Tagged: Pettitte

Congratulations, Joe

Go ahead and bask in the glow of success with the Dodgers. You earned it. No resentment from me. I’m happy for you and your team. Of course, I wish it could be the Yankees that are joining you in the second round (do you even miss us at all, Joe?), but good job sweeping the Cubs. I bet you’ll get a lot of nice phone calls from Jeter, Pettitte, Jorge, and Mo. I wouldn’t count on one from Hankenstein though.

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Girardi’s Press Conference Today – Let’s Discuss

Just listened to the audio, courtesy of Peter Abraham’s blog, and Joe sounded as if his team hadn’t been bumped from the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. Sure, he used the word “disappointed” a couple of times, but the guy is nothing if not upbeat. Either he was born that way or he’s on Prozac.

A few of his answers stood out for me.
* He said he has a better understanding now of what makes individual players tick. (Gee, I would hope so after spending all those months with them.)
* He said there will be a conscious effort to avoid the slow start the Yankees got off to, both this year and last. (He didn’t say what that effort would involve, and I, for one, would have liked specifics.)
* He said the Yankees plan to upgrade the rotation so there will be more experienced pitchers on the staff, either by diving into the free agent market or through trades. One of the writers asked if the Yankees were still the “in” place for free agents. Girardi’s answer? “Sure, it is.” (Again, the man is upbeat.)
* He said he thinks Pettitte will return but doesn’t know about Mussina. (Am I the only one who wonders if the Yankees SHOULD bring Andy back?)
* He said he expects Posada, Matsui, Wang, and Mo to recover fully from their surgeries/injuries and be at full capacity when next season starts. (I think it’s the Prozac. Nobody is that cheerful about the future without at least a little medication.)
There were no juicy tidbits – Girardi didn’t venture a guess about what Cashman will decide and he didn’t commit to whether Joba will start or relieve, etc.
So, it looks like we’ll end the 2008 season the same way we ended 2007 – with plenty of uncertainty. Which means there will be lots of stuff to blog about.  

Taking the Yankees to the Movies

Since there was no game tonight, I decided
not to sit around watching the Red Sox beat up on Toronto. So
I went to see the new Coen brothers movie, “Burn After
Reading.” I thought it was boring – with the exception of
Brad Pitt, who’s hilarious as a dimwitted gym rat. At some
point I zoned out and spontaneously started casting different
Yankees in the parts of the actors. ***Spoiler Alert!*** I
picked Johnny Damon for the Brad Pitt role (well, Johnny’s
kind of goofy). A-Rod got George Clooney’s part as the guy
who cheats on both his wife and his girlfriends (enough
said). Andy Pettitte stepped in as the wholesome,
good-natured manager of the gym. Mussina landed John
Malkovich’s part as the intense CIA agent who’s writing his
memoirs. And Joe Girardi was an easy choice for the CIA boss
who just wants to bury the dead bodies and pretend
everything’s fine. As the credits rolled and it was time to
leave the theater, I had to laugh at my pathetic self. I
mean, it was just one rained out game and yet there I was,
going through withdrawal. I guess I missed Yankees baseball
so much I had to drag the players to the movies with me. I
REALLY need to prepare myself for the end of the season – and
soon.