Teixeira-Padilla feud gets even nastier

Just when you thought the feud between Mark Teixeira and Vicente Padilla couldn’t get any nastier, it just did.

Padilla gave a Spanish-language interview to NESN, the Boston Red Sox media outlet, in which he accused Teixeira of mistreating his Latino teammates. For Padilla to turn a baseball disagreement into a racial issue is so far out of bounds that it’s just not right and makes me think the man has a couple of screws loose.

If Teixeira did threaten to hit Padilla with a bat, which I seriously doubt, it was something said out of frustration and anger over constantly getting hit in response to Padilla’s headhunting while Padilla hid behind the safety of the designated hitter. It was not something said to Padilla because Teixeira doesn’t like Latinos. Teixeira clearly does not like Padilla (Tex took great pleasure out of his game-winning hit over Padilla), but that isn’t because he is Latino. It’s because the guy is a coward who doesn’t care about his teammates. I wonder how Frank Francisco, whom Padilla accused Tex of also mistreating, feels about being dragged into this ugly drama.

With the scrutiny the New York Yankees receive, if there were any racial tensions between Teixeira and his teammates, we would probably know about it. But in Tex’s 3 ½ years with the Yankees, there’s never been a bad word said about him, anonymously or otherwise, by any of his teammates. In fact, there’s only constant praise for what he brings to the club, even during his offensive struggles.

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine tried to laugh off the feud by saying that Padilla hasn’t been headhunting this year, but that he has to get back to that. I could understand a manager wanting to diffuse the situation, but he doesn’t seem to be taking seriously Teixeira’s chief complaint: that Padilla is going to end up seriously hurting someone if he doesn’t stop.

And Teixeira made a great point that Roger Goodell wouldn’t stand for his football players intentionally trying to hurt other players. Witness the stiff and justified punishments he handed out for Bounty-gate. Bud Selig and Major League Baseball shouldn’t stand for it either. The next time Padilla hits Teixeira, and there will be a next time, Selig should immediately suspend Padilla for at least 10 games.

I have a serious problem with someone who uses allegations of racism to justify his own bad behavior. Padilla is completely out of control, but we already knew that, didn’t we? 

ARod finally feels Jeter’s pain of betrayal

Alex Rodriguez must finally understand how his former pal and now frenemy Derek Jeter felt when ARod criticized him in Esquire all those years ago.

ARod is getting a taste of his ownmedicine after being called out by Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson in Sports Illustrated this week. The former New York Yankees great said ARod has no place in baseball’s hallowed Hall because of his use of performance-enhancing drugs. To be fair, Reggie took shots at plenty of people in the article, including many of his fellow members of the Hall and even one who died very recently in Gary Carter, which has earned Jackson plenty of criticism. But the shots at ARod got the most attention because they are both members of the Yankees organization and supposedly friends and because anything involving ARod is controversial.

The Yankees third baseman invoked the “with friends like that who needs enemies” line before declining to talk about the impact of these comments on his relationship with Jackson. But he is clearly pissed off, as he has every right to be. Jackson has every right to express his opinion that the PED users should not be allowed in the Hall, an opinion shared by me and many other baseball observers. I even give Reggie credit for daring to say what many of his fellow Hall of Famers are probably thinking. But given Jackson’s position as special advisor for the Yankees, it was probably unwise for him to have specifically targeted ARod, even if he is right.

I doubt ARod and Reggie were ever as close as ARod used to be with Jeter. Remember, Jeter opened up his home to his pal when ARod was with the Seattle Mariners and visiting New York to play against the Yankees. I vividly remember a video of the two of them teasing each other (Jeter jokingly once sent ARod a signed Derek Jeter baseball card as a gift). But ARod ruined that relationship completely when he took those shots at Jeter in that Esquire article.

ARod made some ill-advised and insensitive comments about how Jeter was never the threat another team worried about when facing the Yankees. Jeter was blindsided and deeply hurt by the comments and never really forgave ARod. Most of their conflict in the latter years was not about the Esquire article, but about Jeter’s annoyance with ARod’s vanity and selfish ways, according to Ian O’Connor’s terrific book The Captain. But that Esquire article broke their friendship. ARod now knows how it feels to be publicly stabbed in the back by someone you considered a friend.

Reggie better hope ARod is a lot moreforgiving than Jeter is. But as they say, what goes around comes around. 

Jackson: Keep PED users out of Hall, except Pettitte & Clemens?

I don’t blame Reggie Jackson for being angry at Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds and the other performance-enhancing drug users. I can’t even imagine how bad it feels to watch these guys pass you on baseball’s all-time home run list, knowing that they cheated their way to the top.

But unlike Jackson, I make no distinction between ARod and Andy Pettitte when it comes to PED usage. It’s clear that Jackson would be okay with Pettitte being elected to the Hall of Fame out of an abundance of affection for the lefty, who grew up in the New York Yankees organization. He clearly does not have the same level of affection for ARod. 

Some writers may follow that route, voting in favor of good guys like Pettitte while ignoring controversial players such as Bonds and ARod. But I don’t think that’s fair. I’ve always liked Andy Pettitte myself, a lot more than I ever liked ARod, but I still wouldn’t put him in the Hall if I had a vote because he cheated. Affection for the player should not be the deciding factor. The damage they caused to the game by cheating should outweigh everything else.

I do wonder if Jackson is right about Roger Clemens being elected to the Hall of Fame. His eligibility begins next year and he was acquitted of the federal charges filed against him, as Jackson notes. But a court of law and the court of public opinion are two completely different things. Just because he beat the charges doesn’t mean he is innocent. A lot of guilty people beat the system, because of incompetence by the prosecutors, weak evidence or even their likability.

I wonder if the Clemens acquittal will give enough baseball writers cover to vote for him, if they are so inclined. But I suspect that too many writers hold my view, that anyone even linked to PED usage should not get in, which kept Mark McGwire out of the Hall of Fame for years before he even admitted his steroids use.

Jackson will always court controversy because that is just who he is, but I doubt that Major League Baseball will be happy to see such a prominent Hall of Famer talking about an issue that they probably hoped would go away for a while after the Clemens trial. But Jackson has every right to express his belief that the cheaters don’t belong in the Hall. I also hope that the Hall remains free of the PED users and I make no exceptions for anyone, not even Pettitte and his pal.  

Joba Chamberlain closing in on a comeback

Tomorrow is a big day for Joba Chamberlain. No, it’s not his birthday, but if it was, his birthday wish would probably be to come through tomorrow’s simulated game pain free.

It’s a big step on Joba’s way back to rejoining the New York Yankees after last year’s devastating, unexpected elbow injury and the fluke trampoline accident that dislocated his ankle. So far, Chamberlain has passed all the tests and reported no lingering pain from either injury (although he has an incredibly high pain tolerance, throwing gas with a torn ligament in that elbow right up until the injury was discovered).

The Yankees bullpen could use a fresh arm. The relievers, with the notable exception of Rafael Soriano, have really struggled of late. I suspect the struggles can be traced back to them being forced to throw too many innings earlier in the baseball season when the Yankees starters were struggling to get past the 5^th and 6^th innings. If a healthy Joba can help lessen the workload, Joe Girardi can give some of those arms some much needed rest.   

I’m rooting to see Joba back in pinstripes as soon as possible, as long as he doesn’t rush through his rehab and reinjure himself. He would make a strength of the Yankees team even stronger. But for me, it’s about more than just making the Yankees a better team. I always root hardest for the homegrown Yankees and Joba is definitely one of those so I would love to see him back on the mound, throwing gas like the Joba of old. 

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. 

Congratulations to Yankee All-Stars

The New York Yankees will be well represented at this year’s All-Star game, even without Rafael Soriano.

Yankees Captain and shortstop Derek Jeter, second baseman Robinson Cano and centerfielder Curtis Granderson will all make the trek to Kansas City to participate in the Midsummer’s Classic. It’s a well deserved honor by all three, even though Granderson is the only one who’s been consistent throughout the year, with Jeter slumping badly over the last month and Cano having trouble driving runners in from scoring position before his recent hot stretch.

In previous years, the American League All-Star game was always top heavy with Yankee and Boston Red Sox players. But CC Sabathia was the only other Yankee to make the team and he will sit the game out due to his injury. It’s truly shocking how hard the Saux have fallen, with only David Ortiz slated to represent Boston in the game.

Befitting their status as the dominant team in the American League in recent years, Texas will have seven players on the All-Star roster, led by Josh Hamilton, who shattered the voting record with more than 11 million votes in support of his candidacy. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney can only wish they can match that type of enthusiastic support in November.

 

There will be no repeat of the controversy over Jeter skipping the All-Star game as the Yankee shortstop has promised to appear this year. Jeter may rather have the time off, but he no longer has a choice in the matter due to the Derek Jeter rule that all players  voted to the team must show up to play, barring some time of emergency or injury. And as image-conscious as Jeter is, he must realize that skipping the All-Star game again would cause major damage to his reputation.  

Still, it is nice to be recognized, something I’m sure all the Yankee players enjoy, especially Cano, the reigning Home Run Derby champ who will captain this year’s AL team. I don’t really care much about the derby, but will tune in to support my Yankees.  

Rafael Soriano should make All-Star team

Rafael Soriano is not among the top five save leaders in the American League, but I still wish his name would be called when the All-Star team is officially unveiled later today.

Soriano technically didn’t get the save yesterday afternoon, but he saved Boone Logan by seemingly effortlessly dispatching the Chicago White Sox in the 9^th inning. Watching Soriano come in to end the game, I’m reminded of what a godsend he has been since taking over the closer’s job for the injured Mariano Rivera and David Robertson. I was pushing for D-Rob to get the job after Mo went down for the season, but Soriano grabbed hold of the job and has refused to let go. He has been nearly perfect in save opportunities this year, with 17 of 18 saves converted, the most saves in a season by a guy not named Mariano Rivera since Mo took over the job for good in 1997.

When the great Mariano goes down and the New York Yankees find a replacement for a future Hall of Famer who has not just made the devastating loss manageable but has actually contributed to the now first-place team’s renaissance, that player deserves special recognition. That is why I’m hoping that Soriano is rewarded for his efforts with a spot on the All-Star team.  

It probably won’t happen, with six guys ahead of him in the saves category, some of whom also have very compelling and worthy numbers. Soriano may even prefer it that way, having already been an All-Star once before in 2010. Under the new rules, players named to the team must show up, barring some kind of personal catastrophic event or injury, which I refer to as the Derek Jeter rule after the Yankees shortstop declined to play in the All-Star game last year.

Soriano may prefer to spend the time with his family rather than in scorching Kansas City. But even if he does not make the team, he should be proud of his contribution to his team’s renaissance because they couldn’t have done it without him.