For all the noise of this Yankees offseason, as far as the team on the field goes, all it amounted to was the status quo. Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera are all back -- and richer. Young pitchers Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and center fielder Melky Cabrera didn't go to the Twins for Johan Santana. The 2008 Yankees will be a slightly older albeit considerably more expensive version of the 2007 team. And......

Joe Girardi made his first appearance in Yankee pinstripes as the new manager today. He chose the number 27 for his jersey, referring to more World Series wins in the Yankees' - and his, he hopes - future as the Yankees have 26 World Series championships. The former Yankees catcher said, "The team's expectation is always going to be to win the World Series. It's not going to change." He also mentioned that he......

Rudy Giuliani better check his sports allegiances. While campaigning in Boston, a reporter asked the former mayor which team he would be cheering for in the World Series - the Colorado Rockies or the Boston Red Sox. To our surprise (and Bostonist's), he went with the Red Sox, "I'm rooting for the Red Sox. I'm an American League fan, and I go with the American League team, maybe with the exception of the Mets. Maybe......

Fighting to keep his emotions in check, Joe Torre took the podium in Rye today and thanked George Steinbrenner for letting him run his ball club for 12 years. Torre went on to explain the events of the last 48 hours. Wednesday night Brian Cashman called Joe and conveyed the Yankees’ offer of one-year and $5-million with bonuses. Joe asked to meet with the group in Tampa and met for 20 minutes and when the......

The Yankees' season ended last week, but the team is still a hotbed of activity. A group of executives for the Bombers will be meeting in Tampa, FL early next week to come to a decision regarding the fate of Joe Torre, the team's manager. George Steinbrenner, who made a name for himself as an eager firer of managers before taking an involuntary break from baseball, declared that he'd like to fire Torre after last......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a partial collapse on West 123rd St. in Manhattan, an unusual trauma at Dewitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, and a shooting at Bergen St. and Buffalo Ave. in Brooklyn. The 7 train line was shut down for about two hours this afternoon after power to a number of signals failed. Service was back up by 4 p.m. AMNewYork looks at Rudy Giuliani's tendency to take phone calls......

The reports of George Steinbrenner’s demise may have been exaggerated. In an interview with Ian O'Connor, Steinbrenner showed the fire that longtime fans of the Yankees are used to. While it wasn’t punching out someone in an elevator, this was a classic motivational ploy from the Steinbrenner textbook - win or the manager is gone. Of course all of this ignores the fact that the Yankees are lucky to have even made the playoffs. Teams......

Quick, call the locksmith! Before Thursday's Yankees-Tigers game, Mayor Bloomberg gave away yet another key to the city. Just last week, Bloomberg gave a ceremonial key to Mets pitcher Tom Glavine for winning his 300th career game. Thursday's key was for Alex Rodriguez hitting his 500th career home run. Rodriguez said that the key "will be something I hold dear to me for the rest of my life." In addition to receiving the key......

George Steinbrenner's poor health isn't new news, but a September Conde Nast Portfolio article paints a picture as to how The Boss is really doing. Franz Lidz and former Tampa Tribune sports editor Tom McEwen, an old friend of Steinbrenner's, paid a visit to the Yankees principal owner at his home in Tampa. Once at the Steinbrenner residence, the two have what seems to be a rather quick conversation with Steinbrenner at the door. Lidz's......

Does Joe Torre, manager of the Yankees, treat black and white players differently? According to former Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield, he does. In an interview that is scheduled to air Tuesday on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumble. Sheffield makes some shocking allegations in the interview with Andrea Kremer, saying that he wasn't the only black player that had issues with Torre. A transcript made available to Newsday, details some of the statements that......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: American Body Shop (Sunday, 10:00 p.m., Comedy Central) A spoof of the fakeality vehicle tweaking genre with former NYC Transit cop John DiResta as part of the ensemble cast. World Series of Pop Culture (Monday, 9:00 p.m. VH1) NY1's Pat Kieran hosts this trivia battle royal show starting its second season. The Bronx is Burning (Monday, 10:00 p.m., ESPN) The first part of an eight part miniseries......

In October 1977, Howard Cosell leaned into his announcer's microphone and intoned to the worldwide audience watching the World Series, "Ladies and gentlemen, the Bronx is burning." He was reporting yet another burning building marring the NYC skyline from his vantage point at Yankee Stadium. His line would eventually become the partial title of a superb book written by Jonathan Mahler: Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle......

The Bronx kid who thwarted burglars threatening his family last week got to meet his own personal hero yesterday. When armed men burst into Edwin Alamo's home last week screaming for everyone to "Get the f– down!", the quick-thinking 12-year-old grabbed a cell phone, climbed out a second-story window, scrambled across a rooftop, and then hid in an abandoned building where he called the police. The burglars had a shootout with the cops shortly thereafter......

Pitcher Roger Clemens, who was coaxed out of retirement with a deal worth $28 million, was supposed to be the savior of the floundering Yankees. The Bronx team's pitching staff has been plagued with injuries and Joe Torre and Ron Guidry have been forced to call up ever-younger prospects from the organization's farm system. Fans were momentarily relieved and distracted from the Yankees' on-field woes during the 7th inning stretch of a game in early......

Toronto 7 Yankees 2: At this rate, they will cancel “Yes’ Ultimate Road Trip” before August. At this rate, Roger Clemens might just give the money back and retire. Ok, maybe that won’t happen, but after another dreadful loss, it’s impossible to say what could happen next in Yankeeland. As per the recent norm, Monday’s loss was characterized by a complete lack of timely hitting. In three of the first four innings, the Yankees got......

With his recent health woes, all George Steinbrenner does is issue statements through his spokesperson. Today, however, the AP has an interview the Yankee principal owner. In the interview, the 76 year-old Steinbrenner talks about manager Joe Torre, Brian Cashman, Roger Clemens, and Jason Giambi. It wasn't so long ago that Steinbrenner issued a statement saying that he believed in Torre and Cashman. While there has been speculation about the safety of Torre's job, The......

We certainly know how some Yankee fans feel about the baseball season so far, but what about The Boss? George Steinbrenner, the Yankees principal owner released a statement yesterday, supporting manager Joe Torre and general manager Brian Cashman. Steinbrenner's statement said:"The season is still very young, but up to now the results are clearly not acceptable to me or to Yankee fans. However, Brian Cashman, our general manager, Joe Torre, our manager, and our......

With the Yankees' win over the Red Sox yesterday that ended a 7-game losing streak, it seems that Yankees manager Joe Torre can breathe easily - for the moment. Torre answered questions about his job security before the game with aplomb, saying, "For me to say 'this,' 'this' or 'this,' I don't want to pawn it off and say it's not my fault. I'm in charge here. If you're going to enjoy the good......

While divorce these days is all too common, divorce papers filed by Jennifer Swindal on Tuesday in Hillsborough County Circuit Court involve a less than common family. Jennifer Swindal, the daughter of Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner, cited irreconcilable differences when she filed for divorce from Steve Swindal after 23 years of marriage. Is the reason truly irreconcilable differences, or are Steve Swindal's February 15th arrest for driving under the influence and The Boss' incessant......

Yesterday, thousands of people said goodbye to the Bronx fire victims. A procession of eight hearses carrying one woman and nine children was escorted by the police to the Islamic Cultural Centre, and many in the crowd, including police officers, were crying. People had waited all morning to pay their respects, and loudspeakers were set up so people outside could hear. The city's diversity and compassion has also been on display. A Gambian neighbor,......

Asimi Soumare, a 7-year-old girl, died today from injuries sustained in Wednesday's horrible fire in the Highbridge section of the Bronx. She is the 10th victim of the fire, which killed her three siblings and mother and five cousins Wednesday. Her father, cabdriver Mamadou Soumare who rushed to the scene when his wife called him about the fire, has now lost his whole immediate family. Imam Musa Kaba said of Soumare and Moussa Magassa,......

During the Yankees' spring training game against the Cincinnati Reds, Roger Clemens dropped by with his son and they watched Andy Pettitte pitch three scoreless innings. Of course, who could pay attention to Pettitte when the Rocket was around. Clemens met with George Steinbrenner briefly, but did not reveal what they may have discussed. A return to the majors - and the Yankees - for Clemens has been a big topic of off-season discussion,......

Mets fans, your wait is finally over. No, not because it's Spring Training, and not because of a World Championship, but because one member of the New York Mets will finally be enshrined in...Madame Tussauds. The 204-figure museum, which bills itself as "New York's most famous tourist attraction" (get it? famous), will unveil its first wax Mets figure on April 2. The house of wax already has five Yankees figures - Derek Jeter, Babe......

During a press conference with reporters in Arizona, former Yankees pitcher Randy Johnson complained about the New York City media treatment he had to endure. Acknowledging that the media was a problem, Johnson said, "'Oooh, he's surly and all that'; well you're damn right. If you're going to use me as a floor mat there ... write your own stories and not come to get to know me, then I don't want to sit there......

For Yankee Stadium's last year - before a new park - Major League Baseball will be having the 2008 All Star Game in The House that Babe Built. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said, "One of the biggest factors was George Steinbrenner. He has made wonderful contributions to this city and to the Yankees. Clearly one of the primary factors was to honor the city, the franchise and George Steinbrenner." Man, Selig makes it sound......

- Curtis Martin gave the Jets notice that he won't be playing this year. On the physically unable to perform (PUP) list since the start of the season, Martin and the Jets had until Tuesday to determine if he would be coming off that list. The all-time leading rusher for the Jets now moves to the reserve PUP list and his future playing prospects look doubtful. While he didn't explicitly say that he was......

Joe Torre opened his press conference this afternoon by saying that he had “just gotten off the phone with George Steinbrenner and he has informed me that I will be the manager in 2007.” So closes one of the more bizarre 48 hours in Yankees’ history. First we heard Joe was gone, then he was coming back, and then no decision had been reached. (And somewhere in there, Giuliani called Steinbrenner to save Torre's......

So you're George Steinbrenner and you just blew more than $200 million on a team that didn't advance past the first round of the playoffs. What are you to do? Do you fire your manager, who has guided the team through 11 years, to six World Series appearances, and four Championships? Or do you direct your general manager to make a roster move to cut the dead weight that has underperformed in the playoffs?......

The Yankees are taking a hardline against season ticket holders who sell their seats online - the Bombers are cancelling their accounts! One former season ticket-holder complains to the Daily News in a bid to win the forgiveness of George Steinbrenner. The ticket holder had sold his tickets on StubHub twice, so the Yankees "canceled his account, barred him from buying playoff tickets and banned him from getting season tickets - ever again," claiming that......

- Streetblogs has Mayor's Bloomberg vision for the city in all its PDF glory - Three cops are accused of falsely claiming a massage parlor was part of a prostitution ring... - ...while authorities closed down some brothels using Korean sex slaves that were part of a national chain - The Avenue Q guys will be writing songs for a musical episode of the TV show, Scrubs: "The fourth one is a song about......