Time for Torre to Take a Trip

Being manager of the Yankees is a privilege. Joe Torre has had that position for 12 years. I can't help but feel he did a fantastic job, but the last few years are lacking.

Everyone says "If I said you could go to the playoffs 12 straight years, 6 world series, and win 4" would you take it. Of course. But the fair question is this "With a 200 million dollar payroll and mid-season replacements as needed, does making the playoffs every year, but losing in the 1st round three straight times a great deal" The answer for the Yankees is no. Cleveland, Colorado, San Diego, Kansas City, etc. would all say yes.

The towns are different and even the Mets would say yes. But the Yankees have 27 titles. This isn't the 80s. Steinbrenner doesn't throw around his money willy nilly. Everyone wanted Pavano, Sheffield was great for awhile, but the biggest mistakes were Weaver in the WS against the Marlins, Sheffield at 1st last year, and finally burning out every good arm to hit the pen - Sturtze, Proctor, etc.

I don't know if Girardi or Mattingly are right but neither would last too long anyway, following Torre. The key pick will be the next one.

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Torre Reprieve

Joe Torre gets another day - a lot of dollars. With the most expensive managerial contract out there, George Steinbrenner (may have) put a bounty on Joe's head - Win or Else. Whether George really said that or not is inconsequential. Torre is safe with the Yankee victory. Paul Byrd doesn't scare anyone, but will Wang spit the bit for another big game.

In a year or two the Yankees aces will be Chamberlain, Hughes, and Kennedy, hopefully sliding the soft tossing Wang to the fourth spot in the rotation when he is the old man of the staff - yet he is still under 30 at the time of this post.

Let's Go Yanks!!!!

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Wang Goes Wrong

I am not asking for a killing every game, but how about we make it a game. Last night, in Cleveland, the Yankees got their heads knocked off. Home run after home run showed the Yankees that Wang (of the sinking ball) may not be the ace everyone wants him to be. After losing to Beckett in Boston a couple of weeks ago, he followed up by losing to CC Sabathia. Not everything is Chien's fault, the Yankees should have knocked Boston's CC Sabathia out in the first inning.

However, we see Torre lost the X's and O's battle again, this time to a first time playoff manager, Eric Wedge. If you have a pitcher in the pen warmed up, use him if the starter can't get out of his own way. Everyone but Torre, the Yankees' coaches, and the TBS announcers saw Wang couldn't get his sinker down. Vizcaino was warmed up and should have been in the game, trying to keep it from getting out of hand would have changed everything.

Today becomes the NY must win game - you don't want to have to win 3 in a row, whether two are at home or not. The only good is New Yorkers can get some sleep and some of the kids can watch the game without moms gettting mad. This is due to the Yankees finally not being the prime time draw that Boston or the Cubs are.

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Jets QB Controversy

I was watching the Jets game yesterday when the McKareins dropped the second of two almost touchdowns to tie the game. This one bounced off his hands and into those of Ray Lewis. The announcer said "This is what you get with a young quaterback" Now I am wondering if he meant great throws dropped by a vet.

Come on, the second half showed the future of the Jets. Yes Clemens has some to learn but his decision making in the second half against a great Ravens defense was fantastic, because he has the arm to throw into traffic that Pennington doesn't. Mangenuis has nurtured this kid and made the adjustments at halftime to give him time to throw.

If Pennington is out for a few more weeks and Clemens starts winning (should have at least had overtime yesterday) do you make the change? Coachs say, starters can't be lost by injury, yet we are all sending Tom Brady to the HOF because of Bledsoe getting a lung crushed, by yes, the JETS.


Jets vs. Patriots may also be the new great rivalry in all of sports ever since Parcells jumped ship, took C Martin, Belichek quit as HC of the NYJ, we took Mangini, and now we have video gate. Can't wait til the next game.

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Yankees keep a rollin' along

It may be too little too late, but at least if the Yankees face Boston in the playoffs, they might just have the momentum, thanks to MO and the Captain. Clemens stood up as was needed and with just enough offense, the Yanks took two out of three including a great comeback on Friday night.

However leaving Boston 4-1/2 out with no more games left makes the middle lose stand out more. Wang couldn't keep up with Beckett and the Yankees don't have that ACE that the best teams have. If the Yanks had played the whole year like the last two months, we would be looking at another 125 win season.

Boston is just grateful that they don't play NY the rest of the way, because, losing 5 of 6 to your rival hurts. Not as much as 7 straight - ask the Mets. The Shea faithful are rooting for the Padres, because the last thing anyone wants to see is J-Roll up at bat with two men on, two out, down by two and Mota pitching.

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Mike Mussina back on track - Mets keep rolling

The Yankees are going to be in the playoffs, the only question will be about the rotation. Even the bullpen is looking solid. Joba Chamberlain and Edmar Ramirez have added the power arms needed against the top teams, and they have the control/composure that Farnsworth seems to have lost in pressure situations. Joba gave up a run but it was unearned - thanks A-Rod, what no homer last night.

As far as the rotation goes - with Phil Hughes straightened out, I like Wang, Petite, Clemens, Hughes. Different stuff, lefty/righty, different looks. The only question will be how is Clemens health and Hughes composure. This relegates Ian Kennedy and Mussina to the pen. Even if Mussina is right, the only guy you could take out is Hughes and with the injuries this year and the youth, moving him for a couple weeks doesn't make sense. They moved Joba early and had him prepare in triple A. 2 more turns through the rotation should give us a good idea.


As far as the other NY team goes, the Mets are in the playoffs. As long as Philly doesn't sweep them again, and if Martinez gets better each start, we are left with three playoff vets in the rotation and only the fourth slot unknown. Maine or Perez - the question is who would be better in the pen. I will leave this to Willy but I would want a power arm as Mota is nothing (without steroids) and there is no one else to set up Wagner except Heilman, and it seems he is pitching everyday.

As soon as Reyes gets a couple days off and Delgado comes back (or Green/Anderson play there), the Mets become the team to beat in the NL (again - see 2006). The playoffs will be great, let the Cubs make it and get heartbroken again.

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Yanks on a Roll

The Yankees are burning up the AL, but still need to do better against the better teams everyone says. Well in the past month, they swept the Sox at home, split with the Angels at home/road, beat the Mariners, split with the Tigers, and own the Indians for the year. Who have they not beat.

No one is saying that the Sox can't beat anyone good, they just lost to Tampa the other night. If they didn't get off to such a good start while the Yankees were doing so poorly, the 5 game lead wouldn't exist and this upcoming series would be for the division.

Even though Boston broke the curse, go up to the city and tell me that the Sox fans aren't scoreboard watching. With a healthy Clemens and Hughes straightening out, I will put up our rotation against theirs in the playoffs, especially with the Yankees finally having a bench. Betemit, Duncan, Molina, etc.

The only hope I have is to avoid the Angels in the first round. Though they aren't as good as the past few years, Sciosa is a great manager and they have had the Yankees in the palms of their hands. Between that and avoiding as many overnight flights as possible for an old team (Giambi, Damon, Matsui, etc.) the Indians are playing great but don't scare anyone.

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Vacation Over - NFL is here

The Patriot's are cheaters. Okay some people feel taking away the win from last Sunday's game would be too much, but if the allegations are true: Stealing defensive signals and listening to the Coach-QB communication of the Jets, then it isn't too much.

I could coach an NFL team to victory if I knew what the other team was going to do on offense and defense. The score was close in the first half and then the game got silly. Maybe at halftime, the Pats had time to determine the meaning of the defensive signals.

To me this is worse than past steroid abuse in baseball as there was no rule against it at the time. I still don't like it, but they didn't brazenly break the rules of the game like it sounds Belichek may have. We already know that the Packers said they did it in the past. At what point do we start questioning the genius of Bill as a defensive coach and wonder if he is just a really good spy.

Yankees on a Role, will Igawa slow it down

So the Yankees lose 1 with the Rocket pitching and I even heard people say in his second start - 2 runs is too much. What do people want? In real terms he is at the end of March and will only get stronger. With a couple of miles more, Roger will be at 93 miles per hour. Most pitchers (including stars) top out there and they don't have a splitter like his. Watch him Friday against a weekend Rockies line up.



Joe Torre has weathered another storm and now the Sox lead the Yanks by 8. After an amazing streak we are still 8 out. Good, but imagine if the Red Sox had done better than 5 and 8 in their last 13. We have to get to 5 and then 10 over .500, get the wild card lead, then we can worry about catching Curt and his boys. However, they haven't had a big injury yet, and with Manny, Ortiz, Schilling, Papelbohn, etc. one guy goes down for awhile and they are different. Hopefully this comes down to the final 6 games in September. However, I would take the wild card - see Marlins, Angels, etc. Wild cards can win the World Series.

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Lebron's coming out Party

Okay, Lebron is not Michael Jordan. Get over it. He is King James. He will be different. Bigger and Stronger with more of a post up game. Jordan was more of a slasher - his iconic image is a leaping dunk from the foul line. Ask Detroit what Lebron does best and they will tell you he is closer to Magic than Air.

Lebron is only 22 and you can't just compare years in the league but age as well. Give Lebron until he is 26 and then see if he can do what Jordan did at that age. Lets look back and see if he wins multiple titles and then judge his career. It looked like Jeter would win a world series every year when he started, what happens when he wins four in five years and then none for seven.

Everyone wants someone to be the next ???? in every sport, but in the NBA it is even worse. Every few years, we talk about who took over Jordan's spot, but no one can. No one has too. There was no "Next Kareem", "next Wilt", or "next Magic". Deal with it. Appreciate what we have when we have it...just ask why it can't be on during the day on the weekends and then you will wonder where the fans went.

Yankees are coming

Just two weeks ago we were writing the obituary for the Yankees - double digits behind the Red Sox and 8 games out in the Wild Card... who is hearing tip toes now. Though they still have an ERA for June closer to 6 than 5, their hitting is coming around. Abreu is hitting around .500 and Cano looks like the All-Star he was last year.

Clemens has one start and hopefully will get stronger and eventually Hughes will replace Clippard.
Stretching out Mussina to 7 innings will save the bullpen. With the consistency of a Wang and a fantastic Petite rounding out the rotation, we are in for the long haul.

The best move was putting Giambi on the DL. His lack of hitting and defense was draggin the team down. This also made the outfield defense better as Cabrera took over the centerfield spot while Damon moved to DH saving his legs and back.

The next two weeks are critical. The latest Yankee surge came against weaker teams. Now we have to see how they do against teams over .500. If they can keep it up, then everyone is in trouble, even the Boston Red Sox.

Around the League (s) and Boxing Too

Okay, if you read my last post you are caught up mostly on my thoughts on the Yankees, but here is the rest of Baseball and the other pro leagues, with some thoughts on the individual sports of boxing and golf too.

In Baseball news, beer is banned from the clubhouse, because if I get in an accident while drunk, high, and on the phone, it isn't my fault. Bad as I feel for the Hancock family we have to stop blaming others and take some responsibility. Besides he only wanted to be like his manager.

The Mets shave their heads and their 3rd baseman regains his power, they win two of three from the Brewers (speaking of beer) and look like the class of the NL (again). Can the razor be fedexed to Bobby Abreu. With Shawn Green and Moises Alou well over .300 and Pelfry being sent down, the only issue is Hernandez coming back healthy.

They have the best trades of the season coming when Mota's suspension is over and Martinez and Sanchez finish rehab. Even if these guys aren't 100% they give up nothing. Not even money since they already have to pay them. See Clemens ($28 million with luxury tax). If Martinez is close to himself, I will take him, Glavine, Maine, and Perez with Hernandez joining Smith and Wagner in the Bullpen over the Red Sox.

Too bad the Yankees can't get someone like Maine or King Felix or...wait Hughes. Never mind. Best pitching coming up in a generation all around the league. Way to go young guns. Other good news, the return of Ankiel (Still in Triple A) looking like a player again and comeback candidate Josh Hamilton of the Cincinnati Reds.

In the NBA, if anyone can stop the winner of the Spurs/Suns match up, Detroit looks ready. Oh wait, first you have to get past the Utah Jazz, hopefully you will learn from the Mavs loss to Golden State. Detroit is a complete team, and has the experience needed. Duncan vs. Weber is a throw back to when the NBA was about the big guy. Though Nash ain't so bad himself. As a Knick fan, I think we could find a place for him with Marbury or Francis.

Did the Stanley cup get awarded yet? Out here in NY without a team playing (sorry Sabres don't count) and the games on Versus, what is the NHL thinking - pay to put the games on public television and maybe, just maybe you can get some ratings and develop some fans.

See how good hiding your sport was for boxing. Over 2 million people saw Mayweather/De La Hoya and none of them may see another bout for years. Events are something you build on. Where are the young heavyweights and middleweights fighting Saturday afternoons on ABC or NBC. Develop fans and you can save the sport. Well maybe if Don King gets a hair cut. The other problem was the fight was good, not great, nobody is talking about a week later. Look at the Tyson fights, even Holyfield. These guys were rock stars in every strata of society. Not happening anymore.

Golf is getting more street cred these days, even without Tiger things can happen. Mickelson winning the Players was crazy. Now we can all pull an O'Hair if we screw up. He takes on the mantle of "Idiot" from Mickelson. Pass it around, let young guns come up and win and watch Golf finally grow.

Too much football for a short post, we will do that later.

Time to Catcher Up and Pitch with the Yankees.

Okay, so we have lots to talk about and I will start with my NY Yankees, okay they are not mine, but in a few years they will be someone's team and who knows who that will be. Odds are Hank Steinbrenner will be next in line, now that Swindal is out.

Abreu should maybe take a seat for a few days, he is killing us. If his OBP was in his normal high 300s or low 400s Jeter could lead the league in RBI from the 3rd spot. Damon and Abreu on base and protection from HR and RBI leader AROD followed by switch-hitter .350 plus hitting Posada. Did that ab strain in Spring Training ever heal?

The pitching staff is finally getting healthy and some innings under there belt. The big find DeSalvo, add him and Hughes to the staff next year, see if Henn, Wright or some of the other youngs guys come through and drop 10 years off the age of the rotation and pen. Speaking of pen, Mariano still have velocity and movement on his cutter, he just needs some work. Every year his spring training innings go down and every year his April numbers get worse. Maybe Joe Torre needs to listen to his pitching coach the way he listened to Stottlemeyer, or he needs a new Pitching Coach.

The pitching youth movement is great, but you still need outfielders and a catcher. Posada is getting older and will be a DH or 1st basemen soon. Abreu is expensive, and not what he once was, and Matsui was good but never Godzilla. Even if Melky finds himself and shows last year was not a fluke, we will still need another corner guy.

Okay, now we are down to the nitty gritty. Clemens comes back and you hope to get 6 A+ innings out of him and I don't want to hear how he won't give you the same ERA as in the NL last year, so what. Add a run and it is still better than what you got most of the year. 10 starters, 4 homers in a row, bottom of the league in innings and ERA from the starters. By the end of the year, you could have Wang, Petite, Mussina, Clemens, Hughes with DeSalvo, Farnsworth, Vizcaino (if he finds himself) setting up Mariano. Not bad, just make the playoffs.

And that is where the Bombers can be in trouble. 8 games is a lot and if you look at ESPN or Sportsline, they all go into how many games you are down and when. The only issue is winning the division or at least the wildcard, but with improved play from the Midwest (Tigers, White Sox, Indians, Twins) you may miss the wild card, unless the Central beats each other up. The Red Sox have pitching in the Starting staff and the Pen. If Papelbon holds up and Beckett isn't really hurt (torn skin) and the second time through, Dice-K isn't figured out, they are the team to beat. Papelbon at this point might be the best closer, but can he hold up or will he falter (see Gagne). Epstein knows the trade market and will do what it takes.

The Yankees don't need a miracle, just Wang's nail to heal, Clemens to be ready, and guys like Cano, Abreu, and Mo to be themselve.

Clemens is back and all is well, or is it?

The Yankees make a big splash, lots of money, 1 million per start. Can he go 7 with 2 runs each time out. That is what they need, no losing streaks save the bullpen, play defense, steal, oh wait he only pitches, is 45 and needs to go three weeks to the minors before we see if he is the same guy from the national league. Switching leagues is tough but he knows what the AL East is like and Clemens will drive Ortiz and Manny off the plate.

If Clemens can go 7 each time, then a rotation of Wang, Clemens, Petite, Mussina, and Agent Chippy can get to the playoffs and that is all that matters. Mussina might not pitch in a first round series, meaning they will have someone to go in the second round. If the pitchers stay heatlhy and we don't have a Kie Irabu sighting, than the Yankees should be fine, especially now that Melky is hitting and Arod is still driving in the runs.

In NY we are already waiting for football - because the Rangers and Devils are out and on one watches the Nets (well a few people do) but they won't get past the might morphin Pistons. Make Webber a supporting player and watch out.

This side of the country missed some mighty good basketball, but don't blame the NBA or TV. It is the fault of the GMs, Owners, and coaches. Defense is easy to coach - good players with offensive games take longer to learn, but with win now, we lose hall of fame coaches after one year. Anyway who cares we have Francis and Marbury the back court of the future, past, ever?

Oh my Hamstring & Dallas WHAT?

Miller was fired and that is okay, but Phillip Hughes was in Triple A until his call up. I don't think a trainer can change a routine in 5 to 6 days and impact him that much. How about the fact they don't have a chirpractor in NY. Damon flew (on a plane) to get his back fixed. We are in NY - find someone local. Either there is a plan to save money, like a few years ago when the Yankees were getting rid of Dental insurance, or something else is wrong in the overall fitness and health plan. Some of the players were hurt in domed or warm weather stadiums and by the time someone is in the majors for a few years, or played for 10 including Japan, they should have some routine that works for them. I can't believe it is all the trainers fault. How about the fact that the Yankees are an old team and most of the injuries are to older players.

Man, 2-0 against Miami last year and now they can't get out of there way, but if Dallas decides to trade Nowitski, maybe Isaiah can actually find a real star to build around. I will take a first round loss if we make the finals the year before. How about they get a real power forward or center to play with him. Also, maybe Dallas shouldn't have let Nash go, or won't have to play the coach (Nelson) who trained Dallas's coach and players (inside info rocks).

The Rangers may be the only team that can get United States media markets outside of local areas excited. That means the NHL and the NHLPA wants them to win (more money is good for all) so I don't want to hear about conspiracy theories.

When do football minicamps start? How long until the Madden Curse hits Vince Young?

The Weekend that Was (and Monday)

Football:

Brady "Freefall" Quinn should have been taken by the Miami Dolphins at worst. What does Ted Ginn give you when the only guy throwing him the ball is Culpepper who was benched last year. The Raiders could have gotten a quaterback last year and ended up with Calvin Johnson this year. Instead he is the fourth first round receiver Matt Millen chooses. Can I get his job security...The Patriots can have the trophy, we want character. BS, we will take Moss too. How the mighty (Moss and Culpepper) have fallen. Great move, no risk, high reward. Too bad it came to this. Jets look good, but Revis better be great. J - E - T - S, Jets! Jets! Jets!

Baseball:

Only in New York can fans get nervous that a first place team has a 57 year old El Duque on the DL. Of course he is injured. Livan is the horse, El Duque is the playoff ace. That is why he is on the team. April/May mean nothing in NY unless the Yankees fall further behind the Sox. Let some pitchers go 7 and then see how the team does.

Other Sports:

Funny, but both Hockey (just because) and Basketball (no Knicks) are afterthoughts here in NY except for fans of those teams still alive (Devils/Rangers/Nets). Yes so the NBA Eastern conference is all about the sweep and the Western conference is about Don Nelson owning his old team, the Mavericks - Read Mark Cuban's blog for fun.

3 NY area or state teams are alive and the ratings barely make a blip - blame the NHL, Vs., or the fans, it doesn't matter, you want to see ratings go up, then hope Devils and Rangers both win. The games will be in primetime in NY just for them and all sports are better when NY teams have a good postseason - large market and Madison Avenue.



Our prayers go out to Josh Hancock's family and

his friends around the major and minor leagues.

This week in sports (so far)

Okay, so Phil Hughes gets in trouble, big deal - he has to learn to deal with it. You want to say 91 pitches was too many to go on, that is the only arguement there is. But the pattern is too much. Maybe we should just carry relievers, so Torre can change pitchers every inning. He is already trying to turn Andy Petite into a reliever.

Joe, this is for you...The season needs to be a 1/4 over to see where the team stands, but you can't panic.

Schilling is great. We all know that. The only two people who know what Mirabelli said are him and Thorne. I trust Thorne. No reason to lie. Mirabelli was one of the self proclaimed "IDIOTS", so it wouldn't be a shocker for him to say something like that. And Schilling is willing to put up his own money to prove it was his blood on teh sock. He was in a wheelchair for awhile after the surgery to fix his tendons. So Schilling great. Mirabelli idiot. Thorne backed off. Story - no.

As far as the football draft goes - no one has a higher upside on the QB position than JaMarcus Russell, but Notre Dame didn't have the talent of USC or even LSU and Brady Quinn can run an NFL offense. Either way you can't go wrong, well until a couple of years down the road where we see how bad you chose. No matter what though - neither guy should be Browning Nagle.

What, the basketball playoffs started, until there is a real upset or someone steps up, like Wade did last year you can't get the casual fan. LeBron can go off, but he is still in Cleveland. Once he wins one, people might tune in to see him play but for now, I need an upset. Too bad Denver or Golden State couldn't get that second game.

Welcome

This is Agent Chippy's first sports post but it won't be the last.

The big thing I have to get off my chest right now is "Torre, learn to manage a pitching staff" and to everyone else, relax the season is just starting.

As the draft goes - Go JETS. Tanengini is doing great, they just have to keep it up and the Raiders can't mess this thing up again.