What Will Derek Jeter's Next Contract Be? (The Guesses & Contest Winner)

Our contest got a ton of entries, but the first prize winner of a copy of Jane Leavy's New York Times bestseller, "The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood" is Peter McLaughlin (@pjmclaugh on Twitter). Congrats to him, but there were many, many more guesses of what Derek Jeter's contract will look like. It will be interesting to come back to these in a few weeks and see who wins the second book as the person who got closest (in years/dollars combination) to the actual result. Here are the predictions from our crowd sourcing prognostication (in annual value order and with options picked up):

Name	Years	Dollar	Average
@JayHyne	4	$48	$12.0
@Laurenmass	4	$60	$15.0
Alex O	4	$60	$15.0
@Scroiata	5	$75	$15.0
@NYsportSpace	4	$65	$16.3
@danreilly11	4	$65	$16.3
@hbk2369	4	$65	$16.3
Richie K	4	$66	$16.5
@eric_weinberg	4	$70	$17.5
@JobaRules26	5	$90	$17.9
@NYYEric	3	$54	$18.0
@AndyNY2	4	$76	$19.0
@pjmclaugh	4	$84	$21.0
@theharryadams	3	$65	$21.7
@treyalex09	3	$65	$21.7
Average	4	$67	$17.3

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Last Chance to Win a Great Prize

As we told you on Monday, we're giving out TWO copies of Jane Leavy's New York Times bestselling book, "The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood." For those of you who missed it, all you have to do to win is to tell us what you think Derek Jeter's next contract will be. Simple as that. We'll extend the guessing to the end of the day to give everyone a chance to win. Then we'll announce the first winner on the book on Monday here at NYaT. Here are the rest of the rules:

Go on to Twitter and reply to us at @NoYoureaTowel and let us know what you think Derek Jeter's next contract will look like (years and dollar amount) with the hashtag #NextJeterContract. So a sample tweet would look something like this "@NoYoureaTowel I think that Derek Jeter will get a 3 year, $50 million contract #NextJeterContract".

If you don't have Twitter, you can let us know in the comments below as well. You have until Friday to get your guesses in. If you retweet this blog post (you can do so just by clicking that button below the post), you will double your chances to win.

Remember, you must be following us on Twitter at NoYoureaTowel to win (but you really should be already). Good luck and make sure to get your guesses in! Don't miss out on this great opportunity to win a fabulous book.

What Will Derek Jeter's Next Contract Look Like? (with a prize!)

Last week we gave out a copy of Jane Leavy's new book that everyone is talking about, the New York Times bestseller, "The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood." The Tuesday Trivia winner was Richard Iurilli and we want to congratulate him on winning the first book (it will be in the mail very shortly). While Ben W is diligently reading through the book to write a review on the blog and Richard will be starting to read his shortly, we have two more books to give away.

Here's how we're going to do it: go on to Twitter and reply to us at @NoYoureaTowel and let us know what you think Derek Jeter's next contract will look like (years and dollar amount) with the hashtag #NextJeterContract. So a sample tweet would look something like this "@NoYoureaTowel I think that Derek Jeter will get a 3 year, $50 million contract #NextJeterContract".

If you don't have Twitter, you can let us know in the comments below as well. You have until Friday to get your guesses in. If you retweet this blog post (you can do so just by clicking that button below the post), you will double your chances to win.

On Friday I'll select one random Twitter guesser to get a book (you must be following NoYoureaTowel to be eligible--and remember, retweeting gets you 2x the chances!). The last book will go to the person who comes the closest to the actual Derek Jeter contract when that is signed (and can be on Twitter or here in the comments). The crowdsourcing answers will be compiled into a blog post so make sure to send good guesses. You don't know when he'll actually sign that contract, so make sure to get your guesses in quickly just in case he signs this week!  Good luck!

Quote of the Day: LOST Co-creator on Wimbledon

This is an awesome quote from LOST co-creator and executive producer Damon Lindelof via Twitter on the recently completed marathon Wimbledon tennis match between Nicolas Mahut and John Isner:

@DamonLindelof: I found the ending of Isner/Mahut satisfying, but wish they had answered more questions.

Nice serve, Mr. Lindelof. 

Picture from The Star-Ledger

The Yankees Hughes-Wang Problem

The Yankees had back-to-back years with perfect games as David Cone and David Wells became "baseball immortality". In 2001, Mike Mussina took an September ESPN start to two strikes and two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning with a perfect game. And then Carl Everett broke it up. Since then, Yankees pitchers have come oh-so-close to no-no's only to fall short. So far this year the Yankees had CC Sabathia and Phil Hughes throw 1-hit gems. This is the second time that Hughes has come close--but failed--to throw the no-hitter, joining former Yankee Chien-Ming Wang among the unlucky this past decade. So for Hughes to Wang (by the way, I've wanted to use that title for a while), the Yankees have been unlucky in finishing out the no-hit bids.

So close. Near no-no's. The forgotten games. Moose's I will never forget. He was dealing and looked totally unhittable. He dominated a really tough Boston lineup in a really tough ballpark. 26 up, 26 down. 13 K. And Carl Everett ruined it. You wonder how many times Mussina goes back to that 0-2 pitch and wishes he would have wasted one there instead of throwing a meaty pitch for Everett (a Yankee foe, indeed) to club.

35 times the Yankees have had a pitcher go 7 innings and give up two hits or less since the beginning of the 2000 season. Mike Mussina has 6 such games in his Yankee tenure. Chien-Ming Wang and El Duque are tied for second with four each. Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, Randy Johnson and A.J. Burnett have each had 3. 

Some of them stick out in your mind.  

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24's Clock Has Hit Zero, Dammit!

Jack has tortured interrogated his last suspect. Word came down tonight that 24 has officially been canceled. I was actually a big fan of this occurring, but it's still sad to know that Jack, Chloe, Freckles, and the rest of CTU are coming to an end. My feelings were that a movie would be the way to finish things up and I'm still not ruling that out of the works. I'm not sure where this season will rank in the show's history, but after the past few weeks, my hope is that the show will be going out with a bang. Regardless this season seems like the last we'll see Jack kicking ass on TV.

So how did the news come down? Well, I found out from Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe on the show) tweeting about it on her Twitter account. Read this account from top to bottom to get how it went down. The two with the recycle-looking signs are tweets from other users, the last one (meaning the first you see) being the funniest:

And Yahoo! TV got Kiefer Sutherland's view of things and includes news about the movie still in discussion and the finale date. (H/T Dad):

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Red Sox Ticketing System Is The Eighth Circle of Hell

I've heard Yankees fans complain recently about the Yankees ticketing system and why they think it's unfair. But the truth is that those trying to buy Red Sox tickets have it worse. On January 30th, Red Sox fans (and those, like me, who don't like the Red Sox but want to buy tickets) entered the Red Sox virtual waiting room for their "automatic" ticketing system. This is the worst system I've ever seen. No matter what time you get onto the system, you get put into the same pool that keeps on refreshing and refreshing. There is no advantage for getting there early except for more frustration. Once you get in, the system is usually too overloaded to get any tickets and, at times, you get kicked out of the system...and right back into what Red Sox fans have deemed "The Eighth Circle of Hell".

I decided to capture a few select reactions from Red Sox fans on Twitter. Here's the results:

chriscorcoran sets up our review:

Some have done this year-after-year. DiagoFuji is sick of doing this yet again:

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Vote: Should Wang Stay In the Starting Rotation?

The new poll is up over to the right.

Wang's line tonight: 5 IP, 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 4 Ks, 1 LONG HR, and 91 pitches. It's his longest outing of the season and he looked good up there. He was killed in his last inning by bad defense (a drop by Ramiro Pena), a bonehead play (Melky diving for a ball he could never catch) and bad calls (he had an out at first that was taken away from him).

Jon Heyman said on Twitter: "i wish they would stop grading chien-ming wang on a curve. he went out losing to the nationals. this is not good"

Peter Abraham said on his blog: "Given the improvement, I’d be surprised if they dropped him from the rotation. He gave up three runs and it easily could have been one or two. He did pretty well, all things considered."

My vote is for giving him few more starts and see if he continues to improve. This is like Spring Training in some ways for Wang who is increasing his arm strength again. This guy was a big-time starter and you can never have too many starters. The Red Sox are about to have 6 and I don't think it'll hurt the Yankees to have the same.

So I say keep him in there, but keep him on a short leash. This is about "what have you done for me lately" and if Wang can continue to improve, I think you keep him as a starter...for now.

He tweeted what?!?!

A hilarious video on ESPN from their series Mayne Street, starring Kenny Mayne. With athletes tweeting courtside Kenny gives us a little preview of what we might see next in the wild world of sports



thanks to NYaT contributor Matt Rubinstein for finding this!

Starting 9: 4/18/09

1) The Rangers are up 2-0 against Washington having won both games on the road. I have to say I'm shocked. Although both were one goal wins, they Rangers showed an intensity in their commitment to defense that I hadn't seen yet from them all season. According to Ranger Rants, the Rangers have blocked 50 shots in two games including 17 from Alexander Ovechkin. Pierre LeBrun of ESPN correctly pointed out that the Rangers dominated the game both physically and mentally. More on this on the cleanup spot.

2) From Rob Neyer: • During yesterday's game, Michael Kay said that Cary Grant "was kind of the Tom Hanks of his generation." I'm just saying. Oh Michael Kay. Just shut up. All our lives will be better.

3) Should have linked to this sooner, but great look from Dugout Central on what the 2010 Yankees will look like. Nady's injury and pending free agency certainly changes things a bit...or does it?

4) The Rangers shouldn't get cocky, but they have a great chance of winning this series. It's been three years since a team has come back after losing the first two games at home to win the series. And the Rangers are going back to Madison Square Garden which should be rocking on Monday night. The Rangers have thoroughly frustrated Alexander Ovechkin who is arguably the best hockey player in the world. They've had Michael Roszival shadow him and blocked a ton of his shots. So frustrated in fact that after Ovechkin missed a shot from point blank in the third period, he threw up his hands in frustration. So add Roszvial to Sean Avery (pest), Ryan Callahan (energy) and Henrik Lundqvist (stopper) as players who have thoroughly frustrated the Caps in this series. I have to say I'm surprised and I hope they continue this play.

5) NL East: Did you notice that Mets star last weekend wasn't on TV from the start? Want to know why? Baseball Digest tells us why. And on the other side, a look at the Phillies awesome World Series rings.

6) It was good to read two articles on steroids that had nothing to do with the Yankees. One on baseball from the New York Times and one from ESPN on football.

7) Hugging Harold Reynolds has a very funny aritcle on the opening of Citi/Taxpayer field and of course never questions the sexuality of Mike Piazza

8) Denny Neagle sounds sort of creepy, though I really am not that surprised. He looks creepy (H/T Jordan)

9) Check out this article from the NHL Tweetup. Not only did my Twitter handle make the article but my picture is the second one down on the left! Speaking of Twitter, Fangraphs has Twitter feeds for every baseball team. Pretty Awesome!

Twitter Via OnStar?

(From @Jason_Pollock) WASHINGTON POST TWITTER NEWS - OMG, OnStar May Soon Let You Twitter From Your Car

This seems like a bit much. I think if people are really trying to Tweet while driving, there are enough problems right there (maybe rehab is in order?). But if OnStar wants to make their lives easier--and the roads safer--all the more power to them. Wonder if other services will spring up for those of us who haven't driven a Ford lately?

March Madness Day 1 Links

Big evening of sitting front of the TV watching college basketball (when, in fact, I could easily have gone to the gym and done the same thing...oh well)

-Coach K says the President should worry about the economy and not the tournament -- AKA as Barack-etology (H/T Deadspin on that name). In other news, Coach K is a HUGE Republican. In other, other news, I now have even more reason to hate Coach K

-Reviews of the new stadiums for the Mets and Yankees from the New Yorker

-One of my favorite baseball subjects is Jewish ballplayers. From Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg to Shawn Green and Kevin Jew-kilis, it makes me proud to be a part of the Tribe. This article from LoHud's Sam Borden looks into just that (H/T Pete Abraham)

-This A-Rod situation keeps on getting wierder and wierder. What Madonna song is he talking about here???

-Matt Mosley puts the Giants on the clock and talks about draft prospects. Even if they think Plax may be out part of the season, they may be better off drafting someone like Nicks if he falls to them.

-Watch With Kristen asks if someone on The Office is pregnant (and other Dundler Mifflin news)

-Her frenemy, Ausiello, has his weekly Ask Ausiello and says this about Big Love:

Question: I am hooked on Big Love. I'm begging for scoop on Sunday's season finale! --Heather
Ausiello: Bill Paxton...revealed that, unlike last season's capper, this one ends with a cliffhanger. And here's a little season 4 scoop: Damages' Zeljko Ivanek, who debuted two weeks ago as a creep who may or may not have fathered a child with Nikki way back when, will be back next season in a major way.

-Next, the New York Times advises to take advantage of the low air fares because they won't last (H/T Sarah). I just saw $399 each way to New Zealand and Australia on Qantas.

-MarketingProfs Daily Fix talks about getting a job through Twitter. Another way to use social networking to get hired.

-A very, very in-depth look at Bernard L. Madoff from Traders Magazine (H/T Wendy)

-Aaron Boone opens up to the New York Times about his upcoming open heart surgery

-Obama/Leno tonight. The battle should be like camping: INTENSE!

-I linked before on the blog about a suggestion to revive the White House "kitchen garden" and Yahoo! reports that it's coming back

-NPR goes over which politicians got the most from AIG donations (*hint* you may have heard of the first guy...but then he got a lot of donations from EVERYONE)

-Another reason for guys to go to hockey games (as if they needed any more!)

-And, lastly, is Marc Savard a bigger vagina than Sidney Crosby? That would be QUITE a feat

"Ryan Started the Fire" -- Best Office Video. Ever.

If you're a fan of The Office then you will like this video. It sort of stole my idea of putting fake songs to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire", but this is so cool, I can't complain (btw...I found this on Rainn Wilson's--AKA Dwight Schrute--twitter)

Pre-Thursday Night Out Links (and more videos!)

Some links while I drink my elderflower liquor and wait to head out for the night

-I told you already: Leave Michael Phelps alone

-Again...leave him alone (H/T Jay)

-Here's another guy to leave alone: A-Rod. "Doesn't Congress have anything better to do with its time??" I could not agree more. Insane.

-But some good A-Rod stuff before we do: of course he hits on hot women, he runs back to his wife, hires a crisis management firm (Chris Brown is supposedly doing the same), has someone trying to pretend recent history didn't happen (maybe he needs the island from Lost), pisses off the Commish (what is this man going to do? he can't suspend him...he's just got to grin a bear it), and had SO much potential before steroids (H/T Baseball Musings):



-Speaking of the Yankees, how about some "Joba-the-Not" news (H/T Zack)?

-I think that Claire McCaskill may be my new favorite politician after her Twittering (Twitting? Twating?) about Gregg's sudden departure from the Obama White House

-Happy Birthday, Charles Darwin --from, Freakonomics

-E.J. Hradek knows that the real problem with the Rangers is Glen Sather. His cap blundering will cost this team for years. And any chance they have of acquiring a decent forward at the trade deadline will go out the window because of this. And if they decide to call up Sean Avery they'll probably have to trade someone...unbelievable

-At least maybe King Henrik can lead the Swedish team to another championship in 2010.

-Love those 17 points plays

-Full Lost recap and a recaplet

-Well maybe Burress won't be on the Giants next year. Just a littttle premature.

-That loan-a-weapon-to-an-Afghani program is NOT going well

-A heartwarming story about a girl being able to say thanks to a firefighter who saved her 40 years before..(H/T Paul)



-Lastly, this may be even more disturbing than his affection for his sister in Gladiator...nah:

Sunday Links: Bestchester Edition

Home in the Bestchester with some great Sunday links:

-First, a great NBA doubleheader on ABC. I usually shy away from watching regular season NBA but today was a real treat

-Joel Sherman agrees with me on the Jeter situation

-The Terrible Towlie

-Anna Rawson is really hot and doesn't seem to like lesbians in women's golf...and women's golf does not seem to like Anna Rawson. Catfight!

-So Brad Pitt is playing Billy Beane in Moneyball. So a book I've never particularly cared for about a way to build a team which hasn't produced any pennants (never mind World Series wins) is going to be starring Brad Pitt and directed by Steven Soderbergh...and it's about baseball. So I have a real tough time figuring out if I'm going to want to pay to see this movie. Solution: illegal download. Thank you, interwebs.

-Hip Hop saved Lupe Fiasco's life and Starbucks saved this guy's life. Now Tom Hanks will play him in a movie. Seriously

-Scary times in the inferno going on Down Under

-Peter Gammons wrote his first article in a few weeks and seems to back up my idea of Brett Gardner in CF with the first part of the article...

-I found out on his Twitter that Rainn Wilson is a Baha'i and he posted this article about an apology they received from Iranian professionals.

-This kid will have what Michael Phelps is having. Wow. (H/T to Sarah and Jay)

-Speaking of Mr. Phelps, he has a backer: Ashton Kutcher...and he won't be hanging out with Jared anytime soon

-Another person agrees with me, the New York Rangers need Sean Avery and vice versa (original report from Larry Brooks)

-More A-rod piling on from Howard Bryant of ESPN, Rob Neyer of ESPN, and Sam Borden of LoHud (on defining this generation)

-A sad story about a 90-year-old Madoff victim that had to return to work

-What news anchors do during commercial breaks...amazing

-For Ari: how consultants are like prostitutes

-Some LOST spoilers/analysis from our buddy, Doc Jensen

-So maybe Santonio Holmes didn't get both feet down...

-Remember that November election when John McCain left the campaign for the stimulus vote? Well John McCain is having a senior moment because he's back there again and Troopergate redux.

-Speaking of elections, the Israelis are voting soon: on Netanyahu's big lead and the rise of Avigdor Lieberman

-Fred Hof is joining the Mitchell Commission and is not a fan of Hezbollah (H/T Politico)...could be good news for Israel.

-The Battle for Your Social Status

-The growth of green jobs

-I'm really not sure what's so bad about this article except that maybe England has weird Greek life...

-Remember Adam Morrison? He got a little emotional during March Madness and now has been traded to the Lakers for VladRad. Think Charlotte would like to have done that again? They missed out on Brandon Roy, Rudy Gay, Rajon Rondo, etc. for a guy who looked like he should have been in 70s porn.

-The New Yorker tries to figure out the next Supreme Court Justice

-An article about life insurance (my industry) facing impending accounting and regulatory changes

-The Washingon Post declares the worst draft pick in baseball history...which is saying a lot

-And, lastly, HR and the art of clichés management (H/T Wendy)

MLK Day Links

-First, this picture

-Isn't this just called Adderall?

-I have to admit: I just joined Twitter. So this New York Times article was very timely. Follow me on Twitter here. I still need to find out if there is a good way to twitter via the Blackberry or via e-mail (at work they block Twitter so if I could e-mail in my Twits[?], it would be quite helpful). If anyone knows, let me know. In the meantime I'll follow Stephen Colbert, Dave Matthews, Freakonomics and other fun Twitterers(?). Also for the social networking crowd, follow me on Facebook.

-I just found this about water bottle banning on the Freakonomics Twitter...wonder if they were talking about Brandeis?

-Politico's Ben Smith, following up on something I wrote yesterday, on more Madoffs.

-True Blue reports that Dom Capers will not be the next defensive coordinator (he's going to the Packers). This gets me even more depressed.

-Google Drive would be really cool. Will it happen? Here and here

-Finally, word of the end to the coinflip in baseball...

-One Knick in, one Knick out...and other Knicks news

-Lastly, after hearing this maybe I don't want Anquan Boldin on the Giants after all...