It’s your pal Sully. I think each and every one of you needs to take a good long look into the mirror and realize it’s over. You need to pull a Mike Mussina and know your limitations.
In your day you were the best.
Curt, you won 20+ games three out of four years in the height of the steroid era and finished with a 10-2 record in 19 post season starts with a 2.23 ERA, 4 complete games and 2 shut outs. And you have 3 World Series rings.
Pedro, you have no bigger fan than me. Considering the era you pitched in, you had some of the greatest seasons in the history of baseball. In 1999 you went 23-4, striking out 313 in 213 1/3 innings all the while posting a 2.07 ERA… nearly 3 runs lower than the league average. And when you won the Cy Young the next season, your ERA was 1.74 while the league average was over 5! You were in the top 4 of Cy Young 7 out of 8 years. And you have a World Series ring.
Greg, you were the greatest pitcher of your era. You are the only person to win 4 straight Cy Young Awards. You are the only pitcher in baseball history to at least 15 games in 17 straight seasons. The only pitcher since the end of the “deadball era” to win more games than you is Warren Spahn. And you have a World Series ring.
John, you are one of the best big game pitcher of the last 2 decades. Only two people in history have a 20 win season and a 50 save season… you and Dennis Eckersley. You’ve recorded 3,000 strikeouts and won the 1992 NLCS MVP. And you have a World Series ring.
Tommy, you are a 2 time Cy Young winner, a World Series MVP, a five time 20 game winner and one of only 5 left handers in history to win 300 games. And you have a World Series ring.
But you are all DONE! Curt, you couldn’t even pitch this year! Pedro, when you DID pitch, you were lit up to a 5.61 ERA! Greg, you were a shell of your former self in Los Angeles. John you had season ending shoulder surgery in June. How many 40 year olds come back from shoulder surgery? Tommy, you pitched once after June last year and you were rocked.
Now look at Mussina. He won his 20th game and walked away. He was 2 good seasons from 300 wins. He looked like regained his form after a horrific 2007 season where I said he was toast.
He is leaving at least $10 million on the table.
And he never got his World Series ring.
And he’s walking away.
Do the same. You are all free agents. You have all earned millions of dollars.
Don’t get rocked anymore. Let the legacy of big numbers, big wins and big games in an era of inflated hitters be how people remember you.
And imagine Cooperstown six years from now (assuming Schilling doesn’t get on in the first ballot because his last game was in 2007.)
On the podium will be Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux, Tommy Glavine, John Smoltz, Curt Schilling and Mike Mussina.
That’s right… all six of you in. All six of you holding their plaques as if to say “Hey, it may have been a juiced era, but some pitchers made their mark too.”
It will be a great day as Red Sox fans, Braves fans, Yankees fans (and some Diamondbacks, Cubs and Orioles fans) make the trek to see the guys who wanted the ball when the balance of the game was taken out of the pitchers hand and into the batters box.
And two Yankee pitchers need a reluctant Sully Baseball tip of the cap.
Last year I thought Mike Mussina was toast... and the fact that he pitched himself out of the rotation kind of backed up my point.
This year I thought his fast start was a fluke and I thought the Yankees should trade him before he broke down.
But now it looks like not only Mussina should get some Cy Young votes but also should get some Hall of Fame consideration.
As for Joba, I never doubted his talent but I thought shifting him to the rotation might lead to a Jabba sized hole in the bullpen.
I didn't take into consideration that maybe one criticism of Joe Torre was right and he was no longer a good bullpen manager. Well anyone who thought that Jose Veras and Kyle Farnsworth would be effective, raise your hand.
So after a maddening 1-0 loss on a dribbler by Giambi and another good Beckett outing wasted I must tip my cap and say "Well... maybe the Yankees pitching was better than I thought."
Their thoughts were well written and thought out but the argument is moot since Wang's injury has probably ended his season.
I am CLUELESS of what the Yankees should do.
They physically need 5 starting pitchers. At this point it is Mussina, Pettite, Joba, Giese... and... um... is Denny Neagle available?
The fact that previous Yankee busts like Jeff Weaver and Sidney Ponson can be floated by with a straight face really makes this interesting.
Sabathia isn't coming. First of all, Cashman knows that if he packages off Kennedy in the Sabathia trade he will be admitting that he was wrong in the Santana deal. Which one would you rather have?
Secondly other teams have better trade chips to offer (the Yankees prime chips, Kennedy and Hughes, are hurt after flopping in the show). Both Los Angeles teams have more major league talent to deal
Rich Harden makes Phil Hughes look as durable as Cal Ripken by comparison
Joe Blanton isn't the answer.
It reminds me of the 2006 Red Sox when the rotation was in such tatters that when the kid from the Make a Wish foundation threw out the first pitch, Francona would ask him "Um could you stay on the mound and give us 4 or 5 innings?"
But of course in 2006 I was angry that Theo didn't get reinforcements and kept these worthless minor leaguers like Clay Buchholz, Dustin Pedroia, Manny DelCarmen and Jacoby Ellsbury.
One step back... a few forward in 2007
But the AL Wild Card race is wide open. Does anyone think the Rays are going to keep this up? Or that the Tigers pitching will turn around? Or the A's will play at this level?
The Yankees could still make the post season... with the team in its current state
I know as a Red Sox fan and one who has taken too muchglee from Yankee losses and was a smidge hard on them during my HBO appearances that when I start to talk about the Yankees and dispense advice, I need to walk carefully.
In fact I need to watch every step like Indiana Jones walking in that temple at the beginning of Raiders where stepping on the wrong rock meant a dart in the ankle.
I thought last year that Mike Mussina was toast, and I made my opinion clear.
He was in his late 30s, 3 of the previous 4 seasons were disappointing and 2007 was a disaster. He pitched his way out of the rotation and finished with an ERA in the 5's.
He was old, expensive and fading. He was worthless.
And now with today's win in Houston he has run up a 10-4 record with a respectable sub 4 ERA. He's pitched well his last 4 games and has been surprisingly effective and durable since the disastrous 2/3 of an inning start against Baltimore on May 20th.
He has value. And his contract is up at the end of the year.
Here's what I think the Yankees should do with him... and I say this as a baseball observer and not a Red Sox fan.
They should trade him... right now.
(Sully prepares for the flurry of angry posts calling me a classless Boston fan.)
Seriously... think about it. This is supposedly a transition year for the Yankees. Why else would they not make a trade for Johan Santana? Why else would the regular season be treated as Joba Chamberlain's private spring training?
Yeah yeah yeah I know... the Yankees never rebuild... they go for it every year... Prince Hank Steinbrenner wouldn't allow it to happen... not in the last year of the Stadium.
I'm not talking about trading away Jeter, A-Rod, Rivera, Johnny Damon or some other keystone of the team.
I'm not even talking about trading away Phil Hughes and his fake injury.
I'm talking about dealing a guy who was nearly booed out of town last season. I'm talking about taking advantage of a small window of opportunity where a guy who had a terrific career could yield a potentially usable part.
If this is a transition year, then make a transition! Mussina isn't coming back next year. That's a given. So clearly he isn't a part of any long term solution.
And if it looks like he has recaptured a little magic, why not sell high when any Yankee fan knows another 2/3 of an inning performance might be around the corner.
Pettite and Wang are pitching well and between Rasner, Joba and a guy off the scrap heap like Freddie Garcia, the Yankees could have a 5 man rotation for the transition.
The National League is all bunched together and the Phillies, Dodgers, Cardinals, Brewers and yes even the Mets all could be a starting pitcher away from a pennant winner.
Imagine prying loose a young player from them. A player that might be a year or two away but comes up big when called up.
Players like John Smoltz, Jeff Bagwell, Jay Buhner, Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa, Randy Johnson, Jason Varitek, Derek Lowe, David Ortiz, Ryne Sandberg, Grady Sizemore and Dontrelle Willis were all toss ins in trades by teams betting on here and now.
Imagine its 2010 and a dynamic new outfielder, or first baseman, or reliever is up from Scranton and sparking excitement in the new Yankee Stadium.
And all of you Yankee fans are asking "Where did THIS guy come from?" And someone replies "They got him for Mike Mussina back in 2008!"
And everyone would laugh and say "What a steal! Cashman is a genius! Too bad Hank fired him right after the 2008 All Star Break."
I say it is all reward and no risk. This is the last moment of value for him, and if this is a one step back to take two steps forward than dealing Mussina makes all the sense in the world.
So I ask you, Kat O'Brien and my friends at the Newsday blog... would you try and entice a National League team now?
How about you, Pride of the Yankees? Are you willing to bet that Mussina's last 3 1/2 months as a Yankee will be at this level and the Yanks are truly a championship level team?
Would the folks at Bronx Banter see the long term advantages of trying to fleece an NL team taking advantage of parity?
Does Charlie at the brilliantly named Chuck Knoblog think that the Yankees could benefit from a complete focus on the future the way my Red Sox didn't trade away youth in 2006 to have it benefit in 2007 and beyond?
I'll say it. I've missed George Steinbrenner. He made Yankee hating so easy and so much fun.
Yeah he was an arrogant A-Hole. Yeah he was guilty of shady dealings with Nixon and hiring private investigators to get dirt on Dave Winfield. Yeah I'm sure he was awful to work for.
But do you know what?
He was also fun... from a distance at least.
It was fun seeing how predictable he was. It was fun seeing how you could set your watch to when he would fire a manager... or a pitching coach... or chew out his best player. It was fun thinking about him watching Patton over and over again
And in the end he was a big kid playing with the biggest set of toys. And despite the fact the he was probably in person a repugnant human being... he also had fun with his personality.
You can never accuse George of not having a sense of humor about himself. He did those Miller Lite ads with Billy Martin (Martin's suit should be in Cooperstown)
He also appeared on SNL, he was practically the only good thing in The Scout, he seemed to get a kick out of being a character on Seinfeld and those Visa ads he did with Jeter and the other one with Torre were pretty funny.
Steinbrenner evidently was a pro wrestling fan and he understood the need to have a good villain. He seemed to relish being the bad guy and in his own logic he was helping the team with his rants, his tinkering with the manager and gobbling up super star players.
In fact during Joe Torre's run from 1996-2001 when the Yankees could do no wrong, you almost got the sense that Steinbrenner was chomping at the bit. He wanted to make big splashy moves but the team was winning... the stadium was full and the Yankee dynasty was reborn. But Torre was getting the credit.
When Rivera collapsed in the 9th inning of Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, Steinbrenner said "There are going to be some changes for next year."
And the old Steinbrenner emerged briefly with gobbling up Giambi, Matsui, Sheffield and A-Rod.
But over the last few years, George has faded into the background. George is obviously sick and fading... and chances are he is sicker than the Yankees are letting on.
The public appearances have dwindled and the only public opinions are expressed in carefully released press statements that were clearly written by subordinates. Yeah it's funny to hear Mike and the Mad Dog read them with the Patton music playing.
But I missed the rage... I missed the spontaneity. At one point after watching The Bronx is Burning I thought maybe the Yankees should just hire Oliver Platt to play Steinbrenner in press conferences.
George now stays in Tampa sheltered from the press. Some people compare the situation to Weekend at Bernies. I think it is more like the Diving Bell and the Butterfly with George watching the games but unable to do anything about it.
Like Lear, Steinbrenner's kingdom is being split up. First it was going to go to his son in law Steve Swindal, but as I said earlier, he turned out to be even stupider than Carlo in The Godfather.
He has two daughters, but King George isn't going to hand the keys over to them... this is a man's job. (Not my opinion, no angry e mails please.)
There's Hal Steinbrenner, last seen hogging the stage after the 1996 World Series from Bob Watson. He evidently isn't a big baseball guy.
And finally there is Hank. Evidently Hank watched those old clips of his dad and said "I can do that!" He's been in charge for less than one season and already he has run a Hall of Fame manager out of town.
Now he is screaming to have Joba moved from the bullpen to the rotation... now. As if making the switch from the pen to the rotation is so simple. As if the Yankees have an army of relievers who can nail down the 8th inning.
And he is saying Mike Mussina needs to pitch like Jamie Moyer. No doubt he said that because he just saw Jamie Moyer pitch and probably would recognize Jamie Moyer if he showed up in full uniform.
Rejoice Yankee haters! There's a new Steinbrenner in town! And the proud tradition of front office meddling could last for 2 more generations.
Now why do I want Hank to be the next George? Because a meddling Steinbrenner running the show is the worst thing to happen to the Yankees.
I can hear people saying "What are you talking about, Sully? The Steinbrenners sign all of those superstars and win all of those titles."
Well let me say something that will no doubt make my many Yankee friends shake their heads:
The worst thing to happen to the Yankees for nearly 20 years was winning the 1978 World Series.
This isn't left over angst from a Red Sox fan (even though I will NEVER forgive Don Zimmer.)
The Yankees won the AL Pennant in 1976 due mainly to the creative trades by GM Gabe Paul (all he did was trade for Chris Chambliss, Willie Randolph, Graig Nettles, Lou Piniella, Micky Rivers, Oscar Gamble, Ed Figeroa, Dock Ellis and Dick Tidrow... not bad.) But George got the credit for bringing in Catfish Hunter.
The Yankees won the World Series in 1977 when George brought in Reggie and rode Billy and Gabe Paul all season.
In 1978, Gabe Paul had enough and quit. And George brought in a big free agent (Goose Gossage) to replace a Cy Young award winner (Sparky Lyle). He rode Martin even harder and then fired him in midseason... and of course the Yankees went on their great run, beat the greatest Red Sox team to not make the playoffs and won the World Series again.
So what could be wrong with that? I'll tell you. Steinbrenner always looked at 1978 as the example of his meddling being productive. "It worked in 1978." So the manager position kept being changed. The coaches were moved around. The GMs were fired. Big players were trashed publically and signed and dealt with no rhyme or reason.
During the 1988 season, the Yankees had Don Mattingly at first and Jack Clark at DH. Steinbrenner dealt young Jay Buhner for another DH Ken Phelps... who literally had no position to play. Don Mattingly, the best defensive first baseman in baseball had to play games in left field.
From 1979 to 1993 the Yankees made 16 managerial changes.
From 1982 to 1993, the Yankees spent more money than any team and never once made the post season.
Yankee fans love George now... forgetting the George Must Go chants of the early 1990s when the Yankees were losing (yet still signing big free agents like Danny Tartabull) and Yankee Stadium was attracting 15,000 a night.
In fact the latest Yankee dynasty was formed when Steinbrenner was suspended from baseball allowing Gene Michael to piece together young players like Pettite, Posada, Rivera, Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter (whom Steinbrenner wanted to trade to Florida for Bryan Harvey.)
A new Steinbrenner meddling could lead to yet another decade of big priced free agents, a merry go round of managers, prospects like Willie McGee and Jose Rijo shining for other teams and who knows? Maybe another decade of quiet Octobers in the Bronx.
So I think I speak for all Yankee haters as the team moves to the new stadium next year when I ask...
I admit I am a classic Yankee hater. I'm not someone who hates Yankee fans just because for their team, but I do enjoy watching the Yankees lose.
Sometimes too much.
And I enjoy thinking about Yankee fans squirming.
Maybe it came from living in New York for 15 years and getting it from the Yankee fans... hearing the 19-18 chant, the "Who's Your Daddy?" and all of that B.S.
Yankee fans now claim they were classier all of these years. Funny, I guess I kept bumping into the few arrogant classless fans by a fluke all those 15 years.
Last night's loss was the kind that I can't turn my head away from... like watching the latest news about Lindsay Lohan or a show counting down the best TV shows of the 80s... I don't like to admit it, but I'm hooked.
And I'm equally hooked at reading the articles this morning of doom and gloom. It's fun to see the Yankees squirm. And squirm they did!
Mike Mussina was pitching for his career and needed to be a horse. Now the Yankees are trying to work out a deal with a glue factory.
It was a fascinating blowout... one where Mussina let up 6 runs in 3 innings and you get the sense he was lucky it was that few. Melky Cabrera's first inning running catch saved what could have been an inside the park grand slam.
I heard the first part of the game on my XM where Rudy Guiliani visited the Tigers booth (and the Tigers announcer kept calling him Governor Guiliani)... and Rudy couldn't even mask his disgust of the team.
Torre put out the human white flag, Sean Henn, to close out the game... and then 8 hits, 5 walks and 9 runs later, had to take HIM out. I guess out of pity.
It was a game where the Yankee hater in me got pleasure in seeing their offense sputter and their pitching staff letting up pumpkins.
In a way, this was the best way for the Yankees to lose going into the Red Sox series... they didn't need to use Rivera or Chamberlain and they were humiliated to the point where you know they will come up big tonight.
I still don't care. It was great to watch.
I watched the second half of the game at my gym. I had it on a TV and someone asked me if I was watching the game. I said "Yes!" with the same intensity of someone watching their favorite show.
