Retiring Matsui made a big impact in New York

Hideki Matsui will always be remembered in America as a great player for the New York Yankees.

Matsui was already a three-time champion and hero in his native Japan when he came to play under the Bronx spotlight. He quickly proved worthy of the Bronx Bomber nickname given to our Yankees, with a Grand Slam in the 2003 Yankee Stadium home opener. He also quickly became a favorite of both the fans and his teammates, including Derek Jeter, who issued a genuinely complimentary statement about Matsui’s retirement.

I think Jeter had a lot of affection for Matsui because he felt the outfielder was the embodiment of a true Yankee, with an unrivaled work ethic and complete devotion to the team concept that drove the Yankees late 1990s dynasty. Matsui would have fit in very well with those championship teams. Unfortunately, he got to New York a few years too late to participate in the dynasty. But in his last year with the Yankees, the team won a World Series championship, with a big assist from Matsui in a dominant performance that earned him the series’ Most Valuable Player award.

Although Matsui spent the last three years of his US career in lesser roles with other baseball teams, he will always be remembered fondly for his time in New York.

Godspeed, Godzilla.

 

Thanks to Keith Allison via Wikipedia for the Matsui photo.  

Jets horrible treatment of Tebow a disgrace

This is a primarily a baseball blog and it’s not often I comment on developments in other sports, but I just can’t stay quiet anymore about the despicable treatment that Tim Tebow has suffered at the hands of his coach and the rest of the New York Jets hierarchy.

Whatever you think of Tebow’s football skills, he does not deserve to be treated this shabbily by his bosses. There was a lot of excitement surrounding the trade for the quarterback after he led the Denver Broncos to a surprising postseason berth last season (and a thoroughly satisfying upset of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger). But things went poorly from the start in New York, not really due to any of Tebow’s shortcomings, but because Jets management never figured out his role on the team. And now it looks like the Jets are trying to make Tebow the scapegoat for their disappointing campaign.  

Having lost faith in Mark Sanchez long ago, I thought it was only a matter of time until Tebow took over the starting quarterback job. I did not anticipate the inexplicable disdain and pettiness of his head coach. Rex Ryan has gone out of his way to marginalize and embarrass Tebow. First, Ryan waited until Tebow was sidelined with an injury to bench Sanchez in favor of Greg McElroy. Then, the coach refused to insert Tebow into the starting slot after it became abundantly clear that Sanchez has completely lost all his confidence and skills. Now, Ryan will reinstate Sanchez, despite his obvious problems, for the last game of the season due to concussion-like symptoms suffered by McElroy rather than let Tebow start at quarterback in the last game of a miserable season.

Really, how much crap is a player supposed to take from his coach? I wish loudmouth Ryan would be banished to Siberia, but the Jets don’t look inclined to make that move. They’d rather banish Tebow, which at this point is the kindest thing they could do for him.

Thanks to Jeffrey Beall via Wikipedia for the Tim Tebow photo.   

So long Swish!

Nick Swisher did really well for himself financially this offseason.

Swisher will sign a four-year, $56 million contract with the Cleveland Indians, with a $14 million option for a fifth year. That’s a nifty deal for Swisher. I’m a little surprised he went to Cleveland given their struggles in recent years and I do wonder how his personality is going to play in the Heartland. But that kind of money is hard to say no to and it would have been difficult to match that offer in a more desirable market.

As much as I liked Swisher personally, I think the New York Yankees were right to let him walk. He is a solid, but not great player and I don’t think he is worth that kind of money or length of contract. I became very frustrated with his disappearing act during the four postseason chances he had in the Bronx. Swisher was a solid player during the regular season, but a non-factor in every baseball playoff series, including this season when the Yankees could have benefitted from him stepping up after that devastating injury to Derek Jeter.

But he had a nice couple of years in New York and I wish him well and hope his family is happy in Cleveland. Perhaps I’ll make it out to see him in Ohio next year as part of my quest to visit every ballpark in America. I’ll root for him, except if they are playing the Yankees.

Godspeed, Nick Swisher.

Jeter call lifts spirit of grieving family

With all the negativity surrounding baseball and other major sports these days, it is heartwarming to hear about the random acts of kindness made by professional athletes. Not surprising at all, Derek Jeter has yet again reached out to someone in need.

The captain of the New York Yankees called Donna Soto, the mother of Vicki Soto, the young teacher killed protecting her first-grade students during the heartbreaking mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut last week. The call was a happy surprise for the family and lifted some of the clouds on what was perhaps the darkest day of their lives.  

Jeter is not the only athlete to reach out to the victims’ families. New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz met with the family of 6-year old victim Jack Pinto, who was laid to rest wearing the jersey of his favorite player. Cruz also paid tribute to his young fan by writing RIP Jack Pinto on his shoes during last Sunday’s Giants football game. Sometimes we forget that athletes are people just like the rest of us, but they are human beings and they are sharing in the pain we are all feeling over the loss of so many innocent children and their heroic protectors.  

If it were up to Derek Jeter, we never would have heard about that call. Jeter uses his superpowers for good, but he never seeks recognition for it. In his Jeter biography, The Captain, Ian O’Connor tells a great story about a firehouse visit the Yankees organization scheduled after the 9/11 attacks, of which they notified the press that Yankee players would be available to talk. But Jeter objected because of his concern that a photo op and news conference would trivialize the pain of these exhausted rescue workers and the families of the victims. The captain refused to budge and a private, non-publicized visit happened on a later date.

We usually only find out about Jeter’s good deeds when the person on the receiving end chooses to talk about them, as Soto’s sister did in publicly thanking the Yankees for a phone call that meant the world to her grieving mother. Jeter would never have said a word, mostly out of respect for the Soto family’s devastating personal loss, but also because he does most of his good deeds out of the public view. And that’s the way it should be.

Mets give fans lump of coal by trading Dickey

I just opened my email this morning to see the New York Mets are having a holiday ticket sale, which I find amusing since they just gave their fans a big lump of coal by trading RA Dickey.

Sure, the Toronto Blue Jays gave up two top prospects who might turn out to be baseball superstars. Or like so many hot prospects before them, they could crash and burn in the big leagues, especially in the glare of the New York City spotlight (if they even make it that far). But we knew Dickey could handle the heat because we saw him pitch his way to the National League Cy Young award in 2012.

A question that still lingers is if the Mets, who were portrayed as being on the fence, ultimately decided to trade Dickey because he had the nerve to express his frustration with the pace of his contract negotiations at the team’s holiday party. While I agree that the timing was terrible, I completely understand Dickey’s frustration and am bewildered that the Mets traded him rather than give him the same, very reasonable deal the Blue Jays did. Sandy Alderson firmly denied that Dickey’s comments had anything to do with the trade and I do believe it was driven more by the Mets simply not wanting to pay their ace that much money on a team that’s probably going to be pretty bad for the next few years. But I wouldn’t put it past the Mets to make such a petty move.

Even if you think the Mets made the right call in getting such talent for an ace they didn’t want to pay to keep, the problem with the move in the short term is that there is now one less reason for Mets fans to bother showing up at the ballpark. The Mets had to prove that they are committed to putting a quality team on the field right now and trading Dickey runs counter to that.

Holiday gift packs for Mets fans are available today, but I doubt Mets fans will be reaching into their wallets to get them.

Yankees losing the money race to LA teams

It’s official: the New York Yankees are no longer baseball’s freest spenders.

In what appeared to be a contracting market, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim swooped in to sweep Josh Hamilton off his feet with a 5-year, $125 million deal. I’m sure it’s a lot less than Hamilton thought he deserved, but it’s still a fantastic deal for someone with his injury and addiction history. The Angels have spent money like crazy over the past two years, signing Albert Pujols and Yankee reject CJ Wilson to long, rich deals. They went after Hamilton despite, or perhaps because of, missing out of the baseball playoffs in 2012, in an effort to re-establish themselves in the American League West by stealing their main rival’s best player.

 

The Hamilton signing follows the six-year, $147 million mega-deal that Zack Greinke, the only ace-type pitcher available on the free agent market, got from the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are also spending like they don’t have a care in the world. Greinke’s market was thought to be limited, perhaps not as limited as Hamilton’s, because of his mental issues and his apparent disdain for big cities. But in a “pitiful” free-agent market, as described by Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, Greinke was going to be well compensated. And the Dodgers, who bailed out the Boston Red Sox by taking several crushing, long-term deals and petulant players off their hands, were more than eager to accommodate Greinke in their battle for the hearts and minds of Los Angelenos.

 

In previous years, I would have believed that Hamilton or Greinke (or perhaps both) would have been viable candidates to become New York Yankees. But I barely paid attention to speculation surrounding their free agent status because I knew this year would be different, despite the embarrassing sweep the Yankees suffered at the hands of the Detroit Tigers in the American League Championship Series, because I knew there was virtually no chance either one of them would end up in the Bronx.

 

For the Yankees, there is a different sheriff in town in Hal Steinbrenner, who apparently cares nothing about making a big splash. His father George Steinbrenner would have overlooked both players’ personal demons and spent whatever he had to spend to convince them to come to New York. Hal Steinbrenner simply does not think that way. It’s a healthy strategy when you are dealing with guys like Hamilton and Greinke, who probably were not the best fit for New York anyway. But what happens the next time a great free agent who could be the perfect solution to a baseball problem in the Bronx becomes available? Is Hal Steinbrenner going to spend what it takes to get the guy or watch as another free-spending team like the Angels or the Dodgers snatches him up? To be determined.

 

Thanks to Mikejames 19 via Wikipedia for the Hamilton photo.   

 

Youkilis could pull an Ichiro-like Yankees revival

I’m not crazy about the idea of Kevin Youkilis becoming a member of the New York Yankees, but I’m hoping I’m wrong about him, just as I was wrong about Ichiro Suzuki.

Reports indicate that the Yankees are close to finalizing deals with both Youkilis and Ichiro soon. I’m happy to welcome Ichiro back as he proved to be a valuable addition to the Yankees during the 2012 season. I’m a lot less excited about Youkilis playing third base for the Bronx Bombers.

My hesitation about Youkilis has nothing to do with him being a former member of the Boston Red Sox, although he will probably never earn my affection, just like Roger Clemens and Johnny Damon never won me over despite World Series championships. My issue with Youkilis is that I don’t think he’s a very good player anymore, certainly not worth the $12 million the Yankees threw in his direction. His batting average has slipped in recent years although he had a decent second half in 2012 after being traded to the Chicago White Sox. The Yankees were in a tight spot because they needed a third baseman for at least the first half of 2013, but didn’t want to make any multi-year offers to anyone due to their newfound austerity. They had to go with who they could afford and so they decided Youkilis was the best one-year option for them.  

But I’m willing to entertain the possibility of Youkilis becoming a new man in the Bronx and Ichiro is the only reason for that. I wasn’t crazy about the trade for Ichiro last season because I thought it was a typical, old-Yankees style move: trading for an aging veteran with tremendous name recognition who could no longer play up to his previously high standards. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. It turned out that all Ichiro needed was a change of scenery to rediscover his stroke and love for the game of baseball. He proved to be a terrific addition to the Yankees, both on the field and in the clubhouse.

Maybe Youkilis will win Yankee fans over, just like he won the hearts of Red Sox Nation, by pulling an Ichiro and reviving his career in pinstripes. I’m willing to give him that chance.