Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 11, 2013

The Hall of Fame resume of Andy Pettitte is the topic for today's episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.

Here is the link for the article from Was Watching.

Follow Mike Silva on Twitter @MikeSilvaMedia
Follow Dan Reed on Twitter @dano2384


Brandon Phillips, Adam Dunn, Yovani Gallardo and Jeremy Guthrie all owned baseball on June 10, 2013.

To see the up to date tally of "Who Owns Baseball?," click HERE.
Subscribe on iTunes HERE.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 11, 2013

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 2, 2013

Today's edition of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast was recorded at Trader Joe's before the huge crowds arrive.

While shopping, I gloated about the Red Sox spanking of the Yankees and the misfortune of the Bronx Bombers AND the Angels.

Adam Wainwright, Paul Goldschmidt, Ubaldo Jimenez and Ryan Doumit all owned baseball on June 1, 2013.

To see the up to date tally of "Who Owns Baseball?," click HERE.

Subscribe on iTunes HERE.

">Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 2, 2013

I was a guest on the "Lady at the Bat" Podcast

I had a great time yesterday being a guest on Bernadette Pasley's podcast "Lady at the Bat."
She also writes theYankee Lady at the Bat blog, which you should check out.

We talked Red Sox/Yankees, the condition of the teams in 2012 and favorite memories of the rivalry. It was a fun time and hopefully we can have her on the Sully Baseball podcast before long. Here's the link to the Podcast.


 

Baseball's greatest July 4th moment...

Even this Red Sox fan gets a little choked up during Lou Gehrig's speech.
I have never seen the whole speech because at one point he references the New York Giants who also were on hand to honor him.

Ken Burns, as always, captured it best in Baseball.

What if Thurman had lived?

On August 2, 1979, I was in the front yard of our home doing what I did on most summer days... playing whiffle ball with my brother Ted. My dad came out and told me that Thurman Munson had died in a plane crash.

The 7 year old version of me took a moment to process this information. I remember the first question I asked was "Will he be buried in Cooperstown?"

I don't know why that seemed important to me.
I was very sad that day... and I was, as I am now, a Red Sox fan. But this was still a gut punch. Baseball players weren't supposed to die. Especially players who meant everything to a team.

Jim Rice, Yaz, Fisk, Lynn... they were RED SOX.
Munson? He was a YANKEE.

Using my "you start following baseball when you are 7 years old" formula, I guess people my age are the cut off for people getting emotional over Thurman Munson.

For people in their early 30s and younger, I guess Munson is a shadowy figure from the past... always a martyr.

For Yankee fans my age and older, he is the irreplaceable captain.
I remember my friend Michelle Ciulla, a big Yankee fan, lamenting in the early 1990s when the Yankees were bad (remember those days?) "The Yankees haven't won since they lost Munson. They may never win again."

Diana Munson still gets standing ovations at Yankee Stadium. You still see men in their 40s wearing #15 jerseys.

And you'll still hear Yankee fans say things like "I wasn't a Reggie guy... I was a Munson guy."

Meaning of course they loved the grit and substance of the home grown captain to the flash and style of the imported superstar.

Imagine the Jeter vs. A-Rod debate... but in a clubhouse where the guys were brawling.

His funeral and the following Monday Night game (won by Munson's best friend Bobby Murcer) is one of the most emotional highlights in Yankee history.

And as a Red Sox fan, you MUST know that Munson is off limits for any taunts.
Just out of respect... you can say bad things about ANY Yankee ever... just not Munson.

I often wondered what would have happened if Thurman had lived.

He probably would have left the Yankees eventually.
He only had a year left on his contract and made it very clear that he wanted to play for an Ohio team.

The reason he was taking the flying lessons was to be able to fly to Ohio on off days to be with his family.

And, at least in 1977, was sick of what was happening in the Bronx. During the World Series celebration, he ducked the question "Do you want to be traded to Cleveland?"

He wasn't happy when Reggie Jackson became a higher paid player than he was. And with free agency looming, and an MVP and two World Series titles in the Bronx, he probably would have skedaddled.

And by 1979, the Yankees were quickly transforming. Sparky Lyle, Mickey Rivers, Chris Chambliss, Ed Figueroa, Catfish Hunter, Dick Tidrow and Paul Blair were all gone before the 1980 season was halfway through.

And Reggie had enough, leaving for Anaheim in 1982. Nettles and Gossage weren't far behind.

Munson wouldn't have stayed around for that.
Remember how insane the Bronx was in the 1980?. Steinbrenner would dump beloved players on an impulse. (Remember letting Willie Randolph go for Steve Sax?)

He would alienate his best players (Howie Spira following Dave Winfield anyone?)
And even anger Yogi Berra to the point where he wouldn't come back to the stadium for 14 years.

He probably would have gone to Cleveland and helped young pitchers like Len Barker find their stuff.

The 1980 Indians weren't contenders, but they came damn close to .500. Maybe a tough competitor like Munson in the clubhouse would have sparked the Tribe better than young Ron Hassey.

(Ironically, Hassey became one of the merry go round of Yankee catchers brought in to replace Munson.)

Maybe the more relaxed environment would have rejuvenated Munson.

Getting out of the Bronx certainly seemed to agree with Nettles, Gossage, Randolph and Jackson who continued to produce.

Maybe bringing him closer to his family could have made him more content.


Maybe Munson would have gone to Cincinnati.

With Sparky Anderson (who had slighted Munson after the 1976 World Series) gone and Pete Rose off to Philadelphia, the Reds were changing identity and needed a new spark.

And the oft injured Johnny Bench was playing fewer and fewer games behind the plate.

Maybe he would have gone to a still strong Reds team with a chance to win another ring and be only 200 miles from home.

(Probably not... the competitiveness with Bench would be too strong.)

Maybe in 1980, Munson would have joined his old manager Billy Martin in Oakland.

The team was brimming with young talent in the pitching staff including Rick Langford, Steve McCatty and Mike Norris.

Munson could have handled the staff instead of Mike Heath and who knows? Maybe faces the Yankees in the 1981 ALCS.

That's a long shot... his heart would have been in Cleveland.


Munson could have become the manager in Cleveland... Maybe he could have squeezed some wins out of the Joe Carter/Julio Franco years.

The Billy Martin Yankees produced future managers like Lou Piniella, Willie Randolph and Bucky Dent (for some reason Chris Chambliss never got his shot... but that's another post.)

I am sure Willie, Lou, Bucky and Chambliss would all tell you to a man that Munson was the best managerial prospect.

Eventually he would have come back to the Bronx. In the end, they always do.
If Winfield and Yogi could mend their fences with Steinbrenner, then no doubt Munson could have as well.

Even if it was just as a fixture at Old Timer's Day where he would get a rousing ovation each year, he would have been welcomed home.

No doubt there would be many Yankee fans insisting that he manage the team, just like there were people who wanted Don Mattingly to manage the team in 2008 and no doubt people will call for Jeter to helm the club if Girardi leaves.

No matter what would have happened, there would have been happiness and closure.

Munson would have found peace and time with his family as a player... and eventually Yankee fans would have had their captain back, even if it were only ceremonial.

Would he have been a Hall of Famer?
It would have been close... but he would have been a beloved Yankee and maybe even have his number retired. And it would have been a joyous celebration of a man who played the game the right way and honored the uniform in an era of great turmoil.

If only he had lived.

Sully Baseball Honors... BOB SHEPPARD

Bob Sheppard, the voice of Yankee Stadium, is retiring.

He's 99 years old... the fact that they have to announce that he is retiring and explain why he won't be able to even do one game next year says a lot about him.

Most people when they reach 99 years old have been dead for about 20 years.

But Sheppard is alive and does a job that seems to be essential... he gives class and dignity to announcing the Yankee line up.

The man first announced the lineups for the 1951 World Champion Yankees that featured Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, Billy Martin, Allie Reynolds and was managed by Casey Stengel.

The last team he called was the 2007 Wild Card team that featured Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Robinson Cano, Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, Joba Chamberlain, Mike Mussina and was managed by Joe Torre.

That's stretching over some serious time.

He was featured in Seinfeld, Anger Management and was the final voice over in Billy Crystal's surprisingly good 61*.

And yes, while I am a Red Sox fan, I admit I got chills when I heard his voice.

My first memories was hearing names like "Chris Chambliss" "Reggie Jackson" and "Willie Randolph."

And let me tell you, when I was at NYU in the early 1990s and the Yankees were awful, he made some of those names sound good.

"Hensley Meullens."
"Don Slaught."
"Alvaro Espinoza."
"Mel Hall."

Any chump can say Mickey Mantle or Thurman Munson... but to make Oscar Azocar sound like a great Yankee took some talent.

So give yourself a break... and I hope Bob Sheppard reaches well beyond 100 years.

Reggie Jackson called Sheppard "The Voice of God."

God should take that as a compliment!

A scenario for Yankee Haters

The Yankees put the Red Sox away with a humiliating sweep and went on a stampede to the Division Title.

The stampede was under Jeter's leadership not A-Rod (who put up subpar stats) and Jeter accumulated MVP stats (although the award will probably end up in Minnesota.)

The Yankees pitching staff looks solid and deep and as they lined themselves up waiting for a Division Series match up with an overmatched Tigers.

What team am I talking about?

This year's Yankees?

Or the 2006 Yankees?

Remember how stacked that team was? Remember how deep their line up? Melky, Damon and Abreu started and Matsui and Bernie were still hitting. Giambi was still good for 37 homers, Cano looked like a batting champ, Posada was 23 homer guy and A-Rod's sub par season still had him hitting 35 homers and 121 RBI with a .290 average.

And Jeter should have won the MVP over Morneau.

Plus Chein Ming Wang looked like an ace, Mussina had a comeback season and Rivera was still dominate. And they went into the post season as prohibitive favorites. (Only the Twins with Johan Santana had any shot of eliminating them... and Oakland swept them in the Division Series.)

And the Tigers, stumbling into the post season on a 5 game losing streak, lost the first game against the Yankees... and then won the next three ending their season.

OK, that was 2006. And that team was wound tighter than a drum (and frankly Torre should have retired then because it was clear managing the Yankees had become root canal for him.).

But let's take a look at the 2009 scenario.

The Yankees and Tigers are certain to meet in the Division Series and the Yankees will be about 15 games better.

Game 1 will also almost certainly be a CC Sabathia vs. Justin Verlander showdown. 

And from where I am sitting, the Tigers might have an advantage there.

Verlander has been dominant, so has Sabathia... but Sabathia has not exactly been a sure fire post season performer. And I am not going back that far to make that statement.

In 2007 he won the Cy Young and in 2008 he almost single handedly won the Wild Card for the Brewers... yet his post season record the last two seasons have been 1-3 and he let up 20 runs in 19 innings for a 9.47 ERA.

Even his one win was an unimpressive 5 inning showing in Game 1 of the 2007 Division Series where Chein Ming Wang got rocked.

So let's say Verlander out duels Sabathia in Game 1... that means the Yankees would hand the ball in either game 2 or 3 to A. J. Burnett.

In other words A. J. Burnett, who in each of his most recent starts is showing that he is a talented yet inconsistent .500 pitcher, will pitch a game that if he loses, the Yankees would be on the brink of elimination.

And Justin Verlander would pitch a potential elimination game.

I know I am getting ahead of myself here... but this isn't 1998. Win loss record or not, this is not an invincible team.

It all hinges on Game 1.

Tell you what, let's just eliminate September and get right to October!

Remembering Bryan Harvey

It is fitting that Derek Jeter is probably going to pass Lou Gehrig to become the Yankees All Time hits leader in Yankee Stadium on September 11th.

Jeter means as much to New York as any person in the past decade.
Gehrig was the native New Yorker who brought dignity and class to the Yankees.
And this date will of course always be linked with the city.

It has the potential of being one of the great Yankee moments and as usual, Jeter gets it.

“I’m happy that I was able to do it here at home,” Jeter said. “We had so many special moments across the street. Hopefully this is the first of many memorable moments here at the new stadium.”

He is a true Yankee legend, cementing his place in the team’s lore (as if he needed it.)

So why am I thinking about Bryan Harvey?

You remember Bryan Harvey, don’t you?

He was darn good closer for the Angels and the Marlins in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He got Cy Young votes in 1991 and 1993 and won the Rolaids Relief Award in 1991.

Currently he is the pitching coach for the Tulsa Dillers in the Rockies organization and his son is a pitching prospect.

According to Derek Jeter’s interview with Michael Kay on CenterStage, as a minor leaguer he was almost traded to the Florida Marlins for Bryan Harvey.

The trade would have made sense seeing that the Yankees desperately needed a closer and Jeter was a few years away from making the team.

It was one of those trades that used to be made all of the time in Yankee land. A young player is shipped off for a recognizable player… and soon former Yankee farm hands like Doug Drabek, Willie McGee, Greg Gagne, Jose Rijo and Jay Buhner star for other teams while the veterans break down in the Bronx.

Of course injuries ended Harvey’s career after one game in the 1995 season. Jeter was called up later that year where he backed up veteran Tony Fernandez.

An injury to Fernandez opened up the shortstop position for Jeter and he won Rookie of the Year and played a big part in the 1996 World Series title… and then the 98 title and the 99 title and the 2000 title and the 2001 and 2003 pennants…

He became bigger than any superstar that George imported.

He became the most loved home grown Yankee since Thurman Munson.

And to think he could have been a Marlin… and inevitably been traded elsewhere when he asked for a bigger contract.

Or he could have been fit in with a smaller team and become like Michael Young… a star player that nobody had heard of.

Perhaps he would never have been a star!
Some people just click in right environment.

Dave Stewart was a mediocre spot starter and middle reliever bouncing between the Dodgers, Phillies and Rangers. He went to Oakland and became a Cy Young candidate and World Series MVP.

Of course there are critics of Jeter who say he is overrated and start blathering stats… obviously not watching all of the big rallys he contributes to and all the big plays he’s made over the years.

Others say “Well if the Yankees had Nomar or Tejada or Vizquel or A-Rod instead of Jeter, they would have won just as many titles.”

How do they know that?
Don’t they see the number of teams that think they can slap together stars to win instantly… only to see the teams fall on their face. (Go look at the team in Queens if you don’t know what I mean.)

And who knows what makes the perfect combination for a winning team? Those Yankees championship teams won year in and year out during the steroid era without a single player hitting more than 30 homers. They did it without an MVP or a Cy Young winner in the title years. And statistically you could find better players at every position…

Yet somehow they had the right combination to win.

Take Jeter out and replace him with someone else, you may not have the right mix.

It’s like saying “The Godfather” would have been as good if Harvey Keitel played Tom Hagen instead of Robert Duvall. Heck he’s not the main character and Keitel is good!

Yeah, but would it mess up the balance of the movie? Would the scenes with Sonny work as well? Would the scenes telling the Don about Sonny’s death have worked as well?

We’ll never know if another shortstop could have done the job as well as Jeter. What we DO know is that it worked in a spectacular manner.

And I also know that Yankee fans would have been denied this night if Bryan Harvey became a Yankee in 1994.

The Yankees Should Move Back To The Other Park

I mean it is just sitting there...

And the karma was better there!

A strange observation about the Yankee Stadium

First of all, I need to point out that while I am a huge Red Sox fan, I loved Yankee Stadium.

I only knew the remodeled stadium (my first game there was in 1978) and I think I went to Yankee Stadium more than any other park. So while it may sound like a contradiction, I am indeed a Red Sox fan who reveres Yankee Stadium.

And when I saw my first game, it overwhelmed me. It seemed like the biggest place I had ever seen in my life.

OK, I am dying to go to a game in the New Stadium... but there's something I found odd.

By making the videoscreen in center field so big, it screws up my own sense of perspective on the stadium.

It actually makes the New Stadium seem smaller than the last one. Maybe it is an optical illusion, but when I kept hearing Bob Costas, Jim Kaat and Harold Reynolds talk about how big it was, I kept saying "It looks SMALLER."

I guess I'll just have to go there myself.

Oh Hank you are making it easy to hate the Yankees again

On the heels of the good will and goosebumps of the Yankee Stadium finale, the Boss’s son makes everyone remember why the Yankees are the easiest team to hate.

So Little Hank Steinbrenner… who first tried to write off the bad Yankees season to injuries (because Heaven knows no other teams had any injuries this season, just the Yankees) but now tries to brush aside Joe Torre’s success with Los Angeles based solely on the weaker division they played in.



Oh I see… so because the NL West isn’t as good, the fact that Torre is doing his job and winning said Division isn’t as impressive as finishing in third place.

I don’t seem to recall this logic working the other way. When the Yankees stumbled into the 2000 playoffs, they had lost their last 7 games, 15 of their last 17 games.

Their record was worse than the Indians who went 90-72, but failed to make the playoffs.

Did I hear anyone downgrading that accomplishment?
Nope, especially not after the Yankees righted the ship and beat Oakland, Seattle and the Mets for the World Series.

(Their last one I might add.)

And this coming off the heels of the closing ceremonies where Torre was snubbed.

I love it that some poor schlub named Jason Zillo was forced into the role of explaining that Torre's lack of recognition, even on the Jumbo Tron, was not a snubbing.

"A lot of great Yankees weren't mentioned," he reasoned.
Ah, so he slipped through the cracks.

Jesse Barfield gets a highlight clip, but the man who put together the greatest Yankee dynasty since Casey Stengel slipped your mind.

It couldn't have been because he turned down the Yankees lousy offer and the fact that his team is in first and the Yankees are playing out the string, could it?

Nahhhh.

Oh but keep talking Hank.
You are making your dad seem profound by comparison.

A strange morning in Yankeeland

This must be surreal for Jeter and Rivera.

Yeah they've experienced heart breaking defeats like in 2001 and they've seen their season end with a whuppin' like the 10-3 game 7 in 2004.

But there's always been an exclamation point, whether good or bad, to end of the year.
Either a dog pile on the mound... or Jeter with that angry thousand yard stare.

Not this...
The celebration of the stadium is over, but the Yankees still have six games to play.
One of those games won't be tonight... but their season can end tonight.


One win by the Red Sox and the post season run will officially be over.

And for the first time in their major league career, Rivera and Jeter will just be playing out the string.

The end of the year series with the Red Sox will mean literally nothing for either team if the Rays clinch the Division.

As a Red Sox fan you'd think I'd be relishing this moment and in a way I guess I am.
But the ultimate insult needs to be thrown at the Yankees now.

They are irrelevant right now.

I suppose the Yankees can get pumped up to play the Blue Jays to avoid falling into fourth place.

But having the Yankee Stadium finale take place with a week left is like handing out the Best Picture Oscar, then Best Costume Design and Best Documentary Short.

My dad asked me "What were they thinking scheduling the last day of Yankee Stadium and not doing it on the last day of the season?"

I replied "They probably thought there were going to be a few October games too."

21 things about tonight's pre game in Yankee Stadium

I may be a Red Sox fan, but a hat must be tipped to the Yankees for a goosebump filled closing night ceremony in the Bronx.

I have some thoughts.
Let's list them:

1. Even old and frail, Bob Shepherd sound amazing. Get well... they need his pipes in the new place.

2. The decision to have actors play the opening line up from 1923 was strange. Borderline "Knott's Berry Farm Musical Revue" territory. Good for ESPN that they didn't zoom in on them. Why not bring back descendants of the 1923 team?

3. Very cool moment was unveiling the 1922 AL Pennant that they raised over the park opening say in 1923. I wonder who has been keeping that all of these years?

4. I guess it says a lot about me being a film geek that I recognized the film scores they were playing as background music. Nice call playing the part of The Right Stuff soundtrack when John Glenn takes off.

5. Instead of having the sons of Billy Martin, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris out there, why not have John Turturro, Thomas Jane and Barry Pepper? For that matter, Erik Jensen who played Thurman Munson in The Bronx is Burning was awesome. Have him in full uni.

6. I can't believe they made poor Roy White jog all the way out to left field.

7. What was cooler than Willie Randolph sliding into second base? Great to see the Yankee fans bring him back into the family after the dreadful treatment he got from the Mets. Who knows? A few more third place finishes by Girardi and he might be the manager!

8. Great camera work by ESPN isolating Reggie Jackson in right field and having the fans chant "Reg-Gie!"

9. Man Yankee fans love Paul O'Neill. If he were a Red Sox hitter, I guess I'd love him too.

10. 15 years since he left, it's still odd seeing Wade Boggs in a Yankees uniform.

11. It really is amazing to look at Yogi Berra... a man who looks like an old Italian barber... and think not only was that man an athlete, but he was one of the greats of all time playing the most demanding position.

12. Stay healthy Yogi... baseball has never had a cooler elder statesman.

13. Thank God Yogi patched things up with George 9 years ago. Can you imagine this night with Yogi being a no-show.

14. Seriously, end with Yogi. When you have him, finish with him. Unless you cloned Joe-D, you're not going to top Yogi.

15. In the montage of third basemen, they didn't show the Boone home run. Not that I need to see it ever again, but it's odd that they showed so many great Yankee post season moments... doesn't that rank high?

15. In the montage of center fielders, I wonder why they didn't show Mickey Rivers.

16. Do you think David Wells was thinking "You guys could have signed me for 2008! I've been at home downing wings and yet still managed to tie Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes in the win column!"

17. How glad is Don Larsen that he got that perfect game? Save for that game, he had an unremarkable career. And yet on the night they close Yankee Stadium, he stands on the mound with Ron Guidry, Whitey Ford, Goose Gossage and the widow of Catfish Hunter.

18. I wonder if there was another former Yankee who won a Cy Young award? I wonder if that person was free? I bet Clemens didn't even get an invite.

19. The Red Sox couldn't pull off a night like this. The announcer would have to keep saying "It ended badly but we buried the hatchet" before every single player's intro.

20. It was nice to see Joba Chamberlain talking with the former Yankees and watching the ceremonies as if he was seeing his future. Now if only they could make up their minds if he should start or close.

21. I'm kind of glad the Yankees won. It would have been awkward to see the Orioles shaking hands on the field as the stadium closes up.

One more thing... I hope Freddie was there

This doesn't feel like a Red Sox/Yankee series

Well this is a strange scenario for a late season Red Sox/Yankees
series...

The Red Sox have a 1 1/2 game lead in the Wild Card and are struggling to keep their nose above water against the Twins and White Sox.

The Yankees are 10 back in the loss column for the division and 5 behind the Red Sox and are struggling against an irrelevant September for the first time since George Herbert Walker Bush was President.

Yeah these are must win games for the Yankees and Red Sox... but for different reasons than anyone could have ever imagined.

Who would have thought both fan bases were basically going to cede the division to Tampa Bay?

Who would have thought the Yankees would be closer to 4th than to 2nd place?
Who would have thought the Red Sox would be looking at their rotation slowly falling apart and think "How can we compete with the Rays, White Sox and Twins?"

Who would have thought this series would pale in dramatic comparison to the Mets and Phillies?

Now THAT is a series where first and second place could be swapped with split victories.

Or the Brewers and the Cardinals... two teams boxing out for the Wild Card. The Brewers can put St. Lou away... or the Cardinals can make it REALLY interesting in September.

And the Twins could catch the White Sox... and the Dodgers can gain ground on Arizona...

Meanwhile the two bloated franchises that ESPN and I focus on battle it out... and people are looking for the drama.

The best they could come with is "The last Red Sox Yankee series in the history of Yankee Stadium."

And that is dramatic as the team will move next year from the South western corner of 161st and River to the North western corner of 161st and River.

How can they possibly feel the same?