Sunday Roundup 6/17/07 - Jeter and the Subway Series

The big story today is Jeter's performance in yesterday's game. I hate Jeter as much as the next Yankee-hater, but he and Rivera are the only current Yankees who have excellent track records in tough spots. Pettitte has a very mixed record (see game 1 of the '96 WS and game 6 of the 2001 WS), and the newer guys (Giambi, A-Rod, Mussina) have done very little. You can hate Jeter, but you've gotta respect him.

Still, I cringe every time the media has one of its Jeter lovefests, making him out to be the greatest ever to put on the pinstripes. And today is one of those days.

Ian O'Connor has a very good piece bringing us back to Jeter's early years, when it seemed like the Yanks wouldn't stop winning World Series. But over six years after the 200o Subway Series, Jeter is still waiting.

Kernan has the obligatory "Jeter proves he's better than Reyes" piece. Kernan is the most predictable columnist in the city, and a big reason the Post's sports section has jumped the shark.

And here are a couple of Jeter love-rants: one from Newsday, one from the Hartford Courant.

But enough about Jeter. There's other stuff to talk about, too.

In this piece, Tyler Kepner writes about how Luis Vizcaino says Rivera helped him with his mechanics, and Vizcaino has had five good outings in a row (but keep in mind, mostly against lousy offenses). Also, with Clippard going back to AAA, Kei Igawa is most likely to take his spot in the rotation.

Dan Shaugnessy talks about how Dice-K has not gotten ripped by Boston fans despite a disappointing start to the season. And Dice-K was huge yesterday.

Joel Sherman's favorite time of year is coming up - trading season. Thankfully, he doesn't share any of his trading proposals in this piece. If anything, the impression you get from this piece is that there won't be a ton of action, because - a) many teams still have a shot, and aren't giving up their spare parts yet, b) some GMs of lousy teams (like Jim Bowden) won't give up their guys unless they get top names, and c) Boras clients in their walk years (like Mark Teixera) are unattractive to most contenders.

For the millionth time, Torre blames a lousy Rivera outing on rust.

Tony Massarotti makes a great point in this piece:

"Since taking 2-of-3 from the Red Sox at Fenway Park [map] on the first weekend of June, the Yankees had played series against the Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates and Arizona Diamondbacks entering this weekend’s affair with the Mets. In order, those three clubs ranked 30th, 23rd and 26th among the 30 major league teams in runs scored this season, which is just what the doctor ordered for a Yankees staff that has employed 12 starting pitchers this season and only one (Pettitte) who had made more than 10 starts."

PICK OF THE WEEK: Great job by Bob Klapisch giving an update on whether A-Rod will stay or go after the season. We all thought he was done after he was on the cover of the Post a few weeks ago, but he and the Yanks have only gotten better since then. I don't care if 1978 happens again - I still think if A-Rod has a lousy October and the Yanks get bounced in the first round, he'll be outta here.

Klapisch also discusses the Yankees other options at third, if A-Rod goes. Miguel Cabrera is a possibility, but will cost a few top prospects. I'd love to see the Yanks get him, because I don't think he can handle New York.

- My big brother, a big Pat Tabler fan back in the day, will be very excited about a note in Klapisch's piece: Jorge Posada is batting .667 (8-12) with the bases loaded this season.

Snorre Kisses Up to His Players

According to an article in today's New York Post, Snorre tells of how he approached Jeter and A-Schmuck about giving them a day off. Both refused. Snorre pointed out what gamers these guys are, not wanting to take even one day off. Snorre's lucky that they both had good games. Had they both gone 0-5 and had Old York lost, he'd look like a fool, and like a guy who lets the inmates run the asylum.

Instead, he lucked out, and now he probably thinks he's a genius.

Back to Business as Usual: Junkees Drop One to ChiSox 6-4

So much for the momentum of A-Schmuck's home run, which John Sterling called A-Rod's most dramatic home run yet. Puh-leez. Then again, what the heck should I expect from Pa Pinstripe?

Anyway, Matt DeSalvo got into some trouble, thanks in part to some typical shoddy Yankee defense, and Snorre had no patience for him. I was a little surprised that Snorre went to the pen so soon, but I think it's safe to say that DeSalvo is NOT this year's Aaron Small. (Speaking of which, why not bring back Small for PR?)

Villone came in to give up a couple of runs, and before you knew it, the Junkees were way behind. Can't completely kill the Junkee offense as they did get 10 hits, but until the ninth, didn't string much together.

- Has anyone noticed that Jeter is having a horrible June? He's now 3-20, 3 for his last 27, and in that time his average has dipped from .355 to .326. Yeah, he'll blame his latest 0-5 on getting run into early in the game, but don't worry - he'll probably pull a Damon and play through it, further ruining the second coming of 1978.

- Damon, by the way, is also having a horrid June, and has absolutely zero power. If he's your DH, forget it. Another great signing by Brian Ca$hman.

- Tyler Clippard pitches on Tuesday. Pressure's on.

Sunday Roundup 6/3/07

- With apologies to Buster Olney, time for a new Despiser feature: links to the best Yankee-related columns in the Sunday papers, with quotes and my opinions thrown in for good measure.

Interesting performance/human interest piece in the Times about Mike Lowell; some good tidbits at the end.

Murray Chass talks about the "most expensive groin in baseball history," and how the Mussina-Nieves battery flopped. In that piece, Torre does Mussina's job for him, blaming his lousy performance on the rain delay.

Mike Vaccaro talks about the Yankees' horrible seventh inning yesterday. He does a good job pointing out how Abreu's screwing up a fly ball led to the Yanks falling apart that inning.

Typical outlandish outside-the-box piece by Joel Sherman, suggesting how the Yankees could try to opt our of Clemens' deal, considering that it's technically a minor-league deal. Sherman, do you think George would ever allow them to just drop Clemens? No way. Clemens could be out till August, and he's not going anywhere. Although if the Yanks would opt out of the contract and Clemens doesn't end up pitching for New York, it would make Suzyn Waldman's call all the more ridiculous.

Sherman does a slightly better job in this piece, quoting a bunch of scouts saying that Clemens will have a much harder time with the AL East than with the NL Central last year. But we've discussed that here, already. Not an epiphany.

Wally Matthews talks about Captain Clutch's failures yesterday, and throws in a great line about how "Joe Torre is sounding more like Art Howe every day."

Tony Massarotti believes that the Sox and Lowell played hard because they were ticked about Proctor getting a free pass for hitting Youkilis Friday night. It's Yankees-Red Sox. That's reason enough to play tough.

PICKS OF THE WEEK: I've been meaning to do a Minaya vs. Cashman comparison, and there a bunch of columns praising Minaya this week. The Record's Ian O'Connor, the Daily News' Bill Madden, and Newsday's Shaun Powell all sing Minaya's praises. O'Connor and Madden throw in the occasional dig at Cashman, too. Expect my take later this week.