Tuesday, July 31, 2007
2008 All-Star Game Logo Unveiled
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Labels: 2008, All-Star Game, logo, Yankees
Posted by Steve Kenul at 2:40 PM
Proctor for Betemit
Scott Proctor (2-5/3.81/37) has been traded.
The relief pitcher for the Yankees who has been on a roller coaster type season with inconsistency has been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for infielder Wilson Betemit.
Betemit (.231/10/26) was a promising star prospect for the Dodgers will be the new reserve infielder sharing roles with Miguel Cairo.
Nice to see the Yankees are improving the already weak pitching staff. Rumor still has it the Yankees are still interested in Eric Gagne and the Detroit Tigers are interested in Kyle Farnsworth.
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Labels: Los Angeles Dodgers, Scott Proctor, trade, Wilson Betemit
Posted by Steve Kenul at 12:58 PM
Monday, July 30, 2007
Canseco Accuses A-Rod
This is straight from ESPN.com:
When Jose Canseco wrote "Juiced" in 2005, he brought the issue of steroids in Major League Baseball to the forefront. Now, Canseco has another book due this fall and he promises some juicy info on Alex Rodriguez.
Canseco told WEEI-Radio in Boston on Friday that he has "other stuff" on the Yankees slugger, who he called a "hypocrite" who "was not all he appeared to be."
When asked if A-Rod had used steroids, Canseco told WEEI, "Wait and see."
"Jose has information about A-Rod and the Yankees that will be in the book. But, I am not sure if Jose is willing to disclose it at this point," Canseco's lawyer, Robert O. Saunooke, told The New York Times.
In Baltimore for the Yankees' game against the Orioles on Saturday night, Rodriguez told reporters that he hadn't heard Canseco's comments about him. "And I have no comment," he told the newspaper.
Yankees manager Joe Torre said he was disappointed to hear about Canseco's comments.
"You worry about anything like that, because unfortunately, when people see it in print, they add credence to it. That's the sad part about it," Torre said, according to the New York Daily News. "It's a shame, because when you play this game, you'd like to believe you play with some kind of respect. Obviously, Jose needs the money."
Canseco has shared names of more players who used steroids with investigators looking into the issue for Major League Baseball. George Mitchell, the former Senate majority leader, was appointed by commissioner Bud Selig in 2006 to head the league's investigation into steroids in the sport.
Saunooke told The Times that Canseco planned to meet again with Mitchell and and his investigators in the next month.
Canseco attracted the attention of Congress with his autobiography, "Juiced," in which the former slugger named several players, including himself, Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire, who he said had used steroids.
My opinion:
Canseco has no idea what he is talking about. He is accusing an innocent player who has never failed a drug/steroid test and has never been involved in any talks of the subject. A-Rod is a clean player who is hitting his home runs legally and does not need to be accused of "stuff". This is a pathetic attempt to get in the news and put shame in what is already a game broken by accusations.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Labels: Alex Rodriguez, Jose Canseco, steroids
Posted by Steve Kenul at 4:36 PM
Yanks Quiet in Trade Talks
As of now the Yankees have remained somewhat quiet this trade season.
With interest in both first baseman Mark Texeria and closer Eric Gagne, the Yankees have not advanced further.
Texeria may remain with the Rangers as talks of trades with him have ceased and the Rangers are asking about pitches Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and outfielder Melky Cabrera.
Yankees brass refused to deal the three prospects and ended talks for both forementioned players.
Kyle Farnsworth may be on the move out of New York, but so far there have been no requests and Kei Igawa may be on the move, but with his recent failures, he may have trouble finding a new home.
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Labels: Joba Chamberlain, Kei Igawa, Kyle Farnsworth, Melky Cabrera, Philip Hughes, trade
Posted by Steve Kenul at 9:52 AM
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Dump Kei Igawa
Why the Yankees signed this horrible pitcher, I have no idea, but this is one of the worst pitchers I have seen on the Yankees staff since the 1996 team.
They say this guy won the Japanese version of the Cy Young, must have been one terrible year for pitchers.
Get rid of Kei Igawa, he is a waste of time and money and can't pitch at all. A very stupid mistake by the management.
This guy is really fucking pathetic and needs to go back to Japan and throw batting practice to little leaguers, which he does during games anyway.
Who the hell came up with the idea of signing him? Cashman, was it you? Real smart, next time you have those ideas, let them go. This guy was probably one of the worst signings in Yankees history next to Mike Myers.
Cashman, you should not have ANY ruling over pitchers. You sign an old pitcher, who throws like an old pitcher (Mussina), you sign Clemens to a ridiculous contract and probably the second most dumbass thing you have done.
You, along with Igawa need to be removed from the Yankees.
If you trade either Chein-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlin, Phil Hughes, or Ian Kennedy, then you will become the biggest idiot in sports history.
Get rid of Igawa and Cashman, and we have a World Series.
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Labels: Brian Cashman, Kei Igawa, rant, waste
Posted by Steve Kenul at 7:58 PM
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Downtime
As you may have noticed, we here have not posted anything new on BronxBloggers. Although there is a lot of discussion going on with "The Bronx is Burning", the three-touchdown game, and the trade deadline coming up; we are currently working on building a new server to run on and gathering all out information that we need.
-Thanks.
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Posted by Steve Kenul at 10:44 PM
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Half Time Report
Joe Torre acknowledges that his Yankees made it look easy during their run of four World Series titles in five years, in memories that grow foggier by the day. Maybe it was a little too easy.
For the first time in Torre's tenure at the helm of the Yankees, the team has struggled deep into the calendar months of the season.
The Yankees started 11-19 in 2005, and it appeared as though the Bronx walls would crumble before the roster pulled it together and peeled off another division title; with the calendar turning to July, this is unprecedented ground for a Torre Yankees team.He understands why the fan base -- spoiled, in a good way, as he says -- is growing more restless by the day.
In intermittent periods, the Yankees' energy and personality has been satisfactory, but there have been far too many outages, top to bottom, in the lineup.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has said that he will not sacrifice the organization's top prospects -- which include pitchers Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy -- for what could be perceived as a quick fix to help the Yankees regain footing in the American League East. That means that the roster, as currently comprised, needs to find a way to figure out what ails them and shake it -- quickly. Can they?
Club MVP: Alex Rodriguez has led the American League in RBIs in two of the season's first three months and is having a spectacular all-around season, pacing the big leagues in homers. Unfortunately, he says he can't enjoy it all that much because the team is not winning.
Call him 'Ace': Chien-Ming Wang went 4-0 with a 3.56 ERA in June, regaining the form that helped him to 19 victories last season and a second-place finish in the American League Cy Young voting behind Minnesota's Johan Santana.
Greatest strength: If the Yankees could ever get their hitters on the same page and find consistent strokes, they have the potential to blow other clubs out of the water. A lineup that was projected to approach 1,000 runs this year hasn't changed all that much.
Biggest problem: Consistency. When the Yankees have been hitting, too many times they're not pitching well. When they pitch, the hitting falters. And sometimes it rains.
Biggest surprise: The projected first-base platoon of Doug Mientkiewicz and Josh Phelps somehow morphed into Andy Phillips and Miguel Cairo by midseason.
Team needs: The talent is on the team. The Yankees need to figure out what they can do to tweak the relief corps, which shows signs of overuse and general ineffectiveness, but those are smaller bandages on the whole body of the club. The Yankees desperately need to challenge their run of 14 of 17 wins, and July is a perfect time to do it -- after the All-Star break, they won't see another team with a winning record until Aug. 10 at Cleveland.
Oh, doctor:
• Johnny Damon -- For a while, it was another day, another malady for the banged-up Damon, who has seen his reliability improve since moving to the DH role. Damon has battled calf cramps all season, as well as a sore back and a mild abdominal strain that was eased when he had four ribs realigned during a recent Yankees off-day.
• Jason Giambi -- Giambi recently had a walking boot removed from his left foot. He had a partial tear of his plantar fascia while running out a home run at Toronto; no return date has been announced.
• Phil Hughes -- The organization's top pitching prospect suffered a strained left hamstring while pitching a no-hitter on May 1 at Texas, then rolled his left ankle while performing conditioning drills and had a severe sprain. He has resumed throwing.
• Derek Jeter -- Ice has been his friend this season, as Jeter consistently makes himself available for the lineup. A left hip flexor and knee tendinitis have been among his ailments.
• Jeff Karstens -- Karstens had his right leg fractured by a Julio Lugo comebacker on April 28 at Yankee Stadium and has resumed throwing at the club's facilities in Tampa, Fla.
• Hideki Matsui -- A strained hamstring forced him out of the lineup in the season's first homestand, but he returned on April 23 at Tampa.
• Mientkiewicz -- He was steamrolled by Boston's Mike Lowell on a play at first base at Fenway Park on June 2, suffering a concussion and a fractured right wrist. He is targeting an Aug. 1 return.
• Mike Mussina -- Moose suffered a strained left hamstring in an April 12 start at Minnesota and missed three weeks.
• Carl Pavano -- The hurler's career with the Yankees is likely over after undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery in early June. The club's $39.95 million investment yielded just 19 starts and six victories, including one in two starts this season.
• Jorge Posada -- The catcher has quietly been gritting through pain in his right knee that Torre periodically reports is "barking."
• Darrell Rasner -- The hurler fractured his right index finger on a ball hit back to him at Shea Stadium by the Mets' Endy Chavez. The right-hander is slated to resume throwing in early July.
He said it: "We've got a group of guys here that we have to win with. If they make changes, they make changes, but we can't sit around here and think about players who aren't here. Guys need to do the job."
-- Jeter
Mark your calendar: Aug. 10-12 at Cleveland; Aug. 28-30 vs. Boston; Sept. 14-16 at Boston; Sept. 28-30 at Baltimore
Fearless second-half prediction: Thinking back to their string of 14 victories in 17 games in June, the Yankees have at least one more similar run left in them this season. Two runs of that nature would vault them right back into serious contention.
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Labels: 2007, preview, review, Yankees
Posted by Steve Kenul at 7:51 PM
Monday, July 09, 2007
The Bronx is Burning Episode 1 Review
The first episode is the 8-episode series begins with the 1977 game against the Boston Red Sox in which Reggie Jackson (Daniel Sunjata) appears to not hustle for a pop fly ball to right field Billy Martin (John Turturro) is obviously displeased with his performance and benches Jackson only to have a fight nearly break out. George Steinbrenner (Oliver Platt) is watching the incident on TV and demands Martin to be fired.
Cut back to 1975.
A friendly phone call chat between Steinbrenner and Martin brings Martin to his first managerial position with the Yankees, leads them to the 1976 pennant only to be swept by the Cincinnati Reds and Martin is ejected from the game for throwing something on the field.
Martin is later seen in the clubhouse weeping after the loss and his ejection when Steinbrenner comes in to throw more fuel on the fire.
This is where we see the vintage Steinbrenner owners talked about.
Into the beginning parts of the show we see Martin and his wife having an argument about their personal life that later plays the ultimate ending of Martin.
Steinbrenner in typical superstar-needy fashion signs Reggie Jackson for three million dollars, and quickly we see his ego and his wanting for more money.
During the 1977 spring training, we see how the other players interact with each other both on and of the field and the emergence of the leadership of Thurman Munson and the continued growth of Jackson's ego.
The ego plays a big role in the first season as a magazine columnist is tasked to interview Jackson and one of the main viewpoints is his ego, and as much as he denies the fact his ego is not as large as he thinks, every act disproves it.
What he does, and especially what he says, referring him in third person "Reggie Jackson puts people in the seats" and "I'll have New York eating out of the palm of my hands" and some of the quotes Jackson states.
The other main conflict in this series are the altercations between Steinbrenner and Martin with the first one being an argument over Martin not riding on the team bus during spring training and eventually leads to his way of managing versus the way Steinbrenner wants him to manage. Eventually, Martin is fired and replaced by Yogi Berra.
Next week we see Jackson's quotes being taken out of context in the interview, Steinbrenner pressing for a World Title, and the players begin to resent Jackson.
Episode 2 - ESPN
10pm EST
Tuesday, July 17
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Labels: history, review, The Bronx is Burning, TV, Yankees
Posted by Steve Kenul at 10:18 PM
Monday, July 02, 2007
Mrs A-Rod Did What?
The wife of Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez wore a white tank top with foul language on the back when she attended a game against the Oakland Athletics.
A common two-word obscenity ending with "you" was clearly visible when Cynthia Rodriguez, her 2-year-old daughter and an unidentified older woman took their seats Sunday in the players' family section at Yankee Stadium.
A front-page photograph Monday in the New York Post shows the back of the tank top with the obscenity printed in Old English lettering between the shoulder blades. The first letter of the first word is visible; the three other letters are intentionally blurred. The second word is 'You.' The paper's headline read: "F-Rod."
The Yankees had no immediate comment, team spokesman Jason Zillo said Monday.
According to the Post, the team's policy prohibits banners or signs that are not in "good taste" and also warns that security guards will eject any guests "using foul language" or "making obscene gestures." Zillo would not address whether the message on the shirt violated the policy.
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Labels: Alex Rodriguez, Cynthia Rodriguez, wife
Posted by Steve Kenul at 4:44 PM
Sunday, July 01, 2007
3 To Go To All-Star Game
Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez and shortstop Derek Jeter steamrolled their paths toward the All-Star Game in San Francisco, tallying enough votes to finish first and second, respectively, among all Major League leaders.
The voting was less certain for Jorge Posada, who made it into the Midsummer Classic as an American League reserve.
Because the votes that spurred the catcher on to the Bay Area were cast by his fellow big leaguers, they're just as meaningful -- if not more -- as the accolades accumulated by A-Rod and Jeter.
Posada has arguably been the Yankees' most irreplaceable player in the first half, as the 35-year-old backstop has improved his physical conditioning to enjoy one of his finer offensive seasons.
Drawing regular work behind the plate, Posada ranks fifth in the AL with a .333 batting average and could be the first Yankees catcher to finish in the top 10 in AL hitting since Thurman Munson in 1978.
Posada has proved durable as well, which the Yankees have needed -- a steady, guiding influence behind the plate, particularly in the first weeks of the season, when the Bombers trotted out seven different rookie pitchers to make starts.
Then again, Posada's reliability has never been in question; Posada has never landed on the disabled list in his career and has started at least 120 games behind the plate in each of the last seven seasons.
Ever the team player, Posada couldn't fully enjoy his selection over Cleveland's Victor Martinez. Posada was understandably sour after the Yankees' 11-5 loss to the Oakland Athletics on All-Star Selection Sunday.
As the Major League votes leader with 3,890,515 votes cast for the All-Star Game, Rodriguez echoed similar thoughts, downplaying his 11th selection -- but first time leading balloting -- in favor of the club's fortunes.
A-Rod set a new personal high for RBIs in a single month during his incredible April, when he slugged a Major League-leading 14 home runs and drove in 34 runs. Rodriguez came right back and equaled the mark with another 34 RBIs in June, leading the Majors.
The National League should beware. Rodriguez was tied with former Seattle Mariners teammate Ken Griffey Jr. for the Interleague lead with eight home runs this season and led the Majors with 23 RBIs, his numbers buoyed by a red-hot trip to San Francisco in late June.
For all of Rodriguez's theatrics and fireworks, Jeter has been a quietly consistent complement in the Yankees' lineup. Jeter ran off three separate hitting streaks of 17 games or more in the first half of the season, making him the first player since 1950 to do so.
Jeter logged 3,199,571 votes to win starting honors in San Francisco, the third time he will start in the All-Star Game.
Though he has been nicked and bruised all season, most recently fighting a bout with knee tendinitis, Jeter hasn't seen his reliability affected, batting a team-leading .335 with five home runs and 38 RBIs.
Left-hander Andy Pettitte, right-hander Chien-Ming Wang and second baseman Robinson Cano were among those not selected to head to San Francisco. The voting ends a three-year All-Star streak for Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.
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Labels: Alex Rodriguez, All-Star, All-Star Game, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada
Posted by Steve Kenul at 8:47 PM
The wife of Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez wore a white tank top with foul language on the back when she attended a game against the Oakland Athletics.
Kokoyaku
