Yankees Update 25/03/09

Xavier Nady In RF Over Nick Swisher

This is not the choice I would make, but for the possibility that Nady is being burnished for a trade.

“If we were to break today,” Girardi said, “Xavier Nady would be my right fielder.”

At the start of camp, Girardi said right field would be a competition between Nady and Swisher. Each has played roughly to form, and because Nady had an edge at the start, Girardi said, he was comfortable giving Swisher the news Monday morning.

“I’ve been thinking all day about what I wanted to say,” Swisher told reporters after Monday’s game, an 8-3 loss to Philadelphia. “I’m the type of guy, I want to play every day, there’s no doubt about that. I guess we’re just going to see how it plays out.

“I love this team. I love the coaches, players, I love it all. I think it’s a great spot. But that’s the biggest thing; we’re going to have to wait and see how it plays out.”

Not happy to read that at all. Swisher is younger, more patient, has a better track record until his last season which was bad - which enabled him to be brought to NY, and he's a better defender.

Another thing sort of did occur to me. Nady came up as a 3B. If they really like his bat that much they could throw him at 3B while A-Rod recovers and put Swisher in RF.

AJ Burnett Beats Bosox (in Spring)

The kind of news you have when it's not news.

A.J. Burnett, who is 5-0 with a 2.56 ERA in his career against Boston, allowed one run on three hits and two walks in 5-2/3 innings, striking out four. He threw 82 pitches, 49 for strikes, extending his pitch count as high as any Yankees starter has this spring.
"I heard lots of cheers and boos," Burnett said of his first Yanks-Sox experience. "When David (Ortiz) came up the first time, he was covered in them. It's awesome. I can't wait to get in there during the season and see what that's all about."

Well, it's nice to know he can beat those guys so well, so often.

Jeter Is Back From The WBC

Jeter came back to Yankee land where he is most beloved and needed. His inability to lead the hastily assembled host of 'yankees' notwithstanding, that is.

Now that the whole world has seen just how bad his range is, you'd think the mystique has eroded on Captain Crunch.

“I need to play,” Jeter said. “I’ve had enough days off. We just had three days off before our last game. With tomorrow’s off-day, I didn’t feel I needed to miss three more days. I wanted to come and play today.”

Jeter hopes to play most of the Yankees’ final nine exhibition games, which is fine with Girardi. Even before Jeter arrived, Girardi penciled him in Tuesday’s lineup, batting second behind Johnny Damon. Girardi also listed Jeter on the travel squad to Clearwater for Thursday’s game with the Phillies.

“I told him, after today, give me what he wants to do, whether it’s one day off or two days off,” Girardi said. “Just let me know what you need, because you know better than what I do.

“I think there’s enough time for him to get ready. I do. But we’ll find out.”

Since Jeter has been gone for about three weeks, his return prompted a series of “hello stranger” moments. The bench coach Tony Peña greeted him with: “Cap’n Crunch! How you doing? About time you showed up.” Tino Martinez, Jeter’s former teammate and a special instructor in spring training, stopped by for a visit.

There were no insights if he had any, no new experiences he could incorporate or convey to the press, no new information. He remains oddly elusive from giving us a piece of his mind. You'd think he never went away and played those games for the USA. It's bizarre.


Graig Nettles Is Better Now

Graig Nettles is recovering from prostate cancer. That' good news.

Nettles had surgery to remove his prostate in April of last year.
"Hopefully that's all been taken care of and I'm cancer free,"  said Nettles, taking a break from working out with the Yankees in Tampa. "I still have to go every six months to get it checked out, but my health is good."
Cancer hasn't stopped the 64-year-old Gold Glove legend, who's already talking about making his way to the Bronx this season.
"I'll make it out there to the new (Yankee) Stadium a few times this year," he says.
Nettles spends his springs with the current Yankees as an instructor and is more than familiar with the parade of havoc that comes with wearing pinstripes. He invited fans into his crazy days in the Bronx with his book entitled "Balls," released in 1984, so he's no stranger to the absurd. He once summed up his Yankee career succinctly and perfectly in 1978 by saying: "When I was a little boy, I wanted to be a baseball player and join the circus. With the Yankees, I have accomplished both."

As with so many of my heroes in my life, I loved him because he was funny as well as good.

"I'm indebted to the Yankees for always inviting me out to spring training," says Nettles, who came to Yanks in trade with Cleveland in 1972. "I know I can't do the things I used to anymore, so I live through the players. It's all in memory what I did."
And Nettles did a lot, enjoying his best season in 1977, when he picked up his first of two Gold Glove and crushed 37 homers and 107 RBI in helping lead the Yankees to a World Series win over the Dodgers. The following season, Nettles earned his second Gold Glove and  made diving stop after diving stop against the Dodgers in what was back-to-back World Series championships in the Bronx.
But his most cherished memory?
"The biggest thrill I got was when (Chris) Chambliss hit the home run to put us in the World Series in 1976," he says. "That was it."

The memories that stay on and on. I remember that shot.

1978 WS Game 3

It Was 30 Years Ago

And that fact alone makes it harder for me to get my head around my own life. I saw this game; it was so memorable, it's probably one of 5 games I recall vividly from my childhood.

Here's Bruce Markusen talking about it.

With Ron Guidry less than sharp in Game Three—he would walk seven Dodgers on the night—the Yankees’ performance hinged on the acrobatic defensive play of Graig Nettles. Playing third base like no Yankee since then (sorry, Scott Brosius, Charlie Hayes, and Mike Pagliarulo), Nettles speared several hard-hit grounders and line drives, turning what should have been an array of singles and doubles into a series of outs. Without Nettles’ full-scale imitation of Brooks Robinson, the Yankees would have trailed by three or four runs early, Guidry would have given way to an inferior reliever, and the Yankees would have fallen into a 3-0 well that would have been almost certainly insurmountable.

None of that would have been avoided if the Yankees had done something that was rumored four winters earlier. According to a story that appeared in the New York Daily News on December 7, 1974, the Yankees had given serious consideration to a trade that would have sent Nettles to the Cincinnati Reds for Hall of Fame first baseman Tony Perez. According to the article, penned by longtime baseball writer Phil Pepe, the Reds wanted Nettles and another player for Perez, who had hit 19 points higher and slugged six more home runs than Nettles during the 1974 season.

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Of course, all of that is merely speculation after the fact. The trade involving Nettles and the Reds never happened—and that turned out to be a good thing for both the "Big Red Machine" and the Bronx Zoo Yankees. Despite continual floggings from the Sabermetric community for being an undeserving Hall of Fame, Perez served the Reds well as their patented No. 5 hitter behind Johnny Bench, a capable everyday first baseman, and "keep-‘em-loose" clubhouse leader. As for the Yankees, it’s doubtful they would have visited three consecutive World Series without Nettles’ Gold Glove defense and abundant left-handed power, the latter characteristic making him an ideal sixth and seventh-place hitter behind the likes of Munson and Reggie Jackson.

One thing is for darn sure. No living third baseman in 1978—not an aging Brooks Robinson, not even Darrell Evans—would have been able to save Game Three the way that Graig Nettles did.

Yeah. I saw that game too and clearly I wasn't the only one who walked away marveling.

I've noticed this promo picture for Yahoo's Fantasy baseball season this year... and I swear that player looks like Nettles in his heyday to me. Stay with me on this; The pinstripes on the uniform look like Yankee pinstripes. The black under the eyes, the 1970s-style stirrups, the air-brushed logo from the cap... that's so 1970s. When I first saw the image, my first reaction was "Graig!" If it's not him, it sure is a dead ringer, because that's how I remember him, flying sideways like superman with a glove, nabbing line-drive balls.
You do something great people remember you a lifetime.

Graig Nettles Battling Cancer

Prostate Cancer Got Uncle Frank

This just sucks.

Nettles, a six-time All-Star third baseman, is scheduled to have surgery on April 8 at Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York. He was diagnosed the day before Thanksgiving last year, shortly after his brother, Jim, had also discovered his own prostate cancer.

Nettles said he was spurred to have his prostate checked by his brother, Jim, who informed the Gold Glover that cancer ran in the family.

"They told me they got it early, and it's curable and treatable," Nettles said. "I've just got to think positive."

Told that there was no immediate urgency to have the surgery, Nettles decided to accept the Yankees' invitation of attending Spring Training as a guest instructor. Despite his pending physical procedure, Nettles said he believed an extended visit to camp had been beneficial for his peace of mind.

"I always thought there would be an urgency in getting it out of your body, but they seem to think it wouldn't matter for a couple months," Nettles said. "So I told them I wanted to go to Spring Training.

"I would have gone crazy being laid up at home."

Nettles spent 10 years of his 22-year Major League career in pinstripes, reaching the playoffs with the Twins, Yankees and Padres. A .248 career hitter, Nettles hit 390 home runs and drove in 1,314 runs in 2,700 big league games.

One of the best defensive third basemen of his era, Nettles had one of his most memorable performances in Game 3 of the 1978 World Series against the Dodgers at Yankee Stadium, making several diving plays and helping the Yankees secure the championship in six games.

I hope he gets well soon. As many readers may know, my fave 1970s Yankee along with Thurman Munson was Graig Nettles. Quite frankly, I'm not ready just yet for this guy to go join Babe Ruth's Yankee team in the sky.

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.

Some Pictures

It Was 1978


The Year the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox last staged a duel to the end; and in the 1-game play-off, Bucky Dent hit that famous homerun that earned him a middle name starting with 'F'. I was watching it on TV and lept out of my seat with joy and amazement. Anyway, the Yankees went onto the World Series and my favorite Yankee of that era made some amazing, amazing defensive plays at third base, time and time again.

The photo here is from the Encyclopedia Britannica Year Book 1979 I happened to be flipping through. It's Graig Nettles, flying through the air sideways like Superman, snatching bullet liners down the third base line. You'd better believe it; it was just amazing. He was the slugging third baseman of the New York Yankees; just like A-Rod is today (only better, of course).
In another life, that's what I'd be.

The Battleship Yamato





I found these pickies of the battleship Yamato on the net. As a kid back in 1978, I was really into the warships of the late Imperial Japanese Navy. If you were going to build a battleship in the late 1930's, this was how you did it. Nine 45cm Canons 273m long. 70,000 tons. 27knots. All muscle and punch.
I know, it's a big contradiction that I'd be into readng about the IJN, but also cheering on the New York Yankees. But you see, life was always complex for me.

Aeronautical Marvels




While I'm at it...
I've found these pickies of Mitsubishi's final interceptor design for WWII, 'Shinden'. Some real buffs have been creating some images in 3D. If these things had seen operation... ...oh what the hell. It's not like it would've changed the outcome one tiny bit. :)

Anyway, for those who ever wondered about how 'out there' the avionics understood by the Japanese wer ein 1945, take a good look at it; 6-blade rear-mounted turbo props. After WWII, the Americans under Macarthur forbade the Japanese from developing any planes of any description. Indeed, even in the 1980s, there was enough American paranoia about the Japanese developing their own fighter Jet. So they told the Japanese to develop it from a F-15. Then US Congress got paranoid some more and legislated that the Japanese had to work off a F-16. I don't know if the 'FSX' ever got finished. If you ever wondered how much Congress was in the pockets of the MIC, you only had to look at that wrangling to realise that no US pollie is ever going to say, "who cares if the Japanese develop their own fighter jet?"