I listened to some of the game on the radio at the gym, so I missed "seeing" the Yankee bats get completely shut down by R.A. Dickey after that first inning. But I did hear something interesting on the Sterling-Waldman broadcast: an interview with Felix Lopez!
Lopez, you may remember, is a senior vice president of the Yankees - and the husband of George Steinbrenner's daughter, Jessica. And it sounded to me like the Yank front office was sending him out for a trial run as a family spokesman. Which brings up a whole lot of questions.
Like, where are Hank and Hal Steinbrenner these days? The two of them - and their very different personalites - remind me of feuding brothers Heat Miser and Snow Miser. (And now that you've got that song in your head, click here for the video.) Too bad Mother Nature can't mediate in real life. But I digress.
Anyhow, Lopez told John Sterling that the Yankees were going to fix everything that is wrong with the new Stadium. Sterling, of course, said he didn't think anything was wrong with the Cathedral! But Lopez was armed with zero specifics on what the front office was going to do. Nor was he the most eloquent spokesman - he kept on using words like "obviously" like some people say "you know." However, the advantage Lopez does have over Lonn Trost and Randy Levine was that listening to him didn't make your skin crawl. And when Lopez said that the team was going to listen to the fans, I kind of believed him!
So, are the Yankees 1) conceding that the new Stadium has problems, and 2) conceding that Trost and Levine aren't very good faces for the franchise? It's all very curious. Wonder what will happen next.
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As for the game itself, Mark Teixeira sent two "Tex messages," as John Sterling calls them, last night. That second one was a tremendous shot. It's exciting to see what he can do when he's "on."
Is the reason that the first baseman is "on the Mark" because Alex Rodriguez is back in the lineup? Sure looks like it. According to the YES broadcast, in 25 games without A-Rod, Teixeira hit .198, with 5 homers and 15 RBIs. In the 10 games since, he's hit .342, with 5 homers and 13 RBI. And the Yanks went from a 13-15 record without Alex, to a 8-2 record with him. Hmmm, who would think putting a three-time MVP back in the lineup would actually make it better?
And Phil Coke got his first save, after a few fits and starts. I thought it was cute that it was fellow rookies Ramiro Pena and Francisco Cervelli who went to the mound to calm him down when he had a case of the jitters!
What do you think? Leave us a comment!
Lisa: The reason listening to Felix Lopez doesn’t make your skin crawl is that we don’t know him well enough yet. With Randy Levine and Lonn Trost (because of whom my cookies have been tossed), familiarity has bred contempt. Give Lopez a chance, and he might end up sending you to the dermatologist as well.
ReplyDeleteBetter yet, he might send you to that store again. You can never have too many runs! Come to think of it, I had to leave the house on Saturday before A-Rod’s homer and Sunday before Damon’s.
This is what Cleveland Indians fan Arsenio Hall would call “Things That Make You Go ‘Hmmmm…’” Then again, the Indians didn’t start winning again until he took his show off the air. “Hmmmm….”
Teixeira has been terrific lately. I don’t want his fielding to get lost in the shuffle, because it’s been phenomenal. New York hasn’t seen a first baseman field this well since both Don Mattingly and Keith Hernandez hurt their backs around 1989 or so. Twenty years. Tino Martinez and John Olerud were good, but not this good. Tex has been making “Holy Cow” plays seemingly every day since his hitting got on track.
You don’t shake a Coke, but this time, though shaky, Coke was it. Cervelli is looking more and more like a good reason to be sad but not scared when Jorge Posada hangs ‘em up. And Wang and Bruney look like they’re on their way back from injury.
The Yankees faced a very good Twins team and won all four games the hard way. This could turn out to be a very entertaining season. If, that is, we can find a way to beat the Red Sox.
What the H-E double toothpicks is going on? I'm stuck in a courtroom for 4 days and come out finding the Sox are 3.5 games behind the Jays, the Yankees are only 1 game behind the Sox and have won like 12 in a row and Subway Squawkers has a whole new look. I can only take so much.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm futzing around with trying different templates. I didn't know they went live!
ReplyDeleteMessage for Peggy:
ReplyDeleteGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YANKEES!!!!!!!!
I would have to agree with Lisa in regards to Felix Lopez. I had the privilege of working with Mr. Lopez in connection with the new stadium. He was definitely nothing like many Professional Team Front Office Executives, he actually was pleasant to speak with, and was a great resource of information in relation to the new stadium and the Yankees. At the same time I was speaking with Mr. Lopez, I as well conducted the same interview with the executives across the way in Queens, "The Queens of Queens" nothing in comparison to my interview with Mr. Lopez. That interview definitely had me in a weekly sitting with a dermatologist.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, I did speak with Mr. Lopez sometime in August of this year, and as Day 1, he was still the same individual that you had an enjoyment speaking with... He clearly has the persona of what the 2009 Yankees are- extraordinary! To have the inclination to say the same of "The Queens of Queens", and of Mr. Theo "Entitled" Epstein would just be a tale.
But enough of apple-polishing Felix Lopez, how about those Yankees? Mr. Cashman did a superb job in bringing this team together. Not only are they All-Stars, but for once you could feel the chemistry that is touching this team. A-Rod is finally out of his postseason funk, let alone CC. Jeter is still Mr. Postseason, Hideki is still Godzilla in the postseason, and finally Mr. Tex... The Bronx, and the Empire have long been awaiting this upcoming Championship, and World Series. GO YANKEES!