The last thread contained a mention of Mussina's record 16 consecutive 10+ win AL seasons. The other interesting guy that comes up just short is Eddie Plank, who won ten or more in the first 14 years and the 16th year of the league, but played that missing season in the Federal League, winning 21 for the St. Louis Terriers.

Greg Maddux has an active 20-year streak in the NL.

-----------------------------

I thought 80 year old Tommy Lasorda managing the Dodger split-squad while Joe Torre is in China was farcical, but your Yanks topped that with the Billy Crystal stunt. The man made contact though.

So is Mussina throwing the curve more with two strikes? If Moose can somehow duplicate Greg Maddux's age 39-41 numbers he'll have 292 wins and 3020 Ks at the end of '10. Of all the big free agents signed after the last WS win and pre-Arod I think Moose has performed the best.

Everything in Moose's recent trajectory suggests this season will be his last, even if last season should have been.

Hey Cliff! I live right around the corner from the Rockaway Mall. I'm going to try my best to make it over there. Steven Goldman is a personal favorite of mine as well. This is cool!

Cliff, I agree, I caught the Crystal at bat and felt like critical than I had. But then I heard his dugout interview with Michael Kay a few innings later, and my cynicism was back stronger than ever. I think Crystal is like a lot of comedians--basically an unhappy guy. At least that is always how he's struck me. Like he's got a chip on his shoulder. But hearing him going on about how he was in the at-bat, which, admittedly he was, was just pathetic. He took himself SOOOO seriously. I think he just comes off like a spoiled old twerp.

3 i didn't see the game but according to pete abe's sort of live blog, moose was throwing his fastball at 86-88. seems his other pitches only work when he gets the fastball in that range. let's hope he has the core strength and stamina to keep his fastball near there and throw a sharp curve. otherwise 4 will ring even truer.

glad to hear shelley making some decent plays at 1b - some of the "oopsies" of the last few games had too many shelley refernces.
with wang, pettite, and hawkins, someone competent is going to have to emerge at 1b for some of those innings.

i think veras and patterson are going to emerge as the main bullpen guys behind the ones that are supposedly secure.
any toughts from people who have been able to watch some of the games.

6 The only game I've seen was yesterday's, and both Karstens and Traber looked awful. I don't think Girardi is "outside the box" enough to not include a lefty in the bullpen, so we'll see something of Traber/Henn/Igawa to start the season. It's just one game, but Karstens' inability to keep the ball down was distressing.

Funny moment from the game... a pop foul to the right of home plate landed about a foot from Robin Williams, who had lept from his seat. The ball then took a high hop into the stand sad Williams stood there in shock.

Like I said last night "on the disgrace to the Yankee uniform" scale, Billy Crystal isn't anywhere near the top of my list.

0 I have to agree with your call about Crystal Cliff. That was pretty much my reaction on seeing him come to the plate. The whole "my Yankees debut' thing bugs me but who am I to "begrudge anyone else a moment of pure happiness like that"? I felt like a cranky old man when I thought about my initial reaction.

I really wasn't going to watch but I had a couple of minutes yesterday and I couldn't help it. Oh well.

5 Is that really the Bronx Banter's Alex Belth writing?

What's wrong with Crystal taking this opportunity so seriously? I definitely came away with the impression that this was a very meaningful moment in his life. I know if I was ever given the same opportunity, I would take the same approach. I think anyone who really, really loves baseball would as well. In fact, if Alex Belth was given the honor, I am sure he'd pen an excellent article about the experience. In fact, I nominate Alex for the honor next season because his readers would wind up being the biggest beneficiary.

10 No, that doesn't read like AB's voice. A Mole in the toaster?

11 Alex has a nice swing, too. I bet he could make some contact up there. Me, I've been ruined by too many years of slow pitch softball. I can't hit anything above 50 mph. That said, if given the opportunity, I'd try to either draw a walk or bunt my way on.

11 I don't know if its' the "real" Alex or not, but I think he's entitled to have strong, pungent opinions once in a while. He's been around entertainment figures long enough to recognize what makes some of them tick. Certainly, his point about comedians seemed pretty dead on to me.

But perhaps we're all being rooked and this is like the phantom Pete Abraham that shows up on Lohud in the comments section periodically.

Ah, that was me, actually. LOL. You know, I find that I'm far less angry than I was when I was younger, but one thing I've become increasingly narrow, even bigoted about, is actors. Just tough for me to tolerate their ego, phoniness. But again, maybe the real reason I'm being hard on Billy is cause I'm just envious. LOL.

Speaking of a little fury, did anyone catch the HBO Real Sports segment on Lenny Dykstra last night?

Man, Lenny looks like a troll these days. Not only that, he seemed drugged almost in the interview. I never cared much for him, but my friend Pat Jordan liked him, even after Nails tried to screw Pat out of a story on two occasions. So I thought he might be okay after all. But from what I saw last night, he's a class a jerk, with a chip on his shoulder.

But the worst part of the piece was when it was over, the interviewer, Bernie Goldberg was sitting with his Holiness, Mr. Gumbel, and was asked about Nails' alleged steroids use. (I was waiting for that.) They ran a clip where Bernie asks Dykstra about it and Lenny denies that he ever took steriods, and he even took off his shades to look at Bernie in the eye. Then Bernie says that a few minutes later, off camera, he told Lenny, "I hope you know why I had to ask you that question." To which Nails replied, "And I hope you know why I had to lie to you." Then later, Bernie said he had to call Nails back to determine which story was correct. Which is when Nails told him he was just joking about lying.

Cut back to Goldberg and Gumbel: Bernie says, "It's too hot for me," or something to that effect, passes the issue right back to Gumbel. What a pussy. He couldn't say he what he really thought because he really thought Lenny was lying. He knew it. But then that'd become his story, and discredit his entire feature.

I thought TV guys were supposed to be "tough." Goldberg really wimped out, man.

13 He's usually so measured, calm and typo free; that just didn't seem like our boy! :-)

12 I can still hit a batting cage fast ball on a line when I know it's coming. As for a cutter, well the day where I could even see it has never dawned. My best chance to reach base would be to really piss the pitcher off and take one in the ribs. Of course I'd need a pinch runner because I couldn't do it from the Emergency Room!

14 I'll be darned! :-)

14 the back page - i think it was chris ballard's turn - of si skewered him this week too.
i certainly hope no other athletes are giving him their money.

There used to be a batting cage on W 73rd street under the old Apple Bank HQ. It had a machine that would toss fastballs, changeups, sliders and curves. I never went in, but I think it would be fun to try.

If someone was tossing tennis balls at 90 mph, I could probably hit one. But a real baseball is so heavy when traveling fast. I might be able to put the bat on ball, but I think it would corksrew me into the ground. I only weigh a buck 25. Oh well. you should've seen me in Little League!

12 Way to represent for the bunt, Cliff!

18 Ah, little league!

Glory days, indeed.

14 My sister is a dance choreographer and drama school grad. She was an aspiring actress and did her share of small plays around the Chicago area, before finally going full bore into dance. She constantly bitches about how unreliable and phony actors are -- she says her tolerance for them has gone down exponentially over the years.

As far as comedians, I had a friend who did stand-up around the Boston and New York area, but he got out of it - -said comedians were just too bitter and unhappy. Of course, that unhappiness can fuel some of the best humor, but he got tired of the nihilistic sniping and lack of community.

21 Before this goes south I wanted to say that the best friend I have ever had is a stand-up and a writer. He's one of the smartest, kindest and most decent people I have ever met. I know a number of people who do it for a living. It's a tough business and they have their scars but there isn't one of them that I don't like. It's hard to make that sort of generalization and make it meaningful. Maybe I'm just lucky or your sister's unlucky. Either way I think you have to take people as they come, one at a time.

All right, as long as it's open season on actors, I'll take a stab.

My closest encounters with them was back in the nineties when I worked in NY on the temp circuit as a legal and financial proofreader.

The circuit was filled with intellectuals, writers, artists, actors, musicians, etc. Basically it was a great alternative to waiting tables between gigs.

Of all the creative types I encountered in those days, the actor set was by far the most annoying. They weren't bad people or anything like that, just they were the group most inclined towards puffed up ego masking a no there, there. Whereas the other creative people seemed really driven by creativity and expression, the actors seemed driven by a need for attention.

Think Woody Allen's caricature of the comedian in Annie Hall.

Anyway, not to harsh on actors (Patrick Stewart, e.g., is a profoundly deep person), but, well, I guess I just harshed on actors.

But hey, they just want to be loved, is that so wrong??!

22 Agreed, ws.

Wholeheartedly.

Alex started it, btw!

Nyah nyah.

Wowzers Alex, you might want to consult with Torre about some herbal tea this afternoon >;) I would almost expect that type of rant from Cliff, but from his post above I suspect Cliff has a gooey center hidden inside that hard candy shell >;) All kidding aside, I still don't care that much. Joe smartly got Crystal his AB and safely removed him from affecting the rest of the game, so whatever. Now if he were to take seriously his line about going for governor, then we got beef...

21 Sadly, Richard Jeni immediately comes to mind...

23 You gotta take 'em one at a time. Among other things, I'm an aspiring actor, so you'll definitely see some of those traits in what I write from time to time, but I tend to think that's what happens when you specialize in any one thing, regardless of what field you're in. You happen to have more knowledge and skill than most anyone you know in general, and those people would certainly look up to you if they needed you. That's the thing; we survive, get by or become rich from others' need for you and what you provide. An actor is required to be something he or she is not, which is a lot harder than you think when you also have to please so many disparate personalities at the same time. I'm not defending the egomaniac, but the ones who really get into the craft (yes, it is a craft) are easy to admire if for nothing else that that they're really good at what they do.

Btw, how'd you manage to get proofreading jobs? I trained for it, but never got a look anywhere because I didn't have the "requisite experience"...

14 Ironically, I share your disdain for most actor-folk, but for some reason wasn't offended in this case. I think it's because I usually have a reflex fondness for anyone who seems to have a genuine love for the game of baseball. I guess sharing die-hard baseball fandom is to me what sharing ethnic/racial/religious/professional/etc. brotherhood might be to others.

21 I do apologize if it sounded like I was trying to out-harsh Alex and malign actors and stand-up comedians as unworthy human beings. I have no doubt many of them are fine people deep inside.

In the case of my sister, she still puts together a small dance production every 18 months or so, that has some elements of drama (though very broad) and a lot of elements of dance. It's always been a challenge for her to find the right mix of good actors/mediocre dancers and good dancers/mediocre actors. She has skewed almost exclusively toward dancers in recent years because the actors were always the most disruptive personalities on the set.

She's been there as an actor, so her empathy for different types has always been good, but her tolerance for actors has definitely decreased over the years.

As far as stand-up, yes, it's a tough life, I'll grant that. And in a past life, I had the opportunity to meet a couple of stand-up comedians who were as well adjusted and pleasant as anyone I've ever met. My friend's humor was less hard edged and more quirky than some of the people making the rounds in the Northeast, and he no doubt felt like a fish out of water hanging out with them.

damn - pa says both melky and shelley will be suspended for 3 games to start the season
i didn't even know melky did anything
hope matsui can handle left with his knee - this is where the growing chorus for an attempt to find space for gardner would be nice

29 The report says Melky threw a punch at Longoria. I am sure both with appeal. Not sure how Maddon has escaped any fines. Something tells me Hank will have a comment about this.

26 In a word, I lied.

The person who trained me drove home that "It's not rocket science" and that if they want to believe you've been doing it for years and were born to do it, then give the people what they want.

It's funny because I never would have lied about something like that, but the person who trained me assured me it was no big deal and that I'd get work. She was right, I did.

So there you have it.

As to everything else you say, couldn't agree more.

I certainly have some annoying academic tendencies I notice in myself. The need to qualify everything and excessive use of parentheses, for instance, are traits that even annoy me.

But as you say, it's inevitable when you've worked for years to master a certain skill set.

Melky should not be throwing punches.

The last thing I want to see is some kind of wrist injury sustained in a meaningless March fracas.

Discretion the better part of valor and all that.

31 Thank you Mr. Robert Irvine ;)

30 Yeah, but this is the new tough Yankees that some here wanted, right? No more Mr Torre's Neighbourhood?

But now it Maddon's fault? For the rookie's crashing the catcher in a previous game just MAKING us do idiotic things? Please! Or is it for reckless language calling a deliberately retaliatory spike in the groin of a starter close to criminal?

You know, if cowboy up, togher-than-thou migrates to the Bronx, guys are going to have to accept that suspensions follow upon retaliation, and so do injuries. So both appeal, achieving what? Actually, it might get a week of bad weather out of the way before Matsui has to go in the field.

Weeping is absolutely right. This whole thing was an embarrassment, now damages the team, and Girardi should have had Duncan under control before that game.

34 Melky throwing punches is not part of the plan. I am not sure how gets three games when Gomes only gets 2, but that's another story.

I still don't mind the Duncan slide even in spite of the suspension. Sometimes you have to pay a price to make a point.

Maddon deserves a suspension for his incendiary comments after both games. Besides, what exactly did Girardi do besides make comments? Does Bob Watson have proof Girardi ordered a "hit"?

Considering that every suspension gets reduced on appeal, it would make total sense to take that route. Also, you could have Shelly accept his suspension and Melky appeal is so they dont take place simultaneously.

34 I do think there ought to be a happy medium between Mr. Torre's Neighborhood (great phrase!) and a take-no-prisoners approach.

I'm a pacifist and violence of any kind makes me cringe (i.e., the idea that people deliberate try to hurt other people), but I do think that in sports there's obviously a level of violence everyone agrees to accept as part of the game.

I don't want bloodbaths, but I do want the team to play with urgency and not to be punching bags as they seem to have been for the Torre era.

Brett Gardner is making me very happy.

37 You think he can make the team over Ensberg? He's over .500 OBP and his 5 SB against 0 CS is very tasty. I'd love to see him make the team. Now, if only he had a right-handed bat...

37 tmi! Now we know where Brett is at night. Jeez. (Sorry, sorry, I can resist everything except temptation ...)

35 Did I miss something ... is Girardi suspended? Just checked. He was fined for what he did 'in the incident' ... you want Maddon fined for defending a legal slide days before and being angry about an obvious spiking? AFTER the game? Won't happen, shouldn't happen, frankly.

My point about Girardi wasn't that he ordered a hit it was that he should have gotten Shelleystein under control. We didn't and don't need this. I also, by the way, think he should absolutely support his player in public now.

Weeping I still see no evidence we were 'punching bags' ever. I think we were kings of the hill and players brought their game faces but for all the ambiguous stats about hbp (surely not very conclusive of anything) I don't see baseball as a punching bag game, anyhow.

Urgency is, as discussed here before, a tricky issue in a 162 game season. I have argued that Torre last year was flat-out brilliant in keeping his calm and the team's after an abominable, injury-screwed start (measured against the BoSox roaring out the gate, especially) when even the Wild Card looked hopeless. I thought he was manager of the year last year. "Urgency" might have destroyed us by May.

Having said that, I also see a case that in a short series, it may well be about urgency, and if so, then there's a weirdness about what might spell success in the long haul as opposed to in the playoffs. We might get a small testing of that this year.

On the other hand, the playoffs may be ALL about midges in Cleveland. (Midges, not midgets, Eddie Gaedel is dead.)*

* Anyone remember that true story?

38 Is there a point to having him make the team in such a limited role? Unless Girardi would be willing to religiously insert him into games for defense and pinch run often, I think Gardner would be better served playing full-time in Scranton.

39 What did Girardi do in the incident? That wasn't defined. If he is being fined for simply being Duncan's manager, then I think Maddon deserves a fine too.

I am also not sure what "legal slides" have to do with anything. Duncan's slide was also "legal", yet he was suspended three games.

I guess we could go back and forth about how this incident will impact the team. I keep going to back to Jorge Posada's quotes in yesterday's papers. He essentially said something like "we'll just have to play a lot harder now".

Well, if Jorge thinks this will push the Yankees to play harder, then I can live with the suspensions. Otherwise, take it up with Mr. Posada.

39 Points taken.

Especially about the long season and Torre's calm. Whether the team won despite that calm or because of it is probably impossible to substantiate, but I can see arguments on both sides.

40 But maybe he makes the team now with the suspensions. After all, they have only three OF's for those first two games and it forces Matsui to play the field.

Sorry, but I get a laugh out of this "punching bags in pinstripes" notion.

The Joe Torre Shortcakes haven't won a championship in 7 years why? because they've been too busy surrendering their lunch money to the big bad schoolyard bullies? Poor defenseless Yankee hitters abandoned by their pitchers and manager, left to protect themselves with the dented lids of their Rainbow Bright lunchboxes?

But now, finally! thanks to "Army Of One" Duncan, and "Manos de Leche" Cabrerra the worm's about to turn?!

General Joe Girardi's cavalary's a comin'?!

We're saved! Put the champagne on ice!

Silly, silly notion.

44 is not aimed at anyone here in particular. That "punching bags in pinstripes" idea seems to be everywhere these days, and if that's the prevailing perception about the Yanks there may, in fact, be some truth to it. I dunno. But if that's the case, it's time to change perception -- but not by following Shelley's lead.

39 I guess that's a bigger or smaller problem depending on what a person is tempted by but to each his own Haus . . . :-)

38 I think you nailed it, he's a lefty hitting OF. I don't think there's much room for him. I'd rather see him getting AB's at SW then riding pine in the ML. I do think his value has been grossly underrated by the minor league number sevants. The first hand scouting reports on him are very

44 Bread, feel like saying, "AH'll do the sarcasticizin' round here, Bubba Looey!" but it dates me even more!

But yeah, word.

44 'Hands of Milk', a fearsome handle if ever there was one.

47 Never saw anybody call him "Bread" before, that's funny and I don't even know why! >;)

45 The "punching bags in pinstripes" theme is the latest thing "wrong" with the Yanks. Seems the media likes to take a topic and somehow beat it into the ground, whether it's Torre being too calm, the Yanks not having enough fire/intensity, ARod not being able to handle NY, Stottlemyre's (in)ability as a pitching coach, blah, blah, blah, yakkety-smackety.

50 The way it goes with the dailies around here is that you have to say or write something about the Yankees every day, or you'll be locked in the bowels of Madison Square Garbage with no gruel. For those who egregiously compliment the team, that reporter is assigned a do-or-die interview with James Dolan. (thus the term "beat reporter") >;)

48 They squeeze you and it is udderly painful.

No mas!

50 If thats what they want to do, I can find enough negative things about the Yanks without making stuff up. For instance, what irked me about the reporting of ARod's 2006 season was that

1. He was a year removed from winning the AL MVP
and
2. In 2006 he was better @ home than on the road.

Another thing I found annoying is that you can't tell me that the "gutty, gritty" Yankees did what they did down the stretch during the 2005-07 seasons, then somehow forget what they did come playoff time, resulting in 3 straight first round exits.

Maybe it's me, but I hate lazy reporting.

53 Nah, I agree. It's like breaking out the huge stainless steel rotisserie grill and then grilling a pack of franks.

52 Udderly?

Jokes of stone!

44 Oh, Sliced!

Sillyperson!

Don't overstate what I said.

Ok, ok, I may have said "punching bag," which is hyperbole, admittedly.

But I'm not reducing their failure to win a title to the fact that they're docile.

45 Oh, ok.

Never mind.

:)

49 ha ha hah aha h!!

47 Click. I just got that. Wow, are you remembering that as a kid or an adult? You might be making a run at The Mick for oldest fogey on the block here (an honorable title I assure you >;)

59 Kid. YOUNG kid. Used the line (the real one, not this silly version) with my brother.

Wouldn't want to displace the Mick.