Waiting For Brian Cashman

The World' Best Job? ...With The World's Worst-Behaved Boss, Of Course
Brian Cashman's contract runs out at the end of October. George Steinbrenner wants him back. The speculation is still rife but the smart money is on Brian Cashman to resume his tenure as the GM of the New York Yankees. He's keeping awfully quiet about it in the process, though.

Steinbrenner's willingness to express his feelings directly to Cashman is viewed within the organization as a positive move toward convincing Cashman to re-up. Cashman has told friends he wants greater autonomy in decision-making. Hearing the pledge from Steinbrenner, not from an underling, carries more meaning.

Nevertheless, another executive close to Cashman recently said he would not be surprised if Cashman asked to have any promises about the scope of his authority or how the Yankees' chain of command works put into official contract language. The friend said Cashman may request that if his authority or the chain of command is violated, he automatically can opt out of his contract and/or receive a large penalty payment.

Interestingly, Cashman is, to some degree, trying to resolve similar issues with Steinbrenner that Torre was. The Yankees' manager said he needed to be assured The Boss still wanted him as manager after a tumultuous season. Torre asked for and received a sit-down meeting in Tampa with Steinbrenner last Monday that Torre described positively as "more than cordial."

Torre met with the media the next day and said he wanted to stay as Yankees manager, citing the meeting with Steinbrenner as integral to that choice.

Similarly, Cashman "wants to know his opinion counts and that his input is important," an ally of the GM said. Cashman has grown intolerant of having to defend organizational moves (the signings of Jaret Wright and Tony Womack, for example) that he had little or nothing to do with. He has some leverage now to ask for a larger say in such matters with his contract expiring Oct. 31 and the potential to go someplace else, such as Philadelphia to be the GM.

There are a lot of Yankee fans who want him back, if nothing but as the voice of judicious sanity within a crazy organisation we love so much.

There's Excellent And Then There's God-like
White Sock 3B man Joe Crede made some snazzy plays in a World Series and suddenly people are talking about Graig Nettles.
The man himself was very cocky when he got interviewed Mr. Nettles, that is, not Mr. Crede:

"He made some nice plays," he said of Crede. "They were nice plays, but they weren't anything spectacular."

Nettles was implying that the plays he had made were spectacular and, of course, they were. He made four superb ones in Game 3 against the Dodgers. Tommy Lasorda, the Los Angeles manager, has said those plays were paramount in helping transform a series that his team was dominating.

Nettles, 61, has always been confident about his defensive abilities and has usually been candid with his opinions, and this case was no different. He was adamant about separating what Crede did and what he had done.

If Nettles's plays were a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10, maybe Crede scored an 8.

"He made all the plays he needed to make," Nettles said in a telephone interview Sunday. "It was nothing extraordinary. He went one step for them. He went down to a knee. I appreciate the announcers mentioning me, but my plays were different."

Indeed, I saw those plays and have never forgotten them. As I pointed out only a few weeks ago when I put up that old photo I found of him flying sideways through the air like Superman.

Twenty-seven years ago, the Yankees were trailing the Dodgers, two games to none, when Nettles was in the right spot. With two outs and one on in the third, Nettles made a terrific diving play on a Reggie Smith laser down the line to begin an unforgettable sequence.

Then, with men on first and second and two outs in the fifth, Nettles smothered another blast by Smith and limited him to a single. Steve Garvey followed by scorching a ball to third; Nettles corralled it and flipped to second for a forceout, stranding three Dodgers.

The Dodgers loaded the bases again in the sixth, but Nettles vacuumed up Davey Lopes's smash and the Yankees exhaled. The Yankees won, 5-1, and won the next three games to win their second consecutive title. Nettles said fans still reminded him of the acrobatic plays and how they ignited the Yankees.

Those plays are an important part of my life experiences. That is how I will always remember those 1970s Yankees, tough in the clutch. Still, well done Joe Crede, and go go White Sox! The entire city of Chicago needs you.