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Well today was the beginning of the Clemens, McNamee showdown. With Radomski now finished (got a 5 year parole deal) and most of the other big names admitting guilt, all who remain are the Rocket and his ex-trainer. And today during an exhaustive session lasting almost five hours, both seemed to get “beat up” by the questions. Both also continued preaching their opposing stories, meaning that [atleast] one of them is also guilty of lying under oath now. McNamee just keeps digging himself into a deeper whole by saying more and more lies. On top of that he has had to even admit to lying in the past to make his current lies seem legit. The guy is a joke.

Clemens, as much as I want him to be innocent, doesn’t exactly boast a straightforward story either at this point. One of his ex-housekeepers was there today and she told the Congressional committee that the Rocket and his family were all at that infamous party held by Canseco (although Mr. Canseco, when he was under oath, said that Clemens was not there). So now we have atleast one more person who has committed perjury. How nice! Like there weren’t enough lies in this situation already…

It really is just turmoil out there. From the lies to the opposing viewpoints of McNamee and Clemens to the Congressmens’ biased views. It basically plays down like this: Republicans favor Clemens and try to prove McNamee guilty and Democrats favor McNamee, trying to show the Rocket is a lier. At this point everyone knows that McNamee has lied in the past so it is likely that he will face some type of perjury-related trouble (not to mention the whole steroids distribution thing), but things are also looking equally bad (if not worse) for Clemens, especially after his long time teammate and buddy, Andy Petite, admitted that he had a conversation ten years ago with Clemens where he had admitted using HGH. This really is all a sad matter and is very horrible for baseball. I hope Selig is satisfied.

Oh yea, and in the mix of all this fun you have FBI agents looking out for who is committing perjury. It is just a madhouse at this point; will it ever end?

It looks like the Yankees won’t be able to reach an agreement with pitcher Chien-Ming Wang, like they did with the other players who were headed towards arbitration. This will be the first time the Yanks have gone through arbitration with a player since 2000 (when they went with Rivera.) Wang submitted an original offer for $4.6 million and the Yankees offered $4 million, but the two sides were unable to reach a consensus. Arbitration is scheduled for February 14th.

 

With New Yankee Stadium just around the corner, people have really gotten a glimpse into what the Yankee name really means. It is one filled with history, with glory, and with an equally bright future. In many ways it transcends simply being a sports team’s name; it has a sense of honor which many other team organizations just don’t have. It may be due to the time it has been around or because of the success had under it, but whatever the reason is, it is clear that it is remarkable.

I think it is because of these reasons that the Yankees organization has decided against selling the name of the new stadium to a corporate sponsor. Most people assumed it wouldn’t go to a corporate sponsor once that gold sign was put up, but it wasn’t officially announced until yesterday. Actually it was more than announced, it was promised. Promised to every fan that follows the greatest franchise in sports history.

Sure selling the name would bring in a good sum of cash, especially since the Yankees are one of the most famous clubs on the planet, but it just wouldn’t feel right. Not only that, but in a way keeping the name as Yankee stadium is like a corporate sponsorship, the only difference being that the Yankees are subsidizing themselves. I mean think about it, the Yankees are more than just a ball team nowadays; they are a multi-billion dollar corporate empire. And what’s a better place to get advertising than to a 100% targeted audience of New Yorkers? Plus, it gives the ballpark more sophistication, which many other parks lack.

Not only is the name honoring the Yankee legacy, but so is the physical stadium. It is a tribute to the past, laced with the technology and comfort of the future. Some Yankee fans are upset because the old stadium will be demolished, but I believe that those memories will still live on in the history books, in the hearts of fans, as well as in the new stadium. People will never forget what was accomplished in the old stadium. Sometimes it is just time to look to the future and what the organization is doing is designing a more modern stadium, which better caters to fans’ needs.

If all of McNamee’s testimonies are correct, he must be a pro with needles by now. The latest victim on his ongoing list of people injected? Debbie Clemens. Yes, you read correctly, it says Debbie Clemens, non other than the Rocket’s wife. McNamee said that he injected Mrs. Clemens as she was preparing for a Sports Illustrated swimsuit shoot five years ago.

I am beginning to think that McNamee is insane. Either that or the Clemens’ love their juice. I am still split on the issue although my Yankee bias leans me towards favoring Clemens. Just when this court case didn’t seem like it could get any more ridiculous it has. Whats next? Has McNamee injected Steinbrenner too?

I decided to do a quick summary of some of the recent headlines concerning the Yanks. I have taken liberty in making the main ideas bold in case you don’t want to read about that topic (especially the first one.)

First is the Clemens-McNamee situation (part one million). I have tried to refrain from posting about this lately because it is just the same old back and forth again and again. I thought I would give a quick overview to you guys instead in this post. Clemens went in front on Congress last Tuesday for several hours talking about how he did not use steroids. We don’t know much about what happened behind the scenes yet, but the latest news is that McNamee’s lawyers have said they have evidence that will prove the Rocket is guilty. The form of the evidence? Old syringes, gauze pads, and dried up blood that are 8 years old. Sounds a little fishy that someone would keep all this for that long, but that is for the court to decide. Personally I don’t know what to believe right now because this is just a back and forth argument between Clemens and McNamee. What is clear is that whoever is lying will face severe penalties, for lying under oath. Some think that the medical supplies are made up, which definetely doesn’t bode well for McNamee if its true.

Ok, thats already more than I wanted to write about that. Moving on to other news, Tino Martinez is back with the Yanks as a special instructor. His first assignment is to help Shelley get better suited for the first base position. I think that hiring Tino was a great move for the organization and staff because he definetely is familiar with the system and he will be able to teach Duncan (and other players) how to be more successful with the Yanks.

In one last piece of news, the stadium costs have been upped to $1.3 billion from the original estimate of $1 billion. It is a lot, but I definetely think it will more than pay out in ticket sales and the boost it gives to the revenue line.

As spring training is quickly approaching, the Yankees seem to be in a different situation than past years. Why? For many years the Yankees have gone into spring training with a solid idea of who will be starting at each position, but this year there are several discrepancies, which will be decided by player performances this spring. This doesn’t mean that the Yankees didn’t get the players they wanted; it just shows how the Yankees are changing their ways. I think after Cashman’s amazing effort at reviving the farm system, a change like this should be welcomed because with more young players, spring training will be a lot more important in figuring out who will give us the best shot at getting those W’s. In my opinion it is all for the good and is a great complement to the Yankees new plan of going young.

Among the “fighting” positions are first base, starting pitching spots, relieving spots, and maybe even an outfield position. I think competition in spring training is great motivation to work harder, especially for young players and those who want to prove themselves. There will definetely be a big fight for first base with four potential starters (Shelley, Giambi, Betemit, and Ensberg.) The outfield is less iffy, but it will still see its share of competition with Matsui, Melky, Damon, and Abreu all vying for spots. The Yankees have also signed Jason Lane earlier and now have expressed interest in Kevin Mench, both of whom may seem like a long shots, but do have chances.

Then comes the pitching situation. This one has been talked about over and over again, so I won’t go into it too much again. Basically it comes down to figuring out which of the 6 potential starters get the 5 spots and which one gets a relief spot. As for the rest of the relieving spots, it will really come down to who does well in spring training.

I think this competition will only make our team stronger. It will also show us who are the better backups and who are the duds. Plus, with all of these extra players signed we are bound to find good replacements shall the injury bug hit.

It has been a slow couple of days in Yankees news and this isn’t really Yankees related, but it is big enough to make it to this blog. The Giants have won the Super Bowl! As I explained in my pre-Super Bowl post a couple of weeks ago, this was New York vs. Boston and that certainly means something in baseball. And New York came out on top! Step one in taking back the sports throne; wait for the Subway World Series in October, that’ll be a good one too. This has been a great night for New York and the sports world. And to Eli and the Giants: way to shut up the critics; you have really represented the greatest city on this planet well!

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