Catching Up

by jscape2000 on Mar 13, 2008 12:06 AM EDT in News

I was going to be home around 7 o'clock on Wednesday.

But then the bar called; I've never been strong enough to resist that siren song- especially when I don't have to work until after noon the next day.

Well it seems I missed all the excitement in the world.

Shelly nearly castrated Iwamura at second. Rebecca sums up my feelings on Shelly Duncan's play right there (plus she covers Syracuse basketball, too). I hope this'll be the end of dirty plays for the season. Joe Maddon was too casual in defending his player's actions, and it would have been nice for him to show some concern, but Shelley went too far. I hope this will be the end of it, but I know it won't.

Andy Pettitte's elbow was bothering him, so he didn't pitch today. You know the Yanks aren't making it up because they'd just say "stiffness" or "sore". That left elbow is the reason the Yanks wouldn't offer a ton of years to Pettitte in 2003 and let him go to Houston.

Lastly, The Bronx Block is running a contest to nickname Joba, Phil, and IPK. If you have a brilliant idea, go let them know. I'm going to stand by the Trinity- "I believe in the Church of Baseball..."

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yes

I agree with you and Rebecca. I think it was dirty but I think TB started it and I don't think it ends here. I'm somewhat ambivalent about it.

Seeing stuff like the Joba incident in Cleveland and all the drillings of the Yankees by the Red Sox (esp Jeter)and the oh so mellow Torre response has made me long for fire and blood.

I think TB wants to play "hard ball" but when it's played back they yell bloody murder and call it criminal (CRIMINAL? REALLY? Give me a break). I think that they swagger about their "aggressiveness" and that this is going to go on all year with them. I think we need to let them know we're going to hit back. Maybe that wasn't the way to do it, but I still think it needs to be done.

It's all unfortunate but I can't say that I'm terribly upset by our response. I want to take the "play was dirty, Shelley was wrong" high road but part of me would like to kick TB (collectively) where Shelley almost did, so I can't muster the moral outrage I think I should.

"The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided." -Casey Stengel

by bxgrl1 on Mar 13, 2008 8:54 AM EDT 0 recs

Dangerous

Retaliation doesn't often solve anything. It just escalates things. And it's not about taking the moral high road. It's about avoiding suspensions of and injuries to our key players. Sure, we can weather a few-game Shelley Duncan suspension and put Morgan Ensberg in his roster spot to start the season. But we'd better hope our key pitchers and players don't take things into their own hands like Shelley did or that Tampa's players don't injure our stars like they did Cervelli. It's unlikely since we're generally a team of great class and composure, and I think Girardi isn't going to let things get out of hand, but it's gonna be dirty.

"If you lived in my grandfather's house...and you wanted to eat, you had to be a Yankees fan." --Joe Biden

by SenorSwanky on Mar 13, 2008 2:31 PM EDT up 0 recs

can

players get suspended in the regular season b/c of spring training problems. I would think that the suspension should take place during the spring?

re-sign Jaret Wright

by yankeechaser on Mar 13, 2008 10:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

Nope

All suspensions are served in the regular season. Remember when Roberto Alomar spat at the ump in the postseason and sat out 3 games the next April?

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on Mar 13, 2008 11:03 PM EDT up 0 recs

Slide wasn't as bad as the photos looked

The slide wasn't nearly as bad as the photos looked. Take a look at the video:

http://slidingintohome.blogspot.com/2008/03/video-of-brawl.html

Shelley appears to have put his leg up there, but not really "driven" it into Iwamura's leg. The photo where it looks like Duncan's about to castrate Iwamura with his spikes is misleading. Iwamura's backing away at that point. Duncan's spike only made contact with his lower thigh, just above the knee.

Duncan deserves a 1-2 day suspension, but the photos look far worse than the video.

by footballstu on Mar 13, 2008 9:53 AM EDT 0 recs

You're right

the slide (while still dirty) wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. The umps did the right thing to immediately toss Duncan. Whatever suspension Duncan gets, Gomez's should be a day longer since he's the one who escalated things.

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on Mar 13, 2008 10:16 AM EDT up 0 recs

Duncan has never

been the brightest bulb, and he's definitely a little exuberant. The slide was uncalled for, but harmless. Bottom line: he may just have made us (at last) competitive with the Rays during the regular season.

I always feel pressure. What I don't have is fear. -- El Duque

by LateInningRelief on Mar 13, 2008 10:12 AM EDT 0 recs

The Trinity?

Please. Let's wait until at least June before anointing anyone. Unlimited promise I know, but all three of them still have a lot to prove once the games start to count.

by django on Mar 13, 2008 1:10 PM EDT 0 recs