" in HRs' but, do any of you really believe he was? No, not a bit but, the stats say other wise. So don't make a judgement on who is the better player on stats alone think about it a bit. Would Jeter have hit as well back in the 50s' or 60' as now... No f--king way. He would dive across the plate with that 36 oz., of wood and end up in the hospital. Remember, they didn't have helmets back then and most of the good pitchers would throw at your head in a heart beat. Also, I started with a 36
bottle bat, hands separated and choked way up, from both sides of the plate.

(Jeter and Phil were used because everyone knows of them both.)

Why I can't forgive A-Rod

He cheated Himself and GOD! I am sorry that I sound like a bible thumper but, that is where talent comes from right.

Damn it...He had it all. With the help of the New York media, bloggers and (Sorry, but true) the Click among the team, lead by Joe T, little storys began to appear. None of which had a name behind them in other words made up so as to make him look bad. After all, we can't have someone come in and out shine the great Jeter, something that may have happened if he had been treated as a normal addition to the team. One can't believe the pressure he was under and how much it may have hurt his game over the years unless you have been there. Been there done that! Why they worried about that in the first place is beyond me but, we know that Cashman, Joe T and Jeter didn't want him on the team. I can't believe Jeter said anything but, he never once stood up as he did for Jason, Andy and Posada when they needed support, this attitude didn't help.

Jeter carried a grudge because of an article in SI, not the sign of a Captain to me!

Jeter may (will) make it into the HoF but, the much better player will not, on the first time but, his talent will show he is far and away the best of the best, so he'll be there.