Archive for Whimsy
The popular gang
Posted by: | CommentsWhile we await the start of baseball this evening (weather permitting), let’s pat ourselves on the back. According to a study released earlier this week, the Yankees are the most popular team in baseball. According to the Harris Poll results (here as a PDF), the Yanks beat out the Red Sox and the Braves as America’s favorite team. Despite the popularity though, 21 percent of fans pick the Red Sox as this year’s World Series winners while 19 percent tab the Yankees for that honor. Winning a game or two against Boston this year would probably help the Yankees in the eyes of America’s baseball fans.
While the Yanks have now led the league in popularity for most of this century, I’d be quite curious to see the opposite results. I believe the Yanks would also be the nation’s most hated team as well. Funny how that works out.
Jeter’s house the biggest on the block
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Derek’s house is bigger than beating you-know-who big. (Photo courtesy of Peter Masa/News Channel 8 in Tampa)
During the waning days of Spring Training, we touched briefly upon Derek Jeter’s new 30,000-square-feet house. While Jeter already owns a five-bedroom, five-bathroom house in Tampa, that was apparently not big enough, and he is currently constructing an eight-bedroom, nine-bathroom house on Davis Islands that’s nearly the size of a Best Buy.
Yesterday, as baseball waited out the All Star Break, Richard Mullins of The Tampa Tribune went inside the numbers on Derek’s new digs. It’s quite a behemoth on the Hillsborough Bay with views of downtown Tampa. Mullins explains more:
Kered Connors LLC, which lists Jeter as the “sole member,” purchased adjacent waterfront lots on Davis Islands’ Bahama Circle in 2005 and 2006. (”Kered” spells “Derek” backward.) Kered Connors paid $7.7 million for the properties at Bahama Circle and Baffin Avenue.
Because it’s one of a kind and unlikely to attract many buyers besides the ultrawealthy, the market value of the home is hard to determine. Using the rough selling price of waterfront Davis Islands properties, the home itself could be worth $6.2 million to $7.7 million, depending on features…
[Architect Gary] Hancock declined to offer many details about the property but said the design will be English Manor style, with lots of gables and stonework. A small service shed that’s nearly complete suggests the final property could have a slate-style roof, red-brick walls and light gray stone around the windows.
Built with two sprawling wings connected by a center section, the home will wrap around a pool on the waterfront side. Two separate three-car garages on each wing flank the front yard, with a drive-through portico along the middle axis to keep the Florida summer rains off guests. Two large boat lifts now stand out in the water of Tampa Bay.
It is a house fit for the king of New York baseball. For his part, though, Derek doesn’t want anyone else poking around his property. According to Mullins, Jeter will ask Hillsborough County for permission to construct a six-foot tall fence around his new home — the better to keep the gawkers out, indeed.
Kei Igawa sets his very own record
Posted by: | CommentsIn a rather dubious fashion, Kei Igawa tied a Scranton record yesterday, and in a few days, he’ll be the sole owner of the mark. PeteAbe with an assist from Chad Jennings, reports that Kei Igawa’s 26th win of his three-year stint at AAA Scranton ties the franchise record. He and Evan Thomas, a career minor leaguer with the Phillies organization, share this dubious distinction.
After the game, Igawa, stuck at AAA forever, kept his achievement in perspective. I can’t tell if he’s being somber or sarcastic. “As long as there is a record that I have chance of setting, it’s something the process to get through,” he said. “It’s a stepping stone, not a final goal of mine.”
Got that? Kei Igawa’s final goal is not to be the most winning Japanese pitcher in the history of the International League or Scranton’s most successful starter. I’m glad he cleared that up.
For his in-progress AAA career, Igawa is now 26-13 with a 3.56 ERA in 51 starts. He’s striking out over 7 per 9 innings and has a WHIP of 1.21. These decent minor league numbers though have not translated into Major League success. With the Yanks, he is 2-4 with a devilish 6.66 ERA in 16 games. Opponents have hit a stunning .302/.386/.549 off of the lefty. He was removed from the 40-man roster in 2008 and hasn’t seen Yankee pinstripes since a one-inning cameo last June. He is still under contract for the next two seasons.
At this point, there’s no real way to sugar coat the Yanks’ decision to sign Kei Igawa. They forked over $46 million for his services, and I doubt he’ll pitch another Big League inning before his contract ends following the 2011 season. While Peter Gammons once blamed Ron Guidry for tinkering with Igawa’s motion and alleged that the Red Sox would put in a waiver claim, that statement seemed more delusional than ever when Igawa passed through waivers last year.
Meanwhile, it is accepted knowledge that the Yanks decided to sign Igawa instead of taking a shot on Ted Lilly for four years and around $40 million. Lilly is third in the Majors in victories since then and 12th in strike outs. Ouch. This might just have been one of the worst Yankee decisions of the last five years.
But as we wait for the game to begin in a few hours, we will tip our caps to Kei Igawa. He now owns an American baseball record. It might be a dubious one, but it is a record indeed. The sad part is that he’ll probably have another two and a half seasons during which he can build on it.
Planning an ejection to fire up the team
Posted by: | CommentsIn the sixth inning last night, Joe Girardi found himself arguing with the first base umpire over an obviously bad call. Brett Gardner, the Yanks’ first man to reach base, was called out on a pick-off attempt at first even though the replays showed him safe. Girardi went out there and argued until he could argue no more.
For the Yanks’ manager, though, it wasn’t your typical argument. He wasn’t fired up, Lou Piniella style, and he didn’t seem to say any of the magic four-letter words that lead to an ejection. Rather, as Tom Rock noted in the Newsday game recap, Girardi wanted to get thrown out. Writes Rock:
First base umpire Bill Welke appeared to ask Girardi if he wanted to be tossed after a long debate that apparently lacked any significant four-letter words. Girardi nodded and was given the hook he searched for. “Yeah, but no comment,” he said of his desire to leave, smiling…
“Maybe it helped a little,” Cervelli said of the ejection that – along with the hitting – seemed to fire up the whole team. It was the first run in 14 innings in Atlanta and by the time Rivera was at bat in the ninth there were plenty of smiles on the top step of the dugout.
Now, I’ve never been one to believe that an ejection can do much to fire up a team. After all, the players are going to go to the plate and attempt to get on base no matter what happens with the manager. It seems more like a convenient excuse for a better performance than it is a real reason for a victory.
Intrigued by the rhetoric though, Richard Iurilli, a RAB regular, ran the numbers. He looked at how the Yanks hit before Girardi was ejected and how they hit after in the four games from which Girardi has been tossed. The numbers please:
| Date | Opp. | W/L | Inning | Before | After |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5/22/2008 | BAL | W | 9th | 7-31, 0-1 RISP | 1-1, 1-1 RISP |
| 7/6/2008 | BOS | W | 6th | 1-17, 0-0 RISP | 8-18, 3-6 RISP |
| 5/4/2009 | BOS | L | 5th | 3-17, 0-2 RISP | 6-19, 0-5 RISP |
| 6/24/2009 | ATL | W | 6th | 0-15, 0-0 RISP | 10-20, 2-9 RISP |
| Totals | 3-1 | 11-80 (.138), 0-3 RISP | 25-58 (.431), 6-21 RISP |
There you have it. Irrevocable proof that by getting ejected, Joe Girardi fires up the Yankees. They hit for higher average and with more patience and more power when Girardi finds himself taking an early shower. He should do it more often.
OK, OK. Maybe it’s not that simple. Clearly, these numbers focus on about 14 innings worth of baseball, and we can’t really derive anything from such a small sample. Plenty of other factors play into it as well. For the most part, I can’t really believe that an ejection would have any impact on the team’s hitting. This is one of the clear examples of a correlation that does not imply causation. And there you go.
CC checking out schools; Coke checking out NJ
Posted by: | CommentsWhile Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez have long been the darlings of Manhattan, a sizable number of Yankees live in New Jersey. Northern Jersey, in particular, is a short jaunt away from Yankee Stadium, and players find bigger homes in the suburbs than in the city.
To that end, two recent stories about the Yankees and their lifestyles caught my eye. We can learn a lot from them, and perhaps, we can learn nothing from them as well. First up is a Jack Curry Bats post on CC Sabathia’s settling in.
According to The Times scribe and New Jersey resident, Sabathia was chatting him up for info on New Jersey high schools, and Curry takes that as a sign that CC may stick around the Bronx beyond the three-year opt-out currently written into his contract. Ponders Curry:
As I was talking to Sabathia a few days ago about why he decided to live in Bergen County, N.J., he asked some questions that indicated he plans to be with the Yankees for the long haul. Carsten Charles III, C.C.’s son, turns 6 in September, but C.C. quizzed me about which county high schools have the best athletic programs. Little C.C. is only in kindergarten, but his father was already thinking about possible high schools.
If Sabathia was planning to bolt the Yankees in three seasons, would he even be aware of Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J.? Probably not, but Sabathia cited the school’s sports pedigree. Sabathia had done some homework, too, because Don Bosco’s baseball team was undefeated last year. Sabathia will earn $23 million a season from 2012 to 2015 if he does not opt out, which is another reason for him to become an expert on the New Jersey school system.
Curry acknowledges that this discussion could mean nothing, and I’m inclined to avoid reading much into it. Sabathia, after all, isn’t going to be playing now with an eye toward escaping from New York in three years. He is the type of player who will pour his heart and soul into pitching now and doing the best he can do now.
A lot can change over the course of three years. The economy, the baseball landscape, the needs of other teams and pitcher’s physical health are all factors that will come into play in 2011 when the opt-out comes due. For now, though, I’m sure we’ll scan CC’s every word for a sign of his intentions, but until he waives that clause, everything remains on the table.
In other Yankee residential news, the Daily News reports that Phil Coke is renting in Edgewater. Coke took out a six-month lease on an apartment at The Peninsula. While CC’s musings mean little, Coke seems to be confident that he will be sticking around the Bronx these days. Rumor has it that Kevin Cash and Brett Tomko are eying the Peninsula as well. If I were those two, I wouldn’t sign anything longer than a one-month sublet right now.
Putting up the target for Johnny
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Yeah, it’s a bit hackneyed, but it’s still a damn good idea from the folks at New Stadium Insider. There’s a lot of complaining going on in Yankeeland right now, which makes sense because there’s a lot to complain about. One exception is Johnny Damon, who is not only turning in a solid season to date, but is doing it in a timely fashion, knocking in runners that no one else can pick up. We might as well celebrate the guy who’s doing everything in his power to overcome the team’s futility of late. Plus, Johnny’s been taking advantage of the short porch more than ever this season, knocking six of his seven homers at home.
The only issue at this point is of how to print out these puppies. Anyone work in the printing business?
How do you spend a $51.1 million posting fee?
Posted by: | CommentsWhen the Red Sox landed themselves the rights to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka, they had to pay over $50 million to the Seibu Lions. In today’s Times, David Waldstein traveled to Saitama, Japan, to check out how the team spent the money. The answer? More bathrooms with electronically warmed toilet seats. The team also used some of the money to resurface their playing field, install a video scoreboard and add more concession stands and seating to the Seibu Dome. The bathrooms, though, are apparently quite an honor.
Saturday night politics: The New York City Council
Posted by: | CommentsThis isn’t your typical politics post. We’re taking sides here, but it the side of the Yanks. In a rather amusing look at the world of New York politics, Times reporter Fernanda Santos canvassed the New York City Council this week. She found that Mets fans out-poll Yankee fans by an 18-13 margin. Seven members of the Council took the politically prudent path of endorsing both, or more pessimistically, neither of the two teams, and Brooklyn’s Bill de Balsio professed his love of the Red Sox. What a traitor.
On another note, feel free to use this thread as the Open Thread. Oliver Perez and the Mets lost to the Phillies on a walk-off walk in the 10th inning, and the Bulls and Celtics are slugging it out in Game 7 of their epic playoff series.
Foley’s opens Irish Hall of Fame voting up to the fans
Posted by: | CommentsLast year, Foley’s, the excellent sports bar with a huge autographed baseball collection on 33rd St. between 5th and 6th Aves., unveiled its Irish Baseball Hall of Fame. While Yankee great announcer John Flaherty earned an induction into the first class, the bar fielded numerous complaints from fans who wanted to get involved. Today, Foley’s introduced fan voting for the 2009 inductee. Adam Dunn, Al Leiter, Paul O’Neill, Joe McEwing and Nolan Ryan make up the field. I voted for Paul O’Neill. All of those fans who got so defensive over LaTroy Hawkins’ number flap last year should do the same.
Anticipating a homecoming of sorts
Posted by: | CommentsLater this afternoon, the Yankees and their fans will welcome back a former member of the Yankee Brotherhood. This player, a Yankee for four years, had many memorable moments on the team. First, there was the time he hurt his buttocks; then, he crashed his car and never told the team; then, he somehow wrangled an Opening Day start out of the team only to go down with a season-ending arm injury two starts later.
That’s right; Carl Pavano is making his return to Yankee Stadium. It is a glorious day in Yankeeland and just what the team and its fans need after yesterday’s 22-4 loss.
Anyway, as the Bronx gears up to welcome Carl Pavano back to the stadium as only the Bronx can, Pavano’s former squeeze Alyssa Milano had some choice words for the Indians’ right-hander. Millano, a noted baseball fan, was at CitiField on Saturday for the Mets’ victory over the Brewers and chatted with Brendan Prunty of The Star-Ledger.
But later on she was asked about a former flame (or it is flame-thrower?), Cleveland Indians pitcher Carl Pavano. The two dated briefly around 2004, and when told that he was going to be pitching Saturday afternoon against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, she said: “That’s not going to be pretty.”
While she spoke highly of Pavano’s work ethic and dedication to baseball, she did make some rather candid statements about the former Yankees pitcher.
“He’s got a lot of talent,” Milano said. “But I think it’s become a head game for him. If I were him, I would’ve stayed out of the American League.”
So there you have it. Even Alyssa Milano thinks that Carl Pavano is a headcase who shouldn’t be pitching in the AL. Hopefully, as she said, this won’t be pretty.
