Do they Relize It's Just A Kids Game??

Yankee Joe: Hello my fellow Yankee fans. It’s been a few Weeks since I posted a New Blog. Sorry about that life gets the better of me at times- I suppose. I have been keeping up with the Yankees Spring Training and I have to say I’m very happy with a lot of what I have been seeing.


Disco: Hey there Yankee Fans. Can you believe it? I’m still here. Yankee Joe has allowed me to continue to assistant coach this mind blowing Yankee Blog. I’m so excited!!! HEEEE HEEE!! We have been very busy and no I did not keep track of the Spring Training games. I’m just waiting for the season to start so I can kick everyone’s butt in Yankee Joe’s Fantasy Baseball League.

Yankee Joe: First and for most Robinson Cano, is having a PHENOMINAL Spring. He is currently hitting .447 with 1 HR and 11RBI’s. If Robbie can carry that into the regular season he should have one hell of a year. Bobby Abrue is showing signs that he might not have his typical slow start. He is hitting .467 with 2 HR and 3 Doubles and 8 RBI’s. Abrue notoriously is a slow starter, but with a good spring under his belt we could get a great start out of him. A-rod is hitting the ball well too at a .500 clip with 3 HR’s and 8 RBI’s. Jeter has struggled at the plate hitting .242 with 0 HR and 0 RBI’s. I would not be too concerned about the Captain thou. He will bring his A game to the regular season, I have no doubt about this. Shelly Duncan has also had a good spring, hitting .333 with 3 HR and 11 RBI’s. Giambi is hitting .407 with 1 HR and 6 RBI’s. If I had to choose between the two I want Duncan playing first on opening day, for no other reason then Giambi in the field is a guarantee of two things. Plenty of Errors at first base and an eventual injury that will plague him all season and bring his offensive numbers down. The way I see it keep Giambi at DH and as a Pinch hitter TO HELL with the paycheck, I’d rather see us win games.

Disco: Did Jeter struggle last year? I thought spring training games were just practice. I’m lost. No worries here. It is just practice right?

Yankee Joe: Pitching wise everybody in the Projected Starting Rotation has had good and bad games. Wang was beat up in his first spring start then threw two very strong games in a row. In his last outing he was once again throwing batting practice to the other team. To be fair in the last game Wang was experimenting with a slider and changeup, and really only struggled in one inning. I’d prefer he working on new pitches now in the spring. Work the kinks out and maybe start the season with some more options in his pitching arsenal. Phill Hughes up until his most recent start has been nothing short of un-hittable. In his last outing thou he seemed to be making up for lost time and gave up plenty of base hits including a few HR’s. Again I would not be concerned, it’s spring training and I’d prefer he got hit hard now then latter once the season starts. If what we have seen most of this spring is any indication, Hughes could very well have a hell of a season ahead of him. Andy Pettit has spent most of the spring season dealing with Performance Enhancer scandals and nursing injuries. When he has pitched he has looked very sharp thou. Hopefully Andy can leave all the troubling news and injuries behind him in Florida. Ian Kennedy has had a good spring. In 9 innings of work he has a 3.00 ERA and has looked sharp most of the time he has pitched. As our likely number 5 starter I believe he is going to seriously turn some heads this year, although I would not count on more then 12 wins from him for the season he has a lot of work to do still. My bigger concern pitching wise is Moose. He has looked TERRIBLE all spring and I just don’t know WHY the Yankees having him in the rotation. If Moose can’t cut it as a starter then he has to except the BP roll as a long reliever and spot starter. Moose has however taken on the roll of working with and teaching the young pitchers in camp. If anything Moose’s value to the team this year may be measured more in how well these young arms pitch rather then how well he pitches.

Disco: When we went to spring training practice, Moose appeared to give the younger pitcher pointers but he seemed to be struggling when he threw. Maybe he is a future pitching coach in the making. A good Teacher/Coach can be inspiring for a young Student/ Player.

Yankee Joe: Now before I call it a week I’d like to talk a bit about Little League Baseball. See both my two sons this year are playing in the local Cal Ripken League. My Youngest son who will be turning 7 in a few moths is in T-ball. My oldest son who just turned 10 is in Minor Leagues where the kids play all the positions including pitcher. For my youngest son this is his first experience at little league baseball, and his coach this year although a very nice person is just not very good at the job. It’s hard to watch him with these kids. He has no interaction with them and most of the kids look bored most of the time- generally not having any fun. I look at other coaches and they interact with their kids teaching them and generally have fun. Personally I think my son’s coach is new to all this and really does not know what he needs to be doing. He seems to be simply going threw the motions. Again it’s nothing personal about him he is a very good person and means well. It’s just very obvious by how my son approaches playing and the other kids on the team that they really aren’t having the fun that they should be having. Hopefully before the season ends that will change, but to be honest from what I have been seeing it’s not likely to happen any time soon. Keep in mind we are talking about T-ball here so nobody is keeping track of the scoring the kids all get to hit each inning and chaos generally ensues every time a ball is hit. (Imagine a ground ball to the first basemen and the ENTIRE infield and half the out field go running to field it) My son for example loves to slide into the bases. ALL THE BASES!! See he will get a hit run to first and slide (Or basically flop on top of it) into first base. He then, proceeds to slide into second then third then home. I think I might have caught him sliding into the dugout as wellJ My point hear is these kids are to young to be taking any of this serious and this is supposed to be fun for them.

Disco: Little League is so much fun to watch because it is just a Game to the kids and they want to have fun. When the whole team follows the ball it takes all my strength not laughing hysterically. There have even been some occurrences where everyone tackled the ball like in football, just to get the ball first. Sometimes I think if the Major Leaguers and some over zealous fans remembered that it is just a game they would enjoy the game more.

Yankee Joe: Then there is my 10 year old son and his coach. Let me tell ya my son’s coach is STERN, and does not like to see goofing off. Now don’t’ get me wrong at this age I don’t’ mind seeing this at all. Here’s the thing thou as stern as this coach is he also knows when and where he needs to do this. He reminds these kids all the time that “Hey this is all supposed to be fun!!” and more importantly he has passion for the game and is actually teaching them about the game while having fun. He has a VERY GOOD balance. In their first 5 games thou the team has yet to win a single game. Unfortunately these kids have not quite come together as a team, and tend to make a few mistakes that cost them some runs during the games. What I really love about this coach is that he never really keeps track of the score. We parents all know it’s getting ugly but the coach who probably has figure it out as well is more concerned with how the kids are playing the game and making sure they don’t’ get to down on them selves and are having fun. Don’t’ get me wrong he wants them to win, it’s just not the most important thing he worries about and if you ask me that makes him an EXCELENT coach. Now if only the same could be said about a few of the parents. I swear some of these people don’t’ realize the pressure they put on their kids. One dad in particular spends half the game screaming at his kid. Between this dad and his wife their kid is berated with a steady stream of advice and criticism. I just don’t’ understand how this kid puts up with it. At one point during a bad play the dad stood up swore out load and started pacing around like a wild beast. I calmly looked over to him and said “Hey relax it’s just little league baseball”. He gave me the look like I had lost my mind smiled and said “O Right that makes it better”. He then proceed the rest of the game to tell his kid (And a few others on the team) that they better start playing like the guys in the big leagues who make millions if they want to win. I Just don’t’ understand this mentality at all. I mean it’s baseball, and yes this is competition and we want to see our children win and play well. At what cost thou?? The chance that we might make playing the game they love so much a miserable experience. My oldest son who absolutely LOVES the game of baseball is needless to say not the best player on the field. Actually, truth be told at the start of the season he was struggling A LOT. He has in a short time come a long way but still has a lot of work to do. The thing is I don’t envision him as some great ball player playing in the majors in a few years. If that happens that would be great I know it would make him happy. For me I don’t want to expect that kind of thing from him, all I want is for him to enjoy the chance he has to play the game he loves. If he can’t enjoy himself then he will grow to hate the game and I just could not bear to be the one responsible for that. It’s not about how well he plays the game that makes me proud of him. It’s the fact that he goes out there to play it every time, and no matter how much he struggles he still gives it everything he has because he LOVES to play. Parents who don’t see this in their kids and constantly push their kids take all the fun out of playing the game. When you do that you’re going to push them away from wanting to play the game, because you made them. For all those that may read this if you have kids and they play Little League baseball or ANY Sport for that matter. No matter how badly you want them to win, no matter how much they struggle. PLEASE for the love of the game JUST LET THEM BE KIDS and have fun. The truth is no matter how much the pros get paid or how big and exciting the Majors become. Baseball is still just a kids’ game and it should REMAIN that away. So please don’t’ take the fun away from your kids and ruin the experience of the game. If you let them just have fun and leave the coaching to the coaches, I promise you they will love this sport for the rest of their lives.

Disco: These kids just want to play the game. Our oldest son’s Coach Is the greatest. He has shown our son the encouragement he has needed to try hard and practice more. It is very frustrating to watch a parent yelling at his kid, “Do it like the Major leaguers!”, when most of the kids are still figuring out how to read the coach’s signs and how to do a double play. I don’t see Derek Jeter’s parents telling him how to play while he is fielding a ball. Remember it is just a game. Let’s them have fun.

Disco: I’m not sure what Yankee Joe will talk about next week but if he lets me I will still be here putting in my two cent as Assistant Coach to the most mind blowing Yankee Baseball Blog you ever read. See ya!

Yankee Joe: Next week?!?!? Hmmm Lets see the season is fast approaching so Id say next week Ill lay out my Predictions for next year. Ill give ya Details on who will win the East Central and West in both leagues and of course where the Yankees fall into that. So till next week I plan to feed the two Geriatric Hamsters that power my Crystal ball some extra special kibble. Maybe this year ill actually get a few right.

Till Next Week.

The Yankee Fan (And Disco)

The Deal With Santana

Man Do I have Timing or what?? I said last week I was going to talk about Johan Santana, then late this week the Mets go and pull off a trade for him. Interestingly enough, a lot of experts believe the Mets got the deal because the Yankees walked away and the Red Sox lost interest and I personally would have to agree with that sentiment. Truth be told the Mets should be counting their lucky stars this week, because in the end the Twins got Greedy and Impatient and it cost them big. Now don’t’ get me wrong the Mets gave up 4 prospects to get Santana and they were pretty good prospects for the most part. But if you go back and look at what the Yankees and the Red Sucks where willing to give up to get Santana you have to start wondering how drunk the Twins GM was when he finally agreed to this deal with the Mets. In terms of over all value both the Sucks and Yankees were offering A LOT more, yet the Twins kept turning them down asking for more. Lets break this down shale we.

The Yankees were offering Melky Cabrera, Phil Hughes, and two other prospects. Melky has two seasons, 1024 AB and 286 games under his belt in the majors. He has led the league in OF assists 2 years in a row, and is a virtual spark plug in the Yankee offense. Hughs has been the Yankees number one prospects for the last 2 years, nearly pitched a No hitter in only his second Major League outing. He was brought into a pressure filled MUST WIN playoff game and was phenomenal. The Twins in this deal were getting two MAJOR LEAGUE READY IMPACT players that were barely in their twenties plus TWO other prospects that would likely be in the majors this year or next.

The Sucks took things a step further. They offered Coco Crisp, John Lester, and Two Prospects or behind DOOR #2 was the Jacoby Elsebury, John Lester, and 2 Prospects offer that was also on the table. In the First deal Crisp although a bust in Boston is a well established Major League CF, with a decent bat and glove. A Change of scenery would and probably eventually will do him some good. Lester is a top prospect with at least a full season under his belt. He missed half of this season and half of last because of Cancer. Don’t let that fool you thou the kid, has a lot of talent and is likely to be an impact player for the sucks one way or another. In the Second deal, Elsebury has 2 and a half months of major League experience under his belt a month of that is in the playoffs were he played a major part in the Sucks offense. Between his speed and his batting skills combined with a very good glove this kid could be and likely is the real deal. In Both deals offered the Sucks were giving up 2 players that were YOUNG, had the ability to make an IMPACT on the Twins roster, and obviously were major league ready. The Remaining two prospects would likely be ready to play in the majors this year or at the latest next.

Now what the Mets gave up to get Santana in the end value wise was much much less. Carlos Gomez has only played in 52 MLB games, and total 125 AB, Philip Humber has a grand total of 6 MLB games under his belt only 1 of which he has started. Both are considered good Prospects neither can be consider players that are likely to make an impact on the Twins this year. They might very well do that but it is less likely, because so far they have really not done much in the majors up to this point. This year will be a development season for them and they will either perform or need more time. Basically nobody can say either of these two are ready for the Majors because hey haven’t seen enough of the Majors. The Remaining two prospects the Mets gave up are Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra, both are considered decent prospects neither are expected to see the majors for the next year or two and when they do both are seen as back of the rotation guys if not eventual bull pen fodder. Their not bad prospects, they are all young cheap and have talent. But when you compare what the Twins WANTED from the Yankees and Sucks and what they eventually agreed to take the price tags just don’t’ match up.

What really blows me away is that after turning down the above deals from the Sucks AND the Yankees the twins went and made this deal when truthfully they would have been better off waiting for July. Why you might ask well let me explain. First of all come July a lot of teams will not be wondering about who in the roster is going to have a break out season, which rookie is really ready for the Majors, and they KNOW who is injured and likely not coming back before the end of August. Add that to the Pennant races where you will have the usual suspects (Yankees, Red Sucks, Cardinals ect; ect.) but also many teams that nobody realy saw coming. Case in point in the NL west you have the Dodgers, who are expected to be in the thick of the race but has a pitching staff that’s older then the great Pyramids. A young Lefthander that could very well walk away with the NL Cy young would be a HUGE boost to them in July if their close in the Division race. Then there are the Padres, the team that lost out on the playoffs thanks to the Rockies this year. They have a STRONG young team with Jake Peavy to anchor their Staff. Imagine if they added Santana at the end of July?? Not only would it give them a HUGE boost toward winning their division, but it would give them one hell of a 1-2 punch going into the playoffs. Then there is the Diamondbacks last years NL West winners who already made waves picking up Dan Haren this off season. Imagine if they made this trade in July, bringing Santana to the Desert now sporting a Rotation of Web, Haren, and Santana for the second half of the season. That’s just the NL West. Now imagine the teams in the rest of the NL in July would be looking seriously at adding an Ace to their team for a serious playoff push. The list would include the Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Possibly St Louis, and even Cincinnati. Then there is the Al besides the Yankees and Red Sucks you can’t count out the Angels, Tigers, Blue Jays, Indians, or the A’s for that matter. A lot of people would point out that most if not all of these teams likely would shy away from Santana because of his contract demands. Thing is thou most teams would be simply looking at getting him to get to the Playoffs and eventually the WS. How many big deals have we seen go down where a guys was traded with the team knowing full well they likely won’t be able to keep him when the season ends. To make the playoffs and go deep in them teams are willing to take that chance especially in July. At that point Santana would be better off waiting till the end of the season to garner a new contract, because if he is brought into any team and IMPROVES it, then the contract he will get in the off season will only get bigger. Then add more to that contract if they make the playoffs and Santana comes up big. Hell even if he is simply ok making the playoffs raises his contract even more. In the end Santana would. Have gotten a MONSTER deal had he been traded in July and waited to be a FA. Also the Twins would have gotten a MUCH better return because they would have had more teams in the mix for Santana, and teams would be willing to take Santana if nothing more then to bolster there Playoff chances. It is part of the game, that gambles are made more in July then they are in the off season. Why?? Well because from December to the end of May EVERY MLB TEAM believes they can win it all in the upcoming season. Yea most are out of their minds but you have to remember most teams will sign a proven FA and keep their prospects before they will make a blockbuster trade. Most teams want to see if what they have NOW will work for them before their willing to trade it away for a sure thing. More importantly most winter trades don’t’ pan out. July trades thou have a much higher success rates because most teams know exactly what their getting in return. Look at the Sucks last year. They traded for Gage-Me and he was having a GREAT year for the Rangers. He came to Boston and STUNK for them. The point here is in the winter most teams are not willing to take a chance for a sure thing. In July however most teams have to make that decision because most of their off season questions have been answered. A few new questions have come up and GM’s have very little time to find an answer before their team hits the point of no return in a playoff race.

In the end I’m glad the Yankees did not trade for Santana. Giving up Melky would have killed our offense, and would have weakened us in CF. Loosing Phill Hughs would have hurt the team as well. Santana would have been a boost but Hughs is a number 3 starter with the ability to be a number one starter at some point. Loosing both players would have hurt the Yankees with out a doubt. Then add to it the money we would have had to shell out to keep Santana. Sure the first 2 years would be great, but at some point Satan was going to have an injury season. EVERYBODY has one, and a lot of players never survive it. Hughs at 21 is likely to have an injury season but not at least for another 4 to 5 years. The same can be said of Melky who is also 21 and just starting to show off his true value to the Yankees in the field AND at the plate. I’m glad we did not trade for Santana simply because we have been down this road too much in the past 5 years. Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson were two guys that were sure thing trades the Yankees made and they both blew up in our face. Brown worse then Johnson but to be honest neither ever came close to meeting expectations. Then there is the Free Agents we have signed, Giambi, Mussina and Farnsworth were all brought in to help the Yankees win a WS. NONE of them have done this and the Yankees haven’t even seen the second round of the Playoffs since 2005, and DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED on Carol Pavano. My point here is the Yankees have been going out and getting the big names and it has produced nothing but nightmares. All they got was a bunch of guys that either, burst into flames, become PR nightmares, never produce like they were expected to, or simply get injured the entire length of their monster contract. Simply put going after the BIG NAME sure things has NOT WORKED. It’s time to try something different, it is TIME the Yankees mixed in some youth and brought in their own talent rather then over paying for a NAME only to have it blowup in there faces. The Yankees have made a commitment to their farm system starting last year when Cashmen restocked our farm and we have seen the fruits of that work already in Joba, Kenedy, Melky, Cano, and Wang just to name a few. These kids are just getting started and most of them have a very bright future ahead of them. Many fans feel that this is a mistake that the Yankees don’t grow their own talent. I mean players are not plants. Nope, the Yankees go out and trade everything for nothing or beg for free agents to join the ranks of Yankees. We need to invest in our future. So let’s start by teaching potential talent the ways of the Yankee and keep a loyal crew not a money hungry Name. The last group of home grown Yankees included the names of Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera just to name a few. As a young core of players-they did nothing special really right??. I mean all they did was win 4 WS form 1996 to 2000, won the AL East 10 years in a row, and have averaged anywhere form 90 to 100+ wins a season form 1996 to present. Just IMAGINE what this next young crop of home grown Yankees will do.

Next week I’m talking about the Mitchell Report, Roger Clemens and the Congressional Hearings that will be taking place in the up coming weeks. So!

Until Next Week

The Yankee Fan

New Year New Blog!!

I’M BACK!!!! Hello my fellow Yankee Fans; I am back, and raring to go. First allow me to explain. The reason for my long absence from the world of weekly blogging, without going into to much detail, on July 31st my beautiful wife and I became the proud parent of a bouncing baby girl. Now so ya know because I don’t talk about my private life too much here, I now have a grand total of three kids. Those of you reading this that have kids know that a new born alone can basically take over your life for a time. So that’s where I have been. Things at the old home steed have started to calm down some, and I now find myself able to start Blogging again. So hopefully I’ll be able to post a new blog every Sunday once again without any interruption, of course as we all know life is full of unexpected surprises. I make no promises other then I’ll do my best to have something new posted every Monday or at least have a guest blogger if I can’t do it my self.

Ok now that my excuses are out of the way lets recap the last half of the season and the winter off season as best as I can.

First and for most we have to give our Yankees credit, they made an AMAZING come back in the second half of the season. They almost found a way to take the AL East from Boston. In the end Boston’s lead and a few badly timed loosing streaks cost us the AL East for the first time in 10 seasons, but (on a happy note) we did manger to win the Wild card and make the playoffs. Not that it mattered much the Indians (with some help from those DAM MIDGES with their LUCKY charms!!) made quick work of us in the ALDS then managed to choke against the Sucks in the ALCS. What really bothers me is that we COULD HAVE BEATEN BOSTON in the ALCS had we gotten past Cleveland. We owned them last season even with us loosing the first three series against them including a sweep in Boston. The Yankees managed to win every series after that against the Sucks and even swept them in the last home series of the season. Had it been the Yankees in the ALCS we would not have choked with a 3-1 lead, I have no doubt about that. Unfortunately the Sucks once again have a WS trophy in their position. It just goes to show you that if you want something done right you simply have to do it yourself. 2008 will be a different year for the Yankees and Boston will not be celebrating a WS win so long as they have to get past the Yankees in the playoffs.

Now this second half surge was fueled by YOUTH of all things for the Yankees. Leading the charge was the ever impressive Joba Chamberlend out of the BP and virtually solidifying the setup roll for Mo. Behind him we had Phil Hughs FINALLY making the major league team and showing us why teams have been falling all over themselves trying to get the Yankees to trade him. Then there was Ian Kennedy. This was another kid like Joba that started the season in single A ball and was pitching for the Yankees by the end of August, and doing a dam fine job. The rest of the notable Youth movement are some familiar names; Wang who won another 19 games for us and was a Cy Young contender for most of the season, Melky Cabrea who once he got regular playing time starting in mid June managed to drive in 73 runs and score 66 runs in 150 games. Due the math folks that means in 150 games Cabrea was responsible for at least 139Yankee runs, and remember he was not getting full time play until mid June so how many of those 150 games was he in there simply as a pinch runner before he was given real playing time. Obviously Robie Cano is included in this category as well who although he had a slow start still managed to finish the season with a 300+ batting average and almost 100 RBI’s. A few honorable mentions belong to Armas Remerez, and Rus Olendorf out of the BP. At times these kids looked unbelievable and other times their inexperience was very obvious. In both cases the learning experience alone can only make them strong and I believe we will have two very strong arms out of the BP this year. Then there was Chase Wright and Tyler Clippered. Both had a few early games where they were impressive, both eventually hit hard times. Clippered was traded over the winter for a young arm in the BP. I hated seeing him go because this kid has talent but we did get a good return for him and if he pans out he can always come back down the road. Personally, I hope the kid sets the baseball world on fire. Wright on the other hand could very well be damaged goods. Joe Torre in one of many questionable moves last season left Wright in a game not after 1 not 2 not 3 NOT EVEN 4 HRs but after 5 HRs against the Red Sucks. Even then he did not go out to the mound. Wright was left out there to stew and did to his credit eventually get out of the inning. I’ll just never understand why Torre or Guidry for that matter was not out on that mound talking to this kid and calming him down after at least the second HR. The result of this was his confidence was destroyed. Now hey he is in the majors and he should be able to bounce back but still it was pretty obvious the manager left him out there to die. Hopefully he can move past this and eventually become a strong prospect for the Yankees again. Time will tell. Personally the kid has great stuff; he just needs his confidence back. Joe Gerardi the new Manager of the Yankees has a decent track record dealing with young pitchers. So I’m hoping he is a positive influence on Wright; if he makes it back to the majors in 08.

Now this Off season also included the release of Senator Gorge Mitchels report on Performance enhancers in baseball. I’m not going to go to much into detail on this one today I’ll give you the Cliff notes on my thoughts. First the report itself is lopsided unfair and Biased as hell. I mean GIVE ME A BREAK, the main source if this investigation comes from a former NY Yankees trainer and former NY Met clubhouse attendant. So it should not surprise anybody that most of the accused are current or former NY Yankees and a few Mets scattered in there as well. Lets be clear about something thou, Gorge Mitchel is a DIRECTOR for the BOSTON REDSUCKS, so it comes to no surprise to me at least that ONLY ONE Red Suck was named in his report and AMAZINGLY enough it’s was basically a no name that’s not even on there roster any more. Gage-Me was also named but he was barely a Suck so to me he doesn’t’ count. Then there is Clemens, a guy that has pissed off the Red Suck Nation more then any player named Bucky Dent or Aaron Boon.(And that’s saying allot!!) So is it any wonder he was named in this report? His accuser Brian Macnamie has an inconsistent story, a record of LYING to get him self out of trouble, and an extremely shady past. Clemens for his part has come out swinging and many would say that it’s all ego because he wants to save his legacy. This very well could be true and it could cost him dearly in the end but if you ask me Clemens is fighting too dam hard and with too much passion to be lying. He has done what MANY accused have not done. He has filed a lawsuit against his accuser. When asked about testifying to congress he response in short is “Bring it on”. He has confronted his accuser and stated time and time again “All I want is the truth” Now I get that this could be a HUGE scam on Clemens part. He could be lying and to be honest when it was first reported my thought were simply that he was lying. As the weeks have gone by Clemens anger, and pursuit to clear his name and how STRONGLY he is attacking it leads me to believe that he may be telling the truth and that he may not have ever taken Roids or anything else for that matter. I could be wrong and many will believe that I am. Hey I’m cool with that. Your welcome to believe anything you want but my gut is telling me Clemens never used. I hope I’m right even if I personally can’t stand Clemens as a ballplayer (Great talent but I hate his Ego). Andy Pettit was also named in this report and he has come forward and said “yes the report is true I did this” he also said he was sorry if it upset any of the fans that he did this and swears he only did it the one time (2 shots). On one hand I’m angry with Andy for using what he was doing was wrong and did it anyway. I can however respect Andy for simply coming right out and in no HGH, even if I understand his desire to get back in the game he still knew uncertain terms saying YES I USED HGH. To me that was a classy thing to do. He did not come out and say I did something and I’m sorry for that something, it’s a distraction that something Blahh Blahh Blahh. Unlike another Yankees caught using Performance Enhancers (Jason Giambi) at least Andy can be straight forward with the fans about his mistake. On the subject of Giambi I’m done bitching about his former Roid use. He has done his time and has been paying the price for it the last 4 or more season. I’m not talking the media, the fan jeers or mine, and others bitching and screaming for his departure from the Yankees. Nope I still don’t’ like the guy as a Yankee, and can’t wait till he is gone. His fielding ability has gone from poor to god awful in the last three seasons. Oh sure, we have had a few streaks of greatness from him but the guy can’t field to save his life. His power is slowly going, going, gone, and his batting average every season keeps getting smaller. Every year there is a NEW set if injuries, to his formerly roided up body. In the end Giambi is more of a hindrance and detriment to the Yankees, but it has nothing to do with his admission or lack of admission to using Roids. It’s does have a connection to his usage. The Yankees seem to have caught on to Giambi’s uselessness by decreasing his playing time and it is a matter of time before he is traded or just released by the Yankees. I mean at some point we have to cut our losses and with a Log jam in the Outfield we need more playing time for Damon, Matsui and Abrue at DH because all 3 of them AND Melky can’t play in the OF- We need Melky n the lineup! For those of you that are fans of Giambi, hey look if you like the guy by all means more power to ya. Just understand I don’t’ have to like him, and I’m not the only one that sees how he has been hurting the Yankees with his poor seasons and persistent injuries. It’s simply My Opinion. The way I see it many Fans hate A-rod, I personally have no beef with him. I think he is an amazing player that just needs to keep his mouth shut avoid the media like the Plague and just as Boca in the movie Mr 3000 said “Just do your thing baby.” Now many will disagree with me. Hey that’s cool, I never said I was right but I never admitted to being wrong, and I most likely never will.

Well this has gotten longer then I wanted it to be, so on that note Ill be signing off. Next week ill talk Santana and why I’m happy the Yankees never made a trade for him. After that I plan to go more into detail on Clemens and the Mitchel Report, The Youth movement of the Yankees, and our off season moves or lack there for of. I also will be Posting my annual Spring Training how too Blog, with lots of info on where to go who you might see and when the best times are to go.

Until Then

The Yankee Fan