Yanks Break Self-Imposed Rules, Sign Chan Ho Park

The most prominent and overarching storyline of the Yankees offseason to this point has been their desire to stay under their predetermined but officially undisclosed budget. Particularly when it came to picking an option to reinforce left field, it was the primary concern. In acquiring South Korean right hander Chan Ho Park for $1.2M plus $300,000 in incentives, the Yanks have demonstrated that their adherence to their magic number wasn't simply dogmatic. The same goes for their practice of building their bullpen out of the minor leagues.

As was the case when Mark Teixeira was signed last year - although obviously to a far lesser extent - Brian Cashman decided that Chan Ho Park was worth lobbying the ownership to spend extra for. Park rejected a $3.25M offer to stay with the Phillies midway through the offseason and watched his price fall steadily until, apparently, the Yankees couldn't afford not to sign him.

Park began 2009 as a starter for the Phillies, struggled and was ultimately bumped to the bullpen after a particularly dismal 1 1/3 inning, 5 run effort against the Nationals in mid-May. Once transitioned to the 'pen, he was extremely useful for the Phils, pitching more than one inning in 13 of his 38 appearances and compiling a 2.52 ERA over 50 innings in relief. Park blew Game 2 of the NLCS against the Dodgers but was otherwise very effective in the postseason as well, particularly against the Yanks in the World Series (3.1 IP, 0 ER).

Prior to the move, it seemed like the Yankees were essentially set in the bullpen with Rivera, Hughes/Chamberlain, Robertson, Aceves, Marte, and some combination of Gaudin/Mitre/Logan/Melancon. Given the Major League deal to Park, it's likely that he makes the team out of Spring Training. Consequently, the Yanks may decide to trade Gaudin and his $2.95M salary, as he could be more valuable to a team in need of a 5th starter than one who would employ him primarily as a mop-up man. They could also decide to stash the loser of the much ballyhooed Hughes-Chamberlain Battle in Scranton to start the season, although Joel Sherman doesn't think that is very likely.

Of course, the Yankees are going to catch some flak for this because of the emphasis they've continued to place on the budget. But Brain Cashman isn't a politician. He doesn't need to get re-elected or appease his constituents, so it doesn't matter that he deviated slightly from a previously stated plan (or two). In the end, it's not about sticking to the stated goals; it's about making the team better.

All told, the signing does seem likely to make the Yankees better. During an offseason in which many teams were more than willing to pay good relief pitchers far more than they deserved, Cashman and Co. found a relative bargain. You can question whether or not the signing was really necessary - or worth exceeding the budget for - given that the bullpen was already in good shape, but it's hard to argue that this isn't a good value for the Yanks.

It Was Thirty Years Ago Today

Good morning Fackers. Believe or not, I was planning on running this post this morning even before last night's Team USA win over Team Canada in Vancouver. Last night's game was certainly an upset. But personally, I don't believe it's as big of an upset as many are making it out to be. Either way, it's certainly not half the upset as the one that took place in Lake Placid, NY thirty years ago today.

This is the fourth Winter Olympics featuring NHL players, and the fifth featuring professional players. Hockey wise, we're so far removed from the 1980 Miracle on Ice, that it's easy to lose sight of just how massive an upset that game was.

The Soviet team was easily the greatest assemblage of hockey talent on the face of the planet in February of 1980. With the Iron Curtain still firmly in place, the NHL was still nearly a decade away from importing its first Russian talents. The Soviet National Team featured the best players of - at worst - the second most hockey-crazed nation on the face of the planet. They trained and played with, literally, military precision. They had gone 3-4-1 against the NHL's best Canadians in the 1972 Summit Series, dominated lesser WHA talent 4-1-3 in the '74 Summit Series, and more recently had gone 2-1 with a +5 goal differential against a squad of NHL All-Stars in the 1979 Challenge Cup. For all intents and purposes, the Soviets were a professional All-Star team competing in an amateur tournament.

On the flip side, Team USA was an assemblage of American collegiate talent led by University of Minnesota head coach Herb Brooks. Brooks was the final player cut from the 1960 US squad, a team that went on to win gold in Squaw Valley. Heading into the 1980 Games, that was the final time the Soviet didn't win men's Olympic gold. Brooks' captain was former BU Terrier Mike Eruzione, the team's oldest player at 25, who was three years removed from his collegiate days and toiling in the minors at the IHL level before joining the Olympic squad. Less than two weeks prior to the Miracle on Ice, the Soviets had crushed Team USA 10-3 in the final pre-Olympic warm up.

Something similar was expected on the evening of February 22, 1980, part of the round robin medal round. Instead, on the strength of a goal from Eruzione that proved to be the game winner, the US beat the Russians 4-3. A win against Finland in their next game clinched the gold.

As I compose this post, the post game coverage on MSNBC is declaring last night's game the biggest upset since the Miracle on Ice. It's not even close. It's not even in the neighborhood. The forty skaters to take the ice last night are all high caliber NHL players. Not all are superstars, but all are professionals playing in the best league in the world. Yes, the Canadian roster is absolutely stacked. Yes, perhaps maybe just three or four of the US players could crack the Canadian line up. But in a short tournament - hell even on any given night in the NHL - anything can happen. For a pumped up Team USA to come out and beat Team Canada last night is an upset, and is impressive. But, without even considering the socio-political climate of 1980, last night's game is worlds away from the Miracle on Ice.

That said, yesterday was a great day for hockey. The Big Six all paired up in a trio of good match ups: Eastern European powers Russian and the Czech Republic in the afternoon, the Battle of North America in the evening, and Sweden and Finland in a Scandinavian Showdown for the night cap. We'll see all of them again in the medal round.

As nice as it was to see the US win last night, I was hopeful they would save their upset for the medal round. Canada and Russia are loaded, and with both teams being upset this week, I don't know how good the chances are that they both lose again before it's all said and done. As exciting as it was to see the Swiss push Canada in to the brink in a shootout loss on Thursday, part of me was relieved that Canada pulled it out, postponing their upset for another day.

Still, who knows what will happen over the remainder of the tournament. Perhaps the US can recapture a bit of the Miracle from 30 years ago. Their roster features two defensemen with ties to the 1980 team. Ryan Suter is the son of 1980's defenseman Bob Suter, and my former classmate at Boston College, Brooks Orpik, is named after the coach of the '80 team. Come this time next week we'll know if this is their time. I'm going to enjoy watching it all unfold.

Not So Breaking News: Damon To Tigers

Hello Fackers. We interrupt this regularly scheduled weekend to bring you a breaking news bulletin. Johnny Damon, he of the magical DNA and absurd contract demands, has finally signed. Our long national nightmare is over.

Out of any alternate options, Damon has reportedly signed with the Tigers for one year, $8M, with no deferred money. All things considered, Scott Boras' mysterious powers over Tigers' owner Mike Ilitch was the only saving grace for his client. The Tigers were bidding against themselves essentially, and Boras was still able to get his client more than he rightly could expect by this point.

Still, Damon's deal is a far cry from Boras' initial three year $39M demand to the Yankees, a far cry from the terms discussed prior to Nick Johnson signing, and not much more than the Yankees' final offer of one year $6M. In the end, Damon was left with no other option but to ink a deal with Detroit, a franchise whose offseason began by dumping important cogs in Curtis Granderson, Edwin Jackson, and Placido Polanco, but concluded with signing a closer to a two year $14M deal and paying a 36 year old left fielder more than anyone else was willing.

We wish Damon all the best in Detroit, and Yankee fans will fondly remember his contributions over the past four seasons. But, as our friend Jason likes to remind us, and as Johnny Damon has illustrated for the second time in his career, it's about the money, stupid.

Friday Morning Linkaround

Hang in there, Fackers. There sweet salvation of the weekend has almost arrived. Like yesterday, the the content is going to be fairly slow around here as the reports out of this stage of Spring Training aren't worth extrapolating upon and Matt and I are held up with the tedious obligations which actually provide us with monetary compensation. The best we can do is direct you towards some interesting reading material to hold you over:

Friend of the blog Marc Carig asked Joe Girardi a bunch of questions proposed by his Twitter followers. Carig polished up the best sub-140 character entries into actual queries and did his beat reportedly duty of following them up as well. (You can follow the Star-Ledger scribe on his personal Twitter account or with the paper. Or as I do, tag along with both.)

He doesn't go out of his way to publicize it or post on it very often, but Craig Calcaterra keeps a personal blog. Yesterday, inspired by the receipt of his Spring Training itinerary, he recalled his many unsuccessful attempts to have an enjoyable trip to Florida in the past.

Larry from Wezen-Ball used his uncanny powers of research to dig up some features from LIFE Magazine on Spring Training. The Wezenmaster also discovered, as we did last year, the bounty of Spring Training photos in the LIFE Photo Archive on Google, where we shamelessly sampled the banner of the site from. Poke around there and you'll find gems like the one at the top of the post.

Sorry Joe McCarthy, Joe Torre and Billy Martin. Rob Neyer could only find room for one former Yankee manager on Managerial Mount Rushmore. (I'm not counting John McGraw who managed the franchise for the first two seasons when they were still in Baltimore and called the Orioles before bolting to the New York Giants.)

The Bloomberg Sports Blog, headed by the esteemed Jonah Keri, is now up and running. It should be an excellent resource for fantasy geeks and statheads alike.

Jeremy Greenhouse of Baseball Analysts put the "Verducci Effect" under a scientific microscope and guess what... It doesn't pass the P-Value test.

In the Journal News, Chad Jennings notes that Yankee starters will begin their throwing schedule slightly later than normal due to the additional innings they tossed in the postseason.

Ben Shpigel profiled Andrew Brackman today in the New York Times.

The Sports Herina mined photo gold from Yankees camp.

Brew Crew Ball created a Mad Lib of sorts with which you can concoct your own passe Spring Training storylines. As Craig says, "It actually works pretty well. So well in fact that I wouldn't be surprised if the beat writer's guild has called an emergency meeting to see which of them was supposed to be on duty when the secret formula was stolen."

Alex Remington at Big League Stew compares Jonathan Papelbon's career thus far to Mariano Rivera's and concludes that they aren't as far apart as we so boldly stated on Wednesday.

Impromptu Movie Review: Sugar

I'd been meaning to see Sugar for a long time. I don't usually go to movies in theaters but I had heard good things about this one via Rob Neyer and others, so it piqued my interest. I was still living on the Upper West Side at the time and on my walk home from work I noticed the title listed on the black and white board outside of the Lincoln Plaza Theaters (not the huge Lincoln Center complex with the IMAX a few blocks north, the one that shows more independent stuff closer to Columbus Circle). After a few more nights, I convinced a girl I was dating to go see it with me. We walked by to see what time it was playing, but it wasn't up on the board as we approached. When we asked the woman at the box office, it turned out they pulled it the night before.

Just before Christmas, I was browsing for gifts on Amazon and the movie showed up in my recommended items. I saw there was a used copy for about $5 and figured it was well worth that plus shipping. But I ended up buying the presents elsewhere and it sat in my cart for a couple of weeks before I thought of it again. By the time I checked back, the only used copies were fairly expensive and I lost the ambition to make the purchase.

Then, two weeks ago, Bryan Smith put up a post on FanGraphs about the movie and I made it a point to go back to Amazon to get a copy. With shipping it was something like $13. Over the weekend, I finally got around to watching it.

My favorite thing about Sugar is that it vividly captures a reality in baseball that we don't think of of willfully choose to disregard. We see someone like Robinson Cano arrive in the Bronx with the ability to play in the Majors, but take for granted that he had to come up through the minors and learn countless lessons in order to pick up on the nuances of American culture. What we almost never consider at all are the prospects from other countries that never pan out and what happens to them after they've given up their dream to make it to the Majors.

The main character, Miguel "Sugar" Santos, starts in the fictional Kansas City Knights training camp in the Domincan Republic, where players not only improve their skills but learn simple baseball terms like "I got it" and "fly ball" in English. When he gets invited to come to the States and begin his ascent through the minors, he's throw into a completely unfamiliar situation.

While playing baseball in the United States does represent a great opportunity for the lucky prospects that make it here, coming from the Dominican Republic (or Venezuela, or Mexico, or especially Cuba) being thrust into America has to be extremely disorienting.

One of the best scenes of the movie comes in a restaurant when he first comes to Spring Training. One of the Dominicans, Jorge, had been in camp before and takes a few of the new recruits out to a diner. With their eyes glazing over looking at the unfamiliar menu, Jorge orders French toast. Reluctant to try pick or pronounce any of the foreign items on the menu, they all get French toast.

Sugar continues with his routine until one night, sitting in the booth alone, he works up the courage to order eggs. The waitress asks how he'd like them, and unable to to understand what "scrambled" or "over easy" means, he reverts to French toast once again. The waitress brings him what he ordered, but in addition, drops off a plate with three different kinds off eggs for him to try and explains which is which.

Sugar gets called up to Kansas City's minor league team in Bridgeport, Iowa and is given a host family. They seem to be genuinely kind and generous, but their Spanish is just as bad as his English. During a tour of the house, the mother uses the Spanish word for "soup" when referring to "soap".

Unlike so many baseball movies, Sugar is subtle and understated. Sure, for baseball geeks like us, some of the technical baseball stuff seems a bit hokey, but the movie isn't as much about baseball as it is experiencing America from the outside with the game serving as a conduit.

In stark contrast to films like The Natural, the Major League series, and Rookie of the Year, Sugar doesn't require you to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy it. As opposed to Mr. Baseball, it doesn't need a superstar to drive it's plot. Unlike Field of Dreams, it didn't even require a trained actor to play the lead role.

It's hard to make a good baseball movie. Take a look through this list and that fact will become even more apparent. Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck struck a perfect balance between being over the top and being boring which, given the history of the genre, is extremely hard to do. Highly recommended.

Five More Invited To Spring Training

Sometimes it's better to be invited to the party late than not be invited at all. Last week we took a brief look at the Yankees twenty non-roster invitees to Spring Training. Yesterday they added five more invitees to the list. No word as to whether the three new pitchers were notified before yesterday or if they will be given extra time to report if they were not. Here's a look.

Pitchers (3)
D.J. Mitchell
Dustin Moseley
Ryan Pope

Mitchell was a tenth round pick in 2008, made his professional debut last year, and turned in an outstanding season between Charleston and Tampa. Moseley has made 64 appearances for the Angels since 2006, but missed nearly all of last year with elbow and hip injuries. He was signed to a minor league deal that was also announced yesterday. Pope was a third round pick in 2007 and spent last season at AA Trenton. None has any realistic chance of making the team, though Moseley could provide depth at AAA.

Infielders (2)
Brandon Laird
Jorge Vazquez

Like fellow non roster invitee Colin Curtis, Brandon Laird had an impressive stint in the Arizona Fall League. He's lucky not to be playing in the Arizona Penal League this year, following his arrest, and that of brother Gerald, at a Phoenix Suns game this winter. Vazquez, like Alfredo Aceves, Ramiro Pena, and Manny Banuelos, was signed out of Mexico, which is becoming a lucrative pipeline for the Yankees. Vazquez' season at AA Trenton was cut short by injury, but he did some serious damage with the bat while healthy. That said, it should be noted that Vazquez was quite advanced for the league at 27 years old.

Laird is a third baseman who may be switched to first, Vazquez is a first baseman who has experience at third, catcher, and the outfield from his days in the Mexican League. They are the only infielders amongst the non-roster invitees and have absolutely no chance of making the team.

The five additional non-roster invitees brings the total number of players in camp to 65.

Spring Training Countdown Epilogue & Table Of Contents

As Matt conveyed in both his Bobby Murcer piece yesterday and Oddibe McDowell post this morning, our Spring Training Countdown has reached it's conclusion and it's time for baseball, however informal it may be when camp begins. If you we were reading this blog a year ago, you might remember our first crack at the Countdown. Matt wasn't yet on board but we had other contributors like Joe (who came up with the idea for it), Boston Bren (who is responsible for the layout of the blog), and Cliff (who helps out with behind the scenes stuff here) all chipping in. The idea was to infuse the doldrums of the offseason with some history.

This year we left a few behind (Roger Clemens, Jorge Posada) but brought forward a lot of those posts and made significant additions and edits. With Matt now in the fold, he was able to draw on his vast reservoir of Yankee knowledge and add depth to many of the pieces, even those that have my byline on them.

I originally thought that resurrecting the Countdown would be a time saver. We could pull the posts forward, make some minor changes and have some easy content. But it turns out that every time I got to editing one of them, it would seem woefully incomplete or clumsily arranged. It ended up being a lot more work than I had anticipated, but the end result is 34 pretty interesting pieces, most of which we can build upon when next year rolls around.

Hopefully you the reader got something out of them too. Maybe some knowledge about Joe DiMaggio's time with the San Francisco Seals or some background on a player you didn't know much about like Gil McDougald or Spud Chandler. Perhaps some sympathy for Dave Righetti being thrust into the closer's role or a newfound respect for Roy White's career. Something interesting about the outlook for Mark Teixeira or Robinson Cano's upcoming season. Or were just reminded of some fond memories of Phil Rizzuto, Bobby Murcer or Thurman Munson.

25- Mark Teixiera

24- Robinson Cano

23- Don Mattingly

22- Allie Reynolds

21- Spud Chandler

21- Paul O'Neill

20- Kevin Youkilis

19- Dave Righetti

18- Johnny Damon

17- Gene Michael

17- Oscar Gamble

16- Dwight Gooden

16- Whitey Ford

15- Tom Tresh

15- Thurman Munson

14- Lou Pinella

13- Mike Pagliarulo

13- Alex Rodriguez

12- Gil McDougald

11- Buck Showalter

11- Lefty Gomez

10- Chris Chambliss

10- Phil Rizzuto

9- Graig Nettles

9- Roger Maris

8- Billy Dickey

8- Yogi Berra

7- Mickey Mantle

6- Roy White

5- Joe DiMaggio

4 & 3- Lou Gehrig & Babe Ruth

2- Derek Jeter

1- Billy Martin

1- Bobby Murcer

I know I learned a lot by putting together the ones I did, and even more by reading Matt's work. Hopefully when next year rolls around, though, we'll look at this series with fresh eyes, dust off these pieces and make them more complete. Perhaps we'll decide that we need to pay homage to Moose Skowron, Jimmy Key, Bobby Richardson and Vic Raschi. Maybe we'll start with #32, Elston Howard.

0 Days Until Spring Training: Here Comes The Sun

Good morning Fackers. This is Oddibe McDowell. McDowell was drafted an astounding six times, including once by the Yankees, before finally signing with the Texas Rangers in 1984. A once promising prospect and member of the loaded 1984 U.S. Olympic team, McDowell became a middling outfielder for the Rangers, Indians, and Braves. He spent parts of just seven seasons in the Majors, finishing his professional career with fourteen games for the Columbus Clippers, the Yankees' AAA affiliate, in 1995.

So why does Oddibe appear here? Because no Yankee has ever worn zero on his back. One time Yankee Cliff Johnson wore 00 during his time with the Blue Jays in the 1980s, but I can't find any pictures of it. So Oddibe, the one time Yankee draft pick and minor leaguer, who wore 0 during his time at Arizona State and with the Rangers as a numerical representation of the first letter of his first name, brings our countdown to Spring Training to the magic number of zero.

And with that, here we are. My area in Connecticut got walloped with about ten inches of snow yesterday. My commute home took twice as long as usual. My driveway was a sheet of ice this morning. And I don't care. Because as of today, it's baseball season.

At some point today, thirty five Yankee pitchers and seven Yankee catchers will report to the team's complex in Tampa. Lockers will be filled. Physicals will be taken. And tomorrow, official workouts will begin, and I will never be so enthused about pitchers' fielding practice.

Welcome back baseball. It's been a long, cold, lonely winter.

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
And I say it's alright,

Little darling, it's been a long, cold, lonely winter,
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here,
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
And I say it's all right.

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces,
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here,
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
And I say it's all right.

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting,
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear,
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
And I say it's all right.

Jonathan Papelbon ≠ Mariano Rivera. Ever.

Take it away, Gordon Edes...

I'm sorry, what?

Again, but just the second part:

Whose path?

Okay.

Mariano Rivera's "path" began in Puerto Caimito, Panama playing baseball with makeshift equipment in the streets. He signed with the Yankees for $3,000 and spent 5 years toiling in the minors. Now he's won 5 World Series, is the greatest closer ever and has accomplished it all with a freakish reliance on one pitch. Jonathan Papelbon was a starting pitcher in the minors, has one World Series ring and closes for a team in the AL East, but you lose me after that.

Now, aside from the fact that both guys have three vowels in their last name, what are these amazing off the field similarities?

When you compare the earnings curve of the Yankees' icon and the Red Sox All-Star, there are definite parallels, especially in the way both have worked on one-year deals in the early years of their careers.

Yes. Them and 75% of the other players to reach the Major Leagues. See, there is a process called arbitration, and most players aren't offered multi-year deals that buy out... Nevermind. Maybe I'm nitpicking here, but "off the field" usually refers to a player's life away from baseball, not his contract status with his team.

But continue, Gordon, with these uncanny parallels:

Rivera had two Series rings when he became eligible for arbitration for the first time in 1999 and signed a one-year deal for $4.25 million. He went to an arbitration hearing before the following season, 2000, and lost, receiving a contract for $7.25 million after asking for $9.25 million. His $3 million raise was just $100,000 short of what Papelbon received.

Yes, what a coincidence that Papelbon and Rivera both performed well, went through the same process and got similarly proportioned raises. It's almost as if Papelbon's agent used Rivera as a precedent!

And now for the part where Edes completely submarines his own analogy:

Papelbon has demonstrated that he will not settle for anything less than what he considers fair value for his talents, and the Red Sox may not be willing to pay eight figures for a closer. And unlike the Yankees, the Red Sox have a prospective closer-in-waiting in Daniel Bard.

The last Yankees closer before Rivera was an All-Star named John Wetteland, who was named MVP of the 1996 World Series after saving all four games against the Atlanta Braves. But after the season, the Yankees allowed Wetteland to leave as a free agent because Rivera was in the wings. And we all know how that worked out.

Got that folks? Jonathan Papelbon = Mariano Rivera. Until the last paragraph, wherein Jonathan Papelbon = John Wetteland and Daniel Bard becomes Rivera.

Was Jonathan Papelbon raised in a fishing village in Panama? Did he once work upon a commercial shrimping boat? Is he devoutly religious? Is he fluent in Spanish? Does he own a steakhouse in New Rochelle?

No. Jonathan Papelbon is a blithering ignoramus who picks out names for his kids based on whether they are "badass" or not. He says stupid things without thinking. He's a demonstrative douchebag on the mound. He does not throw a cut fastball. He's part childish buffoon and part ungracious asshole. In short he's the anti-Mo.

Rivera is as distinguished of a player as there is active in baseball. He conducts himself with dignity and class in every facet in his life that is visible to the public. It's nothing short of insulting to Mo to equate him to Papelbon in an way. To do so is to stoop to lazy, hacky journalism. Eventually, someone may follow in Mariano Rivera's "path" to some extent. But that person will not be Jonathan Papelbon.

Wang To Sign With Nats

After a week of swirling rumors that Chien-Ming Wang had signed, was about to sign, or had not at all signed with the Nationals, the deal was officially announced today. Wang gets $2M guaranteed with potential for an additional $3M in incentives. At one point this off-season the Yankees gave the impression they would match any offer. I don't know if they were given the opportunity in this case, but that's likely more money than the Yankees should rightly spend on Wang. Brian Cashman said he could only offer a minor league deal with heavy incentives.

As for the Nats, I like this signing. It should be a low risk, high potential reward deal for them. Wang is still relatively young and had been a very good pitcher up until a Fathers' Day 2008 injury sent his career on a downward spiral. If he can rebound - and that's no small task given his dreadful performance last season, three shoulder injuries, and two shoulder surgeries to his credit - Wang's sinker may work well in Nationals Park, which has been somewhat pitcher friendly in its brief history. Of course, as Jay's outstanding post last week pointed out, recapturing that sinker may not be a sure thing. If Wang can't remaster his top pitch, something he was having difficulty with even prior to his 2008 injury, this may be the end of the road for him.

Wang was the Yankees first homegrown starting pitcher of any substance since Andy Pettitte debuted some ten years before him. He provided the team with two excellent seasons in 2006 and 2007, and pretty effective partial seasons in 2005 and 2008. It was always enjoyable to watch hitters feebly roll over yet another of Wang's heavy sinkers. As we've detailed here many times before, it's a real shame that a fluke injury and some questionable decision making have left him at this stage.

We wish CMW all the best in DC, and remain hopeful he can recreate his past success. And who knows, after this turn back the clock off-season, maybe we'll see Wang in pinstripes again some day. I just hope he's careful on the basepaths in the NL. In the meantime, maybe the Yankees can sign some one else with a funny last name so we could all continue to make juvenile jokes.

1 Day Until Spring Training: Bobby Murcer

One day. One more day until one of my favorite sentences in the English language will be uttered: "Pitchers and catchers report". I know it's cliched. I know unofficial workouts have been taking place in earnest for a few days now. But there's something special about having an official date when we know the offseason is over. A date when we know we'll soon be talking about real baseball stories instead of speculating about where Johnny Damon or Chien-Ming Wang will sign. A date when we can stop speculating about if and when Derek Jeter will re-sign, and for how long and how much, and who will eventually replace him next year, or in 2014, or whenever.

I would hate to be the guy to replace Derek Jeter. The burden of expectations might be too much to bear. Last year we saw Mark Teixeira struggle somewhat early on in replacing Jason Giambi, who in turn had struggled in replacing Tino Martinez, who had struggled in replacing a Yankee legend in Don Mattingly. In Derek Jeter we're on a different level. We're talking about a Yankee icon with a grip on the psyche of the fanbase that goes beyond what even Donnie Baseball had. A sure first ballot Hall of Famer. A five time (at least) World Series champion. The Captain of the Yankees. One of the top two or three shortstops ever to play the game.

Yankee history has had more than its share of legends. And for every legend to hang up his cleats some poor soul has had the unenviable taks of replacing him. Some have done so with great success; others were not so fortunate. Babe Dahlgren begged Lou Gehrig not to take himself out of the line up. Yogi Berra succeeded Bill Dickey with aplomb, as did Mickey Mantle in replacing Joe DiMaggio. Thurman Munson was worthy heir to the Dickey-Berra-Howard line of catchers, then poor Jerry Narron and Brad Gulden had the unthinkably difficult job of taking the Captain's place just days after his untimely death. But perhaps no one in Yankee history was saddled with greater expectations than Bobby Murcer.

Bobby Murcer was supposed to be the next Mickey Mantle. Murcer, like Mantle, was from Oklahoma. Murcer, like Mantle, was a baseball and football star in high school. Murcer, like Mantle, came up through the Yankees system as a shortstop. Murcer so badly wanted to follow in the foot steps of his hero Mantle that he signed with the Yankees in 1964 for $10,000, half of what the Dodgers offered him. The scout that inked him to that deal was Tom Greenwade, the same man who had signed Mantle fifteen years earlier. When Murcer made his Major League debut in late 1965 at 19 years old, the same age at which Mantle debuted, The Mick still had three full seasons of his career ahead of him. It didn't matter. The press and the fans were hungry to anoint the next chosen one, and it was Murcer. Hitting a game winning home run in just his second Major League game only increased the level of expectation.

Entering the following season, Murcer was considered the favorite to win the starting shortstop job, the position vacated with the retirement of Tony Kubek. The Yankees broke camp with Murcer platooning with veteran Ruben Amaro, but through seven games, and just three starts, Murcer had struggled to a .071/.071/.071 batting line and had made three errors in just 31 defensive innings. Manager Johnny Keane buried him on the bench, and eventually he was sent to AAA. He returned when rosters expanded in September, but struggled through the season's final month.

Unlike Mantle, Murcer did not have a 4F exemption from military service, and he lost the entirety of the 1967 and '68 seasons while in the Army. He returned for the 1969 season, just as Mantle announced his retirement during Spring Training. Murcer won the third base job and was htting the tar out of the ball. But after committing fourteen errors through just thirty one games, Murcer was moved to right field, the same position where Mantle began his Major League career. He spent the next three and half months there, and by the end of August, he had inherited the same center field that Mantle and DiMaggio patrolled before him.

Murcer spent the next four plus years as the Yankee center fielder. Though the team languished around .500 (save for a surprising 93 win season in '70), Murcer thrived. Through the first five full years of his career he hit .287/.362/.482, good for 143 OPS+ and averaging 26 HR per season. He won a Gold Glove, started three consecutive All-Star Games, and had three consecutive top ten MVP finishes. He led the AL in OBP, OPS, and OPS+ in '71, then followed that by leading the League in runs and total bases the following year. He had several top ten finishes on the League Leader board for average, on base, hits, walks, times on base, total bases, doubles, home runs, and RBI. He might not have been the next Mantle, but as Joe Posnanski pointed out earlier this year, he was in the discussion for best player in the game during this stretch.

Things went south for Murcer in 1974. With Yankee Stadium undergoing renovations, the Yankees moved to Shea Stadium. There, without the friendly right field porch, Murcer dropped to .274/.332/.378 (106 OPS+) with only ten home runs, just two of them coming at Shea. By late May, manager Bill Virdon had shifted Murcer to right field, upsetting the veteran who valued his being the successor to Hall of Famers Earle Combs, DiMaggio, and Mantle. After the season, Murcer was traded for Bobby Bonds in a blockbuster deal. While it was surely difficult for the team and the fans to see a homegrown talent shipped away, Bonds turned in an outstanding 1975 for the Yankees and then was flipped for Mickey Rivers and Ed Figueroa, two key cogs of the teams that went on to win three consecutive pennants and back-to-back World Series.

Murcer's numbers rebounded in San Francisco, but Bobby made no secret of his dislike of windy Candlestick Park, where he hit just 17 home runs over two seasons. From there it was on to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field for the '77 and '78 seasons. Then, in late June of '79, Murcer was traded back to New York, where he had always wanted to be. His return would be bittersweet. Not because he had missed out on the winning of '76-'78, but because he was about to lose his best friend.

Thurman Munson and Bobby Murcer had forged a close friendship during Murcer's first go-round in New York. Munson debuted late in 1969, during Murcer's first full season with the club. In the bottom of the sixth inning of Munson's second career game, Murcer led off with a home run. Munson followed with a long ball of his own for his first Major League homer, then Gene Michael followed with a third straight home run. It was just the third time in club history that the Yankees had gone back-to-back-to-back. Murcer and Munson became sort of a next generation of the M&M boys, and the two young superstars were amongst the few bright spots as the Yankees emerged from one of the few extended down periods in their history.

Murcer had been back with the Yankees for just over a month when they arrived in Chicago for a three game series on July 30th. Murcer still had a home in the area thanks to his time with the Cubs, and rather than stay at the team hotel, Murcer and his wife Kay hosted Munson and Lou Piniella throughout the series. On Wednesday August 1st, the series concluded with the Yankees taking a 9-1 victory. After the game, Bobby and Kay drove Munson to the airport, where he hopped in his plane and flew home to Canton, Ohio for the off day. It was the last time anyone from the Yankees would see him alive. The next day Munson crashed practicing takeoffs and landings.

On the morning of Monday August 6th, the entire Yankees team, coaching staff, and front office was in Canton. They were scheduled to play the division leading Baltimore Orioles in New York that night. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn had advised the team against attending Munson's funeral, but George Steinbrenner would hear nothing of it. The man who once said winning was second to only breathing was prepared to forfeit the game if the Yankees couldn't get back in time. But there was no way his club wouldn't be attending their Captain's funeral.

There, Piniella and Murcer, Munson's roommates for the last few nights of his life, eulogized him. Murcer broke down during his and on the flight home manager Billy Martin told the emotionally drained Murcer he would have the night off. Murcer refused, saying he felt he needed to play. So Martin penciled Murcer in as the left fielder, and batted him second. He would go on to have his signature night as a Yankee.

In the seventh inning, Murcer stepped to the plate with two outs. The Yankees were down 4-0; Bucky Dent was on third, Willie Randolph on second. Murcer was 0 for 3 on the night, having fanned, flown out to right, and lined to short. This time his luck changed, as he yanked a Dennis Martinez offering into the right field stands to cut the O's lead to one.

In the ninth, Murcer came to the plate again. Again Dent was on third, Randolph on second. The score was still 4-3. There were no outs, and now left handed Tippy Martinez was on the mound. Under normal circumstances the lefty swinging veteran would have been lifted for a pinch hitter. But Martin let him hit, and Murcer delivered with a base hit to left, giving the Yankees the game. Murcer drove in all five Yankee runs in the 5-4 win. He and fellow eulogist shared a hug in the dugout and Murcer saw to it that Munson's widow Diane received the bat.

Murcer remained with the Yankees for three more years, posting great numbers in part time duty in '80 and '81. He finally reached the World Series in '81, but went 0 for 4 in limited duty as the Yankees blew a 2-0 lead and fell to the Dodgers in six games. His numbers slipped a bit in '82, and after getting off to a slow start in '83, Murcer retired to make room on the roster for a young player named Don Mattingly.

The end of his playing career marked the start of Bobby Murcer's second career with the Yankees. He proceeded immediately to the broadcast booth, and worked there for the '83 and '84 seasons. He became an assistant general manager in '85 and briefly attempted a comeback that year, abandoning it after four minor league games. He served as a coach in '87, and in '88 he returned to the broadcast booth for the Yankees' final season on SportsChannel. In '89 he was part of the original Yankees' crew for their first season on MSG, then reunited with Phil Rizzuto on WPIX in '90. Murcer remained with WPIX until they lost the Yankees' broadcast rights following the 1998 season. He spent the next three seasons doing Yankee games for FOX5, and then joined the YES Network for its launch in 2002. Murcer also became part owner of his the AAA club in his hometown of Oklahoma City in 1989, and served as the club president for a few years. He was a regular at Old Timers Day throughout his retirement. In later years, Murcer was miked up and would announce from the field. He also took to employing current Yankees as his personal hitting coach for the Old Timers game, as Hideki Matsui, Jason Giambi, and others unsuccessfully attempted to coax one more homer out of Murcer.

On Christmas Eve 2006 Murcer was diagnosed with brain cancer. He faced his diagnosis with the same bravery and dignity that marked his playing and broadcast career. He returned to the booth after receiving treatment, but suffered a relapse in 2008. He succumbed to the disease on July 12th.

Bobby Murcer didn't turn out to be the next Mickey Mantle, but he had a full and successful career. For one generation of fans, he was the Yankee superstar as they scuttled through the early 70s. For my generation, he was our Phil Rizzuto, the kindly, entertaining former great in the broadcast booth. Easy to relate to and impossible not to like. But whether one remembers him as a player or as an announcer, for any Yankee fan of the past 45 years, it's impossible not to remember Bobby Murcer. Just as he titled his autobiography, Murcer will always be a Yankee for Life.

1 Day Until Spring Training: Billy Martin

There are 741 billion different ways to arrange a 25 man roster into a 9 slot line-up. Once you select the 9 best players that number drops to 362,880. Surprisingly, at least according to countless computer simulations, the way a manager chooses to arrange those 9 players from there doesn't have that much of an impact on the amount of runs the line up produces.

There are only so many ways a manager can impact the outcome of a game. Most of the decisions a manager has to make, like removing a starting pitcher, pinch hitting, or intentionally walking a hitter are technically possible at all times. However, no reasonable observer would advocate going to the bullpen in the first inning unless there was an injury or a complete melt down by the pitcher. No one would suggest intentionally walking a batter to lead off the 7th in a tie game. Like batting order, once you narrow the moves a manager can make down to a fairly reasonable set of options, the decision amongst them isn't statistically likely to make much of a difference.

So how is it that Billy Martin is universally remembered as "a genius who could turn almost any kind of team into a winner"? How could he have been so influential when even the best decisions could only have a limited impact on the field?

Martin spent 11 seasons as a player in the major leagues, six and a half with the Yankees. A second baseman by trade, Billy put in some time at third and short, allowing Casey Stengel some of the flexibility that he so cherished. In his playing days, Martin was scrappy and gritty and all of those terms that people use to describe players that appeared to be trying hard but weren't particularly good. He could play defense but couldn't really hit for average. Or power. Or get on-base. Or steal bases once he got on. But Stengel was Martin's most fervent advocate, so the Yanks kept him around.

During his time with the Bombers, he was part of four World Series winning teams (1951, 1952, 1953 & 1956). It was more a matter of great timing than his production. He played alongside Mickey Mantle, Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, Gil McDougald, Moose Skowron, and Elston Howard and behind Whitey Ford, Allie Reynolds, Vic Raschi and Eddie Lopat.

In 1953 - one of his finer seasons with the Yanks - he was the only person on the team to appear in more than 60 games and have an OPS+ of less than 100. However, over the 28 World Series games in which he appeared, he hit .333, well above his career mark of .257.

It might have been this success in the World Series that endeared him to superstar teammates Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford. The trio were legendary for their after hours gallivanting throughout New York City and on the road. The fact that he involved Mantle and Ford in his partying was what got him traded in the middle of the 1957 season following the legendary brawl at the Copacabana.

Yankees General Manager George Weiss viewed Martin as a bad influence on the team's stars and dealt him to the Kansas City Athletics in a seven player deal shortly after the fight. After the '57 season, he was traded from KC to Detroit, then to Cleveland, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Minnesota, never spending more than a season with any organization as a player. He did stay with Minnesota after his hung up his cleats, however.

After Billy retired, he worked as a scout in the Twins' organization for three years, then was asked to serve as third base coach under his former manager, Sam Mele. Martin enjoyed his time as a scout and had no real aspirations to ascend the coaching ladder but agreed to come on board because he respected Mele. During that time, he mentored a left handed Rod Carew and was one of the few voices that insisted Carew was ready for the Major Leagues in 1967 when he took home Rookie of the Year honors.

It was during the 1967 that Sam Mele was fired by the Twins. The club had got off to a sluggish 25-25 start and rumors abounded that Martin would be Mele's successor. However, Billy had yet to actually manage a team and Twins' owner Calvin Griffith chose veteran skipper Cal Ermer instead. The following May, Martin took over as manager for Minnesota's AAA affiliate in Denver, an assignment he was afraid would be his "one way ticket to oblivion". In hindsight, it was just the opposite.

In his first season as manager of the Denver Bears, Martin took over a team that started 7-22 and led them to a winning season. Graig Nettles was one of the players on the Bears that year and although he didn't much care for Martin at first, he eventually came around:

When I saw the results, I stopped hating Billy Martin and began to see him for what he was: an extraordinary leader.

The two would later win a World Series together with the Yankees.

Twins ownership eventually saw Martin for what he was as well. After one more year in Denver, Martin was promoted to Major League Skipper, replacing Ermer. In his first season at the helm, he guided the team to 97 wins and a Division Championship. Griffith was no doubt impressed with the 14 win improvement from the previous year, but fired Martin in part because he beat up pitcher Dave Boswell and left him unconscious in an alleyway behind a bar called A.C. Lindell's in Detroit.

Martin had always been combative. He grew up in one the poorer areas near Berkley, California - East Bay City and was surrounded by gangs and street violence for much of his early life. His mother sent his philandering father packing before he was even born. Martin didn't lay eyes on him until he was 15, at which point Billy told him he never wanted to see him again.

Despite Martin's violent episode with the Twins, he landed another managerial gig in Detroit just a year later (where the fight with Boswell occurred, of all places). In his first season in Motown, the Tigers won 91 games, an 11 game increase from the year before, but finished second to Baltimore in the AL East. The following year they won only 86 games but edged the Red Sox by one game to win the division and went on to lose to the A's in the ALCS.

Martin was fired 134 games into the '73 season, this time for ordering his pitchers to retaliate for the spitballs Gaylord Perry was throwing on August 30th.

Despite his building reputation as a loose cannon, he landed on his feet in Texas before the season was over. In 1974, Martin presided over a 23 game advance, taking a Rangers team that had won just 57 games the year before up to 84 victories and a second place finish in the AL West. Martin was fired once again by Texas in 1975, after the team started to fade midway through the season. Within a week, he was hired by the Yankees and finished out the last 56 games of the season with them.

Amazingly, in his first full year in the Bronx, Martin again steered a team to a double digit rise in wins, from 84 to 97. The Yankees won the AL East that season and advanced to the World Series but were swept by the Reds.

During the subsequent offseason, despite the fact the team just won their first pennant in 12 years, George Steinbrenner, fresh off his suspension for illegal campaign contributions, started making moves. Chief among those was the acquisition of Reggie Jackson. Martin wasn't in favor of acquiring the Orioles' slugger. With the team in need of shortstop, Martin instead lobbied for signing the Orioles' Bobby Grich, one of the best second basemen in the game, who had experience at shortstop as well. Per usual, Steinbrenner got his way. Reggie came to the Bronx, the Yankees used their other free agent spot to sign pitcher Don Gullett, and Grich went to the Angels. Jackson made Oscar Gamble expendable, and he was flipped to the White Sox for shortstop Bucky Dent.

Martin wasn't fond of Jackson, and when Reggie's infamous "straw that stirs the drink" story published in Sport Magazine in May, it only increased divisions in an already fractured clubhouse. Tensions came to a head during the '77 season when Billy pulled Jackson from a nationally televised game at Fenway Park on June 18th for failing to hustle out a fly ball in right field in the bottom of the 6th. When Reggie got back to the dugout, tempers flared and they both had to be restrained. Despite the drama swirling around in the clubhouse (the Bronx Zoo), the Yankees won 100 games that year, topped the Royals in the ALCS, and beat the Dodgers in 6 games in the World Series. It was the only World Series victory of Martin's managing career.

The madness didn't subside in 1978. Midway through the season Jackson ignored signs from Martin and bunted when it wasn't called for. This sent Martin over the edge. He told the press later that day about Jackson and Steinbrenner, respectively, "The two of them deserve each other - one's a born liar, the other's convicted."

It would prove to be his undoing as Yankee Manager (for the time being) and he resigned a few days later. Less than a week after resigning, Martin was the final player introduced at Old Timers Day. There, it was announced that Martin would return as manager for the 1980 season, with his replacement, Bob Lemon, moving to the front office. Steinbrenner couldn't wait that long, firing Lemon less than halfway through the 1979 season, with Martin taking over for the final 95 games. The team had a winning record under his guidance, but finished 4th. That tenure ended after Martin bloodied a marshmallow salesman by the name of Joseph Cooper in a barroom fight in a Minnesota hotel.

But back to the original question. What made Billy Martin so good as a manager?

He once explained:

Out of 25 guys, there should be fifteen who would run through a wall for you, two or three who don't like you at all, five who are indifferent and maybe three undecided. My job is to keep the last two groups from going the wrong way.

He also employed daring tactics that may not have agreed with conventional wisdom, but seemed to work out for him. One of the things he taught Rod Carew was how to steal home, and as a result 7 of Carew's 20 stolen bases in 1969 were of home plate.

He also used some odd tactics, like asking pitchers to hit and play other defensive positions. He had pitcher Fergie Jenkins DH in the 6th inning in a game in 1974, breaking up a no-hitter with a single to center, and later tried the same tactic with pitcher Rick Rhoden in 1988. He had Ron Guidry in center field and Don Mattingly at second when the Pine Tar Game was resumed in 1983. He had lefty swinging Mike Pagliarulo bat right handed in 1985. He literally drew the Yankees line-up out of a hat on April 21st, 1977 against the Blue Jays, a game which they won 8-6. In Oakland from 1980-1982 he employed "Billy Ball" - a combination of hit and runs, squeeze plays and stolen bases - despite the fact that his teams lead the AL in HRs.

Could his strategies alone possibly be the only reason that every team he managed got significantly better as soom as he got there? Some of those things, like DH'ing Rhoden or Jenkins, while creative, couldn't have possibly created a positive win expectancy. But sometimes you can make a low percentage play and have it still work out. He seemed to go all-in with a straight draw and hit it on the turn more than his fair share of times.

It's probably difficult to accept for the most statistically-inclined, but the historical consensus is that Martin's true genius was in his personality. He was intense, cantankerous and blunt but also had an incredibly thorough knowledge of the game. Mike Pagliarulo said:

He was the kind of guy who wasn’t afraid to tell you what he thought of you. If I got one hit in a game and hit a couple other balls well, but they were caught, what he’d say to me was, “You dumb-ass dago, you can’t get more than one hit.” Billy was very honest.

But then added:

Billy could see the field so completely; he knew what everybody was doing.

Martin also had a penchant for riding his players, especially pitchers. He once sat down and explained his managing philosophy to Leonard Koppett:

A lot of the time, you have to make a player do something he doesn't want to do, for the good of the team, or to push him harder that he thinks he should be pushed. You can't do it if the player thinks "Why should I listen to him? He's not the boss. He may be gone next year. I'll do it my way" When that attitude takes hold, teams don't win.

Managing is teaching, first of all. That's even more important than winning itself. When you get a player whose potenital you can see, and show him things that can make him better, and show him the things that can make him win, and then you can see him later realizing those things - it's like a graduation. It makes you feel satisfied even if he's no longer your player.

For a team to win, a manager has to find ways to motivate different individuals. He has to judge correctly each man's abilities and weaknesses, and find the right ways and the right times to use them.

But the enjoyment comes from the things I put in.... The victory at the end is only proof that you succeded, and nobody can take that away from you once you've won. But the fun and the rewards are in what you do getting there.

This also lends some insight as to why Martin never lasted as manager for more than three full, consecutive seasons with any team. After managing near his hometown in Oakland from 1980-82, twice winning Manager of the Year and making the playoffs in '81, he returned to the Yankees in 1983 and won 91 games.

He was fired that offseason and re-hired in 1985 when he won 91 games again, except this time he replaced Yogi Berra after 16 games and accomplished the feat in only 145. That September, Martin got in a fight with Ed Whitson in a hotel bar. Having lost his legendary brawling skills, Billy suffered a broken arm and two fractured ribs in the fight. As they often do of drunken brawls, accounts of the night vary, but the New York Times cited an unnamed source that said an official investigation by the Yankees indicated Martin was the instigator.

The team retired his number and gave him a plaque in Monument Park in 1986. He spent the '86 and '87 doing occasional TV work on WPIX Yankee telecasts.

During his final stint with the Yankees in 1988, Billy was more unorthodox than ever. Dave Righetti was deployed for two and three innings at a time, resulting in five blown saves, four of which came in a row. He used a seven man rotation at one point, and had Rick Rhoden DH despite his ailing back. Billy started out 40-28 and had the team in the thick of the division race. But there was a three game suspension for throwing dirt at an umpire and yet another brawl, this one at a Dallas area strip club. It left Martin with bruises, forty stitches in his up ear, and for the fifth and final time, as the former manager of the New York Yankees. He was replaced by Lou Piniella.

All told, Martin only won two pennants and one World Series. His 1253 wins as a manager is good for 32nd on the all-time list, and his .553 winning percentage and 240 wins over .500 place him at 21st and 20th, respectively. But many see him as one of the greatest managers - at least over the short term - of all time. For what it's worth, if I had to pick a manager to win one game for me, it would be Martin.

In 1989, Billy was brought back to the Yankees as a special consultant. It was rumored he had been asked to manage the team in 1990 and had already assembled a coaching staff to come with him.

On Christmas day, he was riding in his longtime friend William Reedy's pick-up truck and both had been drinking but neither was wearing a seatbelt. They were approaching Billy's house in Fenton, NY, just outside of Binghamton, when the truck skidded off the icy road and down a 300 foot embankment, ending up at the foot of Martin's driveway. Reedy was left in serious condition, but Martin was not so lucky. He was taken to Wilson Memorial Hospital in Johnson City. Attempts at reviving him were unsuccessful. He was 61.

Billy Martin was notoriously hard on his players but he was probably harder on himself. He was a heavy drinker throughout almost all of his adult life. He was a fixture in hotel bars when the Yankees were on the road - as evidenced by his many fights that took place in them - and would often be seated on a barstool soon after he left Yankee Stadium as well. Martin forged a lot of friendships because of his fondness for the drink, but also made a lot of enemies that way too. In the end it was directly responsible for his demise.

"I may not have been the greatest Yankee to put on the uniform,

but I was the proudest"