http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2010/09/la-times-sources-say-don-mattingly-to-replace-joe-torre-as-dodgers-manager/
Sep 17, 2010
Joe Torre won't return as Dodgers manager; Don Mattingly to replace him
Bob Kimball
Joe Torre announced he will not return as Dodgers manager in 2011 and will be replaced by hitting coach Don Mattingly.
Torre made the announcement before Friday night's game against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium.
"Baseball has been my life, and hopefully will continue to be my life in some capacity," Torre said during a news conference. "When I came out here, it was just to find out if managing can be fun again, and it's been fun. ... But you have to make some decisions by instinct, and my instinct tells me it's time to go."
Mattingly, who had a batting instructor with the New York Yankees under Torre, joined L.A. as hitting coach during the 2008 season, Torre's first with the Dodgers.
"It's baseball, and I've been around the game a long time," Mattingly said. "In my heart, I know I can do this. It's a belief in myself that I can do anything I put my mind to."
Torre came over to the Dodgers from the New York Yankees where he won four World Series and six American League pennants in 12 seasons.
Torre, 70, is in his 29th season as a big-league skipper. The former All-Star infielder and catcher made earlier dugout stops with the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals. He has a career 2,318-1,990 regular-season record.
The L.A. Times reported that it's still possible Torre will stay with the Dodgers organization, according to one source who required anonymity because the team had not yet announced the move.
Mattingly is a nine-time Gold Glove first baseman and six-time All-Star who won the American League batting title in 1984 and was MVP in '85. He played his entire career with the Yankees before retiring after the 1995 season and is one of the most popular players in their storied history.
Showing posts with label Joe Torre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joe Torre. Show all posts
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 28, 2009
Beast of the Month - June 2009
Beast of the Month - June 2009Alex Rodriguez
Steroid-Fueled Baseball Star
"I yam an anti-Christ..."
John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) of The Sex Pistols, "Anarchy in the UK"
"Jose Canseco Smirking Smugly At Nation"
Recent article title found at Onion.com
Is Jose Canseco ever wrong? Seriously, give this man a Pulitzer. In April, he speculated the reason Manny Ramirez (a two-time World Series champion for the Boston Red Sox and current Los Angeles Dodger superstar) didn't receive a monster contract offer during the off-season was because the owner's knew he was a steroid juicer. More than likely, Canseco guessed, Manny was on the 2003 list of players who tested positive for doping, a list of names likely already leaked to MLB owners. On this score, Canseco said he was 90 percent sure.
For his wacky conspiracy theorizing, Canseco was once again lambasted in the media, the same way he has been repeatedly treated over the last four years since his book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, was released. Since then, not one claim by him has been proven false, and many of his claims, even those sounding most luridly outlandish at first, have been proven true. Despite his track record, one sportswriter dismissed Jose C as "ridiculous and irresponsible" for engaging in "pseudo-slanderous steroid chatter" over Ramirez.
But what do you know? Barely a month after Canseco made his reckless hunch, Manny was suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a banned substance. While he wasn't actually caught taking steroids, the drug he did test positive for, human chorionic gonadotropin, is popular among roiders for stopping the side effects of ending a cycle. (You know, little things like lower sperm count and shrunken testicles.) Maybe there's another explanation for why Ramirez was taking a female fertility drug, but that he is indeed a drug doper as Canseco had suspected seems to fit Occam's Razor the best.
Of course, the whole steroid scandal may have jumped the shark with the Ramirez revelation. At this point, is anybody shocked when a ballplayer is revealed as a drug cheater? This is, after all, the third time since 2005 The Konformist has focused Beast of the Month on the subject, which means we've covered this more in our 13-year history than we have Israel's brutal treatment of Palestinians and Lebanon. Yes, baseball is America's game (well, really it's football, and anyone who claims otherwise is kidding themselves) and yes, the steroid scandal has tarnished the game's legacy, but at this point, we've got more important things to do, like investigate Wall Street mass thievery, remind people there are still bloody pointless wars being fought in the Middle East and search YouTube for videos of Lady Gaga. So consider this BOTM a kiss-off to the whole "professional baseball players cheat" moral outrage as we get onto better things.
But before we jump off the whole steroid scandal bandwagon, The Konformist needs to get one last jab in, to a guy really deserving it. After all, part of the reason the steroid outing of the best player on baseball's second most famous franchise received such a ho-hum response is because the best player on baseball's most famous franchise (Alex Rodriguez, The Konformist Beast of the Month) had been outed as a fraud only months before.
For those who don't follow baseball, Rodriguez, better known as A-Rod, is not only the best player on the New York Yankees, he is arguably the best player in baseball, period. (Only Manny and Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals come close.) He has already won 3 MVP titles, this despite not winning in 2001 and 2002, when he hit 52 and 57 home runs. In 2006, he was the only non-pitcher still active to make Sports Illustrated's Alltime All-Star Team. (Fellow Yankees Roger Clemens and reliever Mariano Rivera also made the team.) It is suspected by many that Barry Bonds, the man formerly viewed as the best player in baseball, was snubbed from the team thanks to the evidence against him as a steroid cheat.
Indeed, the conventional wisdom until last year was that A-Rod was going to be the hero who saved the game by restoring the integrity of the numbers. He ended last season with 553 career home runs, 13th all time. He is second to only Ken Griffey Jr. among current players, and Griffey (perhaps the only modern slugger without any steroid suspicion due to his non-muscled physique) appears soon to be headed to retirement. That left A-Rod with the best chance of surpassing Bonds' career total of 762* round-trippers, something he could conceivably do in four great seasons. After that, balance would be returned to the universe, as the most sacred record in American sports would not be held by a doping phony.
Even without the recent revelations, the "A-Rod as Christ savior" storyline had its problems. For all his talent, he's never been particularly loved by the public or, perhaps more importantly, his fellow teammates. He isn't a surly SOB like Bonds, but his well-noted narcissistic self-absorption (on full display on the April 2009 cover of Details where he was seen kissing his own image in a mirror) has made him a magnet for haters. As for his contributions to teams, here are some curious facts: in 2001, after he left the Seattle Mariners for a ten-year, $252 million payout with the Texas Rangers, the Mariners won an astounding 116 games. His Rangers, meanwhile, finished in last place the three seasons he was there. Since he has moved to the Yankees in 2004, meanwhile, they have yet to even appear in a World Series despite all their well-paid talent, while their nemesis in Boston broke the Bambino curse with two titles, starting coincidentally the year he started playing in the Big Apple.
Okay, maybe the bad luck of the Rangers and Yankees isn't his entire fault. (Although his notorious showing in post-season play, which has earned him like Bonds before the insulting nickname of "Mr. April-September" from some, certainly hasn't helped.) Still, entering his sixth year in NY pinstripes, he wasn't even half as loved by fans or fellow Yankees as fellow teammate Derek Jeter. This was underscored in manager Joe Torre's recently published book The Yankee Years, where he reveals A-Rod was derisively termed as "A-Fraud" by teammates annoyed by his shallow insincerity. His 2007 demand to renegotiate his record contract to an even larger ten-year, $275 million didn't help.
Torre's tell-all bio was only the second recent book to dish dirt on A-Rod. The first came out last year, when Canseco released his sequel to Juiced, titled Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and the Battle to Save Baseball. The big bombshell in the tome: Canseco claims in the latter half of the 1990s, A-Rod asked for help in finding a trainer that would supply steroids. He refused to name the trainer (referring to him only as "Max") and when pressed on Nightline over his refusal to provide corroborating evidence, Canseco replied: "Let's see how Alex reacts. Let's see if they call me a liar again. How's that for ya? Let's see if all of a sudden they're gonna call me a liar again."
Surprise, surprise. As he was lambasted earlier this year over his Manny hypothesis, Canseco, despite his history of truth-telling, was indeed shredded in the press as a liar again in 2008 over the claim. In this case, it didn't help Jose that he has an admitted beef with A-Rod, claiming Rodriguez had an affair with Canseco's then wife. (Apparently A-Rod's affairs don't merely include cheating with wives of teammates: late last year, his wife Cynthia filed for divorce after a rumored adulterous affair between A-Rod and Madonna became top tabloid news.) His allegations did get some backing last year when former reliever John Rocker claimed MLB commissioner Bud Selig knew he failed a drug test for steroids in 2000, and doctors for both management and the players' association advised him and three other Texas Rangers - among them Alex Rodriguez - on how to use steroids. Of course, when the one person who helps confirm your story is a notorious pariah like the racist Rocker, it tends to undercut, rather than enhance, credibility.
Despite this, it appears Canseco is once again vindicated. In February, Sports Illustrated reported that A-Rod was one of the 104 players who tested positive for steroids. As the controversy became the talk of the news cycle, A-Rod finally fessed up and admitted, yes, he was a steroid cheat. The mea culpa came with a convenient asterisk, as A-Rod insisted he only did it from 2001-3 while with the Rangers, meaning he denied any usage after steroid use had penalties attached. In any case, his apology, especially the one he sent publicly to his teammates, was widely deemed as insincere.
Even with this limited hangout by A-Rod, outrage became the order of the day. No longer was "A-Fraud" enough of a put-down of the dude by his critics: "A-Roid" or (with even greater ingenuity, courtesy of a NY Post cover) "A-Hole" became the new insults. On David Letterman, a top ten joke list featuring messages left on A-Rod's answering machine included this knee-slapper: "Could you find a steroid that keeps you from choking in the playoffs?"
The SI report become the first shot of reporter Selena Roberts' A-Rod bio, the third book to talk smack about Rodriguez. Roberts claims A-Rod started his steroid regimen in high school, and that he has continued it during the Yankee years. She also made claims of another A-Rod cheating scandal: that A-Rod would tip buddies on other teams the pitch they were facing late in blowout games. According to Roberts, the quid quo pro deal allowed players in the pitch-tipping scandal to pad their stats in at-bats for games already decided, at the expense of late-inning pitchers. While the scheme wouldn't change the winner of the game, it certainly qualifies as an attack on the integrity of the game, perhaps even more so than steroids, and a betrayal of pitching teammates almost on par with sleeping with their wives.
(Adding insult to his injured reputation, a Yahoo! Sports article from August 2008 reported the next generation of Bill James wannabees had statistically uncovered a sabermetrics to measure clutch hitting, and A-Rod, as critics had long insisted, was indeed a pressure-situation choker.)
Fortunately for A-Rod, a cyst on his hip forced him to miss the first full month of the season. (Cynics note that a common side-effect of steroid usage is cysts developing at injection point.) By the time of his May 8th return, A-Rod outrage had dipped and been superseded by the Manny dope scandal, and hitting a home run on the first pitch certainly aided him in forgiveness. Come October, maybe A-Rod can finally earn the love (and the $275 million) he has long craved from fans by finally delivering in the playoffs, and the forgiveness that comes with it. Based on his track record, however, The Konformist is betting against him once again.
In the end, A-Rod is merely just another scapegoat in sports, a face for the public to focus wrath. And that's why we expect this to be the last steroid-related athlete BOTM we do, even if another great baseball superstar is eventually shockingly uncovered as a secret doper. But that doesn't mean we'll stop covering this issue: as The Konformist and Jose Canseco long have pointed out, the owners and the league itself have long sanctioned the steroid era with their covert consent. The tale of John Rocker, that the commissioner himself knew he failed a 2000 test and that management advised him on how to properly juice, provides ample evidence of just how complicit they are. Indeed, the evidence suggests that even as Bud Selig was personally promoting the "A-Rod as baseball savior" myth, he already knew via the 2003 tests that Rodriguez was a cheater. Meanwhile, as Nation magazine writer Dave Zirin has noted, owners "have yet to have to face any kind of Congressional subcommittee, grand jury or operatic media melodrama for their role in cheapening the sport." If they ever are, no doubt The Konformist will be there ready to point fingers again where they deserve.
In any case, we salute Alex Rodriguez as Beast of the Month. Congratulations, and keep up the great work, Al!!!
Sources:
Blum, Ronald. "A-Rod Says He Expects Questions on Drugs." Associated Press 20 February 2008 <http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iCj65bmE8AEQ7MvFQrBVYXwwJp9QD8UUAVI80>.
Brinson, Will. "Jose Canseco Says '90 Percent Chance' Manny Ramirez Is on 'The List'." MLB FanHouse 6 April 2009 <http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/04/06/jose-canseco-says-90-chance-manny-ramirez-is-on-steroids-list>.
Canseco, Jose. Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005.
Canseco, Jose. Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and the Battle to Save Baseball. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008.
"Details on A-Rod's Alleged Pitch-Tipping Scheme in Texas." Sports Illustrated 30 April 2009 <http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/04/30/roberts.qa>.
Escherich, Katie. "Exclusive: Jose Canseco Says 'The Truth Hurts'." ABC News 26 March 2008 <http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=4528387>.
Harris, Beth and Blum, Rondald. "Ramirez Suspended 50 Games for Drug Violation." Yahoo! Sports 7 May 2009 <http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AozPbdpnRxDcG.ttoQ3gr6URvLYF?slug=ap-dodgers-ramirez-drugs>.
"Jose Canseco Smirking Smugly At Nation." The Onion 12 February 2009 <http://www.theonion.com/content/from_print/jose_canseco_smirking_smugly>.
Passan, Jeff. A-Rod Is a $300 Million Migraine." Yahoo! Sports 31 August 2008 <http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AqYZcgXmuHwg3tDIHBh5_VYRvLYF?slug=jp-arod083108>.
Roberts, Selena. A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2009.
Roberts, Selena and Epstein, David. "Sources Tell SI Alex Rodriguez Tested Positive for Steroids in 2003." Sports Illustrated 7 February 2009 <http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/02/07/alex-rodriguez-steroids/index.html>.
Streeter, Kurt. "Manny Ramirez Blindsided Everyone but Jose Canseco." Los Angeles Times 7 May 2009 <http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-streeter-manny8-2009may08,0,5943246.story>.
Torre, Joe and Verducci, Tom. The Yankee Years. New York: Doubleday, 2009.
Verducci, Tom. "Alltime All-Star Team." Sports Illustrated 3 October 2006 <http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/magazine/10/03/bb.allstar1009/index.html>.
Zirin, Dave. "A-Rod, Anabolic Agonist Sports." The Nation 9 February 2009 <http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090223/zirin>.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Rivera notches 500th save
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090627&content_id=5566046&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
Rivera notches 500th save
Closer becomes just second to reach milestone
By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com
06/28/09
NEW YORK -- Mariano Rivera became just the second member of baseball's prestigious 500-save club on Sunday, getting four outs to preserve a 4-2 Yankees victory in a sweep of the Mets at Citi Field.
Rivera was summoned in the eighth inning after Chien-Ming Wang went 5 1/3 innings and the bullpen brought the Yankees close to a series sweep of their cross-town rivals.
He answered the call, striking out Omir Santos looking to strand two Mets aboard in the eighth -- and working a bases-loaded, full-count walk in the ninth against fellow closer Francisco Rodriguez -- before setting down the side in the ninth, locking down his 18th save in 19 opportunities this season to reach the round "500" number.
"I don't look for records or things like that," Rivera said before the game. "I'm not here for that. I'm here to play baseball and win World Series. If it happens, it happens. But I don't come here to chase records."
The 500 saves -- all accomplished on the strength of Rivera's trademark cut fastball -- are the most in American League history and second all-time only to Trevor Hoffman, who has recorded 571 and claims the all-time lead since became an official statistic in 1969.
"I think it's an amazing milestone," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said before Sunday's game. "What he's been able to accomplish during the regular season, during the postseason -- he's a remarkable pitcher. To think that he's done it with one pitch is even harder to imagine."
A nine-time American League All-Star, the 39-year-old Rivera has been the Yankees' closer since 1997, when he assumed the job after serving as a setup man to John Wetteland in helping the club win the first of four World Series titles within a five-year span.
"The quicker I finish, the quicker I can go home," Rivera said. "All these guys have been here for so many hours, and when we get to the last inning, they want to go home. I don't want to waste their time."
500 ... and counting
With his 500th save -- all with the Yankees -- Mariano Rivera ranks second on the all-time list behind Trevor Hoffman, who recorded 554 of his saves with the Padres.
Rank Pitcher Saves ERA Most First
1. T. Hoffman 571 2.76 Padres 1993
2. M. Rivera 500 2.31 Yankees 1996
3. L. Smith 478 3.03 Cubs 1981
4. J. Franco 424 2.89 Mets 1984
5. D. Eckersley 390 3.50 A's 1975
6. B. Wagner 385 2.40 Astros 1996
7. J. Reardon 367 3.16 Expos 1979
8. T. Percival 358 3.17 Angels 1995
9. R. Myers 347 3.19 Cubs 1987
10. R. Fingers 341 2.90 A's 1969
As Rivera recounted on Sunday, he was first informed of his future during the 1996-97 offseason, when former manager Joe Torre called him at home in Panama and told him that he would be the closer upon reporting to Spring Training that season.
Rivera was in position for the milestone after securing a four-run lead on Thursday at Atlanta, throwing six pitches and recording the final out in save No. 499, one day after he struck out all four batters he faced for the first time in his career.
"I'm proud of what I have done with the team," Rivera said. "I'm proud of my teammates. I'm proud of everything we have accomplished. Every time I have the chance to wear this uniform, I'm proud."
Also the Major League leader with 34 career postseason saves, Rivera is the all-time leader in Interleague saves with 58. Since blowing a save on July 14, 2001, at Florida, Rivera has converted 33 of his last 34 opportunities against National League clubs, including each of his last 14.
Since Rivera logged his first save on May 17, 1996, 101 of his 500 saves have come in the month of June, his highest total in any month. 261 have come in Yankees road games.
Rivera had arthroscopic surgery after last season to shave down an AC joint in his right shoulder. He was among the Major Leagues' best closers in 2008, posting the lowest ERA (1.40) among hurlers with at least 70 innings pitched.
Restoring velocity quickly and rebounding from that procedure well and still providing the Yankees with a quality option in the late innings, Rivera said that he does not know how much longer he will continue pitching.
"Until God wants me to," Rivera said. "I have a contract for another year. I don't know what's going to happen after that. I feel good, so I don't know what's going to happen."
Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com.
Rivera notches 500th save
Closer becomes just second to reach milestone
By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com
06/28/09
NEW YORK -- Mariano Rivera became just the second member of baseball's prestigious 500-save club on Sunday, getting four outs to preserve a 4-2 Yankees victory in a sweep of the Mets at Citi Field.
Rivera was summoned in the eighth inning after Chien-Ming Wang went 5 1/3 innings and the bullpen brought the Yankees close to a series sweep of their cross-town rivals.
He answered the call, striking out Omir Santos looking to strand two Mets aboard in the eighth -- and working a bases-loaded, full-count walk in the ninth against fellow closer Francisco Rodriguez -- before setting down the side in the ninth, locking down his 18th save in 19 opportunities this season to reach the round "500" number.
"I don't look for records or things like that," Rivera said before the game. "I'm not here for that. I'm here to play baseball and win World Series. If it happens, it happens. But I don't come here to chase records."
The 500 saves -- all accomplished on the strength of Rivera's trademark cut fastball -- are the most in American League history and second all-time only to Trevor Hoffman, who has recorded 571 and claims the all-time lead since became an official statistic in 1969.
"I think it's an amazing milestone," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said before Sunday's game. "What he's been able to accomplish during the regular season, during the postseason -- he's a remarkable pitcher. To think that he's done it with one pitch is even harder to imagine."
A nine-time American League All-Star, the 39-year-old Rivera has been the Yankees' closer since 1997, when he assumed the job after serving as a setup man to John Wetteland in helping the club win the first of four World Series titles within a five-year span.
"The quicker I finish, the quicker I can go home," Rivera said. "All these guys have been here for so many hours, and when we get to the last inning, they want to go home. I don't want to waste their time."
500 ... and counting
With his 500th save -- all with the Yankees -- Mariano Rivera ranks second on the all-time list behind Trevor Hoffman, who recorded 554 of his saves with the Padres.
Rank Pitcher Saves ERA Most First
1. T. Hoffman 571 2.76 Padres 1993
2. M. Rivera 500 2.31 Yankees 1996
3. L. Smith 478 3.03 Cubs 1981
4. J. Franco 424 2.89 Mets 1984
5. D. Eckersley 390 3.50 A's 1975
6. B. Wagner 385 2.40 Astros 1996
7. J. Reardon 367 3.16 Expos 1979
8. T. Percival 358 3.17 Angels 1995
9. R. Myers 347 3.19 Cubs 1987
10. R. Fingers 341 2.90 A's 1969
As Rivera recounted on Sunday, he was first informed of his future during the 1996-97 offseason, when former manager Joe Torre called him at home in Panama and told him that he would be the closer upon reporting to Spring Training that season.
Rivera was in position for the milestone after securing a four-run lead on Thursday at Atlanta, throwing six pitches and recording the final out in save No. 499, one day after he struck out all four batters he faced for the first time in his career.
"I'm proud of what I have done with the team," Rivera said. "I'm proud of my teammates. I'm proud of everything we have accomplished. Every time I have the chance to wear this uniform, I'm proud."
Also the Major League leader with 34 career postseason saves, Rivera is the all-time leader in Interleague saves with 58. Since blowing a save on July 14, 2001, at Florida, Rivera has converted 33 of his last 34 opportunities against National League clubs, including each of his last 14.
Since Rivera logged his first save on May 17, 1996, 101 of his 500 saves have come in the month of June, his highest total in any month. 261 have come in Yankees road games.
Rivera had arthroscopic surgery after last season to shave down an AC joint in his right shoulder. He was among the Major Leagues' best closers in 2008, posting the lowest ERA (1.40) among hurlers with at least 70 innings pitched.
Restoring velocity quickly and rebounding from that procedure well and still providing the Yankees with a quality option in the late innings, Rivera said that he does not know how much longer he will continue pitching.
"Until God wants me to," Rivera said. "I have a contract for another year. I don't know what's going to happen after that. I feel good, so I don't know what's going to happen."
Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Ramirez suspended 50 games for drug violation
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AozPbdpnRxDcG.ttoQ3gr6URvLYF?slug=ap-dodgers-ramirez-drugs
Ramirez suspended 50 games for drug violation
By BETH HARRIS and RONALD BLUM, AP Sports Writers
5-7-9
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Manny Ramirez joined a growing lineup of All-Stars linked to drugs Thursday, with the dreadlocked slugger banished for 50 games by a sport that cannot shake free from scandal.
The Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder was suspended by Major League Baseball for a drug violation, adding a further stamp to what will forever be known as the Steroids Era.
“It’s a dark day for baseball and certainly for this organization,” Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti told reporters on the field at Dodger Stadium. “This organization will never condone anything that isn’t clean.”
Ramirez said he did not take steroids and was given medication by a doctor that contained a banned substance. A person familiar with the details of the suspension said Ramirez used the female fertility drug HCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the banned substance wasn’t announced.
“As tough as it is for us, it’s pretty tough for Manny, too,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. “I know he’s the one that did the wrong thing and nobody is trying to cover that up, but it’s still something that I know he’s sorry about.”
HCG is popular among steroid users because it can mitigate the side effects of ending a cycle of the drugs. The body may stop producing testosterone when users go off steroids, which can cause sperm counts to decrease and testicles to shrink.
Ramirez’s suspension was based not on a spring training urine test result but rather evidence obtained afterward, a second person familiar with the suspension said, speaking on condition of anonymity because those details were not released. MLB had concluded the spring test was positive, but the person said the players’ association would have challenged the result because of “testing issues.”
Ranked 17th on the career home run list with 533, Ramirez became the most prominent baseball player to be penalized for drugs. His ban came three months after Alex Rodriguez admitted using steroids, and at a time when Barry Bonds is under federal indictment and Roger Clemens is being investigated by a federal grand jury to determine whether he lied when he told Congress he never used steroids or human growth hormone. And Miguel Tejada was sentenced in March to one year of probation after pleading guilty in federal court to misleading Congress about the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
No matter which way baseball turns, the legitimacy of many of its recent home run and pitching records is being questioned. Sluggers Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa have been tainted by steroid allegations, Rafael Palmeiro tested positive for a banned drug and Jose Canseco said he used them.
In every case, players once believed to be locks for the Hall of Fame may now be locked out.
“You can’t have arguably the greatest pitcher of our era, arguably the two greatest players of our era and now another very, very good player be under this cloud of suspicion and not feel like it has ruined it for everybody,” Atlanta star Chipper Jones said.
“But what are you going to do? You can’t be born in a different era. It is the Steroid Era,” he said.
Colletti and Torre said they found out about Ramirez’s suspension during an early morning phone call from team owner Frank McCourt. Both said they were surprised and saddened at the news.
Torre spoke to the rest of the team during a closed-door meeting before batting practice.
“The mood was sad in the clubhouse,” he said. “You can’t have someone who’s as much of an impact player and personality as Manny missing without it affecting people.”
The 36-year-old Ramirez tried to make amends right away, telling the Dodgers and fans he was sorry for “this whole situation.”
“Recently, I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me,” Ramirez said in a statement issued by the players’ union.
“Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I’ve taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons.”
Baseball added HCG to its list of banned substances last year.
His suspension was first reported by the Los Angeles Times on its Web site.
While Ramirez had little to say, Canseco was quick to explain why someone might use HCG.
“It could be that a player used it because he used steroids and went cold-turkey and needed HCG to get his levels back to normal. I had to use it when I quit steroids cold-turkey,” Canseco, who pleaded guilty last November to a misdemeanor of trying to bring HCG across the Mexican border into the United States illegally, told the AP. “I had to go to a doctor to get it and get my levels back.”
Because MLB imposed the suspension as required by the drug agreement, the Dodgers cannot further discipline Ramirez. He is allowed to work out with the Dodgers but must be out of uniform when the stadium gates open for games.
Ramirez was not mentioned in the Mitchell Report, MLB’s official report on drug use, and there had not been whispers that he was among the sport’s juiced players.
“It’s kind of shocking that he got caught up in anything, honestly. Manny likes to play stupid, but he’s a pretty bright guy. And he’s definitely aware of a lot of things that he tries to act like he’s completely oblivious to,” said Cincinnati pitcher Bronson Arroyo, Ramirez’s former Boston teammate.
Ramirez’s agent, Scott Boras, and the players’ association had gathered materials for a possible appeal to an arbitrator, but Ramirez decided not to file one because he didn’t want to risk missing significant time in the second half of the season, the person familiar with details of the suspension said. The union said merely that he waived his right to contest the suspension.
Reaction to Ramirez’s ban came swiftly, from major league clubhouses to the White House.
“It’s a tragedy. It’s a shame. My sense is, it’s a great embarrassment on Major League Baseball,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.
The penalty left the best team in the majors without its driving force and free spirit for nearly one-third of the season.
Ramirez’s suspension began Thursday, a day after the Dodgers broke the modern major league record for a home winning streak, opening the season 13-0. Barring any postponements, he will be able to return to the Dodgers for the July 3 game at San Diego. Ramirez will lose $7,650,273 of his $25 million salary.
Rodriguez and Ramirez are the two highest-paid players in the majors. With this suspension, six of the top 17 home run hitters in history now have been covered by the cloud of performance-enhancing drugs.
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig couldn’t comment on the suspension because of provisions of the management-union drug agreement, spokesman Rich Levin said.
Ramirez became the fourth player suspended this year under the major league program, following Philadelphia reliever J.C. Romero, Yankees pitcher Sergio Mitre and San Francisco pitcher Kelvin Pichardo.
The Dodgers began the 50-game stretch without Ramirez on Thursday night against Washington. Juan Pierre received loud applause when he was introduced as Ramirez’s replacement in the starting lineup, but there were scattered boos when he came to the plate for the first time.
Losing Ramirez to suspension could be a huge blow financially for the Dodgers. The slugger has been single-handedly responsible for increasing attendance, merchandise sales and interest in the team, besides helping it win the NL West after his late-season arrival in 2008.
Los Angeles even renamed a section of seats in left field at Dodger Stadium “Mannywood” in his honor. Hours after the suspension, the team removed a reference to those seats from its Web site.
Torre, however, insisted Ramirez is welcome anytime.
“The thing that was toughest for Manny is how he disappointed everybody,” he said. “He loved it here, and he loves how the fans get turned on by him. He was devastated.”
Associated Press Baseball Writer Ron Blum reported from New York, with AP Sports Writer Beth Harris in Los Angeles. AP Sports Writers Dan Gelston in Philadelphia, Joe Kay in Cincinnati, R.B. Fallstrom in St. Louis, Stephen Wilson in London and Steve Wine in Miami, National Writer Ben Walker in New York and AP Writer Donna Cassata contributed to this report.
Ramirez suspended 50 games for drug violation
By BETH HARRIS and RONALD BLUM, AP Sports Writers
5-7-9
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Manny Ramirez joined a growing lineup of All-Stars linked to drugs Thursday, with the dreadlocked slugger banished for 50 games by a sport that cannot shake free from scandal.
The Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder was suspended by Major League Baseball for a drug violation, adding a further stamp to what will forever be known as the Steroids Era.
“It’s a dark day for baseball and certainly for this organization,” Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti told reporters on the field at Dodger Stadium. “This organization will never condone anything that isn’t clean.”
Ramirez said he did not take steroids and was given medication by a doctor that contained a banned substance. A person familiar with the details of the suspension said Ramirez used the female fertility drug HCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the banned substance wasn’t announced.
“As tough as it is for us, it’s pretty tough for Manny, too,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. “I know he’s the one that did the wrong thing and nobody is trying to cover that up, but it’s still something that I know he’s sorry about.”
HCG is popular among steroid users because it can mitigate the side effects of ending a cycle of the drugs. The body may stop producing testosterone when users go off steroids, which can cause sperm counts to decrease and testicles to shrink.
Ramirez’s suspension was based not on a spring training urine test result but rather evidence obtained afterward, a second person familiar with the suspension said, speaking on condition of anonymity because those details were not released. MLB had concluded the spring test was positive, but the person said the players’ association would have challenged the result because of “testing issues.”
Ranked 17th on the career home run list with 533, Ramirez became the most prominent baseball player to be penalized for drugs. His ban came three months after Alex Rodriguez admitted using steroids, and at a time when Barry Bonds is under federal indictment and Roger Clemens is being investigated by a federal grand jury to determine whether he lied when he told Congress he never used steroids or human growth hormone. And Miguel Tejada was sentenced in March to one year of probation after pleading guilty in federal court to misleading Congress about the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
No matter which way baseball turns, the legitimacy of many of its recent home run and pitching records is being questioned. Sluggers Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa have been tainted by steroid allegations, Rafael Palmeiro tested positive for a banned drug and Jose Canseco said he used them.
In every case, players once believed to be locks for the Hall of Fame may now be locked out.
“You can’t have arguably the greatest pitcher of our era, arguably the two greatest players of our era and now another very, very good player be under this cloud of suspicion and not feel like it has ruined it for everybody,” Atlanta star Chipper Jones said.
“But what are you going to do? You can’t be born in a different era. It is the Steroid Era,” he said.
Colletti and Torre said they found out about Ramirez’s suspension during an early morning phone call from team owner Frank McCourt. Both said they were surprised and saddened at the news.
Torre spoke to the rest of the team during a closed-door meeting before batting practice.
“The mood was sad in the clubhouse,” he said. “You can’t have someone who’s as much of an impact player and personality as Manny missing without it affecting people.”
The 36-year-old Ramirez tried to make amends right away, telling the Dodgers and fans he was sorry for “this whole situation.”
“Recently, I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me,” Ramirez said in a statement issued by the players’ union.
“Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I’ve taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons.”
Baseball added HCG to its list of banned substances last year.
His suspension was first reported by the Los Angeles Times on its Web site.
While Ramirez had little to say, Canseco was quick to explain why someone might use HCG.
“It could be that a player used it because he used steroids and went cold-turkey and needed HCG to get his levels back to normal. I had to use it when I quit steroids cold-turkey,” Canseco, who pleaded guilty last November to a misdemeanor of trying to bring HCG across the Mexican border into the United States illegally, told the AP. “I had to go to a doctor to get it and get my levels back.”
Because MLB imposed the suspension as required by the drug agreement, the Dodgers cannot further discipline Ramirez. He is allowed to work out with the Dodgers but must be out of uniform when the stadium gates open for games.
Ramirez was not mentioned in the Mitchell Report, MLB’s official report on drug use, and there had not been whispers that he was among the sport’s juiced players.
“It’s kind of shocking that he got caught up in anything, honestly. Manny likes to play stupid, but he’s a pretty bright guy. And he’s definitely aware of a lot of things that he tries to act like he’s completely oblivious to,” said Cincinnati pitcher Bronson Arroyo, Ramirez’s former Boston teammate.
Ramirez’s agent, Scott Boras, and the players’ association had gathered materials for a possible appeal to an arbitrator, but Ramirez decided not to file one because he didn’t want to risk missing significant time in the second half of the season, the person familiar with details of the suspension said. The union said merely that he waived his right to contest the suspension.
Reaction to Ramirez’s ban came swiftly, from major league clubhouses to the White House.
“It’s a tragedy. It’s a shame. My sense is, it’s a great embarrassment on Major League Baseball,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.
The penalty left the best team in the majors without its driving force and free spirit for nearly one-third of the season.
Ramirez’s suspension began Thursday, a day after the Dodgers broke the modern major league record for a home winning streak, opening the season 13-0. Barring any postponements, he will be able to return to the Dodgers for the July 3 game at San Diego. Ramirez will lose $7,650,273 of his $25 million salary.
Rodriguez and Ramirez are the two highest-paid players in the majors. With this suspension, six of the top 17 home run hitters in history now have been covered by the cloud of performance-enhancing drugs.
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig couldn’t comment on the suspension because of provisions of the management-union drug agreement, spokesman Rich Levin said.
Ramirez became the fourth player suspended this year under the major league program, following Philadelphia reliever J.C. Romero, Yankees pitcher Sergio Mitre and San Francisco pitcher Kelvin Pichardo.
The Dodgers began the 50-game stretch without Ramirez on Thursday night against Washington. Juan Pierre received loud applause when he was introduced as Ramirez’s replacement in the starting lineup, but there were scattered boos when he came to the plate for the first time.
Losing Ramirez to suspension could be a huge blow financially for the Dodgers. The slugger has been single-handedly responsible for increasing attendance, merchandise sales and interest in the team, besides helping it win the NL West after his late-season arrival in 2008.
Los Angeles even renamed a section of seats in left field at Dodger Stadium “Mannywood” in his honor. Hours after the suspension, the team removed a reference to those seats from its Web site.
Torre, however, insisted Ramirez is welcome anytime.
“The thing that was toughest for Manny is how he disappointed everybody,” he said. “He loved it here, and he loves how the fans get turned on by him. He was devastated.”
Associated Press Baseball Writer Ron Blum reported from New York, with AP Sports Writer Beth Harris in Los Angeles. AP Sports Writers Dan Gelston in Philadelphia, Joe Kay in Cincinnati, R.B. Fallstrom in St. Louis, Stephen Wilson in London and Steve Wine in Miami, National Writer Ben Walker in New York and AP Writer Donna Cassata contributed to this report.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Jeter’s injury acute pain for Yanks
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-jeterarod040808
Jeter’s injury acute pain for Yanks
By Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports
4-8-8
NEW YORK – Joe Girardi didn’t say no. Joe Torre would have.
Now, this is not to compare Girardi and Torre, not in a mano-a-mano fashion at least, but one that deals with today’s reality in the New York Yankees universe: Suggestions that Alex Rodriguez move to shortstop if the strained left quadriceps that forced Derek Jeter out of a game Monday lingers.
“There’s a lot of different scenarios we’ll talk about as a club and decide what we’re going to do,” Girardi said, and even though there was little substance to his words, it felt frighteningly candid – and, considering the other options, a rather sensible idea. Because under Torre’s watch, no matter how damaging to the Yankees in the short or long term, he wouldn’t dare place someone of consequence at Jeter’s position for fear of upsetting the captain’s chi.
Only if the injury doesn’t heal – Jeter thinks it’ll take a day or two, Girardi closer to a week and both hope he can avoid the disabled list – might the sentiment change, and even then it would be a hard sell. And that’s an important point to discuss, particularly months after a number of studies concluded that Jeter is among, if not the, worst-fielding shortstop in the major leagues.
One large study, conducted at the Wharton Business School, uses a metric – a statistic-based analysis – to show how Jeter was the pits from 2002-05 and Rodriguez was among the best shortstops. Its veracity is questionable, considering it named the positively slothful Ken Harvey as its first-base representative.
Not nearly as dubious is John Dewan’s book, “The Fielding Bible”, in which Dewan culls data from every play and rates players on a plus-minus scale – plus for making a play that at least one of his peers had missed, and minus for the opposite. It is the new standard for fielding statistics, and in the past three years, Jeter is minus-90, the second-worst number in all of baseball, better only than Manny Ramirez’s minus-109.
Is that damning enough to even entertain alternates at the position of the most beloved Yankee of the past two decades? Probably not, even though the Yankees sure have a built-in excuse if they want to see whether a bulkier, older A-Rod can cut it at shortstop.
It doesn’t help that Jeter’s legs, his springboards in the field, are causing him such trouble. In the bottom of the first inning Monday with a runner on first base against Tampa Bay, Jeter slapped a ground ball at the third baseman and lurched as much as ran down the line. He beat the double-play throw, spent another half-inning in the field and left before the third inning.
“He’s always been a tough kid, and he wants to be out there,” Girardi said. “No matter how his body feels, he wants to be out there. But you know, with these conditions, you jeopardize really hurting yourself badly, and we don’t want that, because we can’t afford to miss him for a long time.”
Jeter can still hit. He proves that every year, his inside-out stroke shooting balls to right field and reinforcing his opportunism. Jeter gets the loudest cheers at Yankee Stadium, and he didn’t earn them only by smiling into a camera.
Ultimately, such deification comes to roost, and to think the 33-year-old Jeter, with more than 12 seasons at the most demanding position, wants to continue playing shortstop deep into the decade is troublesome. Try center field. Settle at first base. Anything to keep him upright, which he has managed to stay with stunning regularity thus far.
Jeter first felt a twinge in his quad during the Yankees’ Sunday game and iced it before Monday’s game. That didn’t help, and Jeter ended up in an MRI tube to rule out extensive damage. Doctors found a low-level strain, nothing like in 2001, when Jeter missed Opening Day because of his right quad.
“That was worse,” Jeter said. “This is a mild strain, from what I was told. The other one was a lot worse than that. It was something you could feel moving your leg, period. This one is more when I put for a little effort. I really start running before I feel it.”
Soon after he felt it, Jeter excused himself. Wilson Betemit moved from first base to shortstop. Betemit, at 230 pounds, plays the position with all the agility of a cast-iron skillet. He’s not the answer.
Aside from Betemit and A-Rod, there’s not another person on the Yankees’ active roster who can play shortstop. They could call up rookie Alberto Gonzalez, who is on the team’s 40-man roster, or Cody Ransom, who would require a roster move but bring more experience. Or, of course, they could put A-Rod at short and use Morgan Ensberg, a natural third baseman, to fill in.
Like Girardi said, plenty of scenarios.
If Jeter heals slowly, it could get ugly, as quad strains tend to hang around like freeloaders. Mark Teixeira spent five weeks on the DL with one last season. Bengie Molina hobbled around most of spring. Victor Martinez missed a dozen games last year.
Jeter will sacrifice his first Tuesday afternoon. As much as he wants to play, Jeter recognizes Girardi runs a different ship than Torre did. When Girardi says no, he means it, and while he gladly massages egos, he also keeps them in check.
So for now it falls on Betemit, a natural shortstop who outgrew the position about 40 pounds ago. He’ll stand in the most trafficked position on the field, and he’ll replace a no-doubt Hall of Famer, and he’ll try to swim.
Rodriguez will stand next to him. He last played shortstop full time in 2003. Five years is a long time. And still, the idea just won’t die. It’s so crazy it just might work, and weird as it sounds, that’s the last thing the Yankees need.
Jeter’s injury acute pain for Yanks
By Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports
4-8-8
NEW YORK – Joe Girardi didn’t say no. Joe Torre would have.
Now, this is not to compare Girardi and Torre, not in a mano-a-mano fashion at least, but one that deals with today’s reality in the New York Yankees universe: Suggestions that Alex Rodriguez move to shortstop if the strained left quadriceps that forced Derek Jeter out of a game Monday lingers.
“There’s a lot of different scenarios we’ll talk about as a club and decide what we’re going to do,” Girardi said, and even though there was little substance to his words, it felt frighteningly candid – and, considering the other options, a rather sensible idea. Because under Torre’s watch, no matter how damaging to the Yankees in the short or long term, he wouldn’t dare place someone of consequence at Jeter’s position for fear of upsetting the captain’s chi.
Only if the injury doesn’t heal – Jeter thinks it’ll take a day or two, Girardi closer to a week and both hope he can avoid the disabled list – might the sentiment change, and even then it would be a hard sell. And that’s an important point to discuss, particularly months after a number of studies concluded that Jeter is among, if not the, worst-fielding shortstop in the major leagues.
One large study, conducted at the Wharton Business School, uses a metric – a statistic-based analysis – to show how Jeter was the pits from 2002-05 and Rodriguez was among the best shortstops. Its veracity is questionable, considering it named the positively slothful Ken Harvey as its first-base representative.
Not nearly as dubious is John Dewan’s book, “The Fielding Bible”, in which Dewan culls data from every play and rates players on a plus-minus scale – plus for making a play that at least one of his peers had missed, and minus for the opposite. It is the new standard for fielding statistics, and in the past three years, Jeter is minus-90, the second-worst number in all of baseball, better only than Manny Ramirez’s minus-109.
Is that damning enough to even entertain alternates at the position of the most beloved Yankee of the past two decades? Probably not, even though the Yankees sure have a built-in excuse if they want to see whether a bulkier, older A-Rod can cut it at shortstop.
It doesn’t help that Jeter’s legs, his springboards in the field, are causing him such trouble. In the bottom of the first inning Monday with a runner on first base against Tampa Bay, Jeter slapped a ground ball at the third baseman and lurched as much as ran down the line. He beat the double-play throw, spent another half-inning in the field and left before the third inning.
“He’s always been a tough kid, and he wants to be out there,” Girardi said. “No matter how his body feels, he wants to be out there. But you know, with these conditions, you jeopardize really hurting yourself badly, and we don’t want that, because we can’t afford to miss him for a long time.”
Jeter can still hit. He proves that every year, his inside-out stroke shooting balls to right field and reinforcing his opportunism. Jeter gets the loudest cheers at Yankee Stadium, and he didn’t earn them only by smiling into a camera.
Ultimately, such deification comes to roost, and to think the 33-year-old Jeter, with more than 12 seasons at the most demanding position, wants to continue playing shortstop deep into the decade is troublesome. Try center field. Settle at first base. Anything to keep him upright, which he has managed to stay with stunning regularity thus far.
Jeter first felt a twinge in his quad during the Yankees’ Sunday game and iced it before Monday’s game. That didn’t help, and Jeter ended up in an MRI tube to rule out extensive damage. Doctors found a low-level strain, nothing like in 2001, when Jeter missed Opening Day because of his right quad.
“That was worse,” Jeter said. “This is a mild strain, from what I was told. The other one was a lot worse than that. It was something you could feel moving your leg, period. This one is more when I put for a little effort. I really start running before I feel it.”
Soon after he felt it, Jeter excused himself. Wilson Betemit moved from first base to shortstop. Betemit, at 230 pounds, plays the position with all the agility of a cast-iron skillet. He’s not the answer.
Aside from Betemit and A-Rod, there’s not another person on the Yankees’ active roster who can play shortstop. They could call up rookie Alberto Gonzalez, who is on the team’s 40-man roster, or Cody Ransom, who would require a roster move but bring more experience. Or, of course, they could put A-Rod at short and use Morgan Ensberg, a natural third baseman, to fill in.
Like Girardi said, plenty of scenarios.
If Jeter heals slowly, it could get ugly, as quad strains tend to hang around like freeloaders. Mark Teixeira spent five weeks on the DL with one last season. Bengie Molina hobbled around most of spring. Victor Martinez missed a dozen games last year.
Jeter will sacrifice his first Tuesday afternoon. As much as he wants to play, Jeter recognizes Girardi runs a different ship than Torre did. When Girardi says no, he means it, and while he gladly massages egos, he also keeps them in check.
So for now it falls on Betemit, a natural shortstop who outgrew the position about 40 pounds ago. He’ll stand in the most trafficked position on the field, and he’ll replace a no-doubt Hall of Famer, and he’ll try to swim.
Rodriguez will stand next to him. He last played shortstop full time in 2003. Five years is a long time. And still, the idea just won’t die. It’s so crazy it just might work, and weird as it sounds, that’s the last thing the Yankees need.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
A classy reunion
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?articleid=1078176
A classy reunion
Boundaries gone as Tito greets Torre
By Jeff Horrigan
Thursday, March 6, 2008
FORT MYERS - Terry Francona is looking forward to greeting Joe Torre behind the batting cage at City of Palms Park today and putting his arm around his longtime friend.
The best part about it for the Red Sox [team stats] manager is that he can do it without causing a major controversy in the Northeast. There will be no talk-radio phone lines melting because of the volume of angry callers complaining about consorting with the enemy, no stories making far too much of the gesture, and no taunts from the stands.
With Torre safely removed from the hyper-intensity of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, Francona said he can embrace the new Los Angeles Dodgers manager and publicly demonstrate just how much he admires him. Francona also will express his empathy for the nonsense Torre was forced to endure throughout his humiliating departure from New York after 12 successful seasons.
“Joe and I actually talked about this, and it just gets so out of whack, the whole (Boston-New York) thing,” Francona said. “I like Joe so much. I’m glad he’s in the National League. I feel I can go put my arm around him (today) and nobody’s going to start yelling.”
Francona has known and admired Torre since he was 8 years old. Back then, his father, Tito, was a teammate of Torre’s with the Milwaukee Brewers.
“My dad said he was kind of a player’s player, and that was good enough for me,” Francona said.
The relationship strengthened during Francona’s playing days and underwent a transformation when he was named Sox manager after the 2003 season. During the next four years, the two found a sympathetic ear in each other as the rivalry heightened to all-consuming levels, particularly among the clubs’ impassioned fans.
“I never went out to the batting cage because I didn’t want to put him in that position,” Francona explained. “People don’t want to see that.”
The on-field memories they shared, however, are unforgettable.
“I don’t think anything affects (Torre),” Francona said. “There are so many good players, and the games end up being so interesting, for the most part, that stuff that happens before and after doesn’t matter.
“The games are so good. That game in 2004 when (Derek) Jeter went (diving) into the stands, it’s hard to find games that good. We could have won, but it’s hard to find games better than that. Then the game at our place (in 2004) and the Bill Mueller walkoff (homer), that’s pretty good baseball.”
Francona said it was difficult to watch from a distance last year as the Yankees pushed Torre away, despite four World Series titles and postseason appearances in each of his 12 years. George Steinbrenner said on Oct. 6 that Torre would not be rehired if the team didn’t make it past the first round of the playoffs, but after the Yankees fell to Cleveland in the AL Division Series, the Boss still made a transparent effort to sign the manager to a one-year contract at a massive pay cut.
Torre, demonstrating that dignity means far more to him than a paycheck, walked away on Oct. 18 and was scooped up by the Dodgers shortly thereafter.
“I just want him to be happy,” Francona said. “I thought of what he’s done for the game, and I felt bad he was living through it and everything was so out there. I felt really bad.”
Francona, 48, emulates Torre in many of the ways he runs his team. However, the Sox skipper said he likely will not be managing when he reaches Torre’s age (67).
“The thing I worry about is losing energy,” Francona said. “I don’t know how well you can do this job without energy and how you feel health-wise because this job wears on you.”
A classy reunion
Boundaries gone as Tito greets Torre
By Jeff Horrigan
Thursday, March 6, 2008
FORT MYERS - Terry Francona is looking forward to greeting Joe Torre behind the batting cage at City of Palms Park today and putting his arm around his longtime friend.
The best part about it for the Red Sox [team stats] manager is that he can do it without causing a major controversy in the Northeast. There will be no talk-radio phone lines melting because of the volume of angry callers complaining about consorting with the enemy, no stories making far too much of the gesture, and no taunts from the stands.
With Torre safely removed from the hyper-intensity of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, Francona said he can embrace the new Los Angeles Dodgers manager and publicly demonstrate just how much he admires him. Francona also will express his empathy for the nonsense Torre was forced to endure throughout his humiliating departure from New York after 12 successful seasons.
“Joe and I actually talked about this, and it just gets so out of whack, the whole (Boston-New York) thing,” Francona said. “I like Joe so much. I’m glad he’s in the National League. I feel I can go put my arm around him (today) and nobody’s going to start yelling.”
Francona has known and admired Torre since he was 8 years old. Back then, his father, Tito, was a teammate of Torre’s with the Milwaukee Brewers.
“My dad said he was kind of a player’s player, and that was good enough for me,” Francona said.
The relationship strengthened during Francona’s playing days and underwent a transformation when he was named Sox manager after the 2003 season. During the next four years, the two found a sympathetic ear in each other as the rivalry heightened to all-consuming levels, particularly among the clubs’ impassioned fans.
“I never went out to the batting cage because I didn’t want to put him in that position,” Francona explained. “People don’t want to see that.”
The on-field memories they shared, however, are unforgettable.
“I don’t think anything affects (Torre),” Francona said. “There are so many good players, and the games end up being so interesting, for the most part, that stuff that happens before and after doesn’t matter.
“The games are so good. That game in 2004 when (Derek) Jeter went (diving) into the stands, it’s hard to find games that good. We could have won, but it’s hard to find games better than that. Then the game at our place (in 2004) and the Bill Mueller walkoff (homer), that’s pretty good baseball.”
Francona said it was difficult to watch from a distance last year as the Yankees pushed Torre away, despite four World Series titles and postseason appearances in each of his 12 years. George Steinbrenner said on Oct. 6 that Torre would not be rehired if the team didn’t make it past the first round of the playoffs, but after the Yankees fell to Cleveland in the AL Division Series, the Boss still made a transparent effort to sign the manager to a one-year contract at a massive pay cut.
Torre, demonstrating that dignity means far more to him than a paycheck, walked away on Oct. 18 and was scooped up by the Dodgers shortly thereafter.
“I just want him to be happy,” Francona said. “I thought of what he’s done for the game, and I felt bad he was living through it and everything was so out there. I felt really bad.”
Francona, 48, emulates Torre in many of the ways he runs his team. However, the Sox skipper said he likely will not be managing when he reaches Torre’s age (67).
“The thing I worry about is losing energy,” Francona said. “I don’t know how well you can do this job without energy and how you feel health-wise because this job wears on you.”
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Torre is new Dodgers manager
http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/la-sp-dodgers2nov2,1,1753735.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-majorbaseb
Torre is new Dodgers manager
The former Yankees manager signs a three-year deal to replace Grady Little, who resigned Tuesday. News conference is scheduled for Monday.
By Dylan Hernandez
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 2, 2007
It's official: Joe Torre is the new manager of the Dodgers.
Torre and the Dodgers finalized a three-year, $13-million deal today to replace Grady Little, who resigned Tuesday.
"Having grown up in Brooklyn, I have a great understanding of the history of the Dodger organization and I am committed to bringing a world championship back to Los Angeles," Torre said in a statement released by the team. "I consider it an honor to be a part of this organization, which is one of the most storied franchises in all of sports."
Said General Manager Ned Colletti: "Few managers in the history of the game have accomplished what Joe has delivered. Throughout his career he has demonstrated the ability to turn a vision for success into results on the field and we welcome his passion and leadership. We have tremendous fans and they deserve no less."
A news conference has been scheduled for Monday at Dodger Stadium.
Torre became available Oct. 18, when he parted ways with the New York Yankees after turning down an incentive-laden contract with a base salary of $5 million to return for a 13th season. Torre led the Yankees to the playoffs in every season he managed them and won four World Series titles.
Colletti made it clear Wednesday that Torre was the organization's top choice.
"When you look at his resume and what he's done and the market he's done it in, certainly, you have to start from there," Colletti said.
Torre was said to be negotiating for the right to appoint his own coaches, among them Don Mattingly. He also wanted assurance that he would have input on player personnel moves, which could lead to the free-agent pursuit of Alex Rodriguez.
Torre is taking the place of Little, who managed the team for two seasons. The Dodgers won the National League wild card in Little's first season in 2006, but were 82-80 and finished fourth in the NL West last season.
The Dodgers were able to expedite the hiring of Torre by receiving permission from Commissioner Bud Selig's office to skip the mandatory interviews of minority candidates. The exemption was granted because of the Dodgers' hiring record.
Assistant general managers Kim Ng and De Jon Watson are minorities -- Ng is an Asian American woman and Watson is African American -- and Dodgers President Jamie McCourt is the highest-ranking female executive in baseball.
Torre is new Dodgers manager
The former Yankees manager signs a three-year deal to replace Grady Little, who resigned Tuesday. News conference is scheduled for Monday.
By Dylan Hernandez
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 2, 2007
It's official: Joe Torre is the new manager of the Dodgers.
Torre and the Dodgers finalized a three-year, $13-million deal today to replace Grady Little, who resigned Tuesday.
"Having grown up in Brooklyn, I have a great understanding of the history of the Dodger organization and I am committed to bringing a world championship back to Los Angeles," Torre said in a statement released by the team. "I consider it an honor to be a part of this organization, which is one of the most storied franchises in all of sports."
Said General Manager Ned Colletti: "Few managers in the history of the game have accomplished what Joe has delivered. Throughout his career he has demonstrated the ability to turn a vision for success into results on the field and we welcome his passion and leadership. We have tremendous fans and they deserve no less."
A news conference has been scheduled for Monday at Dodger Stadium.
Torre became available Oct. 18, when he parted ways with the New York Yankees after turning down an incentive-laden contract with a base salary of $5 million to return for a 13th season. Torre led the Yankees to the playoffs in every season he managed them and won four World Series titles.
Colletti made it clear Wednesday that Torre was the organization's top choice.
"When you look at his resume and what he's done and the market he's done it in, certainly, you have to start from there," Colletti said.
Torre was said to be negotiating for the right to appoint his own coaches, among them Don Mattingly. He also wanted assurance that he would have input on player personnel moves, which could lead to the free-agent pursuit of Alex Rodriguez.
Torre is taking the place of Little, who managed the team for two seasons. The Dodgers won the National League wild card in Little's first season in 2006, but were 82-80 and finished fourth in the NL West last season.
The Dodgers were able to expedite the hiring of Torre by receiving permission from Commissioner Bud Selig's office to skip the mandatory interviews of minority candidates. The exemption was granted because of the Dodgers' hiring record.
Assistant general managers Kim Ng and De Jon Watson are minorities -- Ng is an Asian American woman and Watson is African American -- and Dodgers President Jamie McCourt is the highest-ranking female executive in baseball.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Torre walked: Good for him
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AvjAnVPTCVV0B7dztUTngogRvLYF?slug=ti-torre101807&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Torre walked: Good for him
By Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports
October 18, 2007
CLEVELAND – George Steinbrenner's men in Tampa, his various sons, lawyers and allies, had neither the evidence nor the conviction to expel Joe Torre.
So it was better, perhaps, to insult a 12-year employee in the privacy of a conference room than to risk their fan base, their clubhouse and what little is left of their organizational reputation.
Better, in the end, to announce that Torre refused to remain the highest-paid manager in the game, because they all agreed – "Unanimous," president Randy Levine emphasized – that Torre was absolutely the right man to manage the Yankees next season. But, apparently, only next season, or less.
Better to have Torre walk than to explain why they pushed, when the next manager cannot match Torre's baseball and interpersonal sophistication.
That was no contract offer. That was no negotiation.
That was an invitation to be fired, to be humiliated again, to have Steinbrenner awake one afternoon with eyes for Don Mattingly or Joe Girardi or Tony La Russa, to open a lame-duck season possibly lacking his MVP third baseman, his legendary closer, his All-Star catcher and two-fifths of his starting rotation.
To his credit, Torre returned to the airport and boarded a plane bound for the rest of his life.
He left $5 million in Tampa, along with his Yankees No. 6, along with 25 players and a coaching staff he adored. He left behind the job of his life and vacated his seat at the center of the baseball universe.
Good for him.
Those men in Tampa believe no more in Joe Torre than they do Carl Pavano.
First, they cut his base salary, from $7 million to $5 million. Then they promised him $1 million if the Yankees went to the playoffs, another $1 million if they advanced to the American League championship series, and $1 million more if they went to the World Series, at which point his option for 2009 – worth $8 million – would vest.
"Joe Torre," Levine said, "turned that offer down today."
Well, of course he did.
After 12 consecutive seasons in the playoffs (the 12 seasons before Torre netted one postseason appearance – under seven different managers), he turned that offer down. He turned down a pay cut, an interim standing, the daily temperature readings from Tampa and the opportunity to be fired when Kei Igawa made his rotation out of spring training.
"It's nobody's fault," Levine said. "All of us are in it together."
Except at the end of the day, all of them were still in that conference room, staring at the contract Torre had pushed back across the table.
"We respect his decision," Levine said. "We appreciate everything he's done, but it's now time for the New York Yankees to move forward."
Judging from the offer, they not only respect it, but applaud it.
The Yankees are now seven years without a World Series championship. If, in their opinion, Torre was at fault, they could have saved him the trip to Tampa, acted on Steinbrenner's ALDS ultimatum, and hired the next guy.
Instead, the men who spent the past week working up Torre's performance review rode both sides, covering themselves in case this decision lands in the same heap as their decisions on Pavano, Igawa, Kyle Farnsworth and Roger Clemens.
"All I can tell you," Levine said, "is that the Yankees made the decision based on what's best for the Yankees. … We obviously wanted Joe Torre to come back. That's why we made the offer. We thought it was a fair offer. If we didn't think it was fair, we wouldn't have made it."
Torre was the final arbiter on that, it appears. As a result, Torre becomes something other than a Yankee, and the Yankees likely become more vulnerable at the dawn of a critical offseason.
It appeared the division series loss was the end for Torre, as Steinbrenner had threatened. In Torre's final game, fans chanted his name. Players lined up behind him. Columnists railed against an organization that no longer recognized Torre's touch. Chien-Ming Wang pitched poorly twice, and the Yankees were done, and Torre got a flimsy one-year offer.
That's how it went. Steinbrenner's son, Hal, said the contract's terms were based not on the division series flameout, but the body of Torre's work.
"We spent two long days analyzing this," Hal Steinbrenner said. "It was not about the last month or the last two months. We analyzed a lot of factors."
He listed none of them.
So, Torre is gone for the moment. He said last week that he might think over other managing jobs as they come up, but didn't really want to move anywhere. That leaves … the Mets?
But, not the Yankees.
"With what he's accomplished, I think that he should manage as long as he wants to manage," Cleveland Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "I know there's a business side of it, but from what I understand, for him to look at that [contract] and say no, good for him. You know what? He's earned and deserves to do whatever the hell he wants to do."
He didn't want to go home. It's how it worked out. Yes, good for him.
"I guess I hope that however it came down – and nobody knows but Joe and whoever he was dealing with – I hope Joe is happy," Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "I think he deserves the respect. And I think you're going to hear people in baseball, every area of baseball, say probably very, very kind, respectful things about Joe. … And they're all deserved. I just hope he's happy."
Tim Brown is a national baseball writer for Yahoo! Sports.
Torre walked: Good for him
By Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports
October 18, 2007
CLEVELAND – George Steinbrenner's men in Tampa, his various sons, lawyers and allies, had neither the evidence nor the conviction to expel Joe Torre.
So it was better, perhaps, to insult a 12-year employee in the privacy of a conference room than to risk their fan base, their clubhouse and what little is left of their organizational reputation.
Better, in the end, to announce that Torre refused to remain the highest-paid manager in the game, because they all agreed – "Unanimous," president Randy Levine emphasized – that Torre was absolutely the right man to manage the Yankees next season. But, apparently, only next season, or less.
Better to have Torre walk than to explain why they pushed, when the next manager cannot match Torre's baseball and interpersonal sophistication.
That was no contract offer. That was no negotiation.
That was an invitation to be fired, to be humiliated again, to have Steinbrenner awake one afternoon with eyes for Don Mattingly or Joe Girardi or Tony La Russa, to open a lame-duck season possibly lacking his MVP third baseman, his legendary closer, his All-Star catcher and two-fifths of his starting rotation.
To his credit, Torre returned to the airport and boarded a plane bound for the rest of his life.
He left $5 million in Tampa, along with his Yankees No. 6, along with 25 players and a coaching staff he adored. He left behind the job of his life and vacated his seat at the center of the baseball universe.
Good for him.
Those men in Tampa believe no more in Joe Torre than they do Carl Pavano.
First, they cut his base salary, from $7 million to $5 million. Then they promised him $1 million if the Yankees went to the playoffs, another $1 million if they advanced to the American League championship series, and $1 million more if they went to the World Series, at which point his option for 2009 – worth $8 million – would vest.
"Joe Torre," Levine said, "turned that offer down today."
Well, of course he did.
After 12 consecutive seasons in the playoffs (the 12 seasons before Torre netted one postseason appearance – under seven different managers), he turned that offer down. He turned down a pay cut, an interim standing, the daily temperature readings from Tampa and the opportunity to be fired when Kei Igawa made his rotation out of spring training.
"It's nobody's fault," Levine said. "All of us are in it together."
Except at the end of the day, all of them were still in that conference room, staring at the contract Torre had pushed back across the table.
"We respect his decision," Levine said. "We appreciate everything he's done, but it's now time for the New York Yankees to move forward."
Judging from the offer, they not only respect it, but applaud it.
The Yankees are now seven years without a World Series championship. If, in their opinion, Torre was at fault, they could have saved him the trip to Tampa, acted on Steinbrenner's ALDS ultimatum, and hired the next guy.
Instead, the men who spent the past week working up Torre's performance review rode both sides, covering themselves in case this decision lands in the same heap as their decisions on Pavano, Igawa, Kyle Farnsworth and Roger Clemens.
"All I can tell you," Levine said, "is that the Yankees made the decision based on what's best for the Yankees. … We obviously wanted Joe Torre to come back. That's why we made the offer. We thought it was a fair offer. If we didn't think it was fair, we wouldn't have made it."
Torre was the final arbiter on that, it appears. As a result, Torre becomes something other than a Yankee, and the Yankees likely become more vulnerable at the dawn of a critical offseason.
It appeared the division series loss was the end for Torre, as Steinbrenner had threatened. In Torre's final game, fans chanted his name. Players lined up behind him. Columnists railed against an organization that no longer recognized Torre's touch. Chien-Ming Wang pitched poorly twice, and the Yankees were done, and Torre got a flimsy one-year offer.
That's how it went. Steinbrenner's son, Hal, said the contract's terms were based not on the division series flameout, but the body of Torre's work.
"We spent two long days analyzing this," Hal Steinbrenner said. "It was not about the last month or the last two months. We analyzed a lot of factors."
He listed none of them.
So, Torre is gone for the moment. He said last week that he might think over other managing jobs as they come up, but didn't really want to move anywhere. That leaves … the Mets?
But, not the Yankees.
"With what he's accomplished, I think that he should manage as long as he wants to manage," Cleveland Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "I know there's a business side of it, but from what I understand, for him to look at that [contract] and say no, good for him. You know what? He's earned and deserves to do whatever the hell he wants to do."
He didn't want to go home. It's how it worked out. Yes, good for him.
"I guess I hope that however it came down – and nobody knows but Joe and whoever he was dealing with – I hope Joe is happy," Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "I think he deserves the respect. And I think you're going to hear people in baseball, every area of baseball, say probably very, very kind, respectful things about Joe. … And they're all deserved. I just hope he's happy."
Tim Brown is a national baseball writer for Yahoo! Sports.
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