Site News: Gone For A Week

So as you may or may not have noticed, I made a few references to traveling to Germany earlier this week.  I'm actually flying out this afternoon and I'll be out there all next week participating in a work training program.  Because of this, I won't be able to cover any of what happens next week so for all intents and purposes AB4AR will be on a short break while I'm away.

There is a chance that I'll have some time in the mornings in Germany to write some stuff, but not much of one.  If anything really important happens, I'll throw up a quick blurb on it when I have time.  If nothing does, it'll almost certainly be all quiet on the AB4AR front.  I fly back a week from today, so next Saturday evening into Sunday you should see posts going up again and things will be back to normal on Monday the 14th.

Keep the faith while I'm gone, Yankee fans.  See ya in a week.

Mark Teixeira, Bee Expert

(Courtesy of SB Nation)

By now, I'm sure everybody knows about the little 7-minute bee delay that interrupted yesterday's game.  What you might not know is that, had the umpires had the wherewithal to ask him, Mark Teixeira would have had the whole situation under control:

“What I thought was if you could just do a line of honey out to the parking lot, the bees would maybe follow it and leave us alone.”

Well duh.  Why didn't anybody think of that??  No need to spray a bunch of insecticides into the air, potentially putting the fans and players at risk and senselessly murdering a few hundred bees who were just trying to do their thing.  Just do a line of honey out to the parking lot and maybe the bees would have followed it.  Teix even volunteered the Yankees' honey.

Real multi-threat that Mark Teixeira.  Gold Glove-caliber first baseman, most boring person ever on Twitter, Broadway actor, painfully white, and amateur apiologist.  Now if only he could translate that bee knowledge to the batter's box and add a little sting to his swing.  That'd be something.

P.S.- Do you see what I did there with the "sting" joke?  That's highbrow stuff.

What Other Number Are The Yankees Going To Retire This Year?

Not everything Hal had to say at the owners' meeting earlier this week was A-Rod-related.  One of the more fun talking points that came up in his media session was the implication that the Yankees could be retiring multiple numbers this season.  With Joe Torre getting elected to the HOF, it's obvious that his #6 will be going out to Monument and that day and ceremony at The Stadium will be awesome.  Hal's statement on the eventual date left the door open for somebody else to join him:

“We’re going to figure out just who.  He may not be the only one.  We haven’t gotten into it yet.”

So who's the other lucky duck?  The players who make the most sense are Andy Pettitte, Paul O'Neill, Bernie Williams, and Jorge Posada.  Pettitte and Jorge haven't been retired long enough to have their numbers retired, although it's obvious the team is going to retire them at some point down the road.  O'Neill, as much as I love him, wasn't a lifelong Yankee and wasn't a homegrown Yankee, so I'd be surprised if he got the honor before the other guys.

That leaves Bernie.  Homegrown, 16-year career, all in pinstripes, 4 WS titles, has been retired for almost 10 years now, and has had his number 51 out of circulation since he retired.  That's basically the perfect resume for Monument Park.  If the Yankees are serious about adding another honoree with Torre this year, I think it'll end up being Bernie.

Happy New Year From AB4AR With A Look Back At The Best Play Of 2013

One last look back to 2013 before we officially move forward with 2014.  Hopefully your celebrations were fun and booze-filled.  Wouldn't expect much out of the site today, not with wall-to-wall hockey and BCS games.  But if something newsworthy does happen, I'll try to drag my carcass off the couch to cover it.

P.S.- Never forget.

Shut Up, Randy

Levine said he called Angels president John Carpino and MLB, apologizing for the Trout comment. "My understanding is the matter is over."
— Mark Feinsand (@FeinsandNYDN) December 13, 2013

The comment in question, in case you missed it, came earlier today when Levine was asked about the Cano contract and Robbie's comments about no respect:

“If Mike Trout was here, I would recommend a 10-year contract. But for people over 30, I don’t think it makes sense.”

Sounds harmless, but it was enough to get Levine a call from MLB to investigate whether or not the comment constituted tampering.  Such a Levine thing to do/say.  Seriously, what is this guy's deal?  He's like Donny from "The Big Lebowski".  Completely out of his element, no frame of reference on anything, yet constantly opening his yap to say stuff that nobody wanted or needed him to say.  How this man is employed in an incredibly high-ranking position anywhere, let alone for the most prestigious franchise in professional sports history is beyond me.

I've said this before and I'm going to keep saying it until it starts happening.  Shut up, Randy.  Shut the fuck up.

Happy Thanksgiving From AB4AR

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, as I'm sure it is for many more of you out there, so expect today to be slow around the blog.  Unless something incredibly unexpected and newsworthy happens I'll be spending my day eating myself sick, drinking a shit ton of great beer, and watching football, and I sincerely hope everyone else out there does the same.  Wherever you are, hopefully you're surrounded by family and friends and have as great a Thanksgiving today as I intend to.  And if you're one of the chosen people, have yourself a happy Hanukkah today.  It's a celebration for everybody.

Yankees Moving To WFAN In 2014

The first news of a potential deal came out on Tuesday and yesterday it was made official.  Starting next year, the Yankees radio broadcasts will move from 880 AM to the Fan, WFAN-AM 660 and WFAN-FM 101.9.  The Yankees and CBS Radio announced a 10-year deal worth anywhere from $15-20 million.

The deal makes sense for both sides.  The Yankees get the benefit of using the greater signal strength of WFAN to broadcast games to a wider audience at a higher quality.  WFAN gets the benefit of having the top baseball team in town on their station, the top sports talk radio station in town.  The Yankees were already affiliated with CBS radio and have been for some time.  It's only right that the 2 number 1s in their field team up.

As for what it means for everybody's favorite broadcast duo, that's not quite so clear.  While early indications are that John Sterling will absolutely be back as the play-by-play guy, Suzyn Waldman isn't a slam dunk to join him.  She's the obvious leader in the clubhouse based on her history with the team and current position, but C.J. Nitkowski got good reviews subbing for her last week and there are a couple guys in the YES stable who would be great as radio color commentators.  All those details will be worked out as things transition from 2013 to 2014.

Never Forget

12 years ago today our nation was rocked by the worst attack against it in history.  Work, social life, baseball rooting allegiances, and everything else took a back seat as we watched our friends, family members, and fellow Americans suffer as a result of the senseless hatred of others.  I don't need to go into the details of my personal connection to the 9/11 tragedy anymore.  Those who've been AB4AR readers for years know the story, and those who are new can find it here.  But I'd be remiss if I didn't write something today to commemorate the tragic events of that day and honor those who were lost.

They say time heals all wounds and there's been a lot of time to heal from the events of that day 12 years ago.  But some wounds never heal, some losses can never be forgotten, and many lives will never be the same.  The pain from that day still lingers, and it's remembering the heroes and the sacrifice of so many on that day that helps the healing continue and reminds us all what it means to be an American and live in this country.  There's plenty that people find wrong with this country these days and sometimes it's easy to forget about all that it gets right.  Use today to remember that.  Tell someone you love them, hug somebody you haven't hugged in a while, find a fire fighter or police officer and shake his or her hand, be thankful for all the freedoms you have as a citizen of the United States.  And never forget all those we lost.

A-Rod's Lawyer Kicks It Up A Dozen Notches With New Accusations

The Alex-Rodriguez-New York Yankees-Major League Baseball threeway legal dance surrounding the Biogenesis case and A-Rod's resulting suspension has already been playing out like great TV drama.  As someone who's admittedly tired of all the steroid talk in baseball and really doesn't care about it, I'll admit that I find each new rumor and leaked story to be both fascinating and entertaining.  When the baseball season ends and the appeal happens, it's going to be absolutely wild.

How much wilder will it be after the latest story and newest twists laid out by A-Rod's legal team?  Probably somewhere between "much" and "way."  In a story published by the New York Times yesterday, A-Rod's newest lawyer, Joseph Tacopina went on the offensive in his efforts to build A-Rod's defense case.  He accused the New York Yankees of intentionally hiding MRI results revealing A-Rod's labrum tear and continuing to play him while he was hurt, working in collusion with MLB to void A-Rod's contract and ban him from baseball, and singled out team president Randy Levine for allegedly telling the doctor performing A-Rod's hip surgery "I don't even want to see him on the field again."  That's not just "looking to get on base" type of going on the offensive, it's swinging for the fences as hard as you can with a juiced bat.

Happy 4th Of July From AB4AR

Hope everybody is having a great 4th already.  If you haven't yet, go outside, have a beer, and eat something grilled.  It's the American way.  Blog will be back tomorrow.

Is There A Problem With The Yankee Training Staff?

(Just dehydration, huh?  Courtesy of Getty Images)

Having left Saturday night’s game early with what was described as “dehydration” and reporting that he felt light-headed during pregame batting practice that day, I was a little surprised to see that Chris Stewart’s name was on the lineup card again last night as the starting catcher. He had taken a ball off the mask the previous game and at first glance it sounded like he was suffering symptoms of a concussion. Last night, those symptoms were present again before the game and Stewart was scratched again for Austin Romine and sent to the hospital for further evaluation.

We’re still waiting to hear back on what that evaluation reveals, but if it is indeed a concussion and Stewart was misdiagnosed and allowed to play yesterday, that will be just another example of a slightly disturbing trend building with regards to the Yankee training staff. Not only are they seemingly letting things slide that should be bigger issues, they’re potentially putting players at risk by allowing them back on the field.

Chamberlain, So Hot Right Now. Chamberlain

(Courtesy of the AP)

Guy.  That's awesome.  Re-sign this man now!

/stands and applauds

Return Of The Spring Training New Numbers Game

(Obviously ain't going to be any of these)

One of the more fun parts of Spring Training is the juggling and assigning of numbers to new team members.  The exercise is especially tricky for the Yankees, who have their large collection of retired numbers and a couple of numbers that are off limits until they are officially retired.  It became even trickier this season with a greater influx of new players and a collection of returning players who decided they wanted to trade up for a better number this season.  Does any of this have any bearing on how each player will perform this season?  Absolutely not.  Is it worth covering on the first day of camp when all guys are doing is putting stuff in their lockers and maybe tossing a ball around?  I think so.  Especially now that I was smart enough to not guess at the new numbers this year and open myself up to criticism for the lack of AB4AR t-shirts in the world.  New number assignments after the jump.

I Guess Teix Really Does Want To Rock

Everybody's so caught up in talking about A-Rod's retirement that's never going to happen until his contract is up that they missed Teix getting an early start on his next career after he retires from baseball.  On Broadway.  It certainly looks like the normally robotic first baseman was ELECTRIC in his cameo performance in "Rock Of Ages" on Tuesday, although there's no word on whether he pulled another hammy doing the dance steps.

Teix, so hot right now.  Teix.

(Photo courtesy of Playbill.  More can be found here)

Happy Holidays From AB4AR

As you've probably figured out by now, there's not going to be a whole lot of blog activity over the Christmas holiday from AB4AR.  There isn't a whole lot going on in Yankeeland right now that necessitates posts going up, and I could really use the short break to recharge the batteries, finish my Christmas shopping, and spend some time with family and friends, as I'm sure everyone else could too.

So allow me to use this post to wish everyone a merry Christmas, happy Kwanzaa, happy Boxing Day, and a joyous Festivus if that's what you celebrate.  It's my sincerest wish that each and every AB4AR reader out there has a great holiday, gets everything that was on his or her wish list, and enjoys as much good food and drink as your bodies will allow.  There won't be anymore posts today or tomorrow, unless something absolutely earth-shattering happens, but AB4AR will pick back up first thing on Wednesday, December 26th to start picking through the rest of the offseason task list and starting preparing for AB4AR Prospect Week and the unveiling of the AB4AR Top 30 after the new year.

So happy holidays, everybody.  Hope you all have a great one and I'll see ya Wednesday.

Happy Thanksgiving, Everybody

Today I'm thankful that I have a ton of great food to eat, a ton of great beer to drink, and my family and best friend to share it all with.  I certainly hope that's the case for everybody else out there as well because Thanksgiving is hands down the best holiday and it's not even close.  It's the Mariano Rivera of holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.  May your celebration today be safe, fun, and filled with good memories.

Robbie Cano Makes It Official...

Pop Quiz: What New York Yankee MVP candidate just officially became a US citizen today?

Answer: Why it's Robinson Cano.  DON'TCHA KNOW?!?!?!

Full disclosure, I had no clue Robbie wasn't a US citizen.  But good for him and welcome to the club, bro.  I know this isn't about me, but I'm really glad that Robinson and I finally have something in common.  Up until today, it's been a steady string of polar opposites.  I'm a lazy, uncool, untalented, out-of-shape cubicle monkey making 5 figures doing something I'm really not even that good at; he's awesome, the best second baseman on the planet, in peak physical condition, oozes swag at every turn on and off the field, and stands to be paid somewhere safely inside the realm of 9 figures in his next contract once mega-shark agent Scott Boras squeezes every last penny out of some team (likely the Yankees) after the 2013 season.

So yeah, I'm glad Cano and I have some common ground now, a conversation starter.  I'm a citizen, he's a citizen.  So hit me up sometime, Robbie.  Maybe we could hang out.  And congrats again on making it official.  Now somebody cue the fucking music!



P.S.- Coulda done without the David Ortiz beard, Robbie.  I know it's the offseason and you can let the scruff go, but clean it up.

Everybody Alright Out There?

I went with the longer sentimental version of this post over at TYA this morning, but now that I'm back in the swing of things here I had to reach out to the AB4ARmy too.

I chalked the whole "Frankenstorm" thing up to typical media hype and really didn't expect things to be that bad when the hurricane hit over the past few days, but when I finally got the chance to check in and see what was going on yesterday afternoon was legitimately shocked.  Sides of buildings blowing off, massive flooding, parts of the Jersey Shore pretty much getting wiped off the map; that's some pretty heavy shit.  My friends and family that I've talked to back home are all safe and sound right now and just waiting for the power to come back on, and I hope that's the case for everybody else out there.

Looking at the site traffic from yesterday it certainly appears as though a lot of people out there have power and were using the internet as a way to pass the time.  So if you do and you're using AB4AR as part of that time passing strategy while you wait for the rain to stop, the wind to die down, and the waters to recede, I thank you for that.  I hope you're all safe and dry, I hope everybody has enough food and water, and I hope I can be a small part of getting things back to normal for everyone now that the storm has passed and I'm back to my regular writing routine.

Wild Weekend Thoughts & Afterthoughts

(Eduardo gets the Josh Hamilton walk-off treatment.  Courtesy of the AP)

If you don't already know from my 2 previous mentionings of the topic, or if you just forgot, I spent the weekend in Chicago with a couple of my buddies for a bachelor party.  The hijinks that ensued upon our Saturday morning arrival were right on par with the craziness that defined the Yankees' weekend series against Oakland.  They got a lights out pitching performance from CC on Friday, only to lose the lead in the 9th and win on a walk-off HR in the 10th; Saturday's game was up there with the wackiest games in MLB this season, and yesterday was another close game full of missed opportunities, blown calls, errors, and late-inning drama.  Seeing as how I missed most of that, I figured I'd use this morning to catch up and give my thoughts on the events that transpired while also sprinkling in some observations from my own wild weekend in Chicago.

Never Forget

Today marks the 11-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks on our country, and as someone whose family has such a close personal connection to the events I'd be remiss if I didn't take a moment to acknowledge today's significance.  I won't go back through and re-hash the details of my personal history, you can find them right here if you're interested.  Instead I'd just like to thank all the people who contributed to the rescue efforts on that day, those who were lucky enough to survive and those who lost their lives.  They're true American heroes and their sacrifice and bravery should never be forgotten.

It's easy to take things for granted in today's world.  I know I'm guilty of it from time to time.  But the freedoms and the rights that we have in this country are a gift, a gift that no person in any other country in the world can say they have, and knowing there are people out there whose job it is to protect those freedoms and those rights are what help make them so special.

There won't be a big concert or celebrity pledge drive on TV tonight, but that doesn't mean this day should be any less important.  At some point today, take a moment to think back on the events that unfolded 11 years ago, and pause to give thanks to those heroes we lost.  Their bravery and their memories should go on forever.

** UPDATE- Friend of the blog Gary Corbett brought this to my attention.  He's participating in the Tunnels to Towers 5K on September 30th to raise money to be donated to police, firefighter, and military personnel whose lives were affected by 9/11.  If you're already involved, good on you.  If you're not and you want to donate, you can do so here.**