COM"ROD"ERY

Before the 2015 season began, no one knew what to expect from A-Rod, not even he knew for sure what his own physicalities could endure.  After all, his last full season of daily grind was back in 2012 – before his 2014 suspension from baseball and prior to his second and more extensive hip surgery.  The lack of play, the doubt of his post-hip surgery endurance, and his age (he will be 40 next Monday) were enough obstacles for everyone's doubt, including mine.

Now, as we close into the final two months or so of baseball, A-Rod has done the impossible:  He's not only produced a decent batting average of.275, reached 20 homers, and driven in 54 runs, but he's also carried himself very well behind the microphones!  He's been verbally preaching team, team, and more team all year long and steered away from stories involving any of his personal accomplishments.  Now, I might typically critique that as possible phoniness, but since he has clearly brought that exact team attitude into the clubhouse, who can rightfully criticize him?

Who would have thought that Derek Jeter's replacement in the clubhouse as the team leader would be A-Rod?  Now, I'm not saying that A-Rod deserves to be a captain or that he's even in the same class as Jeter, but it is clear to anyone who has watched many of this year's games that besides Teixeira's comeback numbers and Gardner's best MLB year, it is A-Rod's own great hitting AND his continuous acts of comradery (a.k.a., COM"ROD"ERY) that has distinguished him as the main team leader.  Whether you watch the players in the dugout or listen to them in their interviews, they are acting as one unit and I believe A-Rod is the main reason, followed by Gardner and Teixeira.

ALMOST HALFWAY THERE

With the 2015 baseball season almost at the halfway point (with 79 games played), the Yankees’ forecasted winnings (they have currently won 42) still project to be in the mid 80s.  The problem is that 4 of the 5 teams in the American League (AL) East have won the same exact amount of games!  The only AL East team with a record under the .500 mark is the Red Sox (thankfully).  In fact, the AL East is currently the tightest race in all of baseball, though none of the teams are overly dominant.

Just as I wrote back in May, the Yankees have been overachieving.  They’ve done it without Andrew Miller and Jacoby Ellsbury for a while - both have proven to be their best bullpen pitcher and hitter respectively.  The good news is that both are due back very soon (in about a week).

Another key positive for the Yankees is the fact that we’re in July, when half the teams typically make trades before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.  The Yankees' farm system is finally getting recognized by the experts!  That said, the general managers and scouts should not only be influenced by the critics, but hopefully feel the same way in their own assessments.  In all, this means that the Yankees have the necessary assets to attain quality returns.  Of course, if money is an obstacle for the unloading teams, it won’t be an obstacle for the Yankees’ acquisition - unless the players’ contracts are too lengthy!

Looking at the NYY’s performance, they definitively need hitting.  While CC is struggling and Tanaka is still sporadically performing, Adam Warren has proven he can be a very decent starter and Ivan Nova has (in a short span since his return from Tommy John surgery) shown he is still a viable starter.  The offense of hitters like Didi Gregorius and Stephen Drew has proven to be the biggest disappointment thus far, while A-Rod has shocked the baseball world with his above-average hitting.  Carlos Beltran has had some decent offense, but his right field defense has been pitiful.  Additionally, he’s currently had some rib issues.  Technically, Beltran should be a DH; but A-Rod is the “designated” designated hitter.

I would love for the Yankees to trade Beltran to another AL team that is looking for a DH.  I don’t expect much in return for him, but I do expect his subtraction to be the biggest opportunity for an addition.  Then, they could either make another transaction to acquire a true right fielder or they could utilize the speed of their own Mason Williams or Slade Heathcott (if he can ever stay healthy) and make one of them the right fielder.  Perhaps they can even add one of their phenom studs, Aaron Judge, to the 25-man roster and make him their new right fielder!   He’s still smacking the ball like it’s twice its size.  The other Major League player they could trade would be Stephen Drew.  Again, I wouldn’t expect much in return, but any team needing a shortstop (instead of the 2^nd base position he mostly provides us) would be very satisfied with Drew’s shortstop prowess. 

If the Yankees are looking for an above-average hitter, which I feel they definitely need, then they would have to offer one of their farm system’s quality players.  I don’t think they will need to include any of their top prospects (Luis Severino, Greg Bird, Rob Refsnyder, Jorge Mateos or the aforementioned Judge) unless they try to attain an All-Star player who has a reasonable contract.  For me, a reasonable contract is defined as a contract that:  doesn’t have too much salary owed on it, has a costing balance that is mostly paid by the trading team, or is long-termed for a player under the age of 29.

Of course, the Orioles, Rays, and Blue Jays will each have the same opportunity to improve their teams.  All 3 of them also have quality assets in their farm systems; however, the Orioles and Rays don’t like to spend money, while the Blue Jays have more spending restrictions than the Yankees (as most teams do).  I can’t wait until August 1^st to find out!

ZIP-LIP JORGE, ZIP-LIP JORGE

As the Yankees have currently slid down the win column and have been hovering around .500 as a team, I thought I'd "slide" into alternate topic for this article.  A few recent occurrences have brought my mind into my latest thoughts.  Last Sunday, Bernie Williams was inducted into the Yankees' Monument Park, including the retirement of his number.  As I've written in the past, I have not and still am not in support of the Yankees retiring number 51 in his honor.  Similarly, Jorge Posada will also have his number 20 retired (this August 22).  For Jorge, though, I have expressed my borderline point of view on him, while slightly supporting his qualification - mostly based on his Core-4 contributions, his offensive numbers while playing the hardest defensive position, and his battery efforts during David Wells' perfect game.

My mind’s wheels really started turning this month when Jorge released a memoir/book, "The Journey Home: My Life in Pinstripes".  Within that book, like a lot of "authors" are told to do, he included some controversial comments which always seem to help sales – remember Joe Torre's book?  The most unfortunate victim ended up being Joe Girardi, with Cashman also somewhat a backup victim.  Posada basically complained about losing catcher and playing time from 2008-2010 with his main focus on the unfairness to him.  Here's an excerpt the Daily News had issued:

"I’ll put this as plainly as I can.  When you take me out from behind the plate, you’re taking away my heart and my passion . . . I knew that my role with the club was changing, but I don’t think that anyone making those decisions knew how much the things being done hurt me . . . To have even that taken away from me without adequate explanation, hurt me and confused me . . . I felt like I wasn’t being treated right, that people weren’t always being as straightforward with me as I wanted them to be or treating me as I deserved to be treated, and I exploded.”

While we all can admire Jorge's "passion", it's upsetting to see that he's publicly insinuating complaints, mainly against Girardi.  Joe Girardi has never publicly complained or said anything derogatory about Jorge; and there were plenty of times he could have complained about some very awful defense, game calling, and even about some of Jorge’s insubordination!  As far as Cashman is concerned, he was involved in issuing every single one of Jorge's very wealthy contracts (numerous times).  Of course, the Steinbrenners had to ultimately sign the checks, but they typically listen to Cashman’s opinion.  In fact, only on A-Rod’s contract can I ever remember them (actually, Hank Steinbrenner) going against Cashman’s contract opinion.

Jorge and every other professional baseball player, for that matter, have all been given vocal chords.  Those same vocal chords not only function during retirement years, but they have always functioned during all MLB players’ baseball careers!  So, if Joe didn't tell him this and Brian didn't tell him that, then what happened to his own voicing of displeasure or supposed confusion?  Even back in the 2008 season when Jorge was 36 & 37 years old – he qualified as an adult, not a child!!  Communication is a two-way street.

Additionally, one can argue that the manager Jorge fully supports, Joe Torre, was lucky in a way, because he didn't have to manage the Yankees' Core-4 (including Jorge) during their age-dwindling years.  Instead, it was Joe Girardi who had that strenuous distinction.  Jorge proved to have both declining numbers and increasing injuries during his final years.  So, any objective and fair-to-the-team manager would also have rightfully reduced Jorge's catching days and playing time.  We Yankees' fans demand winning year-after-year and, unfortunately, that can sometimes mean seeing less of our so-called heroes.  Some players, such as Mariano, recognize their decreasing contributions to the ultimate goal before it becomes an issue to the team and to themselves.  Perhaps Jeter played one year too many, but at least he recognized it before it got out of hand.  In fact, it can be argued that Jorge was the only Core-4 member that overstayed his abilities.

Again, as I've stated in the past, I believe Jorge's upcoming induction qualifications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame selection are debatable, but I would personally vote for him (if ever I had such an honor) based on the same aforementioned reasons I gave for his retiring-number qualification into Yankee Stadium's Monument Park.  I liked Jorge, but was never overly crazy about him, mostly because of his iffy catcher defense.  There's no question that he always played hard, offered very good offense for most of his career years, and was rightfully a member of the infamous Core-4.  To me, that Core-4 group also carried a distinctive class in leadership during their playing years.  I believe they should take that same approach during their non-playing years.  It would be great if Jorge swallowed some of his selfish pride and acted classy; then, we could traditionally recite his famous "Hip-Hip Jorge" chant that "we" Yankees' fans created instead of the "Zip-Lip Jorge" chant that I created!

20% UPDATE

This season is flying by so fast!  This season has just surpassed the 20% mark.  Let’s take a look at some interesting results:

The Yankees in First Place:

At a 21-13 record, the Yankees are not only in first place, but their record is currently amongst the best in MLB.  With most critics originally ranking them to be under .500, the early results support my 87 wins prediction more than theirs - and, I hope it continues at that pace.  I still think they need more consistent hitting and/or hitters in their lineup.  We’ll find out soon enough.

A-Rod’s Hitting:

Last week, A-Rod surpassed Willie Mays’ 660 in homeruns (currently A-Rod has 662 and is statistically in 4^th place behind Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and an even bigger steroid user than A-Rod…Barry Bonds.  He’s also been hitting the ball pretty well with his 8 homeruns and 20 RBIs, which project to be 100 RBIs at this point!

The Top:

John Ellsbury as the lead-off hitter with Brett Gardner right behind him has been considered the best one-two offensive punch in baseball.  Ellsbury’s .346 batting average/11 stolen bases/.418 on-base percentage and Gardner’s .318 batting average/10 stolen bases/.397 on-base percentage are just some of the offensive numbers that clearly support their dominance at this stage.

The Bottom:

Even better, at the end of games, no team in all of the Majors has been as successful as Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller.  Currently, neither one of them has given up an earned run!  Standardly, Girardi has been utilizing Betances in the 8^th inning and Miller as the closer in the 9^th.  Miller currently has 13 saves, which projects to 65 saves!  Of course, I don’t expect him to reach that number, but it would be great if he exceeds 50!!

New York:

A few weeks ago, the Yankees played the Mets at Yankee Stadium.  As usual, their announcers cried about the stadium dimensions, the Mets’ fans bragged (having a better record at that time), and the Yankees did what they have dominantly done against the Mets in their opposing games…the Yankees won the majority of them (2 of 3 during that series).  I must state that the Mets did, indeed, begin their season on a tear, but have since begun to realize who they are supposed to be - a mediocre team.  As of today, they have still maintained their 1^st place position, but haven’t faced any of the National League’s excellent teams (such as the Cardinals) yet - that will happen next week.  The Mets’ losses to the Yankees not only ended their 11-game winning streak, but also began their under .500 play since that series ended on 4/26.  Also, the Yankees may have unveiled a key weakness in one of their pitching prospects (Jason deGrom) - as other opposing teams have learned to be aggressive against deGrom instead of allowing him to constantly throw too many pitches in the strike zone early in the count.

Summary:

The Yankees may be slightly overachieving at this point, but I don’t expect them to laboriously fall apart.  The bullpen and starters (except Sabathia) have demonstrated the youth movement I’ve been preaching for 2 years.  I remain optimistic that this year’s team will at least make the playoffs.

2015 PREDICTIONS - YANKEES & METS

Of course, I will begin with the Yankees!  This year’s team is the hardest to project, without question; that’s because there are way too many “questions”.  Health is the most important factor for all teams; but, with the Yankees having former superstar-caliber players such as Mark Teixeira, A-Rod, CC Sabathia, Carlos Beltran, Michael Pineda, and Masahiro Tanaka who all have carried-over health issues, it’s a HUGE factor.  Each of these players can contribute dynamically enough to add or subtract considerable wins that can make or break the end results in October.

The best thing that the Yankees offer this year is diversity.  Their farm system, as I’ve mentioned in prior articles, is the best they’ve had in almost 20 years!  Put that together with their willingness to spend money if they need to acquire other quality player/players during the course of the season and they can offer more than a quick-fix band-aid if needed.

Additionally, the American League’s Eastern Division is weak.  Many critics are picking either the Orioles or the Red Sox to win; but I believe they’re wrong.  The Orioles lost 2 key players (Nelson Cruz & Andrew Miller) and even with some of their formerly injured players now able to contribute, the Orioles are still significantly weaker than they were as last year’s division champs.  The Red Sox have definitely improved their offense, but they are lacking an ace or even a pitcher that qualifies above a number 3 starter’s proven competence.  Both teams also have a very good farm system, but if either needs to spend money to acquire an outside player, the Orioles would probably back down, while the Red Sox would certainly spend.  Again, though, the Red Sox already need something now, while the Yankees don’t.

My biggest specific concern regarding the Yankees' health surrounds Tanaka and Sabathia.  Tanaka has already shown he can still be effective throughout spring training, but Sabathia hasn’t shown enough positives.  His knee has no cartilage and his velocity has diminished.  If Tanaka can continue showing enough to puzzle the hitters without completely tearing his already slightly torn ACL, then he should win 18 games.  If Sabathia keeps throwing as ineffective as he has thus far, the Yankees and he may have to make some very hard decisions.

This year, I am most excited about the 2015 signings of Chase Headley, Didi Gregorius, Andrew Miller, Justin Wilson, and Nathan Eovaldi.  With that group added for a full season, the anticipated continuance of the NYY youth movement, the potential of being able to acquire decent players, and a weakened division in the American League East, I predict the Yankees to win 87 games this season.

As for the Mets, I’m not going to break them down to any extent because they haven’t radically changed too much from last year, other than adding Michael Cuddyer and 2 lefty relievers that they attained at the last minute (a few days ago).  Besides, I’m the NYY writer, not the NYM writer, so I have the option!

The Mets’ biggest difference/hope is the return of Matt Harvey.  If he is as effective as he’s demonstrated over the last 6 weeks (and as he did prior to his Tommy John surgery), then he will contribute immensely; however, their bullpen seems to be too weak to help tag-team with Matt in trying to achieve 9 full innings of effectiveness.  Furthermore, Matt can only contribute every 5^th game!  The Nationals have improved too much (except for their defense) for the Mets to overtake them as a divisional winner and other National League teams have strengthened more than the Mets did, which lessens their chances of qualifying for either of the two wild card options.

The Mets have some starting pitchers in their farm system who are now within reach of this year’s 25-man roster.  They almost never spend for needed acquisitions, so their only improvement will have to come from within their farm system (strong, but not strong beyond starting pitching).  In all, I predict the Mets to win 83 games this season.

Play ball!!!

BIG PAPI = BIG BABY

Poor David Ortiz…poor David Ortiz…

While most in baseball associate David Ortiz with the nickname “Big Papi”, I feel “Big Baby” is much more appropriate and will, thus, refer to him as such for the rest of this article.  In my opinion, big babies never take blame and always cry when others are “picking” on them.  They act as if they are 100% innocent and defensively point fingers at others whenever their perfect innocence is challenged.  Big babies intake “formulas” or other “things” to help them grow stronger.

Big Baby was on a list of 104 players that included A-Rod that failed a drug test that was given back in 2003.  Back then, MLB determined that they were not going to suspend anyone; that they were simply gathering an idea of the amount of drug usage within their organization.  Since that time and since suspensions were implemented, Big Baby has never been found guilty like other players from the George J. “Mitchell Report”: Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, Manny Ramirez, and Rafael Palmeiro.  Nor was he found guilty in recent years from sporadic tests or from evidence involving the anti-aging clinic/Biogenesis lab findings that exposed players including A-Rod, Ryan Braun, Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta, Everth Cabrera, Jesus Montero, Francisco Cervelli, Antonio Bastardo, and Jordany Valdespin.  So, Big Baby was never suspended like the others were (for at least 50 games).

Still, there are members of the press and some baseball players that feel skeptical about Big Baby’s innocence throughout the years.  Big Baby doesn’t understand that and points out that his name was not supposed to be divulged from that sealed/confidential list of players from the 2003 test.  He has stated that the drug was an over-the-counter drug that anyone could buy and use.  He doesn’t understand why anyone would question the fact that his offensive numbers (>30 homers/>100 RBIs) are very uncharacteristic for any player in their late 30s.  Big Baby, instead, implies that such great numbers should be praised beyond that of any average baseball player.  

This week (on Thursday, March 26), Big Baby decided that he wanted to try and rectify the misunderstandings of others and save face for himself before the 2015 season begins.  Apparently, he is not only concerned about his current reputation amongst the media, but also of his future standing with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum committee.  Ironically, 2 former players from the Yankees who played during most of Big Baby’s years (Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera), never showed self-acclaim or any expectations towards being elected into the Hall of Fame.  They have instead lowered their tones humbly whenever the subject is mentioned.

Big Baby stomped his feet in a tantrum this past Thursday and decided to generate his own article on “The Players’ Tribune” which is a journalism outlet that Derek Jeter created for players.  Before I provide Thursday’s quotes from that, let me first provide some past quotes that Big Baby stated:

From “Boston.com” - “I will find out what I tested positive for…based on whatever I learn.  I will share this information with my club and the public. You know me - I will not hide and I will not make excuses.”  From ESPN - “The information regarding Ortiz and Ramirez became known through Times interviews with multiple lawyers and others connected to pending litigation regarding the test results between the baseball players union and the government. The lawyers spoke anonymously because the testing information is under seal by a court order, the newspaper reported, and the lawyers did not indicate which drugs were detected.”

Here are some of the things Big Baby vocalized for his article in The Players’ Tribune on March 26: 

Okay, sure, I’ll take that. I’m buying an over-the-f***ing-counter supplement in the United States of America. I’m buying this stuff in line next to doctors and lawyers. Now all of a sudden MLB comes out and says there’s some ingredient in GNC pills that have a form of steroid in them. I don’t know anything about it.

If you think I’m full of it, go to your kitchen cabinet right now and read the back of a supplement bottle and honestly tell me you know what all of that stuff is. I’m not driving across the border to Mexico buying some shady pills from a drug dealer. I’m in a strip mall across from the Dunkin’ Donuts, bro.

Hell yes I deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. I’ve won three World Series since MLB introduced comprehensive drug testing. I’ve performed year after year after year. But if a bunch of writers who have never swung a bat want to tell me it’s all for nothing, OK. Why do they write my legacy?

Gee, what a sweetheart of a guy and a “teddy bear” (a nickname his followers sometimes call him); such charismatic language to choose in his first self-written, publicized words; but remember, he is a Big Baby.  He said, "I'm not driving across the border to Mexico", so how could we fathom that he could have obtained drugs?  Wow, how ignorant does he think average baseball fans are?  Are we to believe that drugs are only attainable across the border, and only in Mexico?  He “will not make excuses”?  That’s all he’s been doing for 10 years!  Maybe there’s something in his Dunkin’ Donuts’ coffee that has either jumbled his brain or, on the other hand, made him stronger than most players in their late 30s - including the majority of players who are actually in better toned condition!!

Big Baby blames either the whole state of New York or presumably the Yankees as the culprits that have provided embellished stories aimed at him just to distort their own players.  Has he ever read the New York newspapers?  Has he ever listened to the New Yorkers or even just the segmented Yankees’ fans over the airwaves?  Wow!

Besides the aforementioned quotes and stories from “Boston.com” or “ESPN” who, along with MLB, typically wear Red Sox cheerleading outfits when they write or talk about the Red Sox, even the “Boston Globe” has offered some unsupportive rhetoric about the Big Baby:  http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/03/27/dear-david-ortiz-since-you-brought/soyNO1ICkfvv5THbW98O0K/story.html.

Additionally, NBC Sports pointed out a very good point via their http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/27/did-david-ortiz-admit-to-more-than-he-realized-with-his-players-tribune-editorial/ link, which basically emphasizes that while Big Baby cried about being tested more than any other player in baseball, MLB typically only executes extra tests to players that were previously found with positive tests - including players that were never suspended, but were found to be cheaters before the suspensions were implemented.  Hmm!

MLB and especially Boston fans:  It’s time for you to finally widen your eyes and realize you have a cheater that you idolize.  Most New York baseball fans and press have expressed their grave disappointment in A-Rod, even before he was suspended!  Please take the blindfolds off and focus!

As far as the Hall of Fame is concerned, it’s a good thing that there’s at least 6 years before the votes will be casted for Big Baby because that will allow more time for the truth to make its way to the forefront.  Additionally, Big Baby has mostly been a Designate Hitter during his “legacy” career.  As a result, he certainly hasn’t contributed much defense to help his team (only about 15%) - something that the voters have considered ever since the DH was implemented.  So, since that is already disregarded by Big Baby, based on his “Vote for Me” attitude, he should also review his own team’s greatest Hall of Famers, such as Ted Williams or Carl Yastrzemski.  They certainly provided the other half of the game a typical hitter contributes…defense!  What a self-proclaimed “legacy” he is!

THE PROMISE OF SPRING

Spring is less than 2 weeks away, but on the east coast it will certainly be more welcome than almost any other prior year, with the ridiculous amounts and relentless occurrences of snow!  The arrival of spring training baseball is a key sign to such promising, improved weather.  In fact, just a few days after the games began, the weather jointly “began” improving immensely.

So, as we move forward with promising weather, our baseball teams also move forward with their own promise.   No matter what team you root for, each new season offers promise.  The Yankees are no different, although most of the NYY fans I’ve spoken to are not as excited as I am.  That’s because the Yankees only signed one well-known free agent, reliever Andrew Miller.

This past offseason, the Yankees’ main and continuing goal was to focus on getting younger, including avoiding the loss of their top draft-pick selection, which they achieved.  They began their youth movement last year when they dove into the international free agent pool and signed most of the top-tier players that were each approximately 18 years old.  Recently, they signed 8 of the 11 key MLB roster players (as of today) that are 22-30 years old.  Here are their 11 key signings thus far:

SP Nathan Eovaldi (25 years old)

RP Justin Wilson (27 years old)

RP David Carpenter (29 years old)

RP Chris Martin (28 years old)

RP Andrew Miller (29 years old)

RP Domingo German (22 years old)

SS Didi Gregorius (25 years old)

1B Garrett Jones (33 years old)

2B Stephen Drew (31 years old)

3B Chase Headley (30 years old)

OF Chris Young (31 years old)

These 5 additional players from the same expected 25-man roster are in their 20s:

Adam Warren (27 years old)

John Ryan Murphy (23 years old)

Michael Pineda (26 years old)

Masahiro Tanaka (26 years old)

Dellin Betances (26 years old)

Their potential starting pitchers consist of 5 out of 7 starters that are in their 20s - Adam Warren, Ivan Nova (28 years old/expected back in June from surgery), Eovaldi, Pineda, and Tanaka.  Only CC Sabathia and Chris Capuano are over 30.

At this point, the Yankees’ 25-man roster has approximately half of its players 30 years old or younger.  Moreover, in baseball terms, they only have 4 contracted players who are considered “old” in baseball standards.  Out of those 4 players (CC Sabathia (3 years remaining), A-Rod (3 years remaining), Beltran (2 years remaining), and Capuano (1 year remaining)), both CC and A-Rod have health issues that may lead to insurance payouts in place of the Yankees having to wait for their contract terms to end.  That’s not too shabby!  Furthermore, I am very hopeful and excited as they have even more potential young stars that may soon join their team this year or next year including Aaron Judge (OF), Luis Severino (SP), Greg Bird (1B), Rob Refsnyder (2B), Jose Pirela (2B), Jacob Lindgren (RP) - along with the pool of international players that will offer at least a few more youthful options within the next 5 years.

Clearly, their current team is now younger and they have so many promising, young players that are expected to make their roster by the end of this year or next.  To further my final point, even Baseball America (BA) and some other renowned professional baseball experts are now acknowledging the Yankees as having a much better farm system then they’ve had in years.  Here are such future potential stars, as ranked by BA, with the first 2 players qualifying within BA’s Top 100:

SP Luis Severino

OF Aaron Judge

SS Jorge Mateos

1B Greg Bird

C Gary Sanchez

RP Ian Clarkin

2B Rob Refsnyder

RP Jacob Lindgren

C Luis Torrens
3B Miguel Andujar

A-ROD’S BACK

Well, as the Yankees are about to (finally) begin their first spring training game, I feel obligated to at least wrap up the latest saga regarding A-Rod.  Almost all Yankees’ fans (and almost all baseball fans, for that matter) are sick and tired of hearing or reading about A-Rod.  For that reason, I’ve been limiting my articles about him and even hesitated to write this one!

We all know by now that on February 17, 2015, A-Rod presented his own handwritten apology which was just another apology on top of another apology.  Whether he handwrote it, skywrote it, or personally hung from the rungs of a helicopter’s ladder shouting it out with a megaphone, there would be no dignity nor any honesty believed by most.  His reputation is so damaged after he magnified his supposed false accusations, which all later proved to be true by his own admission!!

As a Yankees’ fan, I wish we didn’t have to deal with all of this.  I still blame Hank Steinbrenner for overreacting and re-signing A-Rod back in December, 2007.  Yes, we won a championship 2 years later, but A-Rod (who had a very good series) was still unwanted by the NYY fans prior to the re-signing and after the re-signing.  He just acts so cocky with his expressed perked lips during negative results (such as when he strikes out) that his character is very unacceptable to any experienced baseball fan!  Of course the press loves him because his magnitude is even larger than Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Madonna, or Justin Bieber.

Now, in the 2015 season, we may have to watch him on the field or in the dugout game-after-game.  It’s mean and selfish, but I think we all (except mainly the media) hope he just goes away!  That can happen if:

- His physical condition is deemed too poor to physically play (perhaps because of his failing recovering hips from the surgeries he had) - the Yankees would then get to claim insurance and only pay 15% of the remaining $61 million/3 years

- He is found, once again, to be cheating with some form of enhancements

- The Yankees just outright release him because his hitting is too ineffective or they find him to be a virus on the team

- The Yankees negotiate a buyout and then remove him from their roster

(In the last 2 scenarios, another team, such as one that is hungry for publicity, could always sign A-Rod, while the Yankees continue to pay his enormous remaining contract or A-Rod can just hang out and enjoy a very well-paid vacation.)

If any of the aforementioned conditions happen to terminate A-Rod’s presence in a Yankees’ uniform in the very near future, many Yankees’ fans (including me) would rejoice.  If he, instead, contributes decently then we’ll have to tolerate him, as we each wonder what he’s on that is undetectable to the tests MLB has implemented.

MORE MONUMENTAL DECISIONS

Last May, in my “MONUMENTAL DECISIONS” blog, I wrote about the Yankees’ organization choosing to celebrate the retirement of Joe Torre’s #6 and Goose Gossage’s #54, along with plaques for both Tino Martinez & and Paul O’Neill - all now in Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park.  I also referred to the Yankees announcing their plan to retire Bernie Williams’ #51 in 2015, while speculating my own “hunch” that that they postponed retiring Bernie’s number an extra year because they wanted to include Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte in - all originating from their unbelievable past farm system.  Lo and behold, the Yankees just announced exactly what I had predicted.  (I have to be correct once in a while!)  Furthermore, they announced that they would add a plaque to honor Willie Randolph on Old Timers’ Day.

In my opinion, for a former Yankees’ player to prestigiously qualify into having his number retired in Yankee Stadium, that player would have to be either a no-brainer, qualified Hall of Famer or a strongly-argued borderline Hall of Famer.  Additionally, they would need to have played for the Yankees at least 10 years and/or have won more than 3 championships in Yankees’ pinstripes.

Again, as I mentioned last year, I strongly recommend that the Yankees’ organization commemorate retired numbers for Lefty Gomez, Tony Lazzeri, Earle Combs, Hank Bauer, Bob Meusel, and manager Joe McCarthy in the stadium’s Monument Park one day in the near future!  They each meet my aforementioned criteria and are overdue for their deserving recognition.

Below is my breakdown of the 2015 selection for Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park:

Bernie Williams - My self-imposed criteria would not qualify Bernie Williams because his numbers (while great in the playoffs) do not offer enough argument towards his qualification as a Hall of Famer or as a strongly-argued borderline Hall of Famer, especially pitted against so many other centerfielders that had better regular season numbers where Bernie’s very good offense included a .297 batting average with 449 doubles, and 287 homers.  Bernie’s greatest contributions that stand out above other centerfielders and almost every hitter of any position are clearly from his offseason stats where he not only hit 22 homers and drove in 80 runs, but he stands in second place behind one of the greatest playoff hitters ever, Derek Jeter in several offensive categories.  Bernie scored 83 runs, lined 29 doubles, and collected over 128 hits!  Of course, he was in a lot of playoff games (121), but the fact still stands that he exceeded so many others collectively, and rarely failed as he proved to be clutch.  His offseason numbers were greatly appreciated by all Yankees’ fans, but (again) his regular season numbers just don’t exceed others during the regular season, including the Yankees’ own great centerfielders Joe DiMaggio or Mickey Mantle.  Additionally, Bernie’s glove never came anywhere close to either Joe or Mickey, to the say the least!

Jorge Posada - He is on the cusp of such Hall of Fame arguments mostly because he was one of the most successful offensive catchers.  Hence, the position of “catcher” enhances his “strongly-argued borderline Hall of Fame” qualifications, in my criteria.  I believe his offensive numbers as a 5-time All-Star with 275 homers and a .273 batting average (mostly as a catcher) are enough to offer a great debate.  Additionally, he had proven catching skills (although not great at throwing runners out) as he caught & called David Wells’ perfect game and led various pitching staffs to 4 of his 5 World Series rings - Girardi was the main catcher during the 1996 championship.

Andy Pettitte - He clearly qualifies within my criteria.  He had the third most wins in Yankees’ history - not too shabby!  He also won 256 games & carried a respectable 3.85 ERA with most of his starts against the toughest division in baseball (the American League East) during his years.   Furthermore, he owns the record for the most wins in MLB playoff history - 19 wins!  For those folks that argue about Pettitte’s HGH usage, please get your facts straight!!!  Andy admitted to his whopping 2 days in a row of taking “doctor-administered” HGH during his injury recovery - when he was not an “able” player on the field at the time!!  Medically (within MLB rules), HGH was not forbidden when his doctor administered it and was thus not “illegal” for any player to use.  If you don’t believe me, or Andy Pettitte, or even Andy’s accuser (Brian McNamee) whose condemning story matched Andy’s to a tee, please feel free to read Bleacher Report’s factually published article: 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1108809-andy-pettitte-never-used-a-substance-banned-by-major-league-baseball

Here are 2 of the most significant portions quoted by Andy:

"In 2002 I was injured. I had heard that human growth hormone could promote faster healing for my elbow,"

"I felt an obligation to get back to my team as soon as possible. For this reason, and only this reason, for two days I tried human growth hormone. Though it was not against baseball rules, I was not comfortable with what I was doing, so I stopped."

Willie Randolph - He won 2 championships as a player for the Yankees in 1977 & 1978 and was also their third base coach on four of their championship teams (1996, 1998, 1999, & 2000).  As one of the best defensive 2^nd basemen of all time, he often led the league in putouts, double plays, and assists while managing no errors during his 46 playoff games.  Willie was also an offensive force batting .276, hitting 316 doubles, and stealing 271 bases during his fleet-footed career. He was named the Yankees’ co-captain during 1986, along with Ron Guidry.  Willie played second base for the Yankees during 1,688 games - more than any other Yankee 2^nd basemen in history.  He certainly qualifies for a plaque as a player and as a coach collectively.

Since yesterday’s announcement, there have been a lot of disgruntled fans calling the radio stations with their anger towards the Yankees retiring way too many undeserving numbers.  For them, and some of the misleading sportswriters let me emphasize that the Yankees did NOT retire Paul O’Neill’s nor Tino Martinez’ number (21 and 24 respectively) last year, nor are they retiring Willie Randolph’s number (30)! 

In reference to this year’s retired numbers (Bernie’s 51, Posada’s 20, and Pettitte’s 46), as I summarized above, I fully support two of the choices - Posada & Pettitte.  Additionally, both Posada and Pettitte are part of the Core Four - something no team in baseball or any other sport has ever had the distinction of having.  If anyone disputes Bernie, then fine, I’m not going to argue the point.  For those that are so dead against commemorating Posada and/or Pettitte, it’s time to either look at the factual stats or stop the ignorance/jealousy! 

Remember, the Yankees’ organization is recognizing the players’ contributions as a “Yankee” and they can choose whoever they want.  Even so, they are choosing very legitimate selections in Posada and Pettitte who also happen to be half of the infamous Core Four.  Even Yankees’ haters recognize Posada & Pettitte (along with Jeter & Mariano) as the Core Four.  They are the greatest foursome in any sport during the last 40 years, after producing 5 championships together!  Any truly objective person should recognize the unique accomplishments all four players have achieved individually and as a unit.

Now, we’re just waiting for the official announcement of the final Core Four member’s retiring number (2).  For that announcement, there will be no one that disputes the retirement of…Captain, Derek Jeter!

The NYY Writer's Broadcast of "Broadcasting Reviews"

BROADCASTING REVIEWS

Now that the football season is behind us, it’s time to get excited for the “upcoming” baseball season! I can’t wait for its official start in approximately 2 months! A lot of teams have revamped themselves, but many are not done yet. We’ll all soon have a better picture of our teams over the next couple of months. It’s too early at this stage to predict how well/poorly our teams will perform.

As we wait for further team formations, I thought it would be a good time to evaluate last year’s Mets’ & Yankees’ broadcast teams; especially after last week’s debacle when the Mets announced their decision not to renew the contract of their best analyst, Bob Ojeda! Yes, the Mets’ ownership made another asinine mistake – one that has many of their fans rightfully upset. After all, Ojeda had the audacity after 6 years to ask for a raise! To the Mets’ ownership, that’s like their fans continually demanding for free oxygen in Citi Field!!

Below, I have put together my own grading reviews of both teams’ 2014 broadcasters, including Bob Ojeda:

The Mets' Broadcast Analysts:

Gary Cohen is the lead play-by-play broadcaster for the SNY & WB Networks. As my readers already know, he is not a favorite of mine mainly for 3 reasons: he’s extremely biased, he emphatically delivers a lot of "facts" that are inaccurate (as I’ve mentioned in past blogs), and he screams each and every play that potentially offers the Mets a positive outcome, even during slightly above-average plays!
            Gary's rating = F

Ron Darling, another one of the Mets’ play-by-play SNY & WB Networks’ announcers, is not as problematic, but his objectivity is also lacking. The fact that he played his whole career as a Met might be the root cause, but I think he’s been progressively worsening his objectivity. Additionally, his voice carries a whining tone too often. He could offer a smile once in a while, but I can understand why that’s challenging while broadcasting of a team that loses more games than they win.
            Ron's rating = C-

Keith Hernandez is an analyst for SNY & WB Networks, but not a play-by-play announcer. Hence, he has a lot less airtime. Maybe that's why I find him the least irritable of the 3 main SNY/WB Network guys. I also think his background of having been a Cardinal helps him offer some needed objectivity.
            Keith's rating = C+

Kevin Burkhardt was SNY's field reporter, but I often wondered why he was even on the "field" after its original inception. In the beginning of his duties, it made sense because he used to actually utilize that “field” angle by sitting with the fans and asking them questions. Later on, the whole “field” advantage became bogus because his physical “field” position rarely factored into the subject matter making it fully irrelevant and senseless. Just like Bob Ojeda, Kevin will not be with SNY this coming season – he wisely left on his own accord and I’m sure he’ll benefit more in his new MLB role.
            Kevin’s rating = C+

Bob Ojeda was, by far, my absolute favorite pre- and post-game analyst from SNY, or any other network! He has never shown to be biased in any way. That objectivity (aside from his desire for a raise) may have bothered the Mets so much that I’m sure it was part of their “reasoning” when they refused to renew his contract – remember Tim McCarver? Bob is detail-oriented and displays a great deal of knowledge and passion for the game. I hope he doesn’t stay unemployed for too long. In addition to his broadcasting skills, I feel he could also become a great pitching coach, if he ever chooses to pursue it.
            Bob's rating = A+

Chris Carlin is one of SNY’s pre- and post-game analysts. He appears to lack detailed knowledge or display anything above average. So, for my rating I appropriately obliged.
            Chris' rating = C

Howie Rose is WOR Radio’s play-by-play radio announcer. He is another one of those biased announcers. His canned and shouted deliveries of, "And it's outta here!" along with his, "Put that in the books!" are redundantly annoying – as most canned messages tend to be.
            Howie's rating = D

Josh Lewin acts as the color commentator for WOR Radio. He doesn't really stand out positively or negatively to me. He is simply average, just like my rating of him.
            Josh's rating = C


The Yankees' Broadcasters:

Michael Kay is the YES & My9 Network's lead play-by-play announcer. He, just like Gary Cohen, has never been a favorite of mine – even when he was broadcasting radio. His other former background as a newspaper writer/columnist is still embedded in him, whereas he tends to persistently dig for sensationalism of many stories and non-stories. I feel that he's gotten slightly better and a little more knowledgeable by finally listening to MLB players throughout the years, but his lack of true baseball experience and sometimes cocky mannerisms are still irritating to me over the airwaves. On a positive note, his knowledge of baseball history/facts helps expedite some needed references during telecasts. I also think he does a good job on the YES Network’s CenterStage, but my ratings are solely based on the broadcasting of the games.
            Michael's rating = C

Ken Singleton is my favorite YES & My9 Network’s play-by-play analyst. While you can definitely tell he roots for the Yankees, it is clear that he offers enough objectivity. Similar to Bob Ojeda, Ken shares a lot of his experienced knowledge with the network's listeners. Additionally, he displays himself as a true gentleman on the air with respect to all of the players, no matter what controversy surrounds them. As an Oriole player during most of his playing career, Ken tends to commentate in overdrive mode whenever the Orioles and Yankees compete against each other, but he still accentuates his knowledge without any form of partiality.
            Ken's rating = A-

John Flaherty is a YES and My9 Network analyst who demonstrates himself to be the most boring member of the network's group. As years have progressed, he seems to (thankfully) speak more often! Still, I'd like to hear more of his opinions because the man knows baseball as well as most former catchers do, especially those who were good defensive catchers, like John.
            John's rating = B-

David Cone is a YES and My9 network analyst who is so into sabermetrics! He used to talk somewhat normal on the broadcasts, but over the last few years he’s offered way too many intricate and overkill stats that can alternately be delivered by a voice-activated computer during the telecasts. Sometimes he actually speaks pitching without a sabermetric stat – but it's increasingly becoming such a rare occasion. I've also noticed that he conceitedly seems to love watching himself on the TV monitors during visual commentaries.
            David's rating = C-

Jack Curry is a YES Network and My9 analyst/reporter. Like Michael Kay, he was a former newspaper writer/columnist. Unlike Michael, though, he doesn't sensationalize. I like Jack's analyzing commentary. I’m glad he also provides insight during the YES Network’s Hot Stove, but I'd still like for him to have more airtime on the YES Network.
            Jack's rating = B+

Al Leiter is a YES Network and My9 analyst/color commentator who recently joined the MLB Network, in addition to his YES Network job. Al comes off as a know-it-all to me. While he was a successful pitcher during his career, he was certainly not Whitey Ford! I would like for him to back off once in a while and listen to his colleagues' opinions openly to help lessen his seeming cockiness.
            Al's rating = C-

Paul O'Neill is a YES Network and My9 analyst/color commentator who offers some funny moments on the air. Paul offers a lot of internal knowledge from a player's perspective. He (like Flaherty, Cone, and Leiter) has an advantage of having personally played with Jeter and Girardi, but with Jeter no longer on the team this coming season, Paul’s advantage will diminish. Michael Kay drags out some of the fun side of Paul, which is entertaining for a short span, but can sometimes distract Paul enough to lose his live-game focus.
            Paul's rating = C

Meredith Marakovits is the YES and My9 Networks’ clubhouse reporter. She has demonstrated to be more knowledgeable than her role calls for her to be. She's a go-getter, as far as obtaining the details needed for her stories – especially her numerous medical updates over the past 2 years with our ailing Yankees! Meredith is very good at reporting repeated updates, as required during different segments throughout the telecasts. Even with those conditions, she is able to professionally act as if each repeating report is her first time reporting such “updates”, without expressing frustration.
            Meredith's rating = B-

Bob Lorenz is the primary studio anchor for the YES Network. He's very good at divvying up commentaries during post-game shows that sometimes don’t offer enough time for significant preparation. Irrelevant to each of his Yankees’ game responsibilities, Bob does a good job during his roundtable discussions on the YES Network’s Hot Stove shows.
            Bob's rating = B-

John Sterling is WFAN Radio's play-by-play announcer for the Yankees during the radio broadcasts. He's another one that I've expressed my displeasure in the past. Some Yankees' fans like him and look forward to his canned homerun calls; but, as I stated about Howie Rose, I despise canned calls, especially when they take priority over the actual action that's taking place on the field! For example, if a ball is barely hit over the wall or hit with extreme force or flight, that should become the focal point, not John's script. He also makes a lot of mistakes. One common one occurs often during his canned homerun calls when he builds from, "It is high, it is far, it is…" only to realize or being told afterwards that the ball did not make it over the wall!! Other mistakes include his strike-zone, his fair/foul calls, etc. I've sporadically watched the TV telecasts, while listening to the radio and caught John on many occasions miscalling situations that are as clear as can be for anyone watching! Lastly, he often fails to mention the score. If I'm driving and I turn on the radio during the game I kind of want to know what the score is before 15 minutes pass! Alright, let me offer John 3 compliments: he has a great radio voice he's knowledgeable about the Yankees' history, and he does a decent job on the YES Network’s Yankeeography shows.
            John's rating = F

Suzyn Waldman is WFAN Radio's color commentator for the Yankees. She owes a lot of her career’s success to George Steinbrenner. He helped her get through tough chauvinistic times, as many athletes and some of her peers resisted a woman acting as a direct reporter for a MLB team, especially with press-pass access to locker room areas. I give her a lot of credit for fighting through all of it. During those earlier days, I found her research and reporting to be top-notch. Unfortunately, since she became a radio broadcaster, I feel that her potential has diminished immensely. She has become way too pro-Yankees and seems to overly respect her radio partner, John Sterling to the point that she has lost her formerly-driven independence. I would love to see her aggression return, but I doubt it will unless she gets another role – one that is similar to her "reporter" skills.
            Suzyn's rating = D

For each of you who accomplished reading this whole blogged article, I give you...
            True Reader's rating = A+

YANKEES HIRE 3 UNKNOWN COACHES WHO’VE ALREADY TAUGHT THEIR FIRST CLASS

It only took the Yankees 2 months to hire coaches for their vacated spots.  After firing last season’s hitting coach, Kevin Long and First-Base/Infield Coach, Mick Kelleher, the NYY have replaced the 2 of them with 3 coaches.  The extra coach was added because, for the first time in the Yankees’ history, they chose to staff an Assistant Hitting Coach.  Now, they and 21 other teams have one.  Perhaps the Royals, Mariners, Rays, Rockies, Marlins, Brewers, Pirates, and Nationals will eventually join the growing trend of doubling up on hitting coaches.

When the Yankees announced the coaches’ names (Jeff Pentland, Alan Cockrell, and Joe Espada) yesterday, my very first reaction was, “Who?”!  Then, I vaguely remembered reading and hearing each of their names as potential candidates, but I never thought the Yankees would hire all new unpopular guys and inexperienced former players.  In fact, the only coach who even made it to the Major Leagues was Alan Cockrell who played in only 9 games (for the Rockies), while the other 2 were only Minor League players!  I thought they’d at least hire one of the popular candidates/former successful MLB players who were supposedly considered - Luis Sojo, Hideki Matsui, Tino Martinez, Willie Randolph, Chili Davis, Dave Magidan, or Raul Ibanez as a coach - but, obviously that wasn’t the case.

As I thought about it further, I began to remember that many All-Star players failed to become successful coaches and/or managers after they retired.  In fact, one of the greatest hitters of all time (some would say “the” greatest), Ted Williams, managed his teams to a losing percentage .429 during his 4 years as a manager - including a 100-loss season for the Texas Rangers in their initial 1972 season.   As another example, Wade Boggs, when acting as Tampa Bay’s Hitting Coach in 2001, assisted that team towards scoring just 672 runs (the worst in the American League that year) and towards a meager .258 batting average (the second-worst average in the American League that year).

On the other side of the spectrum, so-so offensive player Casey Stengel excelled as a Manager (leading the Yankees to 7 World Series Championships in 10 years), becoming one of the winningest managers of all time.  Likewise, Tony La Russa was an awful player, but he found his ticket to the Hall of Fame as a 3-time World Series Manager.   Similarly, Charlie Lau was only a .255 career hitter, yet he not only helped many hitters achieve significantly improved batting averages, but was also accredited by All-Stars Hal McRae and George Brett as their greatest Hitting Coach.

Below is an outline/breakdown of the past experiences each of these new coaches have:

Jeff Pentland (Hitting Coach) – He played first base, catcher, and even pitched a little in his career, but as mentioned above, never made it to the Major Leagues.  Pentland was the Hitting Coach for the Marlins (in late 1996), Cubs (1997-2002), Royals (2003-2005), Mariners (2005-2008), and Dodgers (2008-2011).  During his time with the Cubs, he coached Joe Girardi in hitting and later worked for him when Girardi became the Cubs’ Manager.  On that team, Pentland also worked alongside the Yankees’ current Pitching Coach, Larry Rothschild.  During Pentland’s time with the Royals he worked for Tony Pena and also helped coach Carlos Beltran (.307 average/26 homers/100 RBIs) with the Royals during 2003.  Another All-Star hitter who Pentland coached was Gary Sheffield, who has publicly stated that Pentland was the best Hitting Coach he’d ever experienced adding that Pentland’s key teachings are geared towards focusing on each hitter’s strengths instead of concentrating on opposing pitchers’ arsenal.

Alan Cockrell (Assistant Hitting Coach) – After his 9 games as a MLB player, he eventually became the Hitting Coach for the Rockies (2007-2008) and the Mariners (2009 through early 2010).  He also served as a Hitting Coordinator for the Diamondbacks (2011-2013).  His proven success as a coach was during 2007 when he helped lead the offense of the Rockies into the World Series.

Joe Espada (Infield Coach and Third-Base Coach - Rob Thomson was restructured as the Bench Coach) - Just like Pentland, Espada never played a game in the majors.  He served as the Marlins’ Third-Base Coach during 2010-2013 and even coached for the Puerto Rican National Baseball Team during the World Baseball Classic in 2013.  He was previously hired by Brian Cashman as a Special Assistant to the General Manager.

In addition to Rob Thomson shifting from Third-Base Coach to become the new Bench Coach, the Yankees also maneuvered Tony Peña from Bench Coach to First-Base Coach.   Their other 2 coaches, Larry Rothschild and Gary Tuck remain as their Pitching Coach and Bullpen Coach respectively.  Have you been able to follow all of this?  If so, then you know the coach answer to, “Who’s on First?” is not “Who” in this case, but Tony Peña.

2015 HALL OF FAME, NO SHAME

There have been many years in which I’ve been personally disappointed in the voting selection produced by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA); but, this year’s choices were perfect in my opinion.  My congratulations go to all 4 of them:  Randy Johnson, John Smoltz, Craig Biggio, and even Pedro Martinez.

Randy Johnson – Was there ever a more intimidating starting pitcher in baseball?  Some would say Nolan Ryan, but even Nolan didn’t have a 6’10” presence on the mound!  Additionally, Randy had more control issues than Nolan – which often added to his intimidation to the hitters as they tiptoed into the batter’s box.  While Randy contributed enormously towards preventing the Yankees from winning a championship in 2001 when he jointly won the World Series MVP with Curt Schilling, I still appreciated his exceptional ability to strikeout any hitter - 2^nd most in baseball history (4,875) behind the abovementioned Nolan Ryan (5,714).  Randy was hurt during his two years as a Yankee, so we didn’t gain too much from him, nor did those stats add substantially towards his personal Hall of Fame career, including his collection of 5 Cy Young Awards.

John Smoltz – No one in the history of the Major Leagues has ever accomplished a feat that John Smoltz did.  First, he was an awesome starter; then he became one of the league’s best closers, and then, once again, performed as a great starter.  In between all of that, he had the infamous Tommy John Surgery.  Collectively, as a starter he won over 200 games (including a Cy Young Award in 1996).  During his years as a closer, he saved over 150 games while winning a reliever’s top prize (the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award) in 2002!  His seamless and unprecedented transitional success clearly and solely qualifies Smoltz as a deserving Hall of Famer.  We may never see that type of achievement again!

Craig Biggio – There are very few players that I’ve ever seen during personal years of watching the game who clearly epitomize themselves as one of the purest hitters and classiest characters.  Without question, Biggio exhibited that to me during each of the 20 years he played - all for the Astros.  Biggio demonstrated efficient versatility as he began his MLB years as a very good catcher and then (per Yogi Berra’s suggestion), in order to help his team, he learned to play 2^nd base exceptionally enough to have won 4 Gold Gloves there.  During his late years, he even proved to be a decent outfielder.  Biggio, like me, idolized the Yankees’ Thurman Munson – also, one of the “purest hitters and classiest characters” in the history of the game.  That, along with his proven diverse skills, durability (even after being hit by a pitch 285 times), and persistent offensive numbers (5^th in all-time doubles) would have certainly earned him my vote (if I was ever lucky enough to matter for such great things) during his very first year of eligibility in 2013.

Pedro Martinez – As a Yankees’ fan, what could I possibly state about Pedro without using many profane adjectives?  Not much, except when I focus on his pure baseball skills as Pedro won 119 more games than he lost, led the American League in Earned Run Average 5 times (not easy when the league’s offense included “my” championship Yankees of the 90s), and won the Cy Young Award 3 times.  Any objective Yankees’ fan would tell you that Pedro was one of the best pitchers from 1990-2004.  As one of the shortest starting pitchers (5’11”) to ever get voted into the Hall of Fame, Pedro’s achievements are more impressive than much taller pitchers with more advantageous pitching slopes. Yes, he had a great fastball, but most of his dominance came from his demonstrated sophistication of the art of pitching.  It’s a good thing that the neither the late Don Zimmer nor Jorge Posada were involved in Pedro’s Hall of Fame selection!

Of the remaining candidates that did not get enough votes, here are the ones that had decent vote results and have potential for being voted into the Hall of Fame in the future:

Tim Raines – Tim was one of baseball’s best leadoff hitters with the 4^th most stolen bases (808), a .294 career batting average, and a whopping 1,571 runs scored.  Many of his statistics are somewhat similar to the immortal Ricky Henderson and any player that can be compared to Ricky Henderson certainly qualifies as a Hall of Famer.  One key thing that Raines achieved, beyond Ricky or anyone in baseball, was accomplishing the highest successful stolen base percentage (84.7%)!  Hence, he undoubtedly deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.  Hopefully, by next year, the BBWAA will recognize that before it’s too late.

Mike Piazza – Of course, as “TheNYY” writer, I have to slight the Mets whenever I get a chance!  Okay, so I don’t “have to” slight them; but, I also don’t have to overly support them!  Starting with the negative, Mike Piazza had defensive issues (having never won a Gold Glove) with his main defensive flaw coming from his pitiful ability to throw out runners - he only threw out 23% of the base-stealers compared to his own peers’ success of 64.5% with the same pitching staffs (according to billjamesonline.com).  Now, back to my ability to being objective with Piazza’s positives:  There’s no question that Piazza was a superb hitter!  Besides his power, he was not an easy out for any pitcher, as he had many clutch hits against them.  Piazza produced some of the best offensive numbers as a catcher with an impressive .308 batting average and owns the record of the most homers of any MLB catcher (427).  That being said, his greatest achievement (offense) is disputed; that’s because many sports analysts, fans, and, most importantly the BBWAA feel that there’s strong enough suspicion that Piazza cheated with steroid usage - although, there are currently no factual documentations to back up such claims.  Even without hard evidence, many of the writers are skeptical because, if it is later found that Piazza did indeed cheat, they don’t want their personal writing careers tarnished, especially when their gut feeling was telling not to vote initially.  Most of the BBWAA don’t want any player in the Hall of Fame who is definitively or speculatively tied to steroid usage.  I think another year of waiting to possibly vote Piazza into the Hall of Fame gives some extra time for any potential, further evidence to be divulged, and it gives the skeptical writers another year to weigh their decisions.  In his 3 past years of Hall of Fame eligibility, Piazza’s votes have incremented mathematically enough to potentially achieve the necessary 75% by next year - if no concrete evidence is found on him in the interim.

Mike Mussina - Only 24.6% of the baseball writers voted for Mussina (from 20.3% the prior year).  I loved Mussina on the Yankees and even as one of Baltimore’s pitchers.  He, like Pedro, had a decent pitching repertoire, but used a lot of ingenuity with it.  I feel that he is better than a lot of pitchers already in the Hall of Fame, so I lean towards his eventual election.  Some feel that Mussina has a chance in the future mainly because there aren’t many comparable starting pitchers to compete against him, at least over the next few years.  He has collectively won 220 games, won 7 Gold Glove Awards, and earned many Cy Young votes for 6 different seasons (even though he had never won any).  Nowadays, winning 220 games is impressive enough because pitchers don’t get the chance to attain wins in the later innings anymore, due to pitch counts.  In the past, the BBWAA would automatically qualify starters who achieved 300 wins to qualify for the Hall of Fame.  Hopefully, they’ll factor in such key changes to today’s games.

As "TheNYY Writer", how can I not mention Don Mattingly when it comes to the Hall of Fame voting during his (now) last year of eligibility?  Yes, it’s true that Donnie Baseball will now not officially make it into the Hall of Fame by the standard procedure of being voted by the BBWAA; but, there’s still hope because he can achieve votes in the next process which goes to MLB’s Veteran’s Committee (the Expansion Era Committee division) from their 2017 voting process (they only vote every 3 years).  Additionally, if Mattingly continues to manage successfully for many more years, he may also have a chance to get voted as a manager, like Joe Torre did.  Only the future will tell.