Louisiana Lightning must have learned something from sitting next to Art Fowler, Billy Martin's Sancho Panza. Fowler's pitchers always threw strikes.

Sounds to me like a demotion for Luis.

Definitely a demotion for Sojo. He made questionable moves at 3rd, many times I thought he was ill-prepared when facing his opponent. He either underestimated their arms or lack thereof. I like Sojo and I think his value is in his communication and respect with the Latin players, but that shouldn't be his job. I don't think having Bowa as the 3rd base coach is the right move, it'll be interesting to see how he reacts (if hired) when Sheffield runs past a stop sign and gets thrown out at home. Lastly, I thought it was interesting the Daily News referred to him as "one of the best 3rd base coaches in the game". I don't remember those words being used with anyone in baseball. Coaching 3rd is such a thankless job, if a runner is safe at home a 3rd base coach is never noticed.

Maybe Louis Sojo can be one of the best 1st base coaches in the game. heh

What happened to Kerrigan being the front runner?

Before Sojo, Yankees fans complained about Wave 'Em In Willie Randolph. Red Sox fans complained about Wendell Kim and Dale Sveum. Do fans of any team think their team's third base coach does a great job?

Bowa?
What next?
Bobby Knight as the motivational coach?
Victor Conte as head trainer?
Fred Smoot as recreation coordinator?

It seems like today is some national holiday in Boston, the day they finally beat the New York Yankees - a year ago today. Which makes me wonder, I wonder how many holidays the New York Yankees would have for every time they spanked the Sawx?

For any fan base, it's great to finally beat your arch nemesis but there comes a time where you have to move on and look ahead. It's a great part of your history, but they (the Sawx), more than any other team seems to live off of their 2004 championship accomplishments, more than any other team I can remember. The Angels won in 2002 and I didn't see the plethora of championship or regular season videos, as I have seen with the Sawx. The raping of their fan base, with official Red Sox Nation cards, etc, etc. At least act like you've been there before, now I get it….that's the problem…they haven't been there enough or before in most of their lifetime. I saw a shirt two weeks ago in Boston, championships this century 1 for Boston and 0 for the Yankees. I swear, has there ever been a fan base that feels more inadequate about their insecurities than the Sawx. After they won, I wanted to be happy for them but they are so fucken annoying. Some of them have the audacity to still refer to themselves as "Defending Champions", they still don't realize that after their team is out of the playoffs they no longer become defending champions. I guess I'm just venting because I still have bad memories from last year and the Yankees being eliminated so early this year has pissed me off even more, but it still makes me wonder……when will they let go of their fanaticism for the Yankees? It's funny, the hatred for the Sawx was buried for me for quite some time. It wasn't until Pedro, then Carl Everett and then Manny came to Boston that it just exploded into what it is today. I still remember being a kid and seeing Righetti pitch his no hitter in that awful July 4th heat, as a kid I really hated them then too, and then all that hatred got lulled to sleep for quite some time. Red Sox fans remind me of that ex-girlfriend who will continually try and play the victim role, no matter how many years/months have passed by she's still the victim. Grow up, get over it, and get on with your f'en life.

Fred Smoot would be a great event planner.

Larry Bowa!? Ugh. Let's hope that one doesn't come to pass. I always thought Rock Raines would make a great third base coach, but he's employed elsewhere, sadly.

If I were a conspiracy theorist - I'm not - I'd say Bowa is the Tampa politburo's suggestion. Why? They'd want him to take over for Torre if things get bad - the old replace a laid-back manager with a fiery yeller theory.

"I swear, has there ever been a fan base that feels more inadequate about their insecurities than the Sawx."

Hey, Sigmund Freud, cool it with the psychoanalysis! seriously, another broad Van Goghian sweep of that paintbrush that occasionally plasters the canvas. give red sox fans a break- its hasnt been a year. its the first championship of my grandfathers lifetime! dont confuse cheap ownership or other companies ploys of exploitation with the fans. WS championship is a $$$ maker. and for every lame t-shirt you'll see in beantown, thers a "whos your daddy" or "1918" tee strolling through times square.

I also read somewhere that Larry Bowa was/is one of the best 3rd base coaches. Just as long as he's kept on a short leash and his anger is kept in check.

Mattingly, Guidry...when are they going to hire Mike Pagliarulo?!?!

Pags! I always liked that guy? Remember when the Yanks folded at the end of 87 (or was it 85) and Billy the Kid had Pags go up and bat right-handed?

Heck, bring back Dan Pasqua!

Luis might be getting demoted, but what about the ultimate cool professional Yankee, Roy White? Haven't heard or read one thing about him since he's been back as a coach, have you?

Wayne Tolleson could do wonders with the middle infielders!

Any reason why Cecilio Guante's name hasn't come up for the pitching coach position?

Cecilio GUAN-te!!! I loved saying that guys name.

How about Rick Rhoden as hitting coach so Donnie can become bench coach? For a pitcher, Rhoden sure could hit! (I seem to recall a game in '88 where Rhoden ended up DH'ing in a strange turn of events - I think he even drove in a run.)

I'd recommend Don Slaught as catching coach, but I believe Leyland already hired him to work as a Tigers coach.

Does the first base coach actually do anything? I am not sure how you could get fired from a job that seems to mostly consist of idle chit-chat and holding batting gloves. I know they relay info about leads and stealing, but come on! I always though Roy White seemed just fine.

Too bad hes already taken, but I would say bring back Alvaro!

I don't really see how Bowa would fit into Torre's clubhouse/style. All of his coaches have always been the laid back, barely awake type, so maybe in his old age Bowa changed?

As for pitching coach, I kind of hope for Neil Allen, who maybe can persuade Joe to use some Rooks...

> Do fans of any team think their team's third base coach does a great job?

A's fans do. Ron Washington is about as good as they come. Knows the runners, knows the fielders, knows the game context, and nearly always makes the right decision.

There's a lot of talk of him becoming a manager, and it's almost a shame, because he's so damn good at coaching third base.

Yankee fans probably only know him for sending Jeremy Giambi home, but that was a bad result, not a bad decision.

from ric:
"Hey, Sigmund Freud, cool it with the psychoanalysis! seriously, another broad Van Goghian sweep of that paintbrush that occasionally plasters the canvas. give red sox fans a break- its hasnt been a year. its the first championship of my grandfathers lifetime! dont confuse cheap ownership or other companies ploys of exploitation with the fans. WS championship is a $$$ maker. and for every lame t-shirt you'll see in beantown, thers a "whos your daddy" or "1918" tee strolling through times square."

Hey ric, just passed Times Square. There are no "whos your daddy" or "1918" tees strolling around. Want to pull anything else out of your ass?

Jedi, ric has a point even if his examples are a year off. How many "26 to 6" shirts did we see this year, or "You weren't cursed, you just sucked for 86 years"? And for every annoying book for their WS win that's been published in the last year, we had a Torre, O'Neill or Zimmer memoir during our run.

Thanks, Ken. My question wasn't intended to be rhetorical. I think that a lot of fans only notice the third base coach when he screws up.

Among A's fans, how much credit/discredit does Washington (who came out looking great in "Moneyball") deserve for the baserunning mishaps in the Boston/Oakland series in 2003?

"Among A's fans, how much credit/discredit does Washington deserve for the baserunning mishaps in the Boston/Oakland series in 2003? "

I'm not an A's fan, but I don't think you can blame Washington for Byrnes not touching home plate or Tejada for stopping halfway home. Both of those guys should've been safe -- both outs were runner errors.

yaaaay 12!!!! alex is my new best friend.

listen: for some reason, dan pasqua was my favourite player as a kid. when i was 11 yrs old i didn't really understand plate discipline, i only saw his power numbers and thought, "if only they'd give em a REAL chance". i was so upset when he got traded to the white sox. i even tried rooting for the white sox and got a white sox hat when he played there. not surprising, seeing as i was the only 6th grader in NJ with a columbus clippers hat (a tribute to my hero pasqua who was continually being demoted to AAA).

when i finally had some money (read: credit card) in my pocket in college, i decided to get an official yanks jersey and i got a "pasqua" road jersey. it just so happened pasqua wore #21, so while we were playing a pickup softball game (me in my shiny new jersey - the shirt not the state silly), one of the guys on my team shouted, "c'mon paulie!!", as i came up to bat. luckily a good friend (who is the world's biggest mark grace fan) was on hand to correct him. "no, it's a dan pasqua jersey", he said as i lined out to the shortstop.

when me and our venerable host were kids playing wiffle ball, it was always the Yanks versus the Mets, and occasionally the Angels thrown in there because of Reggie. Well when Alex was the Angels I was the Yanks cause I loved batting like Mattingly and Pasqua. Of course you had to bat like each hitter, and Mattingly was all turned in with his right foot at the time, quick hands, and Pasqua, at least for us had a great open stance to yank the deep bomb into old farmer MacGregor's Vegetable patch. Ah yout, so wasted on de young...

Ben, great post. My older brother and I used to play Yanks vs. Mets whiffle/tennis ball subway series classics. Since he was older, he got what he wanted. So, I was the hated Mets and he the Yanks. He was a switch hitter and expertly mimicked the likes of Mattingly, Winfield, Pags and Rickey. What was odder is that the quality of his at bats directly correlated with the player. As Winfield he would hit monster shots, occasionally throwing his bat for greater verisimilitude. Mattingly, he would rope line drive doubles. As Willie, he'd ground balls to the right. He'd throw in the occasionally lead-off home run by Rickey. I was stuck with players who I had a grudging respect for because, after all, this was when the Mets were better than the Yanks. I loved hitting like Strawberry, even though I am a righty, and more often than not, I'd strike out with his lazy looping swing. Dystra, I was a spitting machine. Ah, the memories. It's only in retrospect that I realize it was a good thing he beat me every world series. The Yankees being the Yankees and the Mets being the Mets. It was the only reasonable conclusion, after all.

Even lacking experience as a pitching coach, Guidry would be an interesting choice. He was my favorite Yankee and I've told people for years that the season he had in '78 was arguably the greatest season a pitcher ever had-certainly no Yankee pitcher had a better season ever. He threw strike after strike...worked quickly and always seemed like he knew what he wanted to do. And boy could he bring it............
I think Sojo is kept for no other reason than he needs to work with Cano. Larry Bowa? He fights with his players and talks about them behind their backs, doesn't he? Oh, maybe that was Bobby Valentine...........

Nick, i was a Met fan back then, inherited from my father, so i enjoyed being the Mets. We were both switch hitters, in wiffle ball anyway, but natural lefties and we always seemed to do better as the lefties. I hated batting like Carter, wide stance, very awkward. Hernandez was my best stance, closed front leg and bat out, hands, hands, hands. I always struck out as Straw. Don baylor was fun when I was the Angels.

We also had to mimick the pitchers, and while I did a good Ron darling, and McDowell underhand screwball, Alex was dynamite as Guidry. I still don't understand how he threw a wiffle ball so fast. Picture me, red faced, hoping he throws one high cause a walk is my only shot until Hernandez gets up.

Now when I go to visit my wife's family on the island, her young nephews are doing the same thing. Andrew does a great Jeter, and a Piazza that will send you to the morgue laughing.

You can see the same thing up at Inwood Hill park where they play hardball. All these guys bat like Manny or soriano. The beat goes on...

Benny B. Great trip down memory lane there. Yeah, we also used to put black electical tape on half of the ball so we could throw it harder without losing some of the good whiffle. When Reggie was traded to the Angels I just had to follow them too. Brain Downing was the most fun stance I remember immitating on that team. Every once in a while we'd play as the Cubs too because we'd catch them on WGN, though neither Ben or I had much juice for them.

I remember being a stickler (i.e. asshole) about getting the batting stances down correctly, like you could get docked for style. You couldn't, but I'd sure yell a lot about it. Loved hitting as Straw and Hernandez too. Hated a non-descript scrub like Raffael Santana. On the Yankees, I love hitting like Pasqua, Mattingly (tinkering around, doing the pigeon toe thing) and Pags. All the lefties.

I'm a natural right-handed swinger and batted righy during regular baseball games, know about mechanics and everything righty, but always had more pop as a lefty. (When Ben and I played stickball over the last ten years, his lefty swing was refined to a simple John Olerud style while I was still swinging from my ass like Todd Hundley.)

Winfield was a lot of fun to immitate because of the windmill swing, and his habit of turning the bat upside down to knock the dirt out of his cleets before each pitch. Rickey Henderson was a ball too, though sometimes that crouch would end up hurting my legs. But actually, my stance throughout high school was modeled after Rickey and Dewey Evans more than anyone else. Even did the stupid front leg lift and everything.

Re: Guidry

As much as I'd like to see Guidry back in pinstripes, (he'd probably still fit into his old uniform) it's most likely due to nostalgia.

Seems to me, (with the notable exception of Yankee legends Mattingly, Mel & Randolph) that most of Torre's coaching picks have been former players he's managed (Mazzilli, Chambliss, Cardenal, Neil Allen, Sojo, Girardi). Maybe there's more control and less mutiny this way.

That's why I think there should be a push for Lee Smith as pitching coach. Unlike Guidry, he has coaching experience (in the SF organization).

Plus when Big Fat Lee Smith tells you to do something, it's probably in your best interest to do what you're told.

Like if he tells Tanyon Sturtze: "Throw strike one, muthafuka" Tanyon might be less likely to fool around out there.

Does anyone remember if there was bad-blood from Seinbrenner after Lee Smith's short stint in the Bronx?

I caught a glimpse of a 10 and under little league game and some kid was immitating the stance of Craig Counsel...eeee gags!

When it came to the top of the inning. I caught the same kid pitching on the mound and immitating Corey Bradford, submarining it wildly everywhere...good god!

talk about mimicing the wrong pros. Thats like saying I want to be a good actor, so I am going to immitate Harold the Duck.

I said to my wife after I saw him pitching,
"What are we gonna see come the bottom of the inning? Is he going to run the bases like jorgie?" heh

I'm loving this thread. I didn't get much whiffle in as a kid, but my friends and I did mimic stances. Winfield was my favorite player and that tapping the dirt out of his cleats with the handle of the bat was one of my favorite moves. That and his slow, extra low practice swings.

I was just talking to Steve Goldman the other day about how he taught his five year old daughter some swing fundementals the other day and she started ripping the ball. He said the thing she struggled with most, because when you're learning you have to thing about like ten things at once and you ultimately forget something, was keeping her back elbow up. I remember learning that from watching Rickey, who always kept that back side elevated.

Now that I play softball regularly, I still imitate some stances if I'm trying to fix my swing. I remember a few years back I would get all coiled up like Soriano and just try to kill the pitch. But since we play slow pitch I'm alway trying to find new ways to keep my hands and arms from getting stiff or fatiguing waiting for the pitch. I've used the Rod Carew/Tony Fernandez loose hands approach, and even tried some version of the Craig Counsell over head wiggle (I know, I hate that too, but it was helpful for a while). Fun stuff.

Of course the greatest stance to immitate was Julio Franco's two fingers off the knob, knock kneed and the bat way over his head and pointed back at the pitcher. Between the stance and his attempt to play into his 50s, if he does the latter, I don't see how you can keep him out of the Hall (I'm mostly kidding).

ooops. thats Howard

The truth was I always hung one when he was Randolph because Willie was my favorite player. I couldn't bear watching him get out. My favorite Met pitcher to imitate was Sid Fatso Hernandez because of his side-arm delivery.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, in rare instances of magnanimity, he'd let me trade Wally Backman for Willie. Randolph on the Mets?! How prescient.

My best friend was a huge mets fan. That's how my life as a yanks fan started. Because he use to immitate Keith Hernandez stance to a perfection (even with that stupid wiggle) I felt I needed to give the Yanks the same justice. I studied the tv everytime they played. My studying paid off because whenever I was Don Baylor, I always took the hit with the whiffle ball and just trotted to first like nothing happened. I would always shag every fly bag with a snap catch like ricky henderson and then pat my glove on my thigh (even though the ball was cleary not in my glove but catapulted underneath a chevy nova). Or, after every out play at first, I would flick the ball like Mattingly to my team mates looking like my elbow is silly puddy. But, through all my researching and precise skill of immitating their persona, I could never immitate Bobby Meachem's mannerisms. That's why he goes down in my book, as the myth, the man, the legend out of all 1980s yankee shortstops.

Where is he now, Bobby?

The only way I had a chance against Keith Ottendonker's wicked Screwball was to "do the Rod Carew".

It also helped me protect the lawn chair against his mint Riser.

Since a bunch of folks here started out with the 77-78 Yanks, I wonder how many of you read the biographies/autobiographies of all the players that were published then.

Guidry's was one of my favorites.

Best part was Guidry's post-start meal. Anyone remember it?

He always went to Mickey D's and got something like 4 big macs, two lg fries, and a lg coke. The guy weighed what, a buck fitty soaking wet and somehow he scarfed that down every fifth day!

The elusive Bobby Meacham. Some call him the Giant Squid of baseball.

As a kid playing baseball in the 80's at Inwood park, my favorite stance was always Strawberry's and Mattingly's. Every one of my friends wanted to pitch like Righetti or Gooden and hit like Mattingly or Strawberry. Other than all the "red tops" (crack viles) on the ground, the 80's were a great time in NYC.

It would be tough to not discuss Mattingly and Strawberry and baseball at Inwood Park in the 80's w/o also discussing my fascination with members of Jets and Giants, too. Ken O'Brien, Al Toon and Wesley Walker will always have a lasting impression on me. Especially that overtime game vs. Miami in 86. The 86 Giants were great because I loved Burt, LT, Simms, Joe Morris and Harry Carson. Hard to forget McConkey and Bavarro. I still remember my first radio sports call moment, it was that Dolphins - Jets game and I forgot the announcers names but it went something to the effect of "O'Brien to Walker, TOUCHDOWN!!!! The Jets WIN!!!!" I was only 10 but NY sports was starting to become part of my blood and I would love to listen to my mother talk about her favorite baseball player, Juan Marichal.

#29 Craig Counsel. Just hearing his name recalls a great line (written by either Ray Ratto or Scott Ostler), something to the effect of:

"Craig Counsel at the plate against Hideo Nomo looks like a stork mating ritual."

Ahhh, stickball and whiffle ball, those were the days... The Mick was my inspiration for learning to switch-hit. On the mound, Jim Bouton's windup was my model. Remember seeing him throw so hard once, his cap came flying off, so I used to wear mine loosly enough so it would fall off after every pitch. Pensy Pinkie's were the ball of choice... there's probably a few hundred of 'em still floating around the sewers of Kings Highway.

We'd have Yanks vs Mets, too, and Mutt fans got pretty lippy in '69, but it was hard not to like that team. For that summer and fall, they owned New York City.

I resorted to the Carew, bat straight back routine in high school because I was so skinny that I didn't have the power and speed to get the bat through the strike zone quickly enough when I held the bat upright.

Oh and Dude, I've STILL got my Wesley Walker jersey, dog. Although the best piece of sports gear is Daryl Dawkins Nets jersey from the early 80s that a high school friend gave to me about 10 years ago. My fat ass can't fit into now, but I can't part with it: it's such a classic.

There are a lot of classic jerseys, had a Jets 24, Freeman McNeil home jersey. But I must hold that my favorite player jersey-tee of all time is one I still wear, paint speckles and all: NY #51 Williams.

Julio Franco's stance! My brother had it down pat perfectly when we played wiffle ball in our backyard as kids. Though my brother is a lefty, he always hit righty - said it felt more comfortable.

I tried the Franco stance but could rarely get the bat to point just right like my brother could. I liked Randolph's stance as he was my favorite player.

I don't recall imitating pitchers much when we were kids, but when we were teenagers my brother liked to imitate Jimmy Key (a fellow lefty) and, ironically, Moose (because of his knuckle-curve).

Man, what good memories to relive on a cold and boring Friday at work - thanks guys!

Wow...a Wesley Walker jersey. I still have all my football and baseball cards in a special box from 85 and 86. I don't know what it is about those two years that I just loved about NY sports. It was great to watch and listen to Scooter (especially those damn money store commercials) and after Met games, I would love to watch Kiner's corner. Those were the days, no cable, just an antenna and television and I had all the entertainment I'll ever need. Even the fire hydrants didn't have those special locks that you had to pry open so you can get in the ghetto backyard swimming pool. Holy shit, I feel old all of a sudden…...

Dimelo, if you remember where you were when you first heard Slick Rick or Biz or EPMD or BDP or De La Soul (le