• Scoreboard

• Recently Written

  • Teixeira a Yank!
  • Rays knock out Red Sox
  • Yankee Stadium: the Legacy
  • Yanks season update
  • Kennedy sent down to minors
  • 2008 Draftees: Samuel Mende, Matthew Summers
  • The Kennedy Conundrum
  • What’s next for the Yankees?
  • Favre’s a Jet!
  • This Blog is Not Dead

• Categories

  • Analysis
  • Bosox
  • CraZy Facts
  • Game Previews
  • Game Reviews
  • Legends
  • Managers
  • News
  • NYCurve.com
  • Other
  • Players
  • Prospects
  • Rumors
  • Speculation
  • Spring Training
  • Stadium
  • The League
  • Videos

• Archives

  • December 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007

Rich Gossage got accepted into the hall today with a 86% vote. Earlier this week he said that it would make his career if he got in and now his dream is a reality. As I explained in my previous post, the number of votes for him by the Baseball Writer’s Association (the group that decides who to induct) had been growing in recent years. Today he finally made it over the fence and I am sure he is very happy as well as relieved that he won’t have to go through the anxiety of finding out if he got in or not next year. The induction ceremony is on July 27, in Cooperstown, New York.

Gossage was the only player inducted in the Class of 2008. Retired Padres manager, Dick Williams, is also going to be inducted on the same day as “Goose”.The rest of the players and managers are certainly disappointed, but most of them are eligible to return. Many are keeping an eye on Mark McGwire, who only got 23.6% of the 75% (only up .1 from last year) required to get in because he is the first player accused of using steroids to try to get in.

Retired Yankee reliever, Rich Gossage, will be on the Hall of Fame ballot for the ninth time this year. Last year he fell short of the required 75% by a measly 21 votes. He is speculated by many to finally make it this year because the number of votes for him has increased a lot over the course of the past nine years. Also, with no definite first timers this time (like Cal Ripken last year), the now 56 year old definetely has a good shot at it.

Gossage was a power pitcher who packed many strikeouts in his day. He played for several teams, including the Yankees, but he was at his best during his tenure with the Padres. He ended his career with over 1500 strikeouts, 3.01 ERA, 310 saves (17th on the all time list), and a record of 124-107. During his era Gossage was one of the premier relievers. He will find out if 9th time is a charm tomorrow, January 8th, 2008. There are several other Yankees on the ballot this year including Don Mattingly, David Justice, and Chuck Knoblauch.

So it begins, Clemens has filed a lawsuit against ex-Yankee trainer Brian McNamee for defamation. Most of you probably already know the whole story between the two. If you don’t just look at some of my recent posts and you’ll understand. This is really getting old, but it was bound to happen. This is all part of the Rocket’s plan to prove himself innocent. If he is innocent this is all great, but if he turns out guilty then his legacy will become even more tarnished just because he went so far to prove that he didn’t do it. As a Yankee fan I really hope he isn’t lying, but we won’t find out for sure for a while (maybe never).

I didn’t expect this whole fight thing between the two to start until the meeting with Congress, but once word spread it started. The media probably has a big part to do with this too with many of their questions to Clemens and McNamee focusing on the matter. Interestingly the two had a phone conversation last Friday, where McNamee asked Clemens “What do you want me to do?” He even said he would go to jail for Clemens. Clemens’ response was “tell the truth.”

This year is the last in Cashman’s current contract, which brings up the question of whether or not the Yankees will make an extension offer to him. When asked about it, Cashman said he is not worried about that at the moment because there are so many other things going on that he doesn’t have time to worry about it. In my opinion that is a good approach to it because thinking about something like that would do no use. Instead, Cashman is focusing on his job and a potential deal with the Twins for John Santana. Whatever happens with that whole situation and how the Yankees do this season will certainly play a part in whether or not the Steinbrenner’s want Cashman back. I don’t expect them to make a contract extension offer until atleast half way through the season, when we get a better picture of how Cashman’s moves have helped/hurt the Yanks.

Roger Clemens, Andy Petite, and Brian McNamee (the ex-trainer who accused the two pitchers) have been invited to testify before the congressional committee in regards to the Mitchell Report. The committee is the same group who Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Rafeal Palmeiro had testified in front of a few years back. They recently decided to hold a second day of hearings so that they could get varied perspectives on the issue. These testimonies will follow day one of the hearings in which George Mitchell, Bud Selig, and union leader Donald Fehr will officially report their findings and recommendations.

Retired Yankee Chuck Knoblauch and ex-Mets trainer Kirk Radomski (who also made accusations) will join Clemens, Petite, and McNamee as well. So far none of those invited for day two have confirmed that they will attend, but it is very likely that they will. Roger Clemens’ lawyer has specifically said that “Roger is willing to answer questions, including those posed to him while under oath.”

This whole situation has a very “soap opera” feeling to it in my opinion. I wonder how Roger Clemens will react when he sees McNamee. McNamee has said that he had personally injected steroids into Clemens, but the Rocket issued a statement this week saying that it was nothing more than vitamin b12 and Lidocaine (a common anesthetic used to relieve itching and pain from skin inflammation). I am personally sick of this whole thing; maybe it is because I don’t like soaps.

This year is the eighth time former Yankee captain, Don Mattingly, will appear of the Hall of Fame ballot. He had a great career with the Yankees as one of the league’s best players, but he fell short with one very important thing and that was championships. During his fourteen years with the Yanks, we were able to win zero World Series’. It definetely isn’t his fault though because winning a World Series is a team effort, but critics always look at how many championships a player has won because frankly that is the ultimate goal of each season. Mattingly’s chances have also been hurt due to the the last few years of his career as a player, which were plagued with injuries. This brought down his effectiveness and in turn has lowered his appeal. Regardless of that sad decline, Mattingly deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame due to his leadership and stunning play when he was not injured. Whether or not this is the year for that to happen, we will find out soon.

The Yankees have received a lot of scrutiny from fans of other teams about how they did nothing this offseason other than bring the team from last year back. These naive people think that since its the same team, the outcome will be the same. I know that the Yanks [or their fans] don’t have to answer to fans of other teams, but I felt like responding to this one because that assumption is just bullshit. Just because the players are the same does not mean we will lose in round one of the ALDS again.

There is actually an advantage to having the same players return. As they practice and play more games with each other, they start to get more acquainted with the eachother’s playing styles. This helps them realize what each man’s strengths and weaknesses are. They can then use that information to play optimal ball for whatever situation they are in. The more the same team plays together, the quikcer the team chemistry grows and the players act as a more unified team, which is very important for any successful club.

Now lets move on to specifics. Particularly what many Yankee fans are referring to as the “big three”. Who? Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes, and of course Joba Chamberlain; three young pitchers who were a major part of the rally last year. Only difference is, now they got another year under their belt’s and experience is always a great thing to have in professional sports. They are still young and learning so they should continue to get better for a while to come and if you look at what they’ve done so far that might be scary for other teams.

I am not going to pull the Joe Girardi card in this one because even though that was one of the changes made this off season, Torre was still a great manager, so that was not the issue.

Bottom line is, we may have the same base of players, but that DOES NOT mean we will have the same outcome.

← Previous Page

• Search

• Tickets

  

• Sponsors

• Yankees Blogs

• Respect Jeter’s Gangster
• The Bronx Zoo
• The LoHud Yankees Blog
• True Conservative Blog
• Zell’s Pinstripe Blog