Crazy Conseco is Back

Just when all the PED talk seemed to have gone away, it has jumped to the top of the headlines once more. I knew it was inevitable, but its still disappointing. Anyway, the story this time is thanks to crazy Jose Canseco and his new personal rant book, Vindicated.

A few people managed to get copies early, before the book officially goes on sale April 1st. At first it was some Boston columnist, by the name of Joe Lavin who posted about and started a cohort of responses and other posts on the subject. Deadspin later posted some excerpts from the book, confirming that Lavin had the book. You can head over to the site (just click the link) and read some of the excerpts for yourself. The main targets of this book seem to be Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, and Magglio Ordonez. I’m not going to discuss the Clemens situation because that has already been beat and buried to the ground thanks to Mitchell madness.

As for Ordonez, Canseco said that he personally injected the outfielder. Obviously there are those who argue that he is guilty and those that say he is innocent. I really don’t know what to believe about him at the moment, especially due to the lack of information thus far. Deadspin’s excerpts mostly focus of A. Rod and I haven’t seen much more about what Canseco said about Ordonez, so I’m not going to say much on that either. In my mind he is still innocent because just knowing that Canseco said he is guilty doesn’t sway my mind a bit, since I don’t have much if any respect for Canseco and I don’t find him to be a good source.

What I am more concerned about at the moment is Canseco’s accusations of A. Rod. Again, I think Canseco is just a pathetic ex ballplayer who got caught and is now out to get others, just to make himself feel better. Having a personal vendetta like that isn’t exactly a good quality when investigating this sort of thing and I think Canseco just lucked out his first time around, with Juiced. Hopefully Vindicated will be the joke that Juiced was supposed to be and Canseco can stop writing these diaries he calls books.

Looking at the excerpts posted by Deadspin, it really looks like Canseco’s new book won’t be as credible as his first. As Ben from River Ave. Blues said,

“While the passages are in the book, Canseco’s words come across as jealous, bitter rantings. Vindicated will be no Juiced”

I agree with this 100%. The book just seems like it is a 14 year old girl ranting. Canseco talks about how he didn’t mention A. Rod. in the first book because he hated him for apparently trying to get with his wife. He also hates him because “he has no morals.” That is quite a statement coming from a guy who popped pills like there was no tomorrow to get big. Anyway, Canseco said that he introduced Rodriguez to a few steroid dealers. He said that he didn’t see whether or not A. Rod. actually took steroids, but he was sure and still is sure because of one time when he passed A. Rod. on the street and thought that he “looked buff.” What a load of bull. Canseco even admitted that he isn’t sure whether or not A. Rod has taken steroids; combine that with the fact that he hates A. Rod. and his case basically falls apart.

Jose Canseco is just tarnishing his own name further with this book because with most of his accusations he is personally involved in one way or another. He is making himself out to be the king of steroids (if he isn’t already). Forget Bonds and Clemens, I think Canseco should be the eternal steroids poster boy. It will be interesting to see how the media reacts to the book once it is officially released in a few days. Hopefully this will be the end of Canseco and he can go into the corner of his gym and cry his writing career away.

Indians Squeeze By Bombers

The Indians ended up beating the Yankees due to a three run homer in the eight inning by Andy Marte. The final score was 7-5. Ian Kennedy had an ok day, striking out three and allowing 5 hits in 4 2/3 innings. Cleveland scored 4 in the first inning, but the runs were unearned due to an error by Melky Cabrera. Darrell Rasner left with the loss (he was also the pitcher who Marte went yard on.) Robinson Cano and Jose Molina both looked good today on the offensive side of the ball with three hits a piece.

Next game is against the Phillies tomorrow at 1:15 EST.

Pettitte Will Miss First Start

It was unsure whether or not Andy Pettitte would be able to play in his first start of the regular season due to recent back spasms. Today it was announced that he will miss his first scheduled start on April 2nd. Skipper Girardi said that they hope Pettitte will be able to start in the 3rd or 4th game of the season instead. In the mean time everyone else will just move up a slot in terms of scheduled starts. Pettitte is just going to take it day-to-day, which is smart since it would be better to go into a game healthy, than risk an injury, especially when it is so early in the season. Here is a quick quote from the pitcher:

“I’m planning on it. But again, like I’ve said, if I start playing catch and feel like I may not be able to do it and be comfortable with it, or I feel like I might aggravate it, I’ll wait one more day. It would be stupid to try to force something right now when I’ve got extra days to play with.”

Yankees Fly Past Phillies

Yesterday the Yankees beat the Phillies, 13 to 4. Phil Hughes, who started, looked great except for the home run he gave up to Pedro Feliz. Other than that he was fantastic, with six strikeouts and good command over the ball. He only allowed three hits as he improved his Grapefruit League record to 3-0. Girardi later said:

“I thought he was extremely sharp tonight, he had command of all his pitches. Everything was good.”

I’m telling you, Hughes is going to be great this season. I think most Yankee fans know that, but I know a lot of people (who aren’t Yankee fans), who don’t really know much about Hughes. I guess that’s because they haven’t been paying attention during the offseason. If he keeps playing the way he has, then they’ll definetely know him by the end of this season.

Ok, back to the game. After Hughes was taken out, a few relievers pitched an inning each. LaTroy Hawkins had a 1-2-3 eighth and Rivera struck out 3. Bruney struck out one and allowed no hits. The only reliever to allow hits was Traber, off whom the Phillies got 3.

On the offensive side of the ball the Yankees dominated with 19 hits. Derek Jeter and Shelley Duncan each had three hits and Melky and Giambi both homered. The game got canceled after the 8th, but looking at the offensive stats for the Yanks, no one would guess that.

Next game is against the Indians and is being played as I type this. The score is currently 4-4 in the sixth. Ian Kennedy started the game and had an ok day. I will post after the game goes final with more details and stats.

Booming Business

Some economy experts may argue that the United States is heading towards or is already in a recession, but the Yankees are in anything but a slowdown at the moment. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Today the Yankees announced that they have already sold a record-breaking 3.8 million tickets for the 2008 season! That is 400,000 more than they had sold at this time last season. And all this with the highest ticket prices in Yankee history (they are the highest whether or not you consider inflation as well.) It is crazy, but then again it is also history. It is the last year at the great Yankee Stadium and it is something which most Yankee fans, including me, would pay a lot to be a part of. No one is really happy with the price hikes, but when it comes to the facts the truth is that baseball is a business.

I think it is pretty obvious that this will be the eighth year in a row where home attendance grows for the Yanks. At current rates this will also be the most profitable season for any baseball team ever. This will also be good for the sport, as the Yankees get more press coverage. Other teams may also benefit due to the revenue sharing agreement, so that should make some owners happy (cough -Marlins owner- cough) This season will certainly be a memorable one for everyone including fans, team owners, and the MLB.

Loss vs. Pirates

The Yankees got shut out by the Pirates yesterday, 8-0. It’s not really a big deal though because first of all it is just a Grapefruit League game, and second we hardly had any starters out there. I’ll give the Pirates something though, Paul Maholm (the pitcher who started for them) looked good even though he was facing a bunch of minor leaguers. He pitched 6 shut out innings and allowed only two hits. After a couple of relievers, Byung-Hyun Kim came in to wrap it up. He must have felt big and bad when he pitched a hitless ninth. Basically the story of that game was that the Pirates played and we just didn’t care.

Next game for the Yankees is being played as I type this (vs. the Phillies). The score is currently tied, 3-3 and Phil Hughes is pitching. I will update after the game goes final.