It’s seemed like the sun broke through the clouds for me while watching Phil Hughes pitch two innings of scoreless, hitless baseball yesterday.    I said to my father-in-law “this kid is a still REALLY young.  If he blooms into what we saw during the 7 no hit inning performance , WOW”.

Perhaps last season he just needed time to work through coming back from the injury or his mind wasn’t right or he needed to mature a bit.  Maybe during the off season he found “something” that he wasn’t aware he had. 

I know time will tell but I sure liked what I saw yesterday (aside from the two hit batters).   He’s definately got the stuff, he just has to master his control.   If he does that, he could be one of the great ones!  And that’s what we’re all hoping for.

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A video tour of Yankee Stadium from 2/16/09.  I dug this one up on YouTube.    Behind the scene’s look during what looks to be a tour for a company looking to buy a box or season tickets.  Check out the Players locker room… pretty cool.

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As Alexander Pope once wrote ”hope springs eternal”.    It’s almost spring.. almost time for baseball at a new (unbelievable) stadium.  There may be a certain amount of “hope” in my 2009 Yankee predictions, but I have solid confidence in this year’s team.  Here it goes…

1. Yankees will win home opener at the new stadium against Cleveland on April 16th.  C.C. Sabathia will get his first win over Cliff Lee.  Unfortunately Bronx Bomber fans won’t get a chance to “cheer” Carl Pavano during the home opening series… only 4 games and Pavano is projected to be #5 in the rotation.  While I hope it doesn’t happen, fans wil probably give A-Rod the old “bronxcheer”.  Let’s hope he answers with 2 homers so the fans tone down and team can benefit from his ability.  What’s done is done.. now let’s win!
   
2. If he stay’s healthy, C.C. Sabathia will post 23 wins this season.   He’s has one of the best offensive teams in baseball giving him run support.   If they give him 5-6 runs a game he may win 25!
   
3. A. J. Burnett and Chien-Mein Wang will remain healthy all season winning 18 and 20 games respectively.  Again, run support.
   
4. Derek Jeter will bat .300 or above this season..  OK, pretty much even money on this one.
   
5. A-Rod will have a tough April and May.   However, will break out in June to finish the season at around .300 with 38 HRs and 109 RBIs.  The fans will be on him all year while he’s in the field so get use to hearing “E5″.   I hope I’m wrong but 20+ errors for A-Rod this year.
   
6. Mark Teixeira will prove to be a GREAT Yankee first baseman.  I mean along the lines of Don Mattingly, Tino Martinez and dare I say Lou Gerhig.  He will flash the leather and quietly bat in the low .300′s.   Yankee fans will welcome him as another “clutch” player.
   
7. Joba Chamberlain will end up being the 7-8th inning dude.  For three reasons.. A. The Yankees will figure out that it’s better to have one of the strongest arms in baseball effecting the outcome of 65 games instead of 35.  B. Phil Hughes will bloom.  C. They’ll need to fill a gap in the bullpen. 
   
8. Johnny Damon will hit the ground running offensively.
   
9. Jorge Posadawill platoon with Melina.   The Yankees will want his bat in the lineup so he may see some DH time if Matsui isn’t performing.  I hate to say it but this may be Jorge’s last year behind the plate.
   
10. Robinson Canowill have a killer season batting .305 with 32 HR, 98 RBI’s.   He will be one of the best hitting 2B men  of 2009 in all of baseball.  Well, at least I hope so.
    
11. Melky Cabrera and Brett Garnder will end up sharing time in Centerfield, with Garnder usually coming in late in the game as a pinch runner.
    
12. Marino Rivera… no prediction on this one.  I hope he comes back to form after the shoulder surgery but we really won’t know until around late April after he’s in game situations.  If he’s not at least 90% of the old Mo, the Yankees have a serious problem.  He’s got to retain his 9th innning dominance in order for the Yankees to have a shot at the playoffs.
    
13. The Yankees will win 97 games beating the Red Sox by 1 game for the division title (thus making the playoffs).  Wins per pitcher breaks down a follows… Sabathia 23, Burnett 18, Wang 20, Pettitte 15, Joba 4, Hughes 12 & 5 games won by the bullpen.
    
14. The Yankees will beat the Angels to win the ALCS and face the Phillies in the World Series.  Will they win the WS?  If they get there I’ll be sure to post my prediction.
    
15. Joe Girardi will be back as the Yankee manager in 2010.

Disclaimer:  The predictions provided above have been made by a Yankee fan who may have his head a bit in the clouds (or up his ass) because he is so hungry to watch baseball again and he wants his team to make the playoffs.  These prophecies were made under the assumption that all of the players mentioned stay off the DL for the most part and that Yankees develop a good solution to the middle inning pitching challenge.  It would also help if Boston and Tampa Bay play like crap from April through June! 

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I’m a Dad of two boys and a youth baseball coach for both.  They both look up to A-Rod as well as other players.   The greatest player of our time, who is idolized by young ball players all over the world, has been caught cheating.   Add to this his less than upfront way of handling it with the media and you have a really bad mix when it comes to how kids will see all this.

Thankfully younger kids probably won’t understand the gorey details, nor should they be exposed to them.   Here are some thoughts about how to explain this to kids (depending on age).

1. On illegal drug use…. Drugs of any kind are only good for you if a doctor recommends them to help you. Any person that takes any drug without a doctor’s permissions is not doing the right thing or possibly breaking the law. A-Rod did the wrong thing by taking those drugs and he knows it now. He wants his fans to know this… especially kids.

2. On telling the truth… Life can be complicated for adults. Some adults have a difficult time being honest with themselves and others. You can learn from this… make a commitment to yourself that you will always be truthful with yourself and others.

3. On being a good teammate… When your part of a team it’s part of your responsibility to be a good teammate and help your fellow players. The other Yankee players were there to support A-Rod because he is going through a tough time.   When any player is having a rough time you pick him up.  But it is A-Rod’s responsibility to do the right thing.

4. On his baseball stats and records… While records are cool to talk about, they are not what baseball is all about. A-Rod has probably learned that having good teammates behind you and playing the game are the most important things about baseball.

5. On cheating by using PEDs… It’s wrong and illegal for players to use PEDs.  MLB, NCAA and High School all have policies that deter players from using them.   The way to increase strength is through diet and exercise.  The way to improve baseball skills is through proper training and practice.   There are no short cuts… it takes hard work. The lesson to learn from A-Rod and others is if you cheat you will get caught.

6. Is A-Rod still a good player… A-Rod is a great player. He is fun to watch and you can learn a lot from watching him play the game. He made a mistake, he’s trying to say he’s sorry and he wants to move on and play baseball. He wants all kids to know that what he did was wrong.

Maybe it would have been helpful if A-Rod had something similar to the above in his written statement yesterday.   You can’t just throw money at this problem.  You have to start early with proper education.  Hey A-Rod, Man Up! For the kids!

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People have asked me “Do you think A-Rod is still cheating?”.   So I asked myself ‘what exactly is cheating?’.   Let’s start with the definition of the word “cheat” from dictionary.com:

cheat    (chēt)

verb.  cheat·ed, cheat·ing, cheats

verb.  tr.

1. To deceive by trickery; swindle: cheated customers by overcharging them
   for purchases.
2. To deprive by trickery; defraud: cheated them of their land.
3. To mislead; fool: illusions that cheat the eye.
4. To elude; escape: cheat death.

verb.  intr.

1. To act dishonestly; practice fraud.
2. To violate rules deliberately, as in a game: was accused of cheating at
   cards.
3. Informal To be sexually unfaithful: cheat on a spouse.
4. Baseball To position oneself closer to a certain area than is
   normal or expected: The shortstop cheated toward second base.

noun.  

1. An act of cheating; a fraud or swindle.
2. One who cheats; a swindler.
3. A computer application, password, or disallowed technique used to advance
   to a higher skill level in a computer video game.
4. LawFraudulent acquisition of another’s property.

Based on some of the definitions above one would have to conclude that A-Rod is still cheating. He has mislead people and continues to do so.  He is trying to fool us into believing his story.  He has eluded questions by providing answers that are design to reveal little.

Doesn’t A-Rod remind you of Bill Clinton when he was weaseling his way out of the Monica Lewenski situation.   Thankfully A-Rod didn’t say “It depends upon your definition of cheat” when he was ask if he considered what did as “cheating”.  But his answer still wasn’t direct or honest.  

So A-Rod’s cheating continues…

Perhaps he’s learned through this experience that he has a future in politics.

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We heard the words.  We saw the body language including the 38 second pause.  We heard that he was young, naive and stupid.  We learned about his cousin.  A lot was said.  But what were Alex Rodriguez, Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi really thinking yesterday during the press conference?

True Thoughts

It’s pretty clear that A-Rod has constructed this story over the past week to meet with what the press is hammering him on.   His strategy seems to be tell them enough, but don’t tell all.   When he did answer a question there were a lot of holes left open.  He seemed to use the old “spill the beer” method of distraction while carefully answering only parts of questions or giving answers that were completely unrelated.  Did he really think we wouldn’t notice?  Did he really think that reporters weren’t going to examine ever word he said?

Despite A-Rod hiring Outside Eyes to assist him with how he handles this crisis he did not come across as honest, humble and sincere.   Maybe he should talk more with Andy Pettitte who got the monkey off his back with one press conference the same time last year by showing he was human.

Clearly Cashman is wishing Hank had not interfered in 2007 when he brought back A-Rod.  The value of the team’s #1 asset has plummeted.   He’s probably thinking they would be better off right now with a no-name prospect struggling at 3rd base.

Girardi really only cares about getting the best results out of his players.  If he doesn’t get to the post season he’s probably gone anyway so he wants A-Rod to contribute.

So why don’t I (we) trust A-Rod anymore? Because he changed his story from “I honestly don’t know what I took, it was a loosy goosy culture”.. to “My cousin injected me with Bolle that we got from the DR over a three year period, but I don’t know what it did to my body’”. He lied.. multiple times and he’s still lying.

I’m one of many disappointed fans who supported A-Rod during his tougher times.  I had arguments with fans of other teams who hate him, with Yankee fans who didn’t think he was a “True Yankee”.  When he was getting booed by fans at The Stadium, I was one of those who said how awful that behavior was.  I would tell the doubters that they “should consider themselves fortunate to be alive to watch one of the greatest players of all time”.  I truly believed that statement.   But what do we say to support him now?  Pettitte gave us something to work with… even Giambi did.  But A-Rod gave us nothing yesterday… absolutely nothing.

I hope A-Rod is taking something to help develop a thicker skin… he’s going to need it.  Over the past two weeks has done nothing to improve his image and in a few weeks he will step over the white lines into the open pit of a MLB baseball game.  And the fans will be there to greet him. Good luck Alex!

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After watching A-Rod’s press conference today here’s what I came away with…

• He is very sorry he got caught, not for what he did.
• He used “bolle” or “bolin” for three years habitually, which is illegal in the USA.
• He invoked a new guy (real or virtual),  his “cousin” who he threw under the bus.
• He chose to only answer the questions that served him.
• He continues to admit only what he has to.
• He is just another talented athlete who continues tell half-truths.

All he had to say was I was looking for something to give me an edge,  I used them for three years, then I realized it was wrong so I stopped.   I want to move on.

But he has chosen the path of half-truths which will continue to bring heat on him.  If history tells us anything it tells that lies and half-truths only gets people into more trouble. If he doesn’t think dozens of reporters are on the phone trying to find out who his “cousin” is, he is as naive as he was when he was 24.

When I asked my 14 year son (who is a ball player and was inspired by A-Rod) what he thought of A-Rod’s statement and answers he replied “Dad, he’s lying and only saying what he has to say”. Enough said.

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