PLAY BALL!

[Judy G. Russell]

So I'm sitting here working at home because the streets are covered with ice and it's snowing (again). And what keeps me motivated?

PITCHERS AND CATCHERS HAVE REPORTED FOR SPRING TRAINING.

C'mon... play ball!

[ndebord]

So I'm sitting here working at home because the streets are covered with ice and it's snowing (again). And what keeps me motivated?

PITCHERS AND CATCHERS HAVE REPORTED FOR SPRING TRAINING.

C'mon... play ball!

Judy,

There was a reporter for the Mets who was supposed to be covering spring training down in Flordia, who was stuck on a plane somewhere today for 9 hours (saw it on MSNBC).

I too left my car alone and stayed in (aside from the mandatory snow shoveling).

BTW, where's Mike? IT is time to talk Yankees once again....

<joy in mudville>

[Mike Landi]

<poking my nose up>

Did someone say baseball?

[ndebord]

<poking my nose up>

Did someone say baseball?

Mike,

Welcome back! What do you think about Mo and Cashman? Could you imagine Mo in a Mets uniform in 2008?

<shudder>

[Mike Landi]

It just ain't going to happen. No way, no how. You might as well ask about Jeter in a Bosox uniform.

I think that was Mo just saying he wants this done sooner, not later.

[ndebord]

It just ain't going to happen. No way, no how. You might as well ask about Jeter in a Bosox uniform.

I think that was Mo just saying he wants this done sooner, not later.

Mike,

Yup, but they (Cashman) definitely said later, not sooner and with the example of Bernie, Mo just might be gone after 2007.

[Mike Landi]

I can't imagine that they would let Mo go, unless he collapses this year...which I doubt.

Bernie...that hurts. I want him on the team, but his body is failing him. I understand what the Yanks are doing. I don't like it, but I understand.

[ndebord]

I can't imagine that they would let Mo go, unless he collapses this year...which I doubt.

Bernie...that hurts. I want him on the team, but his body is failing him. I understand what the Yanks are doing. I don't like it, but I understand.

Mike,

Bernie's shoulder is failing him, as it has throughout his career. Can't throw out a Little Leaguer anymore (and some would say, never could). But his numbers last year were pretty good for a p/t player off the bench (.281). Torre, it is said, wants him back in some role. We'll see. As for Mo, it seems they are holding against him that muscle strain in his forearm that sidelined him for a short time last season. That amorphous "they" in the Yankee organization are insisting that he pitch up to his standards for 2007 before they will open the coffers. The irony is that with all the failures of Yankee pitching and all the money thrown around, that Mo would have been willing to go for a simple contract extension BEFORE all this. Not so anymore. If they don't sign him now and he performs to historical levels, they will have to pay through the nose at the end of 2007, because he will be on the free market and can take the highest bid.

I think they made a big mistake here.

Unless you think Farnsworth is the next coming of Mo.

[Mike Landi]

Typical Yankees. Acting like they know better and no one is worthy of being treated as bigger than the team. They will pay through the nose for him, and you know...they just do not care.

I thnk they prefer the pressure, on the player and on themselves.

I wonder who will be hurt this year. We always (except for 1998) seem to be hit with injuries. Who's first? Giambi? Pettite? Posada? Moose?

[ndebord]

Typical Yankees. Acting like they know better and no one is worthy of being treated as bigger than the team. They will pay through the nose for him, and you know...they just do not care.

I thnk they prefer the pressure, on the player and on themselves.

I wonder who will be hurt this year. We always (except for 1998) seem to be hit with injuries. Who's first? Giambi? Pettite? Posada? Moose?

Mike,

Any number of the older players will undoubtedly be hurt during the season. Let's just hope they're all healthy for October.

Also I'm curious about the roster of young pitchers and wonder who will make the rotation and who will be spot starters and long relief. I think the Yankee pitching is younger this year and potentially better. But who is that ace of aces? Moose at 37?

[Mike Landi]

Moose or Pettite.

Moose, the more I think of it. He may not be the top win getter, but he is the respected leader and of all of them, who would you want to pitch a must-win game?

I like that we have a mix of lefties and righties, plus youth, plus experience, plus a deep pen.

Who's our long relief man this year? Beam or Hen?

[Judy G. Russell]

<poking my nose up>IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!

Did someone say baseball?IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!

[Judy G. Russell]

I can't imagine that they would let Mo go, unless he collapses this year...which I doubt.Agreed, on both counts, at least I sure HOPE not...

Bernie...that hurts. I want him on the team, but his body is failing him. I understand what the Yanks are doing. I don't like it, but I understand.Sigh... I sure wish there was some kind of bench job they could give him. It's hard when you have a player who has been productive and loyal...

[Judy G. Russell]

I wonder who will be hurt this year. We always (except for 1998) seem to be hit with injuries. Who's first? Giambi? Pettite? Posada? Moose?As long as it's not "all of the above"...

[Mike Landi]

<sigh>

Oh, boy. This is the Yankees. We could have all of the above, plus 'The Boss' go down, pemantently. Imagine what that would do to the team. <shudder>

[Mike Landi]

Bernie has done all that the Yanks have asked, and the Yanks have treated him well.

Unfortunately, his time is gone, and he has to look in the mirror and see it. If he wants to be a 'non-Yank', another team will probably take him. The crappy part is that there really is no place for him on the Yankees and I think he knows that he cannot play at the 'Yankee' level anymore...and that hurts like hell.

[Mike Landi]

I have such plans for this summer. <g>

I have plans for HD, surround-sound living room, with YES-HD at the center! <drool>

Now...there is the matter of affording it!

[Judy G. Russell]

We could have all of the above, plus 'The Boss' go down, pemantently. Imagine what that would do to the team. <shudder>You know, as much as I have cursed at Steinbrenner for one thing or another over the years, I can't imagine what the team will be like without him.

[Judy G. Russell]

I think he knows that he cannot play at the 'Yankee' level anymore...and that hurts like hell.It sure does. This getting-old bit is definitely for the birds...

[Judy G. Russell]

Now...there is the matter of affording it!Hey, what's a few thousand dollars, more or less (mostly more, and more and more again...)?

[ndebord]

Bernie has done all that the Yanks have asked, and the Yanks have treated him well.

Unfortunately, his time is gone, and he has to look in the mirror and see it. If he wants to be a 'non-Yank', another team will probably take him. The crappy part is that there really is no place for him on the Yankees and I think he knows that he cannot play at the 'Yankee' level anymore...and that hurts like hell.


Mike,

Unlike other aging superstars, Bernie never learned how to play a second position. He wasn't good in left field (forget right, as he definitely lacked the arm for that position) and he never learned first base. Add in that last year his stats from the leftside reduced the possibility of his continuing as a switch hitter at DH).

Essentially he is now sulking at home, refusing to come in sans contract. Let's see who will pick him up or if it is time for him to focus fulltime on his musicial career.

[Mike Landi]

The team could become just another team. Without someone like George to drive the team (or beat them when they are not perfect) AND not flinch at all when it comes to salary, we would be just another team.

Remember when CBS owned us?

[Mike Landi]

No sh*t.....

I've spent this winter learning about doctor specialties that I never thought about before.

[Mike Landi]

You're right about him sulking at home. He was so good, but now it is over. How many athletes have you seen that just do not know when it is time to hang them up?

[Mike Landi]

<g>

I can't wait......

[Judy G. Russell]

The team could become just another team.Ewwwww... a fate worse than death...

[Judy G. Russell]

I've spent this winter learning about doctor specialties that I never thought about before.Egads... sorry to hear that! My own view of doctors is, the fewer the better!

[Judy G. Russell]

Essentially he is now sulking at home, refusing to come in sans contract. I kind of understand why he's doing that, but he has to understand that anybody -- anybody -- who can't cut the mustard is history.

[Mike Landi]

My new lot in life is to keep pharmacies and medical equipment companies in profit. <sigh>

[ndebord]

My new lot in life is to keep pharmacies and medical equipment companies in profit. <sigh>)


Mike,

Real sorry to hear that. Hope you're doing better now.

[Judy G. Russell]

My new lot in life is to keep pharmacies and medical equipment companies in profit. <sigh>That's a bummer, big time. Sigh... You'd think that Intelligent Design would design things more intelligently!!

[Mike Landi]

Working on it....

Just waiting for home health care companies to get whatever magic paperwork they need, then they can call me, then they can bring equipment, then.....

[Judy G. Russell]

Just waiting for home health care companies to get whatever magic paperwork they need, then they can call me, then they can bring equipment, then.....Between health care providers and insurance companies, it seems like it'll never end, doesn't it?

[Mike Landi]

A friend of mine keeps telling me, "What's in second place?"

[ndebord]

A friend of mine keeps telling me, "What's in second place?"


Mike,

A first (or is that a second?). You know what's in first and can't know what's in second! (Which that were true for lotto too!)

Have had my own problems with my lungs once again. It seems, at this advanced age, that I have managed to have a recurrence to some small degree of my childhood asthma. Had to go into a construction site (and didn't have a mask) for only a few minutes the other day and was in such bad shape that I wished I had an inhaler. Took me two days to recover. SIGH

[Mike Landi]

Sounds lousy, Nick. It sounds like the slightest thing sets off a lung problem with you. Did you get though the winter (so far) without a serious infection?

[ndebord]

Sounds lousy, Nick. It sounds like the slightest thing sets off a lung problem with you. Did you get though the winter (so far) without a serious infection?

Mike,

YES I did and anecdotal experience informs me that (in part) I owe that lucky circumstance to a liberal use of alcohol hand wipes and the almost total elimination of milk (replaced by Silk SoyMilk) in my diet. Scientific? Nope. Lucky? Probably.

Like gourmet chefs, who can smell ingredients a mile off, I can do the same thing, only with dust.

:-(

[Mike Landi]

I'll bet the alcohol wipes helped a lot. The rest of it...hey, don't argue with success!