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Catching Up With The Yankees
It's been a week since Spring Training opened up around the Majors. Any interesting stories floating around?
I kid, I kid.
Unless you were visiting another planet (man, that would be so awesome!) I'm sure you've gotten more than your fill on the Alex Rodriguez situation. I sure have. Still, it's important to have documentation (isn't it?) so I'll put in my two cents about A-Rod. They are worth considerably less.
The Epic of A-Rod. It's amazing how a man's life can be turned upside down in a relatively short period of time. The Sports Illustrated story that revealed Rodriguez's positive steroid test in 2003 is roughly two weeks old and it has been in the headlines ever since. But it's not the same old story over and over. Oh, no -- that wouldn't be dramatic enough! A-Rod admitted to ESPN's Peter Gammons that he used performance enhancing drugs in 2001, 2002 and 2003, but didn't go into what he took. Then he admitted to injecting "Boli," which has been reported to be Primobolan, with his cousin but said he obtained it over the counter in the Dominican Republic. Turns out Primobolan wasn't available over the counter in the Dominican Republic during that time (or now). The latest story to break is A-Rod's relationship with trainer Angel Presinal, a man banned from every private area in Major League ballparks because of his association with performance enhancing drugs. The Daily News reported that Presinal was with Rodriguez during the 2007 season.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
I'd like to move on from this story, but it's difficult. I didn't believe A-Rod during his interview with Gammons. I felt the same during his press conference in Tampa. Professional sports is becoming more and more like TMZ or The National Inquirer. The story is important (especially the way the information was leaked and the alleged claims that the player's union tipped off players to drug tests), but it seems like the goal is just to destroy Rodriguez. I've come to the point in my life where I don't care what players do off the field. I don't know if that's good or bad, but it does make me a bit sad.
The Captain speaks. It took a day, but Derek Jeter tried to rally the troops by saying that the Yanks have A-Rod's back. The team was there for A-Rod's press conference, but it seemed to me that they were there out of obligation, not compassion.
"Everyone is disappointed. He's disappointed in himself. That's one of the things he stressed, but we are there to support him and get through it. It is our job to try to help him be as comfortable as he can be on the field," Jeter said.
Rodriguez wasn't the most popular player in the Yankee clubhouse before this happened and I don't think this admission will up his standing. Still, Jeter said all the right things. No surprise there.
What the? Speaking of what not to say, Johnny Damon was the only Yankee player to speak to the media after A-Rod's comments in Tampa. I wish he hadn't. Here's what he had to say in case you missed it.
Damon: "Yeah he did some bad things, he took a steroid. I definitely do not condone that at all, but there could be a lot worse things he could have been doing. He hasn't done a crime ... so, there's worse things he could have done, but I've known Alex since he was 15 and he's always been super-nice to me, so I'm going to support him and try to help him through this time."
Reporter: Johnny, what would have been worse?
Damon: "Murdering someone. There's plenty of things that could have been worse than what he did."
The Return of 51. Bernie Williams was in Yankee camp Thursday. The 40-year-old outfielder plans to play for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic in a few weeks. Bernie's time with the Yanks didn't end the way it should have. He didn't officially retire, but just faded away. Both the Yanks and Bernie share a little responsibility in that. Still, I can't help but find similarities in the way both Bernie and Don Mattingly ended their careers in pinstripes. Both situations should have been handled differently. Anyway, it was good to see Bernie back in Yankee camp.
The Boss is back. Speaking of old, familiar faces, George Steinbrenner was at the Yankee Spring Training facility in Tampa on Thursday. The Boss met with manager Joe Girardi, Bernie, A-Rod (I wonder how that meeting went), Sabathia, Burnett and Teixeira. George isn't running things anymore and his fire has dimmed with age, but the guy still wants to win. I wonder how The Boss would have reacted if this A-Rod thing happened 10 years ago.
Joe Torre book. And speaking of nostalgia, I finished up "The Yankee Years" by Torre and Tom Verducci. Good stuff. It isn't just a bashing of players or executives, but a chronicle of Torre's time in the Bronx. It was fun to relive the championship moments in the 90s and heartbreaking to read about the fall of the old guard. David Cone, Derek Jeter and Mike Mussina come off well in the book. Carl Pavano, David Wells and Kevin Brown do not. Steinbrenner comes across as, well, as Steinbrenner. You get the good and the bad.
And that's what being a Yankee is all about.
I kid, I kid.
Unless you were visiting another planet (man, that would be so awesome!) I'm sure you've gotten more than your fill on the Alex Rodriguez situation. I sure have. Still, it's important to have documentation (isn't it?) so I'll put in my two cents about A-Rod. They are worth considerably less.
The Epic of A-Rod. It's amazing how a man's life can be turned upside down in a relatively short period of time. The Sports Illustrated story that revealed Rodriguez's positive steroid test in 2003 is roughly two weeks old and it has been in the headlines ever since. But it's not the same old story over and over. Oh, no -- that wouldn't be dramatic enough! A-Rod admitted to ESPN's Peter Gammons that he used performance enhancing drugs in 2001, 2002 and 2003, but didn't go into what he took. Then he admitted to injecting "Boli," which has been reported to be Primobolan, with his cousin but said he obtained it over the counter in the Dominican Republic. Turns out Primobolan wasn't available over the counter in the Dominican Republic during that time (or now). The latest story to break is A-Rod's relationship with trainer Angel Presinal, a man banned from every private area in Major League ballparks because of his association with performance enhancing drugs. The Daily News reported that Presinal was with Rodriguez during the 2007 season.Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
I'd like to move on from this story, but it's difficult. I didn't believe A-Rod during his interview with Gammons. I felt the same during his press conference in Tampa. Professional sports is becoming more and more like TMZ or The National Inquirer. The story is important (especially the way the information was leaked and the alleged claims that the player's union tipped off players to drug tests), but it seems like the goal is just to destroy Rodriguez. I've come to the point in my life where I don't care what players do off the field. I don't know if that's good or bad, but it does make me a bit sad.
The Captain speaks. It took a day, but Derek Jeter tried to rally the troops by saying that the Yanks have A-Rod's back. The team was there for A-Rod's press conference, but it seemed to me that they were there out of obligation, not compassion.
"Everyone is disappointed. He's disappointed in himself. That's one of the things he stressed, but we are there to support him and get through it. It is our job to try to help him be as comfortable as he can be on the field," Jeter said.
Rodriguez wasn't the most popular player in the Yankee clubhouse before this happened and I don't think this admission will up his standing. Still, Jeter said all the right things. No surprise there.
What the? Speaking of what not to say, Johnny Damon was the only Yankee player to speak to the media after A-Rod's comments in Tampa. I wish he hadn't. Here's what he had to say in case you missed it.
Damon: "Yeah he did some bad things, he took a steroid. I definitely do not condone that at all, but there could be a lot worse things he could have been doing. He hasn't done a crime ... so, there's worse things he could have done, but I've known Alex since he was 15 and he's always been super-nice to me, so I'm going to support him and try to help him through this time."
Reporter: Johnny, what would have been worse?
Damon: "Murdering someone. There's plenty of things that could have been worse than what he did."
Reporter: In your mind, is what he did cheating?
Damon: "You know, for a time in his career, perhaps, but you know, the pitchers that were facing him too at the time were doing it.
I think I understand what Damon was trying to say (I think), but he probably would have been better off keeping it to himself. And it looks like Damon and teammate Xavier Nady are having some financial problems. "I can't pay bills right now," Damon said. Guh! Be quiet, Johnny!
The Return of 51. Bernie Williams was in Yankee camp Thursday. The 40-year-old outfielder plans to play for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic in a few weeks. Bernie's time with the Yanks didn't end the way it should have. He didn't officially retire, but just faded away. Both the Yanks and Bernie share a little responsibility in that. Still, I can't help but find similarities in the way both Bernie and Don Mattingly ended their careers in pinstripes. Both situations should have been handled differently. Anyway, it was good to see Bernie back in Yankee camp.
The Boss is back. Speaking of old, familiar faces, George Steinbrenner was at the Yankee Spring Training facility in Tampa on Thursday. The Boss met with manager Joe Girardi, Bernie, A-Rod (I wonder how that meeting went), Sabathia, Burnett and Teixeira. George isn't running things anymore and his fire has dimmed with age, but the guy still wants to win. I wonder how The Boss would have reacted if this A-Rod thing happened 10 years ago. Joe Torre book. And speaking of nostalgia, I finished up "The Yankee Years" by Torre and Tom Verducci. Good stuff. It isn't just a bashing of players or executives, but a chronicle of Torre's time in the Bronx. It was fun to relive the championship moments in the 90s and heartbreaking to read about the fall of the old guard. David Cone, Derek Jeter and Mike Mussina come off well in the book. Carl Pavano, David Wells and Kevin Brown do not. Steinbrenner comes across as, well, as Steinbrenner. You get the good and the bad.
And that's what being a Yankee is all about.
Testing.