Pinstripe Posts

Torre on A-Rod: We can hug it out

  13 days until Yankees pitchers and catchers report to Tampa, where tomorrow's Super Bowl has truly been a splendid warm-up act beforeJoe Girardi's team arrives in town.

Yeah, it's Girardi's club -- remember him? For the last week, it's only seemed as if Joe Torre were in charge again. And on tonight's Larry King Live program, Torre didn't back off from 'The Yankee Years' ' critical portrayals of Alex Rodriguez, George Steinbrenner, and Brian Cashman, though Torre didn't give too convincing a reason as to why this book had to be written now -- especially since he took money and bitterness off the table.

Now, Torre believes that he and A-Rod would be exchanging hugs if they ran into one another -- and that it wouldn't be forced. Oh, and Joe feels the Dodgers can get Manny back. For the moment, that seems more plausible than a heartfelt Joe-Alex embrace.

Torre said he wanted to tell it like it was, and let people know about those 12 years. Okay, maybe no one needs a better explanation than that. But if, as Torre said, his intention was to partly show the players not as robots but as having a human heartbeat, then can't Torre at least be accused of showing his human nature?

 Can't it be said that his hard feelings -- built up over 12 "wonderful'' years -- had at least a little to do with telling his tale as he did now? I don't think that's an unfair assumption. But now, Torre has exposed himself not just to honest criticism, but to some crazy shots, as John Harper mentioned so well in his Friday column -- bullets from cartoon characters like Dave Wells, who now have some license to unload anything at will. That's what this book has allowed.

Let's face it, the current ownership of this ballclub was probably not going to honor Joe with a day anytime soon (at least until an Old-Timer's Day after his managing career ended), so who's to say the timing was so wrong on this book? 'The Yankee Years' was going to be written sooner or later, with or without Joe Torre. Wouldn't you rather hear it from him, just as you'd also like to hear ownership and management's versions?

 For instance, could someone positively refute the timing of Torre's request for a two-year extension? Was it mentioned beforehand, as Torre said, or did Cashman hear that request for the first time at the elevator bank in Tampa?

There's more to come, one would assume. It's just hard to tell what round we're in.

Playing in the dirt

  14 days until Yankees pitchers and catchers report to Tampa. Two weeks until we get the next wave of the Torre story, though we're hardly through with the first wave yet.

You wonder if Joe Torre will be taking phone calls on Larry King Live tonight, which might be as good of an idea as releasing this book while still an active manager. Just based on a few random reactions, the book might have been dedicated to Mo, Jetes, Paulie, Georgie and Pett.

David Wells wasn't going to be teeing off in Joe's foursome at the Westchester Country Club any time soon, and his latest comments about Torre were predictably crass. Asked by Michael Kay on ESPN Radio, Thursday, what he might say to Torre if they were to cross paths, Wells offered with a laugh that he "might knock him out,'' but settled on mockery. "I think I'd just laugh at him.''

Swell. Well, it seems that Wells still carries a grudge for the times Torre would dare to turn down the heavy metal on start days (headphones, anyone?), and for the fine Wells received for wearing his vintage Babe Ruth cap in a game -- after the club told him not to. It violated MLB uniform code. "That was pretty shallow,'' Wells amazingly told Kay.

Wells said he thought Torre was "a bad individual, because of the fact that he doesn't treat everybody the same,'' and that "if you weren't one of Joe's boys, he could care less about you.'' And Wells surmises that after he declared his back wouldn't allow him to continue after the first inning of his 2003 World Series start at Miami, no one inquired about his condition until a trainer asked him three innings later.

"That probably all had to come from Joe,'' Wells said, adding he might plunk down $27, "just to see how much BS is in it.''

All this bile, just for Torre's admission that the difference between Kevin Brown and Wells is that Brown didn't mean to make the manager's life miserable?

And now, the book signing tour

    15 days until Yankees pitchers and catchers report to Tampa. Sorry to have skipped 16 yesterday - and we do hope Whitey Ford knows that was not an intentional oversight.

Despite the excerpts and commentary from 'The Yankee Years,' we still don't have a clear picture of why Joe Torre decided to dish on the Yanks -- and "dish'' is exactly how CNN is promoting Torre's appearance Friday night on Larry King Live: "Former Yankees manager Joe Torre dishes on A-Rod and his old ball club.''

Now, we're pretty sure Torre wouldn't refer to his appearance this way. As far as the book goes, you'd suppose he rather sees that as going over old news with fresh details. So, the Torre defense might go something like this:

You knew A-Rod had serious problems adjusting in the Yankee clubhouse, but you probably didn't know some referred to him as 'A-Fraud,' or that his envy of Jeter could take on some Single White Female similarities.

You knew that Torre wasn't exchanging holiday cards with Randy Levine, but you didn't know the details of a '03 meeting that might have spawned the deep rift.

You knew that Torre felt wronged by the club in '07, which came to a head in that final meeting in Tampa, but you didn't know Torre's full version of it.

Again, these are Torre's version of events, some of which have already been disputed (as in the timing of Torre's suggestion of a two-year extension that Cashman was to have presented to ownership). But while the main characters in this book, so far, prefer silence (which sounds like a wise choice), Torre is going to talk. But what we really want to hear is, "why?''

The book's release is Feb. 3, and that day, Torre will be at book stores in Ridgewood and Manhattan, as well as the Yogi Berra Museum, and then he'll be on the David Letterman Show. And in L.A., the Dodgers Winter Caravan will reportedly go on without him.

Usually, with the Yankees, Torre walked into someone else's controversy each spring. This time, it's all his own.

Phantom of the Uproar

  17 days until Yankees pitchers and catchers report to Tampa, where the first-day media traffic at A-Rod's locker might break another Legends Field/Steinbrenner Field attendance mark.

A-Fraud? Even by the crudest clubhouse chatter, that's a bit harsh. Alex Rodriguez would be wise to continue to let others defend him, and stay out of this latest uproar -- which might work to his advantage. "I think we've gone through so much of the Alex stuff that, if anything, maybe this brings us closer together,'' Brian Cashman said, albeit optimistically, on Monday.

Cash went on to say how Pettitte, Rivera and Posada urged the GM to bring A-Rod back while they were negotiating their own deals last off-season. Such opinions were not solicited. "It was offered up,'' Cashman said. "It was, 'We need Alex, we gotta have Alex.' This was sincere, genuine.''

Here's Andy today on A-Rod: "I've never one time heard of that term, A-Fraud, until I saw that rolling on the TV.'' Pettitte said Rodriguez is "a very good friend of mine,'' and one who reached out during his lengthy contract negotiations.

Meanwhile, Joe Torre basically accused Cashman of being less than sincere during the final hours of the Torre tenure in '07. According to a transcript of 'The Yankee Years' by Torre and Tom Verducci at si.com, Torre said Cashman never offered ownership Torre's suggestion about a two-year deal to erase a lame-duck situation.

To quote a passage from the book (Doubleday, release date: Feb. 3), excerpted at si.com:

'I thought Cash was an ally, I really did," Torre says. "You know, we had some differences on coaches, and the usefulness of the coaches. I know he didn't think much of Guidry. And [former bench coach Don] Zimmer. You know, Zimmer didn't trust Cash, and I disagreed with Zimmer vehemently for the longest time. Then, you know, you start thinking about things ... I have a, I don't want to say it's a weakness, but I want to trust people. And I do trust people until I'm proved wrong. And it's not going to keep me from trusting somebody else tomorrow, because it's the only way I can do my job."

Ouch.

In the book, Torre describes standing at the elevator after the 'Good Night, Good Luck' meeting with ownership in Tampa, and asking Cash if he had delivered that two-year proposal. He hadn't. After a moment, Torre said, Cashman went back to ownership and emerged 30 seconds later with a 'no thanks.'  Before that, Cash had cautioned Joe that the top brass was unlikely to go for two years anyway.

Anyway, Cash has not commented directly on any specifics of the book. But, as with A-Rod, you wonder if it's worthwhile to comment at all, or if it's better to stay in the shadows and let it pass. 

Hello, Scranton

  Ian Kennedy is on a mission to prove he belongs, says Brian Cashman, who added that Phil Hughes has spent his winter at Athletes Performance Center in L.A., in efforts to stay on the field a full year. But the young duo, along withAlfredo Aceves are ticketed to open the season in Scranton, barring injury or some other unforeseeable spring training occurrence.

"They both know what we think about them as assets for this franchise,'' Cashman said today of Hughes and Kennedy. Having more pitching depth was a key issue for Cash, but would going from last year's opening day Yankee roster to this year's opening day Scranton roster have a damaging effect on the duo?

Cashman doesn't think so, but he did say something revealing about Kennedy: "Maybe we put too much on him too early,'' said Cash, adding that relying on IPK in last year's rotation was the "wrong call,'' and "I take responsibility for that.''

Hughes has dealt with a pulled hamstring, a badly sprained ankle and a rib stress fracture over the past two seasons, and hasn't topped off his development. Looks like he'll have that chance now. And, incidentally, Cash still plans on havingJoba as a starter, though he acknowledged that Chamberlain could be skipped a start, or given extra rest every so often, just to remain under his innings cap.

Also, Posada was in N.Y. today for a follow-up exam on his right shoulder; both he and Marianoare on track to start the season on time, though Cash said you won't know (especially about Posada) until the grind begins. Matsui's knee is apparently healing well, with more mobility than he had after last year's similar surgery on the opposite knee.

Andy, Cash, and our Book of the Month Club selection

  18 days until Yankees pitchers and catchers report to Tampa. Four days until Joe Torre appears on Larry King Live (Friday night), and we don't think they'll be discussing favorite restaurants in Maui. Well, maybe for the first half hour.

Here's some quotes off the Andy Pettitte and Brian Cashman separate conference calls today, announcing Pettitte's new deal (one year, $5.5 million guaranteed, with the ability to make up to $12 million through incentives).

First, si.com has a revealing three pages on the Torre/Verducci book, regarding the famous Tampa meeting with top brass after the '07 season. Torre says he asked Cashman to float the idea of a two-year contract, just so Torre would have a safety net (he said he planned to retire after '08 anyway), and that it wasn't about the money. But Torre realized that Cashman never relayed that idea to upper management, and just told Torre that they probably wouldn't be willing to do a two-year deal.

Cashman on Joe's call from Hawaii yesterday: "I'm very comfortable, and I think the Yankees are comfortable, with the relationship we had and I had with Joe over the years...and how we interacted throughout the entire process. I appreciated his call, (which led) me to believe our relationship is strong, but I have not seen the book and we'll leave it at that.''

Pettitte on the slow negotiations, and his anxiousness to get something done: "It tried my patience, but I just trusted things would work out. The whole time, Brian Cashman told me how much everyone wanted me back, and I just trusted him and that they were telling me the truth.''

More a bit later.

Joe Torre writes a book

  19 days until Yankees pitchers and catchers report to Tampa. Tonight, it's the annual New York Baseball Writers' Dinner, where Bernie Williams will perform 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' on his acoustic guitar. That ought to make it seem a little warmer than the 17 degrees outside.

"The Yankee Years'' is the name of Joe Torre's soon-to-be-released book, and these last licks might echo for some time. Through the reported release of some excerpts, Torre hits GM Brian Cashman, Alex Rodriguez and George Steinbrenner. Torre is certainly entitled to describe his unhappiness at the end, and we still believe he was presented a contract that no one in his position would have accepted. But you wonder if it was worth the trouble. In the book, co-authored with S.I.'s Tom Verducci, Torre says he was betrayed by Cashman during the contract negotiations after the '07 season (Torre told Cashman he wanted a two-year deal, but claims Cash did not inform the club's brass at their final meeting. Cash has already refused comment). Torre mentions A-Rod was known as "A-Fraud" by teammates, and termed A-Rod's relationship with Derek Jeter as a "Single White Female" obsession. Torre also said that team doctors told Steinbrenner about his prostate cancer results in 1999 before he knew them himself.

Now, I just heard Mike Francesa's take on this subject on WFAN, and agree with his main premise: Joe didn't need to do this, and he might have only succeeded in damaging his own Yankee legacy, or at least in the way he could - and should - be honored in club lore by this ownership in the coming years. It's no surprise that A-Rod frustrated Torre, or that he had something of a love/hate relationship with Steinbrenner. Who didn't? We find the Cashman stuff more interesting. Any reasonable assessment of Torre's final Yankee days would suggest that Cashman either wasn't inclined, or not in a position, to fight for Torre after the '07 season in the way that Cashman fought - and succeeded - in saving Torre's job after the '06 season (when Steinbrenner was ready to pull the plug after the Division Series loss at Detroit). Anyway, the quotes from this book will echo for awhile, and -- more than anyone -- A-Rod will have one more off-the-field subject to address in spring training. He'd be wise to do what Torre should have done; say nothing more. It should be a lot more interesting to hear Torre talk about why he felt the need to seek his Yankee closure in the candid pages of a book.

Three wishes for the new Stadium

  20 days until Yankees pitchers and catchers report to Tampa. Before that, a slight distraction called the Super Bowl, where tickets - we're guessing - could be easier to obtain than a Twins-Yankees Sunday afternoon game at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

Yesterday was moving day for the employees at the original Yankee Stadium, who took their stuff across the street. It's just 82 days until the first opening day at the grand new park, so it's not too early to hope for the following:

1. A sane sound system. Why do people who run ballparks insist on blowing out our eardrums with constant, often inane noise? I'll admit, Shea Stadium was worse. And this is no shot at the folks who run the in-game entertainment programs, who are just following someone's orders on the volume level.

Mike Bonner and his crew are creative people who do a great job. All we'd request is that game sounds come through every now and then, and that you might be able to have a conversation with the person next to you without having to shout at the top of your lungs. This is baseball, not a rock concert.

2. End the gimmicky between innings stuff. The YMCA has run its course. Cotton Eyed Joe must go. And, please, if you want to propose to your girl friend, take her to the top of the Empire State Building, a fancy restaurant, Paris, France -- anywhere but the loge seats at new Yankee Stadium.

Would it ruin any deep tradition for you if the grounds crew just swept the field without the dance? And if C.E. Joe was some sort of good luck charm, well that ended long ago. I'm not trying to be old fashioned about this stuff, but it's just silly, isn't it? These are the Yankees, aren't they? Stop the schtick.

3. Make it an all-inclusive ballpark. It's great that the Yankees are kicking off the Stadium with those 1923 prices for the two exhibition games, and that there will be bleachers in the new park. There are also about 10,000 fewer seats, creating more demand.

The City of New York owns this park, not the Yankees, but it's up to the club to do its best to make sections of seats affordable in ways beyond what they might already have thought of. Most importantly, they need to bring groups of kids here at discounts. After all, these are your full-paying customers of the future. Don't neglect them now. Especially now.

The oldest living Yankee

  Linus Reinhard (Lonny) Frey, 98, is now the oldest living former New York Yankee. We had assumed that title went to Tommy Henrich, who turns 96 next month. But it's Frey, who - ironically - was a Cincinnati Reds teammate of Billy Werber, the former Yankee, who died yesterday at age 100.

(Thanks to Jason Latimer, who took time from the Yankees' PR staff moving day, for that info).

Born Aug. 23, 1910, in St. Louis, Frey played second base and Werber played third on the '39 NL champion Reds (who lost to the Yankees in the World Series) and on Cincinnati's 1940 world champion team. Frey broke in with Brooklyn in 1933, and played his last game with the Giants in 1948 (hitting the NYC baseball trifecta).

He also played with the Cubs, and only played parts of two seasons - '47 and '48 - with the Yankees, but he won a 1947 World Series ring as a Yankee, getting into one game and driving in a run. A left-handed hitter, Frey abandoned switch-hitting after the 1938 season, according to baseball-reference.com

One more note on Frey, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal blog. A few years ago, Charlotte Magazine did a story on Werber, and noted that among the correspondence on Werber's table was a Christmas card from Frey, his buddy and former teammate.

Also, from a New York Times story by Jack Curry last July, Frey played in the 1939 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, the park's first Summer Classic, and drove in the game's first run with a double off AL starter Red Ruffing. Frey, who lives in Idaho, and Bob Feller are the last two living members of that game.

You've got twenty-one!

  21 days until pitchers and catchers report to Tampa. It's moving day at the original Yankee Stadium, and thankfully the media relations staff hasn't asked us to help carry boxes across the street. (The image, above left, is the famous Twenty-One Club in Manhattan).

We're three weeks away from the start of spring training, and Andy Pettitte, still unsigned, would be considered an impact starter on a current free agent club that could win the NL West:

1B Nomar Garciaparra/Kevin Millar

2B Orlando Hudson

SS Orlando Cabrera

3B Joe Crede

LF Adam Dunn

CF Ken Griffey Jr.

RF Bobby Abreu

DH Manny Ramirez

C Ivan Rodriguez/Jason Varitek

 

SP Ben Sheets

SP Andy Pettitte

SP Oliver Perez

SP Jon Garland

SP Pedro Martinez/Randy Wolf

CL Juan Cruz

 

It's not a stretch to suggest that the Yankees' continued need/desire for Pettitte partly influenced Freddy Garcia's decision to go with the Mets, though it's been an awkward waltz. But you wouldn't be surprised to see Pettitte and the Yankees come to some sort of an agreement before Feb. 13.

 

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Until Billy Werber passed away in North Carolina yesterday, at the age of 100, he had been the oldest living former Yankee (though he was more famous as a Red Sox and a Reds player, and finished his career in 1942 with the N.Y. Giants).

 

Consider that Werber, a speedy third baseman, retired five seasons before the color barrier was broken, traveled on trains (where the furthest western city was St. Louis), and was managed by Casey Stengel (minors), Joe McCarthy, Bucky Harris, Joe Cronin and Mel Ott.

 

On his first big-league plate appearance, he walked and scored on a Babe Ruth home run. According to an AP story last June, before Werber's 100th birthday, Werber was a bridge partner on trains with Bill Dickey, and they regularly beat the team of Ruth and Lou Gehrig for the princely sum of $3.50.

 

Though he told the AP that Ruth often carried around a whiskey flask, "whatever he drank, he absorbed well,'' Werber said, explaining that Ruth's excesses had no affect on his play. "A kindly man,'' was how Werber described Ruth. Werber broke in with the Yanks in 1930, but he traveled with the '27 Yankees for a month - and they wouldn't let the freshly signed/newly graduated college kid have a turn in the batting cage.

 

Werber was Duke's first All-America basketball player, and played under Eddie Cameron (the man the arena is named for). In baseball, he led the AL in steals three times, got to the World Series in 1939 and '40 with the Reds, and hit .370 in the 1940 World Series won by Cincinnati. He was also the first batter who appeared on TV, when he led off a 1939 game at Brooklyn.

 

According to the Society for American Baseball Research, Tony Malinosky, 99, is the oldest current living former major leaguer. He played 30-plus games for the 1937 Brooklyn Dodgers.