Baseball Toaster: Bronx Banter : Extra Value is What You Get

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Alex:
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Alex:
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My 20 Favorite Hip Hop Albums
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Roger Angell
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Bill James
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Chuck Korr: Part 1 Part 2
Jane Leavy
Michael Lewis
Tim Marchman
Marvin Miller
Rob Neyer: Part 1, Part 2
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Buck O'Neil
Joe Posnanski
Alan Schwarz
Joel Sherman
Tom Verducci

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Juicing the Game by Howard Bryant Part 1 Part 2
Forging Genius by Steven Goldman Part 1 Part 2
How About That! by Stephen Borelli
The Crowd Sounds Happy by Nicholas Dawidoff
The Last Nine Innings by Charles Euchner
Clemente by David Maraniss
The Soul of Baseball by Joe Posnanaski
Glenn Stout and Richard A. Johnson:
Yankee Century: Part 1 Part 2
Red Sox Century: 1 2 3 4
The Dodgers: 120 Years of Dodgers Baseball

Players

25-man Roster:

Infielders:
J. Giambi BR BP E MLB
R. Cano BR BP E MLB
D. Jeter BR BP E MLB
A. Rodriguez BR BP E MLB
W. Betemit BR BP E MLB mi
C. Ransom BR BP E MLB mi

Outfielders:
B. Abreu BR BP E MLB
J. Damon BR BP E MLB
X. Nady BR BP E MLB
H. Matsui BR BP E MLB mi
B. Gardner BR E MLB mi

Catchers:
I. Rodriguez BR BP E MLB
J. Molina BR BP E MLB
C. Moeller BR BP E MLB mi

Starting Pitchers:
M. Mussina BR BP BC E
A. Pettitte (L) BR BP BC E
S. Ponson BR BP BC E mi
D. Rasner BR BP BC E mi
C. Pavano BR BP BC E mi

Relief Pitchers:
M. Rivera BR BP BC E
J. Chamberlain BR BP BC E
D. Marte (L) BR BP BC E
J. Veras BR BP BC E mi
E. Ramirez BR BP BC E mi
B. Bruney BR BP BC E mi
D. Giese BR BP BC E mi
C. Britton BR BP BC E mi
A. Aceves BR E mi
P. Coke (L) BR BC E mi

15-day DL:
C. Wang BR BP BC E
60-day DL:
J. Posada BR BP E MLB
J. Albaladejo BR BP BC E mi
A. Brackman BC
H. Sanchez BC mi

Coaches:
J. Girardi (Mgr) BR BP BC
R. Thomson (Bench) BC
Kevin Long (Hit) BR
D. Eiland (Pitch) BR BP BC
B. Meacham (3B) BR BP BC
T. Peña (1B) BR BP BC
M. Harkey (Pen) BR BP BC

40-man Roster:
AAA
S. Duncan BR BP E MLB mi
J. Miranda BR BC mi
M. Cabrera BR BP E MLB
J. Christian BR BP E MLB mi
P. Hughes BR BP BC E mi
I. Kennedy BR BP BC E mi
C. Wright (L) BR BP BC E mi
D. Robertson BR BC E mi
S. Patterson BR BC mi
AA
F. Cervelli BR BC mi
J. Marquez BR BC mi DL

Designated for Assignment:
B. Traber (L) BR BP BC E mi

Select Minor Leaguers:

AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees:
B. Castro BR mi DL
C. Basak BR BP BC E MLB mi
E. Duncan BC mi
N. Green BR mi
B. Broussard BR mi
M. Carson BC mi
C. Stewart BR BP E MLB mi
J. Brown BC mi DL
K. Igawa (L) BR BP BC E JB mi
M. Melancon BC mi
J.B. Cox BC mi
S. Strickland BR BC mi
S. Jackson BC mi
E. Milton BR BC mi DL
V. Zambrano BR BC mi DL

AA Trenton Thunder:
K. Russo BR mi
R. Peña BC mi DL
C. Malec BC mi
M. Vechionacci BC mi DL
A. Jackson BC mi
C. Curtis BC mi
E. Gonzalez BR mi
P.J. Pilittere BC mi
J. Jones BC mi
G. Kontos BC mi
J. Nuñez BC mi
B. Smith BC mi DL
A. Claggett BC mi
O. Perez BR BC mi
M. Gardner BC mi
K. Whelan BC mi
W. Arias (L) BC mi

A Tampa Yankees:
E. Nuñez BC mi
C.J. Henry BC mi DL
T. Battle BC mi
K. Anson BC mi
J. Gil BC mi
A. Horne BC mi DL
Z. McAllister BC mi
W. De La Rosa (L) BC mi
C. Garcia BC mi

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs:
J. Snyder BC mi
M. Cusick BC mi
B. Suttle BC mi
A. Romine BC mi
J. Montero BC mi
D. Betances BC mi
J. Heredia BC mi
J. Ortiz BC mi
C. Heyer BC mi

Low-A Staten Island Yankees:
D. Adams mi
P. Venditte mi

Rookie Gulf Coast Yankees:
C. Joseph mi
C. Smith mi
K. Higashioka mi

Key:
BR = Baseball-Reference
BP = Baseball Prospectus
BC = Baseball Cube (past mL stats)
mi = MiLB.com (current mL stats)
E = ESPN (current splits, game logs)
MLB = MLB.com hit charts
JB = Japanese Baseball.com

The Recently Departed

2008 Yankees:
R. Sexson BR BP E MLB
M. Ensberg BR BP E MLB
A. Gonzalez BR BP E MLB mi
K. Farnsworth BR BP BC E
L. Hawkins BR BP BC E

Nady/Marte Trade:
J. Tabata BC mi
R. Ohlendorf BR BP BC E
D. McCutchen BC mi
J. Karstens BR BP BC E mi

2008 Campers/mLers:
C. Woodward BR BP BC E MLB PHI mL
J. Lane BR mi BOS mL
G. Porter BC mi WAS mL
J.D. Closser BR mi SD mL
S. Henn (L) BR BP BC E mi SD
H. Phillips (L) BR BC mi TB mL
S. White BR BC mi

2007 Yankees:
J. Torre (Mgr) BR BP BC LAD
D. Mientkiewicz BR BP BC E MLB PIT mL
A. Phillips BR BP BC E MLB mi CIN mL
J. Phelps BR BP BC E MLB STL mL
M. Cairo BR BP BC E MLB SEA
K. Thompson BR BP BC E MLB mi PIT
B. Sardinha BC mi SEA mL
W. Nieves BR BP BC E MLB WAS mL
R. Clemens BR BP BC E mi
T. Clippard BR BP BC E mi WAS
L. Vizcaino BR BP BC E COL $7.5m/2yrs
M. DeSalvo BR BP BC E mi ATL mL
M. Myers (L) BR BP BC E LAD mL
R. Villone (L) BR BP BC E mi STL mL
S. Proctor BR BP BC E LAD
J. Brower BR BP BC E mi CIN mL
C. Bean BR BP BC E mi ATL mL

2007 Campers and mLers:
E. Durazo BR BP BC E MLB mi
A. Cannizaro BR BP BC E MLB mi TB mL
A. Chavez BR BP BC E MLB mi LAD mL
K. Reese BR BP BC E MLB mi
R. Chavez BR BP BC E MLB mi PIT mL
O. Santos BC mi BAL mL
T. Pratt BR BP BC E MLB
T.J. Beam BR BP BC E mi PIT mL
B. Kozlowski (L) BR BP BC E mi Japan

Molina Trade:
J. Kennard BC mi

Abreu Trade
M. Smith (L) BR BP BC E mi PHI
C. Monasterios BC mi PHI
J. Sanchez mi PHI

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Extra Value is What You Get

2008-05-29 18:09

by Alex Belth

YES is broadcasting Game 6 of the 1978 World Serious tonight. I tuned in just in time to catch Reggie's bomb of Bob Welch, a first pitch shot that served as revenge for Welch's dramatic K of Jackson earlier in the series. Jackson admired the blast, though his posturing is tame by today's standards, and then tipped his hat to the Dodger faithful after he crossed home plate. In a short, 1994 New Yorker tribute to Jackson called "Swingtime," Roger Angell noted this home run as one of Jackson's career highlights. Here's more from the piece:

Coming up out of the dugout before his next at-bat in a big game, Reggie Jackson was always accompanied by an invisible entourage: he was the heavyweight champion headed down the aisle for another title defense. The batter's box was his prize ring, and once he'd dug in there--with those gauntleted arms, the squashed-down helmet, the shades and the shoulders--all hearts beat faster. It really didn't matter what came next--a pop-up or a ground ball, a single or a dinger, or one of those tunneling-to-Peru strikeouts that ended with his helmet askew, his massive legs twisted into taffy ropes, and the man lurching and staggering as he fought for balance down there in the center of our shouting--because what he gave us, game after game, throughout a twenty-one-year career, was full value.

...From first to last, he was excessive; he excelled at excess...His ego, like his swing, took your breath away, but the dazzled, infuriated beat writers and columnists had to concede that it probably arose from the same deeply hidden, unforgiving self-doubt that whipped him to such baseball hieghts, mostly in the hard late going.

I think Angell gets to the heart of Jackson's gift--no matter what he did when he was at-bat, he always gave us full value. There aren't many athletes you can say that about.

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Comments

2008-05-29 19:01:21

1. Bob Timmermann

No need for me to watch, as I don't get YES, but I was at the game. I sat in the right field pavilion for the game. I had to wait around for my oldest brother, who was a Dodger Stadium usher, to punch out and drive me home. Since it was the last game of the year, it took a long time.

My other brother and I got to see the leisure-suited Roy White and Ed Figueroa getting ready to go out on the town. I think they were both in beige.

2008-05-29 19:08:29

2. Cliff Corcoran

That's why I loved Sheffield. He had that same quality at the plate. Every at-bat was riveting. He never gave one away. I'd put my man Dave Winfield in that same category. Full value hitters. Don Mattingly and Wade Boggs had it too, but in a different way; it wasn't that even their fly outs and strikeouts were spectacular, but that they were locked in on every pitch they ever saw.

Though I think Yankee fans have finally stopped taking Alex Rodriguez for granted, I think it's the lack of that quality, in either variation, that the fans responded negatively to in the first place. Unlike Reggie and the rest, Alex can make some mundane looking outs.

2008-05-29 19:43:38

3. Shaun P

2 At the same time, A-Rod has crushed some mundane looking home runs too. How many times he has hit what looks like a routine fly out that just keeps going and going? With Sheff (and Reggie too, I imagine, not really remembering his playing days), you knew when it was gone.

A-Rod is sometimes more subtle than those guys, but when he's locked in, I'd say he's a full value hitter too. Maybe this is why he seemed to be more loved in '05 and '07?

2008-05-29 20:52:56

4. nick

Alex is so smooth...Reggie, Sheff, Winfield were all about visible effort, no? the thing with Alex is he doesn't look like he's going all out: somehow he just doesn't project hussle.

2008-05-29 21:04:19

5. Jeb

I remember when Welch struck Reggie out in Game 2 --- NBC seemed to make a much bigger deal out of that K than the Homer Reggie hit in game 6. Granted, Reggie's K ended the game so it was a bit higher leverage.

Also, of course, since the K happened in game 2, NBC's announcers talked about it in Games 3, 4, 5 and 6. Reggie's homer came in game 6 (the last game) so there wasn't much to talk about at that point and without an ESPN the replay didn't get played ad infinitum.

I really wish I had the YES network so I could watch that game though...that one and the game on 8/4/79 which I watched as a kid.

2008-05-29 21:31:37

6. Bob Timmermann

The mostly unknown rookie (even in L.A. we barely knew who Welch was or if we could trust him much) striking out the most famous player in the game on the biggest stage was a big deal.

The home run in Game 6 made a 5-2 game a 7-2 game. I know that at Dodger Stadium that after Jackson's homer in Game 6, the crowd pretty much just gave up all hope.

2008-05-29 22:51:07

7. Mr OK Jazz TOKYO

"Sometimes I underestimate the magnitude of me." man, Reggie was the coolest. I wonder if players today could get away with takling like that? Actually think it'd be cool if A-Rod went Reggie on the press.."Yes, I`m a prima-donna, I Got 500 home runs at age 32. I deserve better treatment"...

2008-05-30 03:12:34

8. JL25and3

Reggie's greatest moment in that World Series wasn't with his bat - it was with his hip. That was one of the finest heads-up plays I've ever seen, right up there with Jeter's flip toss.

2 I also thought of Sheffield immediately - except, of course, that I loathed Sheffield. In awe of his hitting, yes; loved him, never.

I guess the big difference between Reggie and Sheffield was the anger. Reggie actually had fun out there, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy those big moments. Sheffield held the bat like a grudge. Anyone remember ever seeing him smile, even once? Me either. Reggie's ego said "Look at me," but Sheffield's said "Fuck you," towards everyone, all the time.

I also think the Milwaukee fans might dispute that "full value" thing.

7 Sheffield: "I know what you're all going to do, and you all think you know what I'm going to do, and you all don't. Nobody knows. That's the mystique of me."

2008-05-30 06:21:22

9. Bama Yankee

8 "Sheffield held the bat like a grudge."
Good line and so true.

7 "Actually think it'd be cool if A-Rod went Reggie on the press"
Chyll Will and I have been saying something like that for a couple of years now. I think Arod struggled to act more like Jeter at the beginning and he never looked comfortable. I even suggested that he go with more of a Muhammad Ali approach (I was wrong, but I wanted him to try something different to see if it worked). But, now it looks like he has settled in to acting like Arod...which I guess should have been his plan all along.

2008-05-30 09:00:18

10. Raf

9 The problem with that is that Rodriguez isn't as loquacious or as flip as Reggie or Ali. Had he stuck to his "ARod Inc" personality, I think his "transition" (for lack of a better word) to NY would've been a lot easier.

The situation was unique from the beginning, I will admit, what with the two top dogs @ SS playing on the same team. Not to mention that the superior player was deferring to the lesser one. I could see why, in 2004, Rodriguez would try to shrink into the background.

I am curious to see how the Rodriguez - Jeter dynamic will play out the next few years.

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