Monthly Archive for October, 2006

Remember, this is Peter Gammons talking

Published
by
Seth Mnookin
on October 13, 2006
in 2006 Playoffs, Carlos Beltran, George Steinbrenner and Peter Gammons
. 3 Comments

“What did anyone expect to see when the Yankees were losing Saturday night? With the Yankees, and a growing extent the Red Sox, childish joy is not a part of the equation.”

– Peter Gammons, “Torre is not part of Yanks’ problem,” ESPN.com Insider column, October 11, 2006. (You’ll need an ESPN Insider account to read the whole piece, which was posted yesterday.)

It’s not that surprising that the image of Jim Leyland kissing a fan through a screen — an image of childish joy if there ever was one — is one of the most enduring images of the Tigers’ annihilation of the Yankees in the ALDS.

This’ll likely be the last post of the day: I’m about to head out to take a train to Boston and will be in a (non baseball-related conference) the rest of the day. So I’ll leave you with one last thought: it’s a good thing George Steinbrenner vetoed his baseball operations staff and decided to spend his money on an aging and gimpy Randy Johnson instead of a fleet-footed and still very elite Carlos Beltran in the ‘04 offseason…althought right now, I’m sure the Cardinals disagree.

My playoff wish-list picks, based on nothing other than pure emotion

Published
by
Seth Mnookin
on October 12, 2006
in 2006 Playoffs
. 4 Comments

What’s been missing in your life? That’s right: my totally unfounded, purely emotional picks for the playoffs. Here they are:

ALCS
This is a tough one. I’ve been pulling for managers instead of teams recently, and on the whole I think Ken Macha is a dolt; I also like Leyland. However, I do like Billy Beane a lot, and feel kind of sorry for the A’s — all that playoff futility can get old quick (just ask the Yankees). Mark Kotsay was one of the nicest guys I met last year; Jay Payton was one of the biggest dicks. As far as Detroit goes, I’ve hated Pudge ever since he stole the ‘99 MVP Award from Pedro. (Oh, and George King? Fuck you.) But Magglio has one of the best under-the-helmet afro-mullets imaginable, it’s hard not to love a guy who can throw 103 MPH (and doesn’t always know where the ball’s going), and there’s the whole ALDS thing. So I’m going for the Tigers in seven…based on nothing other than what I want.

NLCS
This one isn’t so hard. The factors pulling me towards St. Louis are: my many friends who are Cards fans; the fact that my father grew up in Missouri (although on the KC side); the way St. Louis fans always stay classy. The factor pulling me away is Tony LaRussa. I can’t stand the man.

With the Mets, I also have many close friends who are fans (including my publisher…and who else really matters?). There’s the Pedro factor — the only way I could root against the man is if he was wearing pinstripes — and there’s something undeniably appealing about the way Omar Minaya has managed to convince the world that his impressive collection of boneheaded moves (paying $43 million for a 35-year-old closer; paying $52 million for a 34-year-old pitcher with a lengthy history of physical problems) qualifies him as a certified genius.

So I’m going for the Mets in a sweep; it’d only be fitting that LaRussa, who’s been swept twice in the World Series already, get swept out of the playoffs once again.

World Series

Cardinals versus Tigers
That’s easy: a Tigers sweep

Cardinals versus A’s
Also easy: A’s in a sweep. This would be doubly satisfying because of LaRussa’s history with the A’s.

Mets versus Tigers
The toughest one to call. I’m an AL guy; plus, there’s a chance Leyland will make out with the first guy he sees, so I have to go with the Tigers in 7.

Mets versus A’s
I’m going with the Mets. It’ll make those people in New York who can’t stand the Yankees happy, we’ll get to see Pedro dance on the field, and David Wright can continue his assault on Derek Jeter’s mantle as the most overrated player in baseball.

If this is true, I pray that the NYC tabs put any puns on their frontpages

Published
by
Seth Mnookin
on October 11, 2006
in Uncategorized
. 3 Comments

All the reports coming in are saying that the pilot of the plane was the Yankees’ Cory Lidle.

To those Sox fans out there: don’t give the rest of the country more reasons to hate you by making light of this in any way.

(Wolf, of course, keeps it in perspective: “This comes only a few days after the Yankees were elminated from the playoffs.”)

Wolf Blitzer desperately wants an actual situation for his room

Published
by
Seth Mnookin
on October 11, 2006
in Broadcasting and CNN
. 0 Comments

Wolf Blitzer: “Are there ambulances that you can see? We can hear the sirens behind you.”
Anderson Cooper: “Actually what you’re hearing probably behind me is a parked car — the alarm just went off.”

And: Wolf just told viewers that the Bel Air is a building with “two- and three-bedroom apartments valued as high as 1.5 million dollars which is not unusual for a two- or three-bedroom apartment in New York City.” Clearly, Wolf hasn’t been on the market for a new apartment for some time; in August, the average price for a two-bedroom apartment on the UES was $1.8 million; for three bedrooms it was $2.5 mil.

CNN’s Richard Roth proves he’s fit to broadcast baseball games

Published
by
Seth Mnookin
on October 11, 2006
in Broadcasting, CNN and Media reporting
. 1 Comment

More gems from today’s coverage…

Around 3:15, CNN’s U.N. correspondent Richard Roth began reporting on-air. From him we learned that:

* When a plane crashes into a residential building, longtime enemies find a way to get beyond their natural animosity: “New York is a tale of many cities, and there are people who would rather, on the East Side rather fly to Chicago than go to the West Side of Manhattan, that’s the way New York is, but obviously it’s a cause for concern for everybody.”

* When the in-studio anchor said the accident scene was not far from LaGuardia, Roth took the opportunity to bitch about New York traffic: “In rush hour it can take forever.” Roth, pro that he is, did recover, and once he realized he was being asked if the accident site was far from LaGuardia via plane, he said, “It’s a great view at times but some painful memories.”

* And finally, it’s gotten harder and harder to buy a quart of milk at 2 am: “New York skyscrapers, it’s certainly a building boon in Manhattan over the last few years especially, even after 9/11. Downtown has got more construction and uptown you can’t walk a block in Manhatan without running in to major construction crews. Small stores and neighborhood stores keep closing in areas and you wonder how they get supplied with food and all that because you’ve got apartment buildings going up nonstop.”

Apparently, it’s not only the Bush administration that feels the U.N. doesn’t need to be a top priority.

Look, ma, I’m on TV!

Published
by
Seth Mnookin
on October 11, 2006
in Rampaging morons
. 0 Comments

At 3:23 pm, not long after live coverage of the plane crash into a 50-story apartment building on 72nd Street just east of the East River had begun, a young woman on her cellphone had strategically positioned herself behind a WABC-News reporter broadcasting from street level. Whenever he pivoted, she pivoted as well, making sure she remained in the camera shot; several times, it appeared as if whomever she was on the phone with told her she was on TV. At least I assume that’s why she was giggling and doing little mini-waves.

Less than 10 minutes later, CNN reported that NORAD had placed “combat aircraft” over “numerous U.S. cities.”

No, I have not forsaken baseball

Published
by
Seth Mnookin
on October 11, 2006
in 2006 Offseason and Daisuke Matsuzaka
. 1 Comment

And yes, I know there’s lots to talk about. I’ve been busy! So to tide folks over until I get back to year-end wrap-ups…

* The Seibu Lions’s Daisuke Matsuzaka was posted for free agency. This means: MLB teams can submit sealed bids to the Lions for the right to negotiate with Matsuzaka (or, rather, his agent, the warm and cuddly Scott Boras). The high bidder wins. The Sox, Yankees, and Mariners and thought to be the only teams in the hunt, and there’s speculation the total cost could be somewhere around $100 million ($25 mil for the right to negotiate; $75 for a six(ish) year contract.

The twenty-six year old Matsuzaka is rumored to throw gyroball, a pitch gripped as if you were giving a Vulcan greeting that spins like a football (or a bullet). If thrown correctly, it’s conceivably kind of a fastball/curve combo — traveling at fastball speed and breaking like a curve — and conceivably is unhittable. Matsuaka has said he doesn’t throw the pitch; still, there’s a YouTube link that seems to belie his claim. (Here’s a great piece on the gyro; all gyro links come via Sons of Sam Horn.

The upside to Matsuzaka is obvious: he could be one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball. The downside is also pretty obvious: players don’t always make smooth transitions to MLB. Also, he’s thrown a ridiculous amount of pitches in some games, including a 17-inning, 250-pitch outing that he followed with a no-hitter the next day. This seems like one of those genius/moron moves: if the Sox sign him and he’s everything everyone thinks he could be, Theo and the Trio will be on a pedestal once again. If he hurts himself or can’t handle MLB (or Boston), they’re borderline learning disabled. Makes me glad I don’t need to make decisions like that.

* Torii Hunter will not be patrolling center field for the Sox next year; the Twins picked up his option. After that it’s anyone’s guess: he’s already making Pedro-in-’04 threats about what’ll happen if the Twins don’t negotiate a long-term deal before the season starts. (It’s conceivable that Hunter’s balls-to-the-walls style is all that well suited to Fenway, anyway.

* Jim Thome beat out Frank Thomas (and Curt Schilling) as AL Comeback Player of the Year, which seems a) like a mistake, and b) yet more proof that awards are at least occasionally decided by what players are more popular with the press.

That’s all for now.

Oh, except: Joe Torre’s coming back. I’m not so sure that’s a good thing: the most important thing a manager does is keep his players interested over 162 games, and oftentimes there’s a shelf life on how long any one manager can (or should) last. That said, as soon as Steinbrenner started with his spoiled baby routine it was a lock Torre would be back in the Yankees dugout; if he was gonna go, it would have had to be a behind-the-scenes, quiet negotiation.