Old Timers' Day never gets old

Some people might find the pomp and circumstance of Old Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium annoying. I am not one of those people.

Despite the already sweltering heat at 11am, I arrived bright and early for Sunday’s Old Timers’ Day festivities because it’s one of my favorite days of the baseball season, one I look forward to every year. I take pictures of every single former New York Yankees player introduced and cheer wildly for all my old favorites, including Tino Martinez and Bernie Williams, who got the loudest ovations. I was kind of hoping Tino would hit one out again this year, but it didn’t happen. Maybe because he wasn’t facing David Cone, who grooved him a pitch in last year’s game and has no problem taking partial credit for that homer. 

The Clippers beat up on the Bombers to a 6-2 score, but it was all in good fun. The game was close heading into the last inning, but Sterling Hitchcock got slapped around a little bit and this being an Old Timers’ Day, there was no relief in sight. Some of my favorite moments: Mick the Quick still hustling, with Rivers nearly beating out a grounder to short to start the game, Tino’s infield popup that nobody bothered to try to catch, Homer Bush, ever the good sport, donning the catcher’s gear and bumping into the home-plate umpire in futile pursuit of a foul ball. I was also glad to see Bernie have a good day, driving a ball out to Rickey Henderson in centerfield for a sacrifice fly and hitting a line drive for his second ribbie in his next at-bat. I also got a kick out of seeing Tanyon Sturtze come off the mound to catch a popup, something current pitchers are reluctant to do, as part of a 1-2-3 inning and then head out to right field to replace Paul O’Neill.

The bonus of the day was that one of my favorite current Yankees, Phil Hughes, pitched a fantastic game. I was beginning to feel like I was Phil’s jinx after the 1^st inning when he gave up those two runs. He has gotten hammered in a couple of previous starts I attended. After that rough first frame, I vowed that I would never attend another one of his starts if he lost, just in case I was in fact his jinx (yes, I can be ridiculously superstitious when it comes to baseball). But luckily for me, I mean for Hughes, he took the bull by the horns and pitched an outstanding game, surviving what must have been brutal on-the-field conditions to throw shutout ball the rest of the way.

So my favorite youngster pitched a hell of a game after my favorite old timers had the time of their lives. It was a good day all around, despite the heat. But after sweating through two baseball games this weekend, I may avoid the stadium for a while, at least until this heat wave breaks. 

Posada to get some Hall of Fame love

Unlike Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada won't poll in the single digits in the voting in his first year on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Judging from the comments by baseball writers such as Jack Curry and Mark Feinsand (who does not yet have a vote, but will by the time Posada is eligible), the now-retired New York Yankees catcher has a solid chance to make it into the Hall of Fame. Unlike Bernie, whose candidacy was quickly dismissed by multiple writers, Posada's resume has been compared favorably to current catchers in the Hall. That, combined with his postseason success, could put Posada over the magic 75% threshold.

Will Posada make it into the Hall on the first ballot? I don't think so. A number of writers will be supportive of his entrance into the Hall, but not on the first ballot, which they reserve for baseball's immortals. Posada was a great player for many years, but not an immortal on the level of his pal Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, who will both make it in on their first tries. 

Of course, there will be those who put Posada squarely in the Bernie Williams category: good but not great players whose superior postseason credentials mask the fact that they are simply not Hall-caliber. But there may not be enough of them to keep Posada out of the Hall, especially if the stat geeks get on board with his candidacy.

Posada is definitely going to get some love from the baseball writers. The key unanswered questions are how much love and will it eventually be enough? 

Bernie gets no love from Hall of Fame voters

Bernie Williams got no love from the Baseball Hall of Fame voters.

Williams only got 9.6% of the vote, which guarantees that he will remain on the ballot for next year, but also means that it is highly unlikely he will ever get anywhere close to the 75% threshold needed for induction into the Hall of Fame. The voters simply didn’t buy his Hall credentials despite a .297 batting average, 287 home runs, 1,257 runs batted in and all his postseason numbers, with Bernie ranking first or second in many categories. They didn’t care that he was a key member of four World Series champion teams and played the glamour position of center field for the New York Yankees.

The result is disappointing, but not surprising. I had been hoping for support in the 20-30% range, but was not optimistic. Bernie’s chances did not look good when New York-based writers such as Jack Curry and Jon Heyman publicly acknowledged their refusal to vote for him.  But it is galling to see Bernie get fewer votes than known cheaters such as Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro. Sure, Bernie’s power numbers do not compare to their numbers, but Bernie was a clean player, which is a lot more than we can say for those guys.  

Other former Yankees again struggled in the voting. Legendary Yankees Captain Don Mattingly only received 17.8% of the vote in his 12^th year on the ballot, making it a virtual certainty that Donnie Baseball will not go into the Hall as a player. Lee Smith received 50.6% of the vote in his 10^th year on the ballot and Gil Hodges is the only player with more than 50% who has failed to gain entrance into the Hall. But too many writers struggle with or scoff at the saves category, Smith’s biggest credential for the Hall with 478 career saves, so I doubt he will make it in. Ruben Sierra, in a total shocker (J.K.), did not get one vote in his first year on the ballot so we won’t have to consider his candidacy ever again.

 

The one positive vote for the Yankees was the 48.7% for Tim Raines, who continues his steady climb toward that magical 75% threshold. Raines, who has the support of prominent writers such as Heyman, has 10 more years of eligibility left so I have high hopes that he will eventually make it into the Hall.

Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada will be on the ballot in four or five years, respectively (assuming the reports that Posada will retire are accurate) and will be interesting candidates for the Hall, although Pettitte does not get my vote because of his admitted human growth hormone use. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, whenever they decide to call it quits, will be surefire, first-ballot Hall of Fame inductees. But Bernie Williams will never again be a real candidate for the Hall of Fame and that is truly disappointing.  

Who should get into the Hall of Fame?

This is supposed to be a weak class of candidates for the Baseball Hall of Fame, but I can think of a couple of deserving players.

Barry Larkin has to be the guy with the best chance of getting into the Hall. His has an impressive resume to be sure: a Most Valuable Player award, a career .295 batting average, 12 All-Star appearances playing for one team, an unusual feat in modern baseball. Larkin was such a great player that future Hall of Famer Derek Jeter and his family were in distress over possibly being selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1992 baseball draft and having the talented youngster stuck behind Larkin for much of his career. Fortunately, New York Yankees fans know how that turned out. But I think Larkin, who got 62.1% of the vote in last year’s balloting, makes the leap into enshrinement this year.

Larkin shouldn’t be the only Hall of Fame candidate getting some good news this afternoon although I think he will be. I would like to see Jack Morris finally win a place in the Hall. I know the stat geeks don’t like him much, partly due to that 3.90 ERA and his supposedly lacking in the wins above replacement department. But Morris was the very definition of the big-game pitcher, tossing what some baseball observers consider one of the greatest games of all time: a 10-inning shutout of the Atlanta Braves that won the 1991 World Series for the Minnesota Twins. In 2011, Morris received 53.5% of the vote, his highest level of support so far so a jump to the 75% level is not impossible. But it would require a significant number of writers changing their minds about his candidacy, which seems unlikely.

I adore Bernie Williams and I hope he gets a respectable level of support in the balloting. But he’s not going to get anywhere near the 75% needed for election to the Hall in his first year on the ballot. Even the New York beat writers, who have a lot of affection and respect for Bernie, have publicly stated that they will not vote for him, although they would like to see him receive his well-deserved plaque in Monument Park. So would I.

Who do you think should get in? 

Thanks to Rdikeman via en.Wikipedia for the Barry Larkin photo. 

Favorite Yankees moment of 2011

What was my favorite New York Yankees moment of the year? That’s a very easy call. Seeing the great Mariano Rivera officially lay claim to the title of the greatest closer in baseball history.

As you can probably tell from reading this blog, Mo is my favorite Yankee player. I traveled up to Toronto that weekend in September just to see him pitch for the all-time saves record because I did not want to miss out on being a part of that magical moment. I was very fortunate to be at the Saturday afternoon game when he tied the record, a moment made even more special as I was watching the game with two friends, one who is as big a baseball fan as I am and the other who likes baseball games because you can drink as much beer as you want (or as much as the stadium workers will sell you before they get suspicious about how drunk you are). But Mo was the big attraction that day and not even the subdued reaction of the Blue Jays faithful could dull my spirits, even though I felt like they should have given Mo a long standing ovation out of respect for all that he has accomplished in the game of baseball.

I generally like my job, but for one day I completed resented it because I could not get out of covering an event in Manhattan to head out to Yankee Stadium and personally witness Mo shine in surpassing the record. Typical Mo, he was quite embarrassed by all the attention from the cheering and adoring maniacs who actually made it out to the stadium to support him that day, but no one deserved that show of love and respect more than Mariano.

That’s not to take away from the other great moments in Yankee land this year. Of course, Derek Jeter’s 3,000^th hit ranks right up there behind Mo’s accomplishment. Again, it was another moment I missed seeing in person because of a previously scheduled family engagement (the skipping of which would be grounds for permanent banishment).

I also can’t disagree with this column selecting Joe Torre’s return to Yankee Stadium for Old Timers’ Day. I was actually there that day and it was a wonderful day for a number of reasons: Torre’s return; Bernie Williams playing in the game for the first time, hitting a double and being driven in on a home run by another favorite of mine, Tino Martinez; the lovely tribute to the now retired Gene Monahan (I was completely jealous of all his swag). It was a day made even more special because it was celebrated as part of a group outing with more than 1,000 of my fellow Syracuse University alumni. We were baking under the hot sun, but it was a glorious day full of laughter, baseball and margaritas (yes, they sell them at the stadium and they are really good).

But for me, nothing tops Mo’s moment in the sun. As much as I’d love for Mo to pitch forever, when he does finally decide to call it quits, I will have this memory and all the other great Mo moments to look back on with a big smile.

What was your favorite Yankees moment of 2011? 

Bernie should get respectable Hall support

Bernie Williams is one of the great New York Yankees of recent generations, but that is probably not good enough to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame. But he should get a respectable show of support.

Williams is among 13 first-timers on this year’s Hall ballot although he is generally considered a long shot for enshrinement in Cooperstown. Bernie has respectable numbers, with a .297 lifetime batting average, 287 home runs and 1,257 ribbies.

But Bernie will get some support from writers who respect his playoff excellence, with the Yankees centerfielder being a key member of four World Series championship teams. Plus, this year’s ballot is generally considered pretty weak, with Barry Larkin and Jack Morris the only returning candidates expected to get strong support, so that bodes well for a newcomer like Bernie who is clearly the most deserving first-time candidate.

What would be a respectable number for Bernie? Players must be listed on 75% of ballots to get into the Hall of Fame. I would say anywhere between 20%-30% would be a vote total to be proud of. Anywhere above that level would be an astounding show of support and could bode well for his chances of future election. I would personally consider anything below that threshold an insult, but unfortunately I think that might be the result because several writers who have votes have already publicly called Bernie a great Yankee, but not a Hall of Famer. Plus, Bernie’s idol and former Yankees Captain Don Mattingly has never received more than 28% support even though he was considered one of the greatest players of his generation until his Hall of Fame-bound career was derailed by injuries.

How much support do you think Bernie will get his first-time on the ballot?

Yankee ring ceremony inspires awe, tears

Hours after leaving Yankee Stadium following a soul-stirring Opening Day ceremony, I'm still on a high that will last for the rest of the night. There were several thrilling moments during the pre-game festivities -- here are my highlights:

Most emotional moment: No question it was Gene Monahan's introduction. I had to fight back tears as I watched Monahan get choked up by all the love he received from his players and the crowd. It was wonderful just to see him healthy enough to be at the stadium. I will be praying for a continued recovery and a quick return to the team that misses him.

Loudest ovation: New York Yankees fans know how to say good-bye and thank you for all the memories and we did that for Hideki Matsui. I think Matsui knows what he means to us, receiving thunderous ovations both when he accepted his well-deserved ring and during his first at-bat. He also knows how much his ex-teammates love him and miss him as they all went over to give him a group hug. I've never seen anything like it and don't think I will again. It was a special moment for a special man.

Most disappointing moment: Bernie Williams muffing the first pitch. Come on Bernie! You played in the World Baseball Classic last year. You can't be that rusty! But we still love you Bern.
Most powerful moment: Kristin Chenoweth belting out the national anthem in that awe-inspiring voice she possesses (I've been a die-hard fan ever since seeing Wicked), punctuated by the flyover of the jets that got our hearts pounding (my brother's favorite moment).

Best moment of redemption: You couldn't wipe the smile off of Alex Rodriguez's face. For ARod, his monster run in the playoffs helped him earn the World Series ring that validates his career and completes his redemption.

Yankees should honor Bernie Williams

Who's going to be the New York Yankees centerfielder this year? Curtis Granderson? Brett Gardner? Randy Winn? I remember a time not too long ago when the answer to that question was settled. Bernie Williams became the Yankees CF in 1993 and held that position for the next 12 years, becoming a favorite among us Yankee fans for his clutch regular and postseason performances and his quiet, amusingly distracted demeanor.

Bernie is all over the place these days, gently mocking his former teammates at an awards dinner and hosting a charity event today. He seems content to focus on playing beautiful music, with an occasional foray into baseball. He played for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, one of the main reasons I tuned in to watch.

I'd love to see the Yankees officially honor Bernie Williams with a day at the new stadium, celebrating his accomplishments and retiring his number 51 so that no other player ever wears it. The problem, of course, is that Bernie hasn't officially retired from baseball. I think if he did announce his retirement, then the Yanks would quickly organize a major bash in his honor. And all of us Bernie fans would be lining up to get those tickets.

Thanks to Chris Ptacek and Amineshaker via Wikipedia for the photo.

Yanks should step up on health care

The Yankees have three goals for the last two games of the season: get players tuned up and ready for the playoffs, see how players on the bubble respond to game opportunities and avoid getting anyone hurt. The team has dealt with some recent injuries that have caused concern: Jorge Posada’s neck, Dave Robertson’s arm, etc. Fortunately for these guys, they work for an employer in the New York Yankees that can afford the best health care available. The rest of us are not as lucky.

People are losing their jobs, sometimes illegally, and filing for bankruptcy because of crushing health care bills. Under pressure from the sustained recession, employers are cutting benefits, increasing premiums and laying off workers who cannot afford to pay the full premiums that would allow them to stay with their employer’s health plan. Of course, there are a few bad employers who will take drastic, illegal action. But as a journalist who covered health care issues for a magazine directed toward employers, I know that most of them do want to be able to provide health insurance to their employees. But they want to do it in a way that does not undermine their business and that's what they are struggling with right now.

There will never be a better opportunity for health care reform than now, which is why it’s incredibly frustrating to sit back and watch Congress squander it. Every day legislators continue to bicker about a public plan versus private insurance is a lost chance to stop the bleeding.

I speak to people in Canada and the UK regularly for work and they just can’t grasp what the hell we’re fighting about. For them, the idea that people have to fight to get basic health care is unimaginable. Yes, their systems have problems such as long wait times for certain procedures. But the system is generally there when they need it the most and they don’t have to lay awake every night wondering how they will pay that $100,000 hospital bill while keeping up with their house payments and buying clothes and food for their kids.

The Yankees have done good work in the community on health care issues. Johnny Damon is following in the footsteps of great Yankees like Don Mattingly and Bernie Williams as the ambassador for the Children’s Health Fund, which provides quality health care to low-income and homeless children. David Cone, the current Yankee broadcaster and former Yankee great, and his wife Lynne have been long-time supporters of The Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center, which treats kids with serious illnesses and injuries.

But I’d like to see more athletes and other celebrities stepping up to the plate to lobby Congress to get health care reform done. It amazes me when I see celebrities tirelessly advocate for causes such as greening the environment or saving Darfur, but on the health care issue they are shockingly silent. Whether we like it or not, celebrities get the most attention and have considerable influence just through their routine interactions with policymakers. I challenge the Yankees to use that influence for a good cause and lobby Congress and the administration so that the working class people who make up the bulk of their loyal audience can afford the quality health care that their players are used to.

Oh What a Night

Heading to the stadium last night to see the game with my friend Deborah, my
expectations were pretty low, given that the Yanks already clinched and were playing the Royals. Imagine to my surprise this was one of the best games I attended all year. It started with the wonderful, surprise pre-game ceremony celebrating Mariano Rivera's 500 saves and Derek Jeter setting the all-time hits record. My favorite part was when Mo's three sons were given those gorgeous, enormous rings commemorating their dad's accomplishment. Can you imagine anything cooler? And Mo was given his gifts by his manager Joe Girardi (who caught his first save), Jorge Posada (who caught his 500th) and Yogi Berra (one of the great Yankees of all time).

Jorge Posada's tribute to his BFF and his favorite pitcher was short and sweet, nothing but love and thanks to them for "always being the same." Andy Pettitte also thanked his pals for the wonderful journey and all the growing up they did together. You could tell he was both nervous and Texan--he said Y'all at least 20 times.

Melky Cabrera was also honored for hitting the cycle earlier this year, the first time a Yankee did that since 1995, and he looked absolutely thrilled.

And I'll never turn down an opportunity to see Bernie Williams and Tino Martinez back at the stadium where they should be.

The game itself could have been a letdown after such an emotional ceremony, but it turned into a fantastic pitchers' duel (nothing I love more!) between the Royals' Anthony Lerew and AJ Burnett, who threw more than 100 pitches in 6 1/3 innings. His last inning wouldn't have been so bad except Phil Coke threw to first base instead of cutting the second Burnett run down at the plate. Boy did he have a rough inning!

It was great to see Dave Robertson back on the mound, which puts him into the mix for the postseason if he can prove he is healthy in the next four games. Brian Bruney was out there too and feeling pretty strong, as shown when he threw the ball over his catcher's head. He was helped out when Hairston let the ball drop to secure the double play after seeing the hitter not run the ball out, a brilliant decision.

Who would have thought Juan Miranda would end of being one of the heroes of the latest Yankee comeback? That ninth inning could have turned out very badly due to Girardi's late-inning substitutions. I'm all for resting players ahead of the postseason, but why take Jeter and Tex out with only one inning left and down by only one run? He had Cano hitting in Jeter's spot, which worked out when he hit the sac fly to tie the game. But Damon was intentionally walked ahead of Miranda, in Tex's spot. Luckily the kid made contact and put the ball in the perfect spot.

Miranda, undoubtedly, was not surprised by AJ's pie in the face!

Even though it's time to go to bed, I'm still buzzing from an awesome night. It was, as Barney Stinson would say, "legendary."