What A Week In Baseball

This was, without a doubt, one of the worst weeks in major league baseball history. The repercussions of the events of the past seven to ten days will resound for a very long time.

Off-the-field news eclipsed even a World Series. As a fan, I find that nothing short of pathetic. Even though it was the hated Red Sox winning the World Series, I believe they and the Colorado Rockies deserved more than playing second fiddle to what went on outside Fenway and Coors.

Let's take a look:

• Joe Torre walked away from the Yankees. True, this was big news. What was bigger than the actual story (Yankees get a new manager), however, was the classless way the Yankees handled it. Their actions made them look cowardly and foolish. It cast doubt upon the future of the most successful franchise in sport.
• Paul Byrd took HGH. It wasn't the story itself that was the tragedy here (though it's always sad for me to hear about another baseball cheater). It was the timing of the leak of this story that was the news. Also in question was the possible source of the leak. George Mitchell, major league baseball's steroids investigator, is a director with the Red Sox -- the very team that would have benefited from such an announcement. Mitchell's office denied leaking the story. Then again, Barry Bonds and Paul Byrd denied taking performance-enhancing drugs. More on this story in the future.
• Barry Bonds got "fired". That's right, Barry Bonds had to get in the mix somewhere. And what was his news this time? He feels he got fired from the Giants. We always knew he believed he was bigger than the game. So why should we be surprised that he would have found reason to take some of the spotlight from the real champions. Which, of course, leads us to...
• Alex Rodriguez opted out of his Yankee contract. In one fell swoop, A-Rod has managed to make the new Yankee braintrust look, well, not as bad as they did a few days ago. Game 4 of the World Series and this egomaniac decided to make this announcement. The truth of the matter is the Yankees are actually a better team without him. Sure he can hit better than anyone, but the Yankees were winners when they had 25 players on a team, not 25 individuals playing for themselves. Losing A-Rod brings them closer to their old selves. This should also serve as a warning to the next team to offer A-Rod obscene amounts of money: he will change your clubhouse. Teams like the Red Sox, Angels and Tigers -- teams who already have that vital team chemistry -- will fall apart with Alex Rodriguez. He needs to go somewhere where he can be the center of it all, and where the focus is on something other than winning. Alex Rodriguez should be a Giant or a Cub.

The fact is, however, that the above storylines detracted from the most important moment in the season. It is disgraceful.

Baseball is a circus.

Two Former Yankees: Joe And George

Oh, to have been in that conference room yesterday in Tampa!

Joe Torre, the Yankee manager who guided the ship to twelve consecutive postseason appearances (more consecutive appearances than Miller Huggins, Joe McCarthy or Casey Stengel), stood tall yesterday. He turned down the Yankee offer of a one-year contract with incentives. It was beneath him. Joe Torre shook hands with his now former employers and walked out of the office with his dignity.

It is more than we could say for anyone else in that room.

While I stand firmly in the camp that Joe Torre deserves to be Yankee manager, that no one in baseball could have done better with the wasted salary money that was the roster this year, I would have had more respect for the Yankee management team if they just fired him. Instead, they cowered behind a contract that would serve to humiliate him. This way they could say they offered him something and if he turned it down, it was on him and not them.

How wrong they were.

Back when George Steinbrenner ran the Yankees -- oh, he may still be there in body but his spirit has long since checked out -- Torre would have been fired in April or May when the Yankees were well below .500. Truth be told, at that point it would have been difficult to blame him.

But new Steinbrenners run the show now. It is obvious from their first big crisis that they are not in the same mold as their father.

George Steinbrenner was a demanding owner. He made more mistakes than he made good decisions. But he was decisive and he was willing to put it all out on the line. He would never have showed the corporate cowardice that was that contract.

Two Yankees became former Yankees. Joe and George.

Joe has walked out with his dignity. He has a 100% success rate at getting his Yankee teams to the postseason. He did it this year with a team of bad contracts, pitchers beyond their prime and a career season by the game's best (and most expensive) player. One can argue that in theory he should have done more with the Yankees' obscene payroll. But he is not responsible for all of those bad contracts. No, that responsibility belonged to George and Brian Cashman. He is the gentleman in all this.

George had left the Yankees to his sons and to the new management team. In one year's time they have hurt the team with several bad contracts, are on the verge of losing three key players to free agency and a opened gaping hole where Joe Torre once stood.

Joe and George are gone.

I miss them both.

A Great Season

I am proud of these Yankees.



I haven't been this proud of a baseball team (Milford Junior Majors Tigers not included) since way back in 2001.



Let the foolish blow hards that give Yankee fans a bad name scream for blood. Let Steinbrenner, aka King George the Short-Sighted, fire people left and right. Let the sharks in the New York media tank have a frenzy.



They simply missed the point.



This team had more holes in it than any Yankee team since 1993. That's right, they were a less complete team than even before the string of World Series titles that spoiled everyone from owners to writers to fans. The rotation in April included one pitcher well past his prime and soon they added another who was even older. Mike Mussina and Roger Clemens combined for over eighty years of living. For much of the season, they both looked very much their age.



Rookies were forced up to the majors far earlier than anticipated. Injuries and bad play will do that.



By April 30, the Yankees stunk. Let's face it, they stunk pretty much through May as well.



Yet Derek Jeter kept hitting. And, well, being Derek Jeter. He put together yet another 200- hit season.



And Jorge Posada had the season of his career. He hit like a young Mike Piazza. And behind the plate he looked more like his younger self.



And then there was Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod, so hated in New York circles last year. A-Rod, the butt of jokes throughout the baseball world. A-Rod, who simply had one of the best single seasons anyone ever had. I've seen players take a team on his shoulders through a series (Reggie in '77, for example). But it is rare when a player does it for a whole season. And that is exactly what he did. In the meantime, he managed to win the hearts of Yankee fans.



They were basically written off by the All-Star break. The wild card seemed to belong to the Indians, Tigers or Mariners. Heck, the Yankees were still below .500.



Then these Yankees showed something that had been missing since that 2001 team. This team had heart. They were filled with it. And their hearts, as well as A-Rod's bat, carried them. They passed Seattle. They passed Detroit. By the last week of the season, they had even closed in on Boston.



Joe Torre had his finest season as a manager. This was an even better season than 2008 for him. In my eyes, he should be AL Manager of the Year.



They faltered in the ALDS. They were beaten, frankly, by a better overall team. Despite what Steinbrenner and others will try to tell you, there is no shame in that.



Nothing should take away what these Yankees accomplished in 2007.



Thank you, Yankees, for an exciting season and a terrific second half.

Here We Go Again

Chien Ming Wang pitched the Yankees right out of any chance last night. He was Glavine-esque in his inability to shut down the Indians.

And what does the New York media focus on?

Yup, A-Rod. The Daily News had to write something. The Post, though less blaming, opened the gates as well.

Sports media, at least of the New York kind, is a parasite. Perhaps even a cancer. You see, the media does not want success. They want failure. Short-sighted as they are, they fail to recognize that success is a better story.

Why would two articles be written about Alex Rodriguez going 0-for-2 with 2 walks, one of which was an intentional walk to get the bat out of his hands, when no article wrote about Derek Jeter going 0-for-4 with a strikeout?

Don't get me wrong, Derek Jeter is my favorite player and one bad game hardly warrants an article. But it's also poor judgment to jump on A-Rod for the same thing. How about Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui leaving a combined 10 men on base? Nope, A-Rod failed again.

And when he leaves, can you blame him?

Brash And Bold Division Series Predictions

Looking back at my fearless predictions for 2007 I must admit some errors in judgment. So, right here, I will man up:

• Red Sox: When you really think about it, the difference between my prediction (third place and out of the playoffs) and the season result (best record in AL) comes down to the performance of one individual. If Beckett pitched like he did in 2006 (and every other season he played) I'd have been about right. But he outperformed everyone's expectations. Alex Rodriguez's offensive performance will likely win him the MVP of the AL. But Josh Beckett is without a doubt the MVP of the Red Sox.
• Yankees: We can marvel at their second half comeback and how incredible it truly was -- in fact, it was historic. The fact remains, however, that this team is lucky to have made it. Ancient pitchers wear down either suffer injuries or fall apart by this time of year. Need proof? Just hop over the Whitestone.
• Indians: Not as much of a mistake as the others. I did predict a tight race in the Central where any of four teams could have won it. The Indians were one of those teams. Forget everything about them being young and inexperienced. They are the most complete team in the American League playoffs.
• Angels: This team's recent history has been as follows: stay healthy and they win the division (if not the World Series), get injured and they fall out of the race. This year they were injured and still won the division. They are not pushovers.

So here are my AL predictions:

• Angels-Red Sox: This will be a great series. Pitching, small ball and the better manager goes to the Angels and power and home filed goes to the Sox. Normally, I would have to say that pitching and small ball wins. But there is the X-factor here and that is David Ortiz. I predict: Red Sox in 5.
• Yankees-Indians: The result will be no different than the last few seasons. The Yankees will take one in Cleveland and then will come up empty. Alex Rodriguez is going to come up big in te first three games of this series but will pop out to end the Yankees season in game four and stupid New Yorkers everywhere will call him a choker and want his head. He'll move on to Anaheim in 2008 where he'll collect rings for the next three years and ultimately break Barry Bonds' record. Either way, I predict: Indians in 4.

In the NL:

• Phillies: Fans of 29 teams all breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Mets became the official "biggest chokers in major league history" in 2007. They have set the benchmark for falling apart, a collapse the likes of which we may not witness again for years to come. Still, the Phillies had to perform. And perform they did. I like this team. They have the mojo working right now.
• Cubs: Here is one I got right. Does it mean the Cubs are going to win it all? Not a chance. But baseball is better off with the Cubs in the postseason. And the fact that the Cubs are in a postseason with their partners in futility -- the Phillies -- makes it even better.
• Diamondbacks: I knew they were on the rise. I just didn't expect it to come this quickly. Again, good for them. They seem to be a class organization and I am happy for the fans in Arizona. Hey, better the D'Backs than the Dodgers or Giants!
• Rockies: This one is the biggest surprise of all. Who'd have thought they were even contenders? Certainly not me.

And my fearless NL predictions are:

• Cubs-Diamondbacks: Pitching wins, especially in a short series. I'm happy for the Cubs, but their hopes will be dashed again. I predict: D'Backs in 4.
• Rockies-Phillies: Many are predicting that this slugfest will go the distance. Personally, I think the Rockies won their big day against the Padres on Monday. The Phillies will be challenged in the postseason. I just don't think it will come until the next series. I predict: Phillies in 3.