Barring a physical setback, Alex Rodriguez probably will return to the NY Yankees’ active 25-man roster this week. Aside from giving the Bronx Bombers a hoped-for power surge, A-Rod’s return will give the team a major migraine as it tries to figure out a new batting order and, more sensitively, who will be demoted to make room for the slugger.
The decisions could mean the immediate end of 39-year-old Jorge Posada’s career as a Yankee, even after his career-day Saturday when he hit a grand slam and knocked in a total of six runs. Or the team could finagle the roster to reward Posada for his 16 years of service by keeping him active and sending down to the minors, or to the 15-day disabled list, a pitcher until baseball rosters can be expanded to 40 on September 1. Either way, based on his .237 batting average this year, which follows a .248 mark a year ago, it seems all but certain this is Jorge’s last year as a player in Yankee pinstripes.
Without Rodriguez in the lineup the Yanks have fared well. Their revamped batting order featuring Curtis Granderson in the three hole, followed by Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano, has proven quite potent. With A-Rod expected to return to the cleanup spot, the question becomes, where to put Granderson who is having an MVP-type year. He is tied for the major league lead in home runs, is first in runs scored and is second in runs batted in. He has shown he can hit lefties this season, thus negating a reason to have the switch-hitting Teixeira bat third.
Earlier this year manager Joe Girardi had to contend with questions about Derek Jeter’s spot in the batting order. Lucky for him (and the team), Jeter emerged from his funk when he returned from the DL, so leading off or batting second behind Brett Gardner is not a question anymore for the team captain.
Girardi has to deal with sensitive egos. In my mind he has two options. First, assuming he can talk A-Rod into it, he should bat him sixth against right-handed pitchers until he has proven his swing is back. Once that happens, Rodriguez and Teixeira should flip-flop. In other words, the batting order at the outset against righties should be: Gardner, Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira, Cano, Rodriguez, Nick Swisher, Eric Chavez, Russell Martin. (Against lefties it would always be Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira, Rodriguez, Cano, Swisher, Martin, Eduardo Nunez or Andruw Jones, Gardner.)
That’s the easy part of the A-Rod is back equation. Who gets jettisoned is much harder. I have a soft spot for Posada. I know baseball is a what-have-you-done-lately-for-me business. For the season, Posada has been mostly missing in action. But I’m not ready to discard one-third of the remaining core three players from the last five Yankee championships. Girardi stuck with Jeter during the first half and he’s supporting Mariano Rivera during his recent hiccups. My heart wants the Yanks not to disrespect Posada by releasing him.
That leaves a pitching reduction as the more probable option. I’m already on record as wanting to get rid of A.J. Burnett, but that’s not happening, unless they can convince him to go on the DL. As much as I have no confidence in him, Burnett is insurance should one of the other starting pitchers suffer a physical setback, as Freddy Garcia just did by cutting a finger and being unable to pitch his next start. Most probably management will return Hector Noesi to the minors until the September call-up. That could mean Hughes pitches out of the bullpen, reprising the Joba Chamberlain he’s-a-reliever-no-he’s-a-starter-no-he’s-a-reliever scenario that benefited no one. It’s not optimal, but it’s only a short-term assignment.
Yogi Berra once said, "Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical." Now that the Yanks are more physically fit with A-Rod’s pending return, their season will depend on how well they handle the mental part of the game.
There is one other option in the Posada predicament. A proud man, he could decide there’s no better way to end his Yankee career than with Saturday’s mega-day. After reliving it in his mind for more than 36 hours, he could choose to retire in dignity rather than the ignominy that surely will be attached to the rest of this season should he continue to play, or more probably, sit most days on the bench. Why not go out on top of the world, just like Ted Williams did by smashing a home run in his last time up?
Sure, Posada’s bat probably has more hits left in it. But it has far too many outs as well. Let Yankee fans remember the Posada of Saturday when they gave him a standing ovation curtain call following his bases-clearing blast. Let him announce his retirement prior to tonight’s game. It will show him to be the ultimate team player. In return, the Yankees could show their class by immediately naming him a coach for the rest of the season.
Showing posts with label Ted Williams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ted Williams. Show all posts
Monday, August 15, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Anger Management
My Anger Exploded: Driving around town earlier today I listened to the noon radio broadcast of the news from CBS. The anchor matter-of-factly recounted how two sisters were released from prison in Mississippi on the condition Gladys Scott would donate a kidney to Jamie Scott. The anchor finished the story by noting the women were in prison for 16 years on an armed robbery conviction.
I couldn’t believe my ears. I was so angered I almost slammed on the brakes. Yes, everything reported was true. But soooooo incomplete.
Did you know the sisters, 21 and 19 at the time of the robbery, were each given consecutive life sentences? Must have been a big haul, you’d think. Not quite. Just $11 (though some reports say as much as $200 was taken). Did you know three boys, ages 14-18 were also charged and convicted, that they served their time and were long ago released? Did you know the sisters denied involvement in the crime? Did you know the sisters are Afro-American?
Did you know the only reason Gov. Haley Barbour suspended their double life sentences was to avoid the $200,000 a year medical bills the state incurred from providing kidney dialysis treatment to Jamie? And that the sisters now wonder where they will get the money to pay for the transplant operation?
I like being updated by the news, hearing headlines. But it is so infuriating when the story is incomplete. Had I not known the background I could easily have been led to believe these sisters were beneficiaries of a benevolent governor rather than victims of heinous injustice, for even if they were indeed guilty of the $11-$200 armed robbery, how is a double life sentence warranted? (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/us/08sisters.html?_r=1&hp)
Call me old-fashioned, but I think it’s too exploitive, all the hullabaloo surrounding Ted Williams, the homeless man-cum-radio/TV announcer who has become an Internet sensation. I’m happy for him, but did the reunion with his 90-year-old mother have to be televised? Couldn’t they get together off-camera after 20 years instead being a cause bellum for the CBS Early Show and NBC Today Show (which, thankfully, the networks worked out)? http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/01/06/2011-01-06_ted_williams_homeless_man_with_a_golden_voice_reunites_with_mom_after_being_apar.html
Why must everything be a media event? Why must we see everything. Can’t our culture accept private moments in people’s lives? Yes, it’s wonderful to celebrate human achievement, second chances in life, whether it be Williams (who seems to have more than just one second chance) or the miners in Chile. At some point in time, though, we need to rebalance our priorities and distance ourselves from an all-consuming desire to know. Facebook and Twitter may be worth mega-billions, but good old fashioned privacy—maybe modesty would be a better word—is slated for a comeback. I hope it happens soon.
Until that happens, no doubt we will see a film in a year or less on Ted Williams, one like The Soloist which celebrated a street musician “discovered” by a Los Angeles reporter.
No Honor: He might have been a heckuva pilot, and a good seaman, but film is what done-in the promising career of Capt. Owen Honors who was relieved of his command of the USS Enterprise for inappropriate behavior while he was the ship’s executive officer.
Honors produced and starred in videos intended to boost morale aboard the aircraft carrier. But the films contained scenes and comments that were sexually explicit and also offensive to gays and lesbians. Bottom line—if ever there was a person unworthy of his name, Honors is it.
Statesmanship vs. Brinksmanship: Here’s why the U.S. Senate filibuster cloture rule might get changed—Republicans will deem it in their long term interest even if they suffer some short term setbacks.
Currently, it requires 60 votes to stifle debate. To get it down to a simple 51-vote majority, the GOP must agree to a change of rules. They’ll do so because they believe the 2012 election will give them control of the Senate, though probably not by 60 or more votes. To forestall Democrats using the same stalling tactics they have used, the GOP will accept a rule change now. Since Republicans control the House, their downside risk is limited to actions the Senate alone has the power to control, namely treaty and cabinet/executive appointment approvals.
By agreeing to the rules change, the Republicans could spin the action favorably as an example of their putting country first. Of course, it is not a foregone conclusion Democrats will go along with the idea. If they, too, believe the GOP will gain majority status after the next election, they won’t be able to stymie the right-wing agenda if they amend the cloture rule.
Harry Reid and his dragoons, along with President Obama, have a lot of strategic soul-searching to do before they put statesmanship ahead of brinksmanship.
I couldn’t believe my ears. I was so angered I almost slammed on the brakes. Yes, everything reported was true. But soooooo incomplete.
Did you know the sisters, 21 and 19 at the time of the robbery, were each given consecutive life sentences? Must have been a big haul, you’d think. Not quite. Just $11 (though some reports say as much as $200 was taken). Did you know three boys, ages 14-18 were also charged and convicted, that they served their time and were long ago released? Did you know the sisters denied involvement in the crime? Did you know the sisters are Afro-American?
Did you know the only reason Gov. Haley Barbour suspended their double life sentences was to avoid the $200,000 a year medical bills the state incurred from providing kidney dialysis treatment to Jamie? And that the sisters now wonder where they will get the money to pay for the transplant operation?
I like being updated by the news, hearing headlines. But it is so infuriating when the story is incomplete. Had I not known the background I could easily have been led to believe these sisters were beneficiaries of a benevolent governor rather than victims of heinous injustice, for even if they were indeed guilty of the $11-$200 armed robbery, how is a double life sentence warranted? (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/us/08sisters.html?_r=1&hp)
Call me old-fashioned, but I think it’s too exploitive, all the hullabaloo surrounding Ted Williams, the homeless man-cum-radio/TV announcer who has become an Internet sensation. I’m happy for him, but did the reunion with his 90-year-old mother have to be televised? Couldn’t they get together off-camera after 20 years instead being a cause bellum for the CBS Early Show and NBC Today Show (which, thankfully, the networks worked out)? http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/01/06/2011-01-06_ted_williams_homeless_man_with_a_golden_voice_reunites_with_mom_after_being_apar.html
Why must everything be a media event? Why must we see everything. Can’t our culture accept private moments in people’s lives? Yes, it’s wonderful to celebrate human achievement, second chances in life, whether it be Williams (who seems to have more than just one second chance) or the miners in Chile. At some point in time, though, we need to rebalance our priorities and distance ourselves from an all-consuming desire to know. Facebook and Twitter may be worth mega-billions, but good old fashioned privacy—maybe modesty would be a better word—is slated for a comeback. I hope it happens soon.
Until that happens, no doubt we will see a film in a year or less on Ted Williams, one like The Soloist which celebrated a street musician “discovered” by a Los Angeles reporter.
No Honor: He might have been a heckuva pilot, and a good seaman, but film is what done-in the promising career of Capt. Owen Honors who was relieved of his command of the USS Enterprise for inappropriate behavior while he was the ship’s executive officer.
Honors produced and starred in videos intended to boost morale aboard the aircraft carrier. But the films contained scenes and comments that were sexually explicit and also offensive to gays and lesbians. Bottom line—if ever there was a person unworthy of his name, Honors is it.
Statesmanship vs. Brinksmanship: Here’s why the U.S. Senate filibuster cloture rule might get changed—Republicans will deem it in their long term interest even if they suffer some short term setbacks.
Currently, it requires 60 votes to stifle debate. To get it down to a simple 51-vote majority, the GOP must agree to a change of rules. They’ll do so because they believe the 2012 election will give them control of the Senate, though probably not by 60 or more votes. To forestall Democrats using the same stalling tactics they have used, the GOP will accept a rule change now. Since Republicans control the House, their downside risk is limited to actions the Senate alone has the power to control, namely treaty and cabinet/executive appointment approvals.
By agreeing to the rules change, the Republicans could spin the action favorably as an example of their putting country first. Of course, it is not a foregone conclusion Democrats will go along with the idea. If they, too, believe the GOP will gain majority status after the next election, they won’t be able to stymie the right-wing agenda if they amend the cloture rule.
Harry Reid and his dragoons, along with President Obama, have a lot of strategic soul-searching to do before they put statesmanship ahead of brinksmanship.
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