No Joy In Yankee Land

Amid the news of an investigation by Curtis Sliwa into ticket sales and ticket pricing, the Yankees are away in Toronto. In this day of satellite TV and radio it is doubtful that they have not heard of the and investigation; the question is whether it will add to the Yankee woes as they face the first place Blue Jays.

Tonight should be billed as a pitcher's ego battle with A.J. Burnett going up against Roy Halladay, his former Blue Jay teammate. Unfortunately while Halladay is 6-1 in 7 starts, while Burnett is 2-0, with 4 no decisions, in 6 starts. Burnett's best outing was April 14 against Tampa Bay and it has all been a a roller coaster ride since.

The Yankees still appear to have gotten hosed in the Burnett deal as they appear to have gotten a 12-10 pitcher and not an 18-10 pitcher. The pitching deals for several years have been called by Brian Cashman; and the current state of the Yankees tell me it is time for change from the top down. Cashman need to go!

The consistent overspending of the Yankees has only had two positive results, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. Cashman can be credited for Carl Pavano, Kevin Brown, as well as other lackluster pitching and batting dogs; and not resigning Bernie William when he still had a good numbers left in his bat. Instead Cashman has shopped for hired guns; and the Yankees are still sitting at # 26; with escalating ticket prices and fans finally flipping the team the bird on overpriced seats.

Wake up Tampa, it is time for a change!

I anxiously await what this Curtis Sliwa investigation into Yankee ticketing will unvail. Sliwa is not like other talkies in radio is not all mouth. While the News, Post and most of sports talk radio covered the ticket issues earlier this year; it was all talk. Sliwa apparently has been digging and obtaining facts. Another reason the Yankee organization should be concerned is that Sliwa has political pull.

Will the Yankee win tonight; probably not. Will they be embarrassed in the ticket investigation, probably so. The Yankee woes are not over, and the only route to fixing them is to make a lot of changes, changes in management, changes in ticketing. The Yankees are sucked dry of positive energy and about to go into negative numbers.

Add to Yankee woes the dominating Red Soxs and the rapid maturity of the Blue Jays, Ray, and O's. It's only May, and without change, the Yankees are becoming a third place contender istead of the leader.

More Bird Problems

The much anticipated arrival of A-rod was as predicted, useless. Yes he homered on the first pitch of his first at bat and put the Yankees in the lead; but he has not done much since Friday night.

Friday night's win was all about pitching. A complete game shutout by C.C. Sabathia, finally something to justify his $23,000,000 a year salary. Friday was what the fans anticipated since the C.C. signing.

However Saturday was ugly. Hughes didn't last and when he was finally pulled in the 2nd, it was too late. The Yanks were down 8-0 and would never come back.

Sunday got interesting with the Yanks down 3-1 at the end of the first Inning. However great plates performances by Johnny Damon took the Yanks to a 5-3 victory and allowed them to escape to Toronto with a winning series in Baltimore.

This leads to the next series with the Blue Jays. The Yanks are in Toronto for 3, with shaky but adequate catching, and players who notorious play poorly on the artificial surface in Toronto, A-Rod being one of those players.

A-Rod who is now batting 0.143; despite the crowning of his godliness by the Yes Network's Michaela Kay and many other sportswriters after his home run Friday night. A-Rod, who I have watched careful this past series is not playing defenses at MLB level. He should be sent to Trenton or Scranton for more work. His presence in the lineup does not add numbers to the boards, and impairs the Yankees ability to play an effective 3rd baseman. He clearly is not aggressively fielding, and was lucky to have Derek Jeter as the shortstop. Jeter clearly was playing both his and A-Rod's postion all weekend.

Heads up A-Rod, Rogers Centre is bigger than Camden Yards, and Jeter won't be able to carry you on his back fro another series. Move it or lose it.

A-Rod Can't Solve Yankee Woes

There has been nothing proven from his performance so far in Tampa that Alex Rodriquez is the same player. Granted he is more experienced than Ramiro Pena, but Pena is a rookie, so a little slack should be given to him as such.

First off Alex can't heal the bullpen. Secondly, if he truly is rehabbing, why has not worked the minor league circuit of Tampa to Trenton to Scranton. that typically is the route of rehab for Yankee sluggers. Instead Alex has been left in Tampa, where he performance has been less than A-Rod like. Is that to give the Yankees an out if he is brought back "too early"?

As of now Alex's return is anyone's guess. Rumors have in in the Friday lineup in Baltimore. In regards to those rumors Joe Girardi takes a wait and see attitude. Brian Cashman wants the mythical A-Rod backk, thinking that will forgive the bullpen problem. However A-Rod has yet to prove he can still bat well or play at major league caliper; but he is being touted by many as the savior of the Yankees.

The saviors of the Yankees will be Chien-Ming Wang, Brian Bruney and Dimaso Marte.

What also needs to be addressed is s permanent closer. Mariano Riviera cannot go on forever. At best, I might even guess this could be the sundown of his career. No solution to a permenant closer, outside of Joba Chamberlain has been presentted that was a success. I hate to say this, but starters are easier to find than effective closers, and the only solid prospect is Joba.

As for the Yankees, they have are in the middle and can up or down in the standings. Yes A-Rod may add a run or two, but that will not help with the current chaos of pitching.

Manny Ramirez Suspended for 50 Games

Manny being Manny will be absent from baseball for the next two months. Ramirez was suspended today for 50 games for failing the performance enhancing drug test. An appeal will not occur.

Manny's suspension may prove that a little bit of wisdom is still held by Yankee Management who refused to discuss his coming to the Bronx in the off season; resulting in Manny staying with the Dodgers.

The question remains what the Dodgers will do with his $45,000,000 / 2 years contract. You could make an argument the contract was offered under false pretenses. If when Manny returns on July 3 he fails to perform without PE drugs; what will the Dodgers do? I say if that becomes the case, severe the contract.

Fan Energy & Empty Seats Add to Yankke Malaise

It's hard to put a direct cause on the Yankee blues. However I tend to still stand by my bad karma theory. State of the art new surroundings have not helped, only hindered. I think the big problem may be a lack of fans.

Throughout the Torre years a steady growth of fans in seats came with each each successive year of ticket sales and Yankee success. The construction of the new stadium resulted in luxury seating. Most of the seating, even though prices have been halved, remains empty.

The Yankees in their most dismal displays of talent could feed off the crowd. Crowds in the past typically numbered between 50,000 to 56,000+, depending on the opponent. Yes there have been an average of 46,000 at the home games, the the seating capacity of the new stadium is 52,325, which means roughly 6000 unsold seats. The vast majority of those seats as one sees on TV are closest to players. The rest of the fans are there, quarantined in the more baseball priced seats, rows back from the field between 1st and 3rd base.

I think the emptiness has gotten to the Bronx Bombers.

There is lot to be said for the effect of fans on player performance. Players can feed on fan energy; the Yankees have done that often. But even with large crowds what effect does that block of near empty rows of seat alter the player's energy?

The players could not have been blind to the controversy over the luxury seating. Coverage extended over national and international media. Who knows what feedback they have gotten of the Yankee management's refusal to eliminate the luxury seats. Could that be part of the player blues?

Guilt trips can have serious negative impacts. Although the players are not responsible for ticket prices directly, high salaries resulted in high concession and ticket prices. Seeing those empty seats at field level cannot help. Has the guilt of their owners' greed altered the psychological mindset of the players.

Look at the losses in Detroit. Granted Yankee pitching was so-so, but Comerica, despite having baseball's premier draw in house, the New York Yankees, could only help fill an average of 27,000 seats of 67% of the capacity.) Past years, despite Tiger performance would see a 90-95% of the seats filled, mostly with patrons wearing Yankee shirts.

The economy has certainly hit sports, as one can see from the empty seats at home and away Yankee games. Even still if you watch other teams on TV in other markets, people are going. Baseball which was not impacted in the post 1929 depression has now hit the wall. The current economic situation along with enhanced TV coverage is keeping fans home. the question remains what will baseball do to turn it around.

Among the many Yankee ills is the economy. Add to the lackluster multimillion dollar pitching, erratic offense, and injuries. Player talent can be fixed, but how do you fix the player psyche? Well for one thing, I would start upgrading people who come to the games. If those sweet comfortable seats are unsold, move fans down. Think of it as good PR. And if the Bombers play better, well that may be the road to a cure.

In regards to the Yankee Stadium personnel who misinformed fans to leave last night, I hope they are identified and fired. In regards to the woman who was arrested for assault on a police officer. You were wrong. I assume the woman was highly intoxicated, another issue associated with extended rain delays at Yankee games. However the police were doing there job and you certainly weren't acting like a civilized person or a lady. Assault on an officer deserves lockup, even if the reason for you protest was to to a miscommunication by Yankee employees and enforcement of the no re-entry policy.

In last night's rain delay melee there were wrongs on all sides, baseball, the fans who left and the Stadium employees who told them the game was postponed. It causes me to believe that weeknight rain delays should be limited to 90-120 minutes. If the games cannot be started after that time, it should be rescheduled. No consideration is given on these weeknight games that most fans have been up all day and then have to go home, catch some sleep and go to work the next day.

A-Rod Book a Must Not Read

Last Friday I had outpatient surgery; before, during, and after surgery my IV included Mefoxin. Mexofin is a very potent antibiotic that basically wipes out any GI bacteria. It left with an irritable, gassy and colicky bowel. I would rather endure that pain again then read Selena Roberts’ book on Alex Rodriquez.

Because of her book, Ms. Roberts has gotten a lot of pre-launch publicity. She has begun to appear frequently on “The Sports Reporters”, must be some deal her publisher has with ESPN, because as sports reporter I find her lacking.

I read the New York Times, one of Ms. Roberts’ employers (she also writes for Sports Illustrated). As a literate and educated person take what I read in The Times or any other newspapers context as either news or journalism. Ms. Roberts is a journalist. She has played second fiddle in the New York Sports community, and lacking a real TV job as a color commenter with a New York or New Jersey team, she has chosen the fast route to fame, writing a book. However she seems to be taking lessons from Jayson Blair, another New York Times reporter who was didn’t report the truth. Blair was eventually fired, as maybe Ms. Roberts might also be if she keeps on.

As much as I despise what A-Rod has done, I don’t condone a book with no substantive truth. Even Game of Shadows had legitimate documentation. Ms Roberts either does not have real documentation fro her A-Rod story or overly protective of her sources. I tend to believe she is just full of unsubstantiated innuendos.

A-Rod has made his life a shambles. Ms. Roberts’ book is just another cheap shot at him. A-Rod does not need cheap shots, he can, as he has proven many times; make a big mess of his life all by his self. He doesn’t need a second rate liberal feminist sports reporter doing it for him.

It is unfortunate that many great players often end up with soap opera / tabloid tale lives. The Yankees have had their share. Next to A-Rod, the one Yankee with the biggest talent and soap opera had to be Mickey Mantle. Mantle’ the hero of the Bronx lead a playboy lifestyle. Fortunately in those times, little was done to attack heroes in the press. The world however is different 40+ years later.

I won’t be reading Ms. Roberts’ book. It like her Times tales is like my bowel, colicky and full of hot gassy air.