The Stadium, A-Rod and Fist Pumps

Starting 9: 5/11/09

 

1. Bill Madden of the New York Daily News wrote an open letter to George Steinbrenner on Saturday basically ripping Lonn Trost and accusing the Yankees of building a segregational ballpark for the rich. I think the tone was a bit harsh, but I agree with some of the sentiment. It's ridiculous how the Yankees have sectioned off the rich from he rest of us. It used to be ushers kept you out of those areas (it was the same in the old Stadium), but now there really is a concrete wall keeping the people paying less than $500 a ticket away from the rich. I too had jokingly suggested that this divide may yet to include a moat (though I dreamed of piranhas instead of alligators). But what Madden brings up is a huge problem I have felt for a while with the Yankees: no access for the common fan to the players during batting practice and the pregame. When I was young, I actually wrote my own letter to the Boss to complain about the access that we were given to the players during batting practice. All I wanted to do was get close to my favorite player at the time, Don Mattingly, but the security guards near the dugout wouldn't let me sniff the area where the players are. My letter was never responded to as I assume Madden's won't be as well.

2. My problem with the lack of access before the games is that no one in those rich seats ever show up. Like never. And it's actually worse in the new stadium. As Peter Abraham said: "Here is what is sickening about the new Yankee Stadium. The gates open three hours before the game so fans can watch BP. As I write this, here is how many people are in the premium seats watching BP from the front row and getting a good look at the players: Three. That’s right, three. Meanwhile, there are people six deep along the foul line in right field and left field hoping to get a ball, get an autograph, whatever. But because of the caste system in place here, they’ll never get closer."

3. Other problems with NYS: The ticket market has crashed according to Mets Police (even though Shysterball thinks the Yanks may be selling directly to StubHub), a review of the Audi Club from New Stadium Insider, fallout from "Yankeegate" from the Daily News, The Baseball Analysts on how not to price your tickets, Peter Abraham on the dismantling of the old Stadium, and Keith Olbermann demanding refunds.

4. The big news from Friday night was the triumphant return of A-Rod. As Jay said, I predicted he would come back with a bang. Didn't know it would come on the first pitch. Scott Proctor's Arm wrote a nice letter to Alex, and then Alex went out and did what he does best: hit the baseball. Alex Rodriguez will never be good with his teammates or being loved by fans or a favorite of the media. His job is to hit baseballs out of the park and let the rest speak for itself. And, as Jerry Crasnick wrote, A-Rod made like a superhero in his return to baseball. A-Rod got some help from the media with the Manny Ramirez news. He also we be helped by the fact that Selena Roberts' book has been routinely slammed by critics. This review from Slate says that most readers won't care enough to pick up the book and the information isn't exactly backed up by fact or credible sources.

5. Speaking of Manny, Jonah Keri has a lot more links that even I could provide and the New York Daily News tries to drag Scott Boras' name into this steroids mess. Imagine if Manny played in Boston or New York how big this steroids story would be? I bet in two weeks, the feeling dies down. Manny plays the Mets soon after he gets back and if their fans decide to deride him, it's quite hypocritical. The Mets not only have a lot of suspected steroids users, were aided in their 2000 World Series run by a few more, but also had a player suspsended for steroids after he helped lead them to the 2006 NLCS. I think Mets fans should just be happy they didn't sign Manny in the offseason because...well...they'd probably just have the same guys out there they do now so I don't think it made much of a difference.

6. The fist pumping shit is getting ridiculous. Who the fuck cares? If he goes out there and pitches well, I don't care if he gives the "suck it" sign to Melvin Mora. River Ave Blues goes over the cure for the "controversial first pump". More good stuff from Peter Abraham: The Fist Pump Controversy is really, really silly.

• Does anybody really care what the Baltimore Orioles and Aubrey Huff think about Joba? ..Memo to the O’s: You lost the game.
• Joba didn’t care. He was more annoyed at the questions about it. His biggest concern is trying to figure out how to stop getting rocked in the first inning.

• Jonathan Papelbon does it. Francisco Rodriguez does it. Yet for some reason there is no controversy about them. Why is that?

• This is a perfect ESPN/WFAN/tabloid newspaper story in that it creates something out of nothing and gets people riled up.

You know what is important about Joba? He’s 5-2, 3.15 in 18 career starts. In 100 innings as a starter, he has allowed 97 hits and struck out 108. Once he gets that first-inning thing fixed — and he will — the Yankees are going to have a 23-year-old ace on their hands. If that’s the case, Yankee fan shouldn’t care if Joba does handstands on the mound.

7. According to Baseball Prospectus, Xavier Nady had a pretty crazy procedure done to his below. Now MLB.com is reporting that The X Man is clear for the next step in rehab. Hopefully that means he's on his way back to the Yanks. And, another rehabbing player, Brian Bruney, is reporting no pain according to Sliding Into Home. And the Yankees can use Bruney back ASAP. With Wang progressing as well, it seems to be good news from the rehab front.

8. Remember Pat Venditte, the switch pitcher (well, if not, check out the video of what he does on YouTube)? Well one blog says it's time to take him seriously. Rick Reilly also takes an in-depth look at him.

9. A few other baseball things: CNBC's Darren Rovell has a really cool ad by Mount Sinai (Ben's employer),  New York Times on fewer broken bats this season (well, Mariano Rivera hasn't gotten into form yet), Electronic House on AJ Burnett's RIDICULOUS home theater, Dice-K is paying dividends for his former team according to NBC Sports, The Sun Sentinal says Hanley Ramirez tried to kill Regis Philbin, Jose Canseco is still unloved according to Big League Stew, and Baseball Musings on Damon carrying the Yankees.