Results tagged “springtraining”

      

The near-capacity crowds watching the Yankees break in their new stadium may have only been seeing a couple of exhibition games before the season starts up tomorrow, but the team made sure to give fans some real bang for their buck, hitting a total of seven home runs between the two games. Yesterday's homers in the 10-1 win over the Cubs were exceptionally sweet since they included the first ones in the new park from Derek Jeter and the big off-season bat the Yankees added, Mark Teixeira—who hit two out of the park yesterday.

The Mets brought retired superstar Darryl Strawberry down to camp as a hitting instructor, but it didn't take long before he started giving an unofficial lesson in media relations. When asked if he would have taken steroids had they been commonplace in the '80s, he responded, "Hell, yeah, I would have used them. Are you kidding me?...And I wouldn't have denied it, because you guys know I don't deny anything." He also didn't fault the newest public enemy in the steroid scandal, Alex Rodriguez, for lacking any of the notorious candor of the former Mets All-Star with a tell-all book on its way. The Straw Man told reporters, "He's taking the bullet for everybody. He admitted he was wrong and everything. I think that should be enough for everybody." As for A-Rod's much-criticized defense of being "young and stupid" when he took banned substances, Strawberry said, "Sometimes people question that, but over the years of my life, I've realized, you are stupid when you're 24 or 25 years old."

Tomorrow will mark Alex Rodriguez's first time answering questions in public from anyone outside of ESPN's Peter Gammons since news broke that he tested positive for steroids in 2003. The Yankees have scheduled a press conference for A-Rod at their spring training facilities in Tampa's Steinbrenner Field tomorrow.

     

Entering Spring Training the Yankees had three big questions to answer. The biggest and most obvious was the role that Joba Chamberlain would play. Hank proclaimed that he wanted Joba to start and Joe Girardi’s insisted that Joba’s future is as a starter, but in the end the Yankees put him in the bullpen for at least the start of 2008. And it makes sense because while they won’t admit it publicly, the Yankees are going to cap Joba’s innings around 140 this year. So, Chamberlain wouldn’t have been able to start for a full season and the Yankees will have their devastating setup guy for at least part of 2008.

Almost no hitter has been happier after a strikeout. Billy Crystal, who turned 60 today, had the opportunity to play for the Yankees in their Spring Training game against the Pirates yesterday. Leading off and serving as the DH -- he said it stood for Designated Hebrew -- Crystal got a piece of one pitch and chopped it foul down the first-base line. He also showed a good eye to work the count to 3-1, but then Pirates lefty Paul Maholm threw the comedian two cut-fastballs, and Crystal proved why 59-year-olds don't play Major League Baseball. To make matters worse, home-plate umpire Mark Carlson said Crystal swung at ball four.

That didn't take long. Opening Day is still 2 1/2 weeks away, and the Yankees have already engaged in a bench-clearing brawl with the Devil Rays. The blood began to boil Saturday, when Tampa Bay's Elliot Johnson ran over Yankees minor-league catcher Franciso Cervelli in a collision at home plate. Cervelli got the worst of it and suffered a broken wrist. Both managers -- Joe Girardi for the Yankees and Joe Maddon for the Rays -- defended their players. Girardi said such a collision shouldn't have occurred in a spring training game. Maddon said it was "hardball" and a clean play, and that Cervelli shouldn't have blocked the plate if he didn't want to get run over.

Okay, Mets manager Willie Randolph hasn't been in pinstripes for a while, but this photograph of him saying hi to new Dodgers manager Joe Torre just seems like something from the bizarro world - not that there's anything wrong with that! Randolph, who was a Yankees coach under Torre, said, "It was a little strange, a little different. But I told him, 'You look good in any uniform.'"

He’s made his list, he’s checked it twice and now we are going to find out who has been naughty and not nice. Former Senator George Mitchell's report on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball comes out at 2pm today. And besides providing us with the most complete look at the use of performance-enhancing drugs to date, the Mitchell Report will also name names. While it is just speculation at this point,...

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 Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle (under repair), and George Steinbrenner.

If you were a 17-year old looking to meet Mike Piazza, your childhood idol and favorite baseball player, what would you do? If you're Ryan Leli, you make some fake press credentials, sneak into Shea Stadium, participate in some Q&A with Piazza, and then pose for pictures. That's what Leli, from Head of the Harbor, did last August when Piazza was visiting with the San Diego Padres. Padres officials became suspicious of Leli when he asked Piazza to pose for a photo with him. The would-be reporter was only arrested when he attempted to gain press access to Shea a second time (!).

Gothamist likes to eat and can understand getting the late night munchies. But when we're on the road for business late on a Sunday night in a nice hotel that has room service and we get a food stipend, we usually order in. Apparently, if you're Duaner Sanchez in Miami, that's not what you do. Some details have been released about the early Monday morning accident the Mets reliever was involved in. Sanchez, his younger brother, and a "female friend" were all in a taxi when it was hit by a Crown Victoria on I-95 at 1:44 a.m. It's nice to know that the Mets don't have a curfew. As an aside - who knew that non-cops and old people drove Crown Vics (we assume that the driver wasn't a senior citizen as it was after their bedtimes). A Florida Highway Patrol lieutenant said that the accident could have been a lot worse for everyone involved, "That time of night is when you have the real horrendous wrecks."

Let's step away from some of the more popular sports for a second. Move aside basketball and your NCAA Tournament. Take a chill pill baseball with your World Baseball Classic and Spring Training. Yesterday the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum hosted the Big Apple Grapple, which featuring the some of the world's best male and female arm wrestlers. All battling for NYC's King and Queen of Arms. Unfortunately, there are no results online for this scintillating display of strength.

In a stunner, the United States actually lost a game in pool play during the World Baseball Classic. Yesterday, they lost to their friendly neighbors to the north, 8-6. If you're thinking to yourselves, "Canada? Who the hell do they have?" Gothamist can say that we're right there with you. The "big" names on Team Canada include: Erik Bedard, Paul Quantrill, Chris Reitsma, Corey Koskie, Jason Bay, and Matt Stairs. Canada all but conceded the game when they shuffled their starting rotation, so the win is even bigger a shock. But with the WBC essentially an extremely competitive Spring Training, anything can happen.

Baseball has a wacky transaction system. Yesterday the Yankees offered Bernie Williams arbitration, but only because they knew he would decline it. Why the apparent waste of time? Because without the offer, the Yankees would have lost negotiating rights to Bernie and if Bernie had accepted he would have been in line for a salary near ten million dollars for 2006. So, the Yankees and Bernie have until January 8th to make a deal. Even if they do, Bernie won’t be back as a starter and a certain, hairy, centerfielder may take his place.

While Johnson would normally have started next Tuesday's pre-season game against the Red Sox, he will throw against Yankee farmhands instead. Johnson is scheduled to pitch in the Opening Night match-up against David Wells and the Red Sox and Joe Torre didn't want Boston to get a preview of his pitching.

Really though, are we missing anything? Time Warner is replacing MSG and FSNY with NBA TV and College Sports TV giving their customers $2 per month while the channels are off their network. While the Knicks have improved recently, Gothamist would gladly take $2 not to watch them play until the season moves closer to the Playoffs. And the Mets? Are we really missing all that much in Spring Training action? Nope.

In his three trips to the plate as the Yankees DH, Giambi went 0-1 with 2 walks. While the Pirates were batting, Giambi spent his time in the clubhouse practicing his swing. The televisions inside were broadcasting the game and at one point, the commentators discussed Giambi's situation, which caused everyone to pay attention.

Carlos Beltran took his place on Tradition Field for the "new Mets" and was immediately the center of attention. Apparently, that's what happens when you sign a $119 million contract and are potentially the present and the future of the franchise. Of course, Beltran's arrival was overshadowed by Jason Giambi's arrival in Tampa.

Both teams have made improvements and there is excitement in the ranks. The Yankees added Randy Johnson, a deal that was almost a year in the making. Does this make them the team to beat? Perhaps, but they are always the team to beat and haven't won the World Series since 2000. Not good for a team with a payroll north of $200 million.

Don't let the 7-3 score (box score) fool you, it might have been somewhat close (for the Mets), but they only had three hits and had two errors. Quality baseball from players. Tom Glavine pitched five innings, giving up four runs and eight hits in the loss.

In last night's 11-2 loss to the Angels (box score), Jorge Posada was injured when he took a ball in the nose while on the basepaths. During the 2nd inning, Posada was running to 2nd base on a double-play ball when a ball thrown towards first by Angels shortstop Alfredo Amezaga struck him. The ball deflected off Posada's arm as he reacted and hit his nose, breaking it. Amezaga threw the ball side arm, which wasn't necessary given the situation. After the game, Joe Torre said:

Gothamist remembers its first home run in Little League. A young Gothamist ran around the bases as the fielders continuously made errors. Hmm, maybe it was more of a single with three errors and some quality base-running than an actual home run. We can only hope that our little league team does a little better than our childhood opponent.