Round Eight For Mattingly

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.

Leyritz Arrested

Ex-ballplayer and Yankee Jim Leyritz was charged with DUI manslaughter and DUI property damage today. He was driving drunk and ended up killing a man. As a result he was taken to the county jail where he posted his $11,000 bail bond. It is really a sad thing when a drunk driver kills someone and it is even sadder when the drunk driver is someone famous because there are always kids who look up to him.

Leyritz played with a few teams during his career which ended in 2000. He was popular among fans during his tenure with the Yankees, especially during the 1996 season when he hit a home run in game four of the World Series against the Braves. Currently Leyritz is working with mlb.com.

Luxury Tax is Down!

This year the Yankees’ luxury tax was reduced to $23.88 million. Man, we are really a thrifty bunch! But really, sure its a lot but it still beats the $26 million we paid last year and it is certainly an improvement over the $33.98 million we paid in 2005. The Rocket accounted for $6.98 million of this year’s tax and at the moment it doesn’t look like he’ll be returning, so our payroll should be lower this season (which will bring down the luxury tax). Well that’s unless we get Santana, in which case it may still remain about the same if we give him a big deal. But who really knows whats happening with the Twins ace?

R.I.P. Tommy Byrne

Tommy Byrne, a former Yankee pitcher, past away yesterday at the age of 87. He had spent 11 of his 14 seasons in the Bronx and had pitched in four World Series. He was known as “Wild Man” due to his lack of control on the mound, but he managed to have several great seasons during his career. He was also a good batter, often being used as a pinch hitter by Yankees’ manager Casey Stengal.

Yankee Philanthropists

The Yankees seem to be in a giving mood this holiday season. Just a couple of days ago, A Rod announced that he will be opening up an education center for underprivleged kids in Florida. He has funded $1.5 million for the project, which is projected to open in April 2008. It will be called the “Alex Rodriguez Education Center”. The education center will be given to the Southwest Miami Boys & Girls Club, which is the same group Rodriguez sponsored a baseball field for before. The group had been talking about such a facility for a while and A Rod will make it a reality for them; you can’t say anything bad about that.

Joba Chamberlain is also spreading some holiday cheer. He spent last Thursday in the department of pediatrics in the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center where he spent time with the kids and tried to bring some cheer into their lives (as well as into the lives of their parents). Joba, along with many others who attended were wearing “Yankee Universe” t-shirts. Yankee Universe is a program which raises money to donate to the cancer center at Sloan-Kettering.

The Rocket Denies All Claims

Today Roger Clemens denied all allegations made against him by the Mitchell Report. Through his agent and lawyer he has said that he never used any banned substances in his life including steroids and human growth hormone. He said he will be answering all the questions that have come up with the accusation in due time.

He added:

“Those substances represent a dangerous and destructive shortcut that no athlete should ever take.”

Hopefully what Clemens has said is true, but at the moment it is really just one man’s word against another’s. Brian McNamee, the former athletic trainer who told Mitchell about Clemens, is currently being tried and could possibly go to jail. The reason why he named Clemens as well as others is so that he can get a better plea bargaining deal, but that raises the question as to whether he is actually telling the truth or just scrambling to make up stuff so that he can get a better deal.