Monday, June 30, 2014

Yankees Girardi might as well throw away his binder

Yankees' manager Joe Girardi might not be using his trusty binder as much these days.

The numbers were impossible to ignore, but for the second time in five games Girardi refused to be seduced by them and didn’t start Ichiro Suzuki against Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester.

“I looked at possibly sitting down one of the other lefty hitters against Lester,’’ Girardi told reporters. “You look at Ellsbury and he has had success and you look at Brett Gardner and he has been playing extremely well and important at the top of our lineup.  Soriano has had a double and homer in two games he has played against him this year. Part of it is, possibly you would like to give one of your lefties a day off and I am going to play the guys we have been playing every day.’’

So, Ichiro took a seat despite having a .340 (18-for-53) average against Lester. That came after Ichiro wasn’t in the lineup Tuesday night in Toronto against lefty Mark Buehrle, against whom he was batting .421 (24-for-57).  I know the game has a heartbeat, but even I would have made sure Suzuki was in the lineup against Lester and Buehrle.

Soriano went 0-for-3 and is now hitting .273 (6-for-22) against Lester.

Girardi was correct saying Gardner has been very important to the top of the lineup, but he is 3-for-13 (.231) against Lester after going 1-for-2 with a walk. Ellsbury went 1-for-3 and is 4-for-9 (.444) against his former teammate.

A regular player in the big leagues since 2001, Soriano has had trouble adjusting to not playing every day. His last homer was May 17 and he is without a homer in 62 at-bats. His skills have eroded, and this is likely his last year in the majors.  The Yankees are unlikely to get any significant production out of him for the remainder of the season.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

So how many plaques are the Yankees going to hang in Monument Park?

It's nice to retire the numbers of great athletes, and to place plaques and monuments in or around stadiums. But the Yankees are taking it too far.

The Steinbrenners were probably hoping to sell more tickets with the announcement of honoring Rich Gossage, Tino Martinez, and Paul O'Neill with plaques in Monument Park. But do they really deserve it? Well if they do, so do many other former Yankees.

Yes, Martinez and O'Neill were important parts of 4 world championship teams, but so were many other role players. Sparky Lyle was just as valuable, if not more so, a relief pitcher than Gossage was. Willie Randolph and Roy White were vital contributors to the 1976-78 championship teams, so why not give them plaques?

I can understand giving Joe Torre a plaque (although I'm surprised they are doing it, given the bad press the Steinbrenners and others in Yankee front office received from Torre's book The Yankee Years). But retiring his number? That's a bit much. I can see not giving out his number for a long time, like 20 years. But retiring it? Come on.

Retired numbers as of today? OK: 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. That would be Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra, Thurman Munson, Whitey Ford, Don Mattingly, Mariano Rivera. Even if number 42 hadn't been retired by everyone because it was Jackie Robinson's, Rivera's 42 still would have deserved it. Numbers to be retired now and next year? That would be 2 and 51. Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams. Not coincidentally, these would be the best 12 players in Yankee history.

Numbers to not give out for at least 20-25 years? Torre's 6, Roger Maris' and Graig Nettles' 9, Jorge Posada's 20, Elston Howard's 32, Casey Stengel's 37, Ron Guidry's 49, and Andy Petitte's 46.

I'd give all of guys with the retired numbers plaques in Monument Park, along with the eight men above.

Nothing against Roger Maris, but I could argue that Nettles was more important to his teams than Maris was to his.

I'm not sure why Billy Martin, Phil Rizzuto, and Reggie Jackson had their numbers retired. Probably because Steinbrenner wanted to sell some extra tickets. I could see maybe giving Rizzuto a plaque in Monument Park since he also had a long career as a Yankee broadcaster.

Should any Yankee who has made the Hall of Fame have a plaque? Maybe, but then you'd have to include Rickey Henderson and Dave Winfield along with Jackson and Gossage.

Retired numbers and plaques ought to be awarded to the very special, not just the special.








Wednesday, June 18, 2014

A job interview at the University of Pennsylvania that never happened

So you would think people who work in a college career center who know better.  I had sent a resume for a job at the University of Pennsylvania's career services office. A few weeks later I received a call to schedule an interview. When the day arrived I used vacation time and drove two hours to Philadelphia. I parked and got to the career services office about ten minutes before the scheduled interview. However there was no receptionist, and I noticed that the staff members had offices beyond a partition; there was a waiting room for the students.  So I stood there for a minute, contemplating what to do, when an older lady appeared from the rear area. She introduced herself as one of the members of the career staff, with a smile and a British accent, and said that members of the search committee would be with me in a few minutes. Then she disappeared back behind the partition.

So I sat in a chair in the waiting room. And I waited. And waited, And waited some more. About 20 minutes past the scheduled interview time the British lady came to the reception area, saw me, and frowned.

"They didn't come out yet?" she asked.

"Um, no," I replied. I remained polite and smiled, trying to look upbeat.

"Let me go see what's going on," she said, and disappeared back behind the partition.

I sat and waited another 15 minutes. I had nowhere else to go, so I figured I see this through to the end.

The British lady appeared again.  "You're still waiting?" She looked somewhat perplexed.

"Yes."  I wasn't sure what else to say.

"Okay. I'll be right back."  She scurried back to behind the mysterious partition.  Interestingly, there weren't any students in the waiting room. I did see students walking in the hallway outside the office.

I sat there and waited another 20 minutes. Now it's nearly one hour past the scheduled interview time. I think to myself, time to take the hint. I walk out and back to my car and drive the two hours home. A total waste of time, not to mention a wasted vacation day.

In retrospect, if I had the chance to do things again, I would have walked back there behind the partition and asked everyone what the hell is going on.  Then I would have left.  For some reason I was just too polite in those days.

Interestingly, a year later I saw an ad for the same job at the same career center. I sent in my resume, and a few weeks later received a call from the British lady about scheduling an interview.

"You don't remember me, do you?" I said.  "A year ago I was there for an interview for the same job, but I waited for an hour, and no one came out to interview me.  No one even came out to apologize or tell me what was going on."

"Oh," the British lady said. "Well, we're more organized now."

So I pretended to be cheery and scheduled the interview for the next week. Of course, I didn't go, nor did I call them to cancel.  I doubt if anyone there cared, though.

I'm better off, probably. I would have to move down to Philadelphia for a job that had a salary that was only minimally higher than what I was making in the job I had at the time.  So in this case things worked out for me.

Still, the world would be a better place if people treated job candidates with more respect. Especially at a college career center. And a place like the University of Pennsylvania, which is supposed to a leader in the field.




Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Yankees' bats aren't coming alive anytime soon

Yankee manager Joe Girardi is going to need more than his eternal optimism to get his team hitting. I don't think there are any answers in his trusty binder, either.

The Steinbrenner crew and dopey GM Brian Cashman may have had unrealistic expectations this past offseason. Carlos Beltran was aging and often injured, as was second baseman Brian Roberts. Outstanding hitters in their prime, yes, but they are both way past those days. Same with Ichiro Suzuki and Alfonso Soriano. Comparing Brian McCann to Thurman Munson was a bit silly. Believing Mark Teixeira would drive in 110 runs a year after coming off a serious wrist injury at age 34 wasn't very bright. 

As of this writing Derek Jeter has accumulated 216 at bats; is this enough for a hitter who missed most of the previous season to get their timing down? Let's hope not, since Jeter is batting .259 with only six doubles and one home run, numbers nowhere close to his career averages. Looks like his power is pretty much gone as he nears the age of forty.

Girardi was quoted as saying, "I don't believe people forget how to hit overnight" and while that is true, this may be more of a case of a group of players who just can't cut the mustard anymore.

Still, the Yankees may have a decent shot at winning the American League East Division, since the Blue Jays, Rays, Red Sox, and Orioles are mediocre in their own right.  The Yankees' pitchers have been doing a decent job for the most part, so if opponents can be held to three runs a game, the Yanks' offense should be able to manufacture enough runs to win more games than they lose.   A total of 85-86 wins might be enough to win the East this year so the race will probably go down to the last days of the season.

I hope I'm wrong. I hope the Yankees start tearing things up. It would make for a more fun summer.  Right now it looks like it may be kind of boring.

New baseball book for middle grade readers: The Perfect Game

THE PERFECT GAME is a novel for middle grade readers. It is about a twelve year old boy’s roller coaster experience while playing one season of organized baseball.
 
It is available in Kindle at Amazon for 99 cents, as well as at Smashwords and Barnes & Noble.

Joey Coltasanti, nicknamed “the professor” by his father, is ambivalent about playing his last year in summer league. A shortstop, he loves baseball and longs to realize his dream of making the town’s all-star team, and then winning enough games to advance to the state’s world series. However to reach this goal he must overcome his own anxiety that blocks his talent from shining through on the field.

Internal concerns are not the only obstacles in Joey’s path. He also has to deal with Mr. K, the coach of his team for the past two years. Mr. K uses sarcasm and intimidation with his players, as well as favoring his own son over Joey and his teammates. Added to the mix is Joey’s new neighbor and friend, twelve year old Mindi. A saxophone-playing member of Mensa, she is also a pitcher in the summer league who mows down opposing hitters with a blazing fastball and pinpoint control.

Joey decides to play, with events during early season contests testing his will to continue. Eventually a tumultuous game involving adults who can’t seem to grow up leads to changes in the league. A benevolent new coach arrives in town, and things begin to turn around for Joey and his underdog teammates. Eventually joining forces with Mindi on the all-star team, Joey moves closer to fulfilling his dream.

Advancing to the state’s world series means finding innovative ways to win pressure packed games, which leads to Joey confronting his fears on the field. Ultimately he learns more about winning, losing, and the exciting game that is baseball.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

What is the New Jersey Council of County Colleges, anyway?


Who is the New Jersey Council of County Colleges?  And what do they do, anyway?

There’s a bill in the New Jersey state legislature that would allow the county colleges to not be required to join the council and pay the estimated $90,000 per year in annual dues. Instead the colleges could spend that money to lobby legislators on their own, or not spend it at all. Either way, taxpayers and students are on the hook, since that’s where all the money for the county colleges comes from. State taxes, students paying on their own, and federal funds that are given to students in the form of financial aid.

You’d think that the state legislators would be intelligent enough to provide sufficient funds to the county colleges to operate. I guess that isn’t the case, since taxpayers and students have to pay lobbyists to fight for their cause in the state capitol of Trenton.

Too many lobbyists, not enough common sense.  But what else is new?