How should John Sterling and Michael Kay mark A-Rod's 666th homer?

Some people use crowdsourcing for important things like updating Wikipedia, gathering genealogy research, and brainstorming big ideas. I am using it for something important in its own way, too -- trying to figure out how Michael Kay and John Sterling should announce Alex Rodriguez's 666th homer! He is only one away now, so they need to figure it out soon!

The great Yankee blog It Is High, It Is Far, It Is Caught recently got the ball rolling on marketing strategies, and suggested the following for Michael Kay's call: "PIT... FURNACE... HELL... SEE YA!" and for John Sterling's call: "It's an A-Bomb...from the Antichrist!" But I figured my Facebook friends could come up with some other great ones as well.

So here are some of the potential calls that Facebook friends came up with:

Brad sez: "Give the devil his due! A-Rod has reached six-six-six!"

Joe suggested: "Number 666. Mark it down! A beast of a home run!"

Rocco's idea was: "The devil made him do it!"

I suggested: "Lucifer launches one!"

John came up with: "He put the horns on the opposition!"

Edward sez: "The blast of the beast!"

But I think my friend Steve's is the winner: "It's an O-Men for A-Rod!"

My Facebook friends also talked about the music that should be played. Multiple people suggested  the Charlie Daniels song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." Other songs that were talked about as good music choices include the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil," Iron Maiden's "The Number of the Beast," and Santana's "Evil Ways."

And F.X. suggested not just a call, but a whole scenario for marking the moment: 

"It is high, it is far, it is gone! A-Rod hits an A-Bomb and the Apocalypse is upon us! The Anti-Christ is revealed! The 4 Horsemen stride into left field from the Yankee Bullpen and we see them unmasked at last, George Steinbrenner, Bowie Kuhn, Judge Landis and Charlie Comiskey! It's the End of Baseball! The End of America! The End of the World! Number 666!"

To which I say: after all of this, Brian Cashman tells the media: "Nope! Still not a milestone!"

You're wrong, Michael Kay: Why the Yankees' struggles are not just about this year

Here we are, nine games into the season. The Yankees have gone 1-2 in each of its first three series of the year, putting them at 3-6 -- and in last place. Meanwhile, the Red Sox (6-3) and the Mets (7-3) are in first place. Yikes!

So Yankee GM Brian Cashman was doing damage control yesterday, giving multiple interviews to the media to set the subject of the reporters' off-day articles. I noticed in particular this comment to Newsday's Erik Boland:

 "We have fumbled, whether it's running the bases, defense, starting pitching, the bullpen," he said by phone. "All of it in some form or fashion has factored in the six losses."

How about hitting, Bri? Maybe the lack of hitting might have something to do with the sorry state of the team? You know, the thing that was an issue *last* year?

I also do find it hilarious that Cashman, who has used Alex Rodriguez as the bright shiny object to distract the media for years, is now doing his best to distract the media from bringing up the obvious: that the team's best all-around hitter is the 39-year-old DH with two bad hips who Cashman didn't want on the roster!

Then there is Michael Kay, who was battling with Yankee fans yesterday on Twitter, defending the team that he ultimately draws a paycheck from:

I've covered the NYY for 29 years & have never seen a rush to judgement like this year. Disgraceful. Unfathomable. Some don't know the game.
— Michael Kay (@RealMichaelKay) April 16, 2015

A Yankee fan who pointed out that the money for Robinson Cano could have easily been found by not signing Stephen Drew, Chris Capuano, and Chase Headley got this response:

Are you going to want Cano in 8 years? And in case you forgot, NYY offered Cano 25 mil a year for 7 years. https://t.co/V6cjRLhun1
— Michael Kay (@RealMichaelKay) April 16, 2015

To which I said:

.@RealMichaelKay instead of keeping cano, yanks pay Beltran $45m for those lousy yrs, w/o great yrs. they'll also pay Ellsbury $25m in 6 yrs
— Subway Squawkers (@subwaysquawkers) April 16, 2015

Kay also criticized Yankee fans for being upset with the state of the team, since they won a World Series six years ago. He even brought up the Cubs in his argument!

And 5 in 19. And 7 appearances in the WS since 1996. Outrageous! How dare they! https://t.co/8sDlhdKkWq
— Michael Kay (@RealMichaelKay) April 16, 2015

So Cub fans should be a bit more angry, right? NYY fans haven't won a WS in 6 years! Outrageous. https://t.co/q1Oi0xD2sn
— Michael Kay (@RealMichaelKay) April 16, 2015

@RealMichaelKay are you really comparing the yankees displeasure with the cubs yankee fans should be mad this team is downright bad
— Scott Ashkenazy #23 (@scottAsh23) April 16, 2015

Of course, Kay is framing this in the best possible way for the Yankees. One World Series championship in 14 years, with sky-high payroll and ticket prices, and the so-called Core Four in their prime. One World Series appearance in the last decade, the same as the Houston Astros. I broke down the numbers a few months ago, and they are not pretty.

Yes, it's only nine games this year. (But you know darn well that the Yankees were 8-1, Kay and Cashman would be crowing about it!)  However, this team was not improved from last year, with the exception of A-Rod's bat being back in the lineup. And last year's team was worse than the 2013 team, which also didn't make the playoffs. But if we groan about the Yankees, the team's TV broadcaster brings up numbers from the 1990s and the Cubs to try to shut people up, and sez Yankee fans are "disgraceful" for being concerned. Oh, please.

Is Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay the most picky eater of all time?

ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike were talking yesterday about people with weird eating habits. For example, when Mel Kiper Jr. eats pizza, he takes the cheese off it. So naturally, they had to bring Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay, a notoriously picky eater, into the discussion.

One of my brothers is a picky eater as well. He is a meat and potatoes (and barbecue) kind of guy, and won't eat much of anything else. But he looks like Anthony Bourdain compared to Michael Kay!

We have discussed Kay's limited palate here before. In fact, my most-read Subway Squawkers blog post ever is about Kay's food weirdness. One example from that article: when Kay and his wife Jodi Applegate went on a trip to Italy, they went on a hunt for chicken parmigiana, one of the few foods Kay will eat. (Chicken parm is not an authentic Italian meal; it is an Americanized version of Italian food.) Kay ended up losing weight on the trip, making him pretty much the only person to come home thinner after a trip to Italy. (An aside: my picky eater brother pretty much only ate pizza when he visited Italy!)

But that is just the beginning of Kay's food weirdness. As he told Mike and Mike, Kay has never eaten a condiment, or a banana, or fish, or an egg. (I hate eggs myself -- I find the smell and taste nauseating. But at least I have tried them!) He mostly eats steak and chicken, and will also eat bacon. He has never had a cup of coffee, although he does like the smell.

Kay will not eat salad dressing, or tomatoes, but will eat plain iceberg lettuce. (Boring!) If he eats a caprese salad, we will not eat the tomatoes, so he is basically eating a mozzarella salad. Since he is avoiding carbs, if he eats pizza, he skips the bread, and only eats the cheese, making him a perfect person to hang out with Kiper!

When Mike and Mike asked him why he wouldn't even try these things, he responded: "I've never really tried dog poop, and I know I won't like that." Huh? Not even the same thing at all. Except for eggs. Eggs are awful.

Also, while wife Jodi is a bit of a foodie and likes to try new restaurants, Kay doesn't. However, he does claim he can find food at any eatery, since "every restaurant has steak." First of all, that isn't really true. Second, steak at a diner or at one of those all-you-can eat buffet steakhouses is not exactly the same as steak at Peter Luger or at Smith and Wollensky. Quality counts, too!

After hearing all these food rules, Mike Greenberg dubbed Kay “the Babe Ruth of eating quirkiness.” And that was without even hearing about how Kay won't eat soup. He hates the slurping sound. Kay insisted that he wasn't OCD, though; just "quirky" about food.

Hmmmm. Given Kay's food hangups,  I wonder if he is the one behind the lousy food choices at Yankee Stadium. Would make about as much sense as anything else!

Hal Steinbrenner finally speaks, and shows that he couldn't manage a one-car funeral

So Hal (Rip Van Winkle) Steinbrenner has finally woken from his summer slumber and spoken to the media for the first time in two months. He talked to Michael Kay on the Yankee broadcaster's ESPN New York radio show yesterday, a day after I wondered where the heck Hal was. But I think Hal would have made a much better impression by doing the interview in person, given that Kay's show is simulcast on Hal's TV network. Heck, even A-Rod figured that out his fireside chats with Mike Francsesa came across much better when he was in the studio!

Here are some of the noteworthy subjects that Hal the Dilettante touched on during his phone call:

His apology to Yankee fans

He said "I apologize" when asked to explain this year's disastrous season, saying "We did not do the job this year. We know what you expect of us and we expect the same thing of ourselves." No, Hal, you don't expect anything of anybody, except not to be bothered with making any actual decisions. That's the problem! You said in August that Yankee hitters needed to "step it up," yet when the hitters didn't, nothing happened. Heck, even teams like the Mets fire hitting coaches now and then. Yet you have kept Kevin Long on since 2007!

On him bringing Brian Cashman back and his firing philosophy

He said Cashman "does a good job" (yeah, Hal, that Kevin Youkilis deal was awesome! So was trading for Stephen Drew!) and that they would be negotiating a new contract with Cashman. Hal told Kay the following:

"I don't think it is a news flash that I am different than George in a lot of ways," Steinbrenner said. "He was better in many things than me, but I do tend to be a little less rash when it comes to firing people. I want to make sure that what went wrong was for a reason. It was wrong because of that one individual or two individuals or whatever, I will get through that process before anything like that as opposed to any kind of knee jerk reactions."

Let's review. Hal has been in charge of the team for seven years now. George Steinbrenner has been dead for four years already. Brian Cashman got a three-year contract after the 2008 season, and then after the 2011 season. You might have been able to justify the 2011 deal, given the 2009 World Series win. But how in the world is it "rash" to think that another GM could have done a better job with the team, or to think about going in a new direction in the future? Cashman's day has come and gone, and everybody knows it except for Hal.

During this last Cashman contract, the Yankees were absolutely humiliated by the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS, and then didn't make the playoffs the next two seasons, even with the extra wild card spot. Cashman also did some embarrassing shenanigans in his personal life. In those three years, Cash also outspent everybody in the league bat least $50 million each year, made a slew of personnel mistakes, and got outwitted over and over. The farm system is a mess, and the team has a dismal future. But Hal still thinks it is "knee jerk" to consider finding a new GM? Good grief.

I think Hal is one of the laziest people ever. If he weren't born on third base and thought he hit a triple, he would be hanging out in his mom's basement, or living off some girlfriend's money, instead of doing something for himself. He would literally rather accept failure, year after year, than get off his duff and fire Cashman. After all, hiring and firing is sooooo hard!

George Steinbrenner spent his entire life trying to impress his father, Henry, which is part of the reason why he bought the Yankees and turned a down-at-its-heels franchise into a new dynasty, ultimately resulting in the team becoming in a multi-billion-dollar team. Hal Steinbrenner has spent his entire life not trying to be his father, avoiding responsibility and putting up with not just mediocrity but flat-out incompetence, year after year, and avoiding firing anybody for fear that somebody might compare him to The Boss. And the so-called tough New York media gives him a pass.

He said Beltran and McCann and Teixeira would be better next year

Hal sounded like Brian Cashman's ventriloquist's dummy in insisting that Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann and Mark Teixeira would all be better next year. As I wrote yesterday, maybe McCann might, but expecting injury-prone, old players to improve without PEDs is absolutely delusional. 

Why he didn't attend Derek Jeter's final home game

Hal rationalized why he wasn't at Derek Jeter's home farewell, saying that "The 'Thank You Day' was the 7th [of September], and that day"was my family, that was the organization saying thank you to Jeter, which is exactly what I told him for everything that he has done for the organization." He said that "The last day really, in my opinion, was for the players." Too bad Kay did not ask Hal this followup question: So why was your sister Jenny front and center at that game, and you weren't?

Hal also told Michael that he was in Tampa that day, and said "I'm not going to get into why I couldn't be there, but I couldn't. I watched every bit of it." Note: I still think Hal was watching #TGIT instead of attending Derek Jeter's final home game!

He also said "It is perfectly understandable for people to be upset" about him not attending Jeter's home farewell, although he claimed to have been in Boston for the final weekend. How does the person running a billion-dollar business not realize that his job description entails being in Yankee Stadium when his team's No. 1 marketing choice of the year reaches his apex?

Here's what I would like to know. What could Hal have possibly had going on that day that was more important than being at Yankee Stadium that day? As my readers know, I think this Jeter farewell tour was a monstrosity, but even I get that Jeter's last home game was kind of a big deal.

He said the same blather about having a championship-caliber team

It shows the pathetic state of the New York media in that Nomaas.org, a fan/fun Yankee site, had a better analysis of how Hal keeps on with the same nonsense about having a "championship-caliber team" than the press did. (Check it out here.)

Here is what Hal told Kay:

“I don’t think you can teach us old dogs new tricks – we expect to win every year. Our fans do, too. I am disappointed by all of this. We will be back next year with a championship-caliber team.”

Um, Hal, your old dog Brian Cashman just pooped on your interlocking NY rug, and it's time for you to clean it up. And if you won't do it, then, please, sell the team already and go back to spending all of your time being a dilettante, flying planes and doing weather reports. If you can't seem to care enough about the Yankees to clean up this mess, then why should the fans care about the team?

Do the New York Yankees now have a home-field disadvantage?

Something struck me last night when watching the Yankees-Astros game -- how quiet the ballpark was (other than the booing of David Robertson, of course!) The crowd wasn't very loud, even when the Yankees were scoring runs. And after Robertson blew the save, and after the crowd was done booing, you could have heard a pin drop for the rest of the game, it was so quiet. It was if everybody knew in their hearts that this offense wouldn't be able to make up that three-run deficit, so there was no point in vocalizing anything, let alone cheers to rouse the team in the bottom of the ninth inning.

It wasn't that long ago that playing at home was considered a big advantage for the Bronx Bombers. Yet this year, the Yankees' won-loss record is actually below .500 at home!

Here are the Yankee Stadium III wins/losses breakdowns and winning percentages since 2009, when the Stadium opened:

2009 
Overall Record: 103-59, .636
Home Record:  57-24, .704
Away Record:     46-35, .568

2010
Overall Record:   95-67, .568
Home Record:  52-29, .642
Away Record:     43-38, .531


2011
Overall Record:    97-65, .599
Home Record:   52-29, .642
Away Record:      45-36, .556

2012
Overall Record:   95-67, .586
Home Record:   51-30, .630
Away Record:     44-37, .543

2013
Overall Record:   85-77, .525
Home Record:  46-35, .568
Away Record:     39-42, .481

2014
Overall Record:   63-60, .512
Home Record:  29-30, .492
Away Record:     34-30, .531 

Look at those numbers. Even when the Yankees only won 85 games last year, their winning percentage at home was still significantly better than their away record. This year, not so much.

If the Yankees are going to have any smidgen of a chance to make the playoffs (and I don't think they will -- they have the toughest schedule of any MLB team going into the last quarter of the year, and they don't have good hitters), they need to win at home. They have 21 games left in their own ballpark, as opposed to 17 away games. 

Michael Kay criticized the fans for booing Robertson last night, and in turn, he got criticized by Yankee fans for doing so. But I agree with Kay on this (and was on his radio show a few months ago when I called in on this very subject of fans booing their own players; my point was just because you can do something like booing, doesn't mean you should!) Not only have I been consistent against Yankee fans doing this, but David Robertson has been terrific all year, and last night was a rare misstep. If you really expected him to be this good, raise your hand, because I sure didn't. And what does he get in return for being great? Some Yankee fans turning on him like that.

Look, I get the frustration in Yankeeland. I am just as frustrated as anyone. But I think that the boos and the lack of support and the other stupid things some Yankee fans have done this year (the worst: the way Robinson Cano was tricked and then booed) may have a little something to do with the Yankees having an even worse record at home than they do in away games this year.

I also think it's odd that a fan base who puts so much stock in jinxes and superstitions and ghosts would tempt the baseball gods that way. (Not to mention my strong suspicion that the house mikes were turned at full blast to amplify the already loud anti-Cano boos even further on the broadcast!)

There is no home field advantage anymore at Yankee Stadium this year; it is more like a home field disadvantage. It is generally commonly accepted conventional wisdom that the new Yankee Stadium is just not as loud as the old ballpark. But there just doesn't seem to be much of a good vibe anymore in the ballpark, something that was evident even in the new Stadium. And other than the good vibes in the house when players like Derek Jeter are going to be feted on their special days, I don't know what is going to change that in the near future.

This is not a good team, but I don't think the booing is helping.

Just Say No to Michael Kay's "JoSoMo" Nickname

I am very excited about the way Joba Chamberlain, Rafael Soriano, and Mariano Rivera are pitching out of the bullpen for the Yankees this year. I am significantly less excited over the possibility of the wretched "JoSoMo" nickname sticking to the trio. Ugh. C'mon, Michael Kay, as if foisting "QuanGorMo" onto Yankee watchers weren't enough, now you come up with JoSoMo? Good grief.

My friend Sully Baseball has been complaining about what a terrible era we're in for baseball nicknames, with the creativity consisting of the first letter of the first name, and the next three letters of the last name (A-Rod, A-Gon, etc.), or shortening the last name (Youkilis becomes Youk, etc.) What Kay is doing is even worse. It's like putting Squawker Jon and I's names together and calling us JoLi. JoSoMo is not a nickname; it's an abomination!

How about something emphasizing the power of three, like Triceratops? Now that's a cool nickname. Three Mile Island -- they're so tough, they're nuclear? Three Ninjas? The Three Kings? The Three Amigos? We could get musical with Three Dog Night or Three Days Grace or Three Doors Down. Or operatic with Threepenny Opera! Heck, even Three Billygoats Gruff would be better than JoSoMo!

Or maybe one of our readers has a better idea for a nickname. Please, somebody must have a better idea than JoSoMo!

* * *

I am going to the Yankee game tonight with Kelly, my childhood friend from Passaic, New Jersey. We haven't seen each other since Reggie Jackson was on the Yankees!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Michael Kay and Jodi Applegate Get Married -- But What About the Chicken Parm?

The New York Post had a big story today about Michael Kay and Jodi Applegate's wedding at The Plaza last night. And it just goes to show you the things people will do for love. There was a "giant seafood bar with six-foot mermaid ice sculptures," and "guests feasted on filet mignon and branzino" according to the Post. Seafood at Michael Kay's wedding? I'm shocked!

Kay is a notoriously picky eater. In 2007, Mark Feinsand was the first writer to talk about Kay's weird eating:

As I enjoyed a bowl of clam chowder, Michael mentioned that he had never had soup in his entire life (he thinks the slurping sound associated with it is grotesque). I found this amazing. He then told me he had never had any fish or seafood of any type, either.


As the conversation went on, he informed me of several other things he has NEVER tasted in his life: bananas, condiments of any type (though he lost a bet on his radio show and had to eat a packet of ketchup, which made him sick), jelly, any cheese not on a pizza, veal, coffee, etc.

So how the heck did Kay not say "see ya" to the interlocking crab legs in a seafood bar? Or not gripe about the branzino? What's the story here?

Ginger Adams Otis, who co-wrote the wedding article, wrote a piece last fall talking about Kay's wacky food habits, yet she didn't delve into them in the nuptials piece. Applegate told the Post last year that her fiance only really liked three foods: chicken parm, bacon, and steak. He's so devoted to chicken parm that he insisted on eating it when the two traveled to Italy for a 10-day trip last year.

"It was like being on a great chicken-parm search through Tuscany and Rome," Applegate said. "We couldn't find it on any menus. Apparently, it's an American thing. He actually lost weight. Who goes on vacation to Italy and comes home with their pants loose?"

That article said that the news anchor had "given up trying to change her meat-loving man -- and has even agreed to serve sliders and mozzarella sticks at the cocktail reception for their winter wedding."

So, did he get his slider bar? Or a special groom's table with his three favorite foods, the way Southerners have a groom's cake at weddings? This is what I want to know about!

The Post did have details about who attended the wedding; there were a reported 350 guests, including both Mr. G and Joe G(irardi), Darryl Strawberry and Danny Aiello (Kay's uncle), and a whole bunch of other Yankee broadcasters. (But what about John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman?) And Rudy Giuliani performed the ceremony.

Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman tweeted from the reception that Lonn Trost danced to "Play That Funky Music." Heaven help us!

I've met Michael Kay twice, and he is a very nice guy and one of the friendliest celebs I've ever met. I wish him and Jodi all the best, even if his food habits are a little, well, wacky!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

The morning after: Thoughts on the Yankees' ALCS loss

I had the worst dream last night. The Yankees got shut down by Colby Lewis and the Rangers, and lost the ALCS. What a nightmare. Oh, wait, that actually happened! Bummer.

I was very angry during last night's game, and I still think that Joe Girardi did a terrible job with his bullpen management moves. He had a quicker hook in the Taco Bell commercial for the chalupa eater than he did for pitchers who deserved to be taken out!

And you don't put in David Robertson with the game on the line when you have CC Sabathia, Kerry Wood, and Mariano Rivera in the bullpen. But hey, at least Mo was well-rested this week, thanks to him not being used on Monday, to pitch the bottom of the eighth in last night's 6-1 loss!

But those weren't the only things that went wrong during the ALCS. The Yankees got outplayed in every single facet of the game in this series. And for all of Michael Kay's talk on 1050 ESPN Radio about how Ron Washington is a terrible manager, Washington outmanaged, and his team outplayed, Girardi and the Yankees.

That being said, this loss was a team effort. You can't get stymied -- twice! -- by Colby Bleeping Lewis and expect to win.

However, even though I'm still bummed, I've calmed down a little, and I actually feel the least terrible that I have had in years after a Yankees series loss. I'm still peeved, but I'm not in complete despair or anything. After all, the Yankees did win the World Series just a year ago. As a friend said on Twitter this morning, "You know when people say 'act like you've been there before'? That applies to losing as well. The Yankees can't and don't win all the time."

Nothing will ever match the pain of 2004. Ever. Even now, I will still swivel my head like something out of "The Exorcist" if I see a clip on TV from that year. I have several good Facebook friends in Red Sox documentaries about that year, but there is no chance I will ever watch them in it!

But there have been some other bad Yankes series losses over the years. 2006 (Torre batting A-Rod eighth and being outmanaged by Jim Leyland) and 2007 (Bug Game) were worse than this year. 2001 was gut-wrenching at the time, but in retrospect, it was a miracle the Yankees even made it past Game 5. But I still won't watch clips from Game 7 of that series!

Funny thing is, though, is that I was able to deal with seeing the Texas Rangers and their fans celebrating last night without it making me want to pull an Elvis on the television set. Maybe it's because my nephew is a lifelong Rangers fan. Maybe it's because I lived in the state for so long. Maybe it's because it was interesting to see a football-loving state like Texas get excited over baseball instead of football. But I don't really have any vitriol towards the Rangers.

But as I noted last night, what I am still ticked off about are people like Mayor Bloomberg talking about planning the parade route, and Michael Kay showing such hubris in declaring the series over after one game. Oh, and Filip Bondy's thoroughly obnoxious "Count the Rings" take on the series still rubs me the wrong way:

[Nolan] Ryan's no-hitters aside, this ALCS represents one of sports' great historical mismatches, 40 pennants versus zero. The Yanks should win this series just by throwing their pinstriped uniforms onto the field and reading from a few pages of The Baseball Encyclopedia.

If only Bud Selig would agree to waive a few silly postseason rules, the Bombers might send their Scranton/Wilkes-Barre roster to Arlington for the first couple of games, make this a fair fight....

The Rangers are the oldest of three existing major league clubs never to have won a pennant. They should be ashamed to bring their media guides to the Bronx....

Why are they even playing this series? Why don't they just use the scores from '96, '98 and '99?

"I can't even think back to those years," Jorge Posada said. "It's over. I don't think it matters."

It matters. The Yankees lead, 27 titles to none. Play ball.

So much for that, dude. Too bad Bondy, like his colleague Mike Lupica, does not allow readers to comment on his articles, because he deserves to be mocked mercilessly for writing those words. Worst. Column. Ever.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Why Cliff Lee could be beatable, Michael Kay is jumping the gun, and Freddy Sez will be missed

I heard Michael Kay said the ALCS was over after the Yankees won on Friday. And if you read the newspapers, he wasn't the only one he felt that way. Yet on Sunday, there's all this hysteria in the media about how the Yankees are doomed. Puh-lease. It's amazing how quickly the pendulum goes from "Yankees are gonna sweep" to "OMG the Yankees have to face CLIFF LEE TWICE in this series now." Spare me.

First of all, I guess I missed when losing one game in a best four-out-of-seven series meant there would automatically jigger a Game 7 to happen. Somebody should have told me that!

Second, while Cliff Lee pitched majestically against the Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series, am I the only person who remembers what happened in Game 5? The Yankees knocked him around for five runs and nearly won the game, despite the fact that A.J. Burnett spit the bit. And in 2010, while Lee pitched one great game against the Yankees in September, and one very good game in June, he also gave up four runs and eight hits in 6.1 innings in an August game.

Third, as my Facebook friend William says, the Yankees have beaten lots of great pitchers in the postseason. Why wouldn't they be able to beat Lee? But even if he does pitch well, the Yankees could still face the Rangers' bullpen and get to them.

Fourth, Andy Pettitte is no slouch in the postseason.

Anyhow, I'm going to have faith that the Yankees will beat Cliff Lee. But even if they don't, that doesn't mean the series is over, even if A.J. Burnett is still pitching Game Four!

* * *

I was saddened to hear the news about Freddy Sez's demise. Freddy the Fan, who Squawker Jon saw in his neighborhood a couple of times, had so much energy, enthusiasm, and gratitude. I met him several times, and got to hit the famous frying pan with the spoon. The Stadium will sound differently without Freddy around. I'd like to see the Yanks have a special patch on their uniforms of a frying pan!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

More on Tim McCarver's meltdown, and a new idea for national broadcasts

My Subway Squawkers piece on Tim McCarver's comparing the Yankees front office to Nazis and Communists was the most popular thing I've ever written for this blog. It struck a nerve with a lot of fans, and was featured and linked in a lot of places, including Yardbarker's home page (and the top story in Yardbarker's Morning Bark email Monday), AOL Fanhouse, Yahoo Sports' Big League Stew, Hardball Talk, Bleacher Report, Staten Island Live, and a whole slew of other places. Thanks, everyone, for the linkage, and thanks to Ross from NYY Stadium Insider for being the first to break the story of McCarver's insanity, posting videos of what he said.

I do think the coverage in the blogosphere had something to do with McCarver having to acknowledge Monday that he was inappropriate. And I've written a followup story on it for The Faster Times about McCarver's non-apology apology.

Also, FOX spokesman, Dan Bell gave a statement agreeing his analogy was inappropriate, saying:

"We've discussed the situation with Tim, and relayed in no uncertain terms that his choice of analogies was inappropriate, which he completely agrees with and regrets using," Bell said. "Given his contrition and flawless 25-year track record, we're comfortable no further action is necessary."

The funniest thing about that statement was the notion that McCarver has had a "flawless 25-year track record." What broadcasts are they listening to?

Heck, the infamous WWII analogy wasn't even the only dopey thing McCarver said just in that game. He also went on and on about how A.J. Burnett must have cut his hand on a "pie plate" when celebrating Nick Swisher getting the walkoff win the night before. Um, Tim, "pie" is just an expression. A.J.'s just smearing the guys' faces with a towel filled with whipped cream. No real pie is involved.You would think McCarver, Mr. Baseball Expert himself, would know better.

I just wish that when contract time comes around, FOX and ESPN wouldn't bother with even hiring national announcers. As I've been saying for years, I would love to just hear one person from each team's broadcast booth. How fun would it be to hear, say, Jerry Remy with Michael Kay? Or Vin Scully with Keith Hernandez? Not only that, but they would be a lot better informed on the teams they cover all year. It just makes sense.

Here's what St. Petersburg Times writer Tom Jones noted from fans during Saturday's Rays-Yankees broadcast. He said emails poured in from Tampa Bay fans slamming McCarver right from the beginning. While Jones said that he "thought McCarver and Fox did a decent job talking about the Rays on Saturday," he noted that "McCarver did make two missteps," one being the WWI analogy. The other was this:

One was acting shocked when the Rays attempted two safety squeeze bunts with runners on first and third and no one out in the fifth inning.

"Very unusual,'' McCarver said. "I have never seen that."

Well, it's something the Rays do all the time. In fact, they have become known for that particular play this season, and McCarver probably should've known that. Still, you could give him a mulligan. He has 30 teams to follow, and he can't be expected to know the nuances of every one.

Well, that, and McCarver doesn't seem to do any research on teams beforehand the way he used to - it sounds like he parachutes into other cities without a clue. Not that he's the only guy to do that, but it doesn't make it any better. That's another reason that the local broadcasters idea would make sense.

Look, I get that national broadcasts are supposed to appeal to the casual fan, as well as the diehard. But what better way could a casual fan learn about another team than to hear one of the team's regular voices tell them about them? It would be a lot better than all the inaccurate stuff the national guys do!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

About how Squawker Jon and I saw the Michael Kay Show in person

I've been busy with real-life projects (like writing a piece comparing Brett Favre to Cal Ripken) this week, so I haven't had time to write about how Squawker Jon and I went to The Michael Kay Show's remote broadcast at Martell's Tiki Bar in Point Pleasant last Friday.

But I was inspired to finally write about our fun day, thanks to Michael Kay being in the news in Yankeeland. Squawker friend Andrew Fletcher of Scott Proctor's Arm was on The Michael Kay show yesterday to discuss his hilarious drinking game inspired by Kay's TV broadcasts. It's a very funny appearance. To his credit, Kay had a sense of humor about the whole thing.

Anyhow, Squawker Jon and I went to see The Michael Kay Show in person at Point Pleasant - partly to get a day in the sun, partly to enjoy the delicious clam strips at Martell's, but mostly to see the show itself. We were curious about what they would be like at such an appearance. Would Kay eat a condiment? Would Joey Salvia sing a song? Would Don La Greca switch allegiances and become a Yankee fan? Would our clam strips be good as remembered?

Here's what happened:

The show was done on a stage, with Kay interviewing guests at a table, while he had a band behind him.

Joey, of course, sang (several songs, actually). He has a real stage presence. He also gave away copies of his good CD "Long Lost Weekend."

Don did not switch over to root for the Yankees, even though Michael offered to get him tickets. It was one of the more amusing things of the afternoon.

And while I didn't see Kay eat a condiment, I did (drumroll please) get to meet him and shake his hand. On a personal note, I'm six feet tall, so I'm used to being taller than most people I meet. It was not the case with Kay. He is at least 6 foot 4 or so.

Kay is also very charismatic and friendly. He seemed to tirelessly meet and greet everybody there. I'm happy to say that he came across as a really likeable, fan-friendly guy. He even sang a note or two with Joey (I missed hearing that, though.)

I also got to meet Al Leiter, shake his hand, and get his autograph. He's also very tall. Unlike everybody else, who had cards and baseballs ready for him to sign, I just had him sign the back of an ESPN contest entry form!

Legendary Jet Joe Klecko had neat-looking photo cards all made up, courtesy of ESPN. Jon is a big Jet fan, so we both got autographs from Joe as well. I also asked him if he roots for the Yankees or Mets - turns out he's a Phillies fan! (But Jon decided to keep the autograph anyway.)

We also saw Ray Lucas and Rick Peterson get interviewed, but we didn't meet them.

All in all, we had a very fun day seeing TMKS in person. We got free t-shirts commemorating the day, courtesy of ESPN. And the Martell clam strips were just as tasty as ever. But no, we didn't do any drinking games!

Photo courtesy of ESPN Radio

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Yankees go forth on the Fourth of July

Hope everybody is enjoying the Fourth of July weekend. A few thoughts on yesterday's game:

Nice gesture by MLB honoring Lou Gehrig, and raising money for ALS research as well. But I thought the reading of his "Luckiest Man" speech was going to be done during the game, so I missed it! (Apparently it was done before the game.) Bummer.

George Steinbrenner turned 79 yesterday. Happy B-Day to the Boss.

Poor Chien-Ming Wang. Just when he seemed to get it together and be a semi-decent starter again, he gets hurt. I know that they're saying he'll be back in a month, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him out longer. Shoulder strains are nothing to sneeze at.

Today's game is still going on as I write this, but I'm glad that Joe Girardi finally moved Robinson Cano down in the lineup. It doesn't do the team much good to have a hitter who is 0 for 19 with runners in scoring position.

And how about Cano bunting on a 3-0 count? What the heck was he thinking?

And I wonder what Jorge Posada was thinking about the pie being thrown at him. It would have been nice to see and hear his reaction live. But the YES Network cut away live from it to show a clip of Posada's hit. Way to stay in the moment, guys.

David Cone made a reference in today's broadcast to Posada not liking it very much, but then Cone gave a very impassioned defense of A.J. Burnett and the whole idea of pie-throwing as being a team-building mechanism. Michael Kay, who had claimed back in May that Cone and O'Neill "were not really cool" with that way of fun, didn't seem to react at all to Cone's comments. It figures.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

A.J. Burnett's pitching and the Yankees' sleeping bats make me sick

Well, that game kind of stunk. So much for my fearless prediction that A.J. Burnett would have a very slight edge over Josh Beckett in a pitchers' duel. Ha! The only edge in that game was when Yankee fans wanted to slit their wrists while watching the nightmare of Burnett's outing.

Oh, and one of my brothers wondered if the Sox could go 18-0 against the Yanks this year. Then again, look what happened to the Patriots after they went 18-0!

So much for Burnett being a Sox killer. The only thing A.J. had good aim for last a night was the cooler he kicked while going into the dugout. That was a strike right down the middle. Let's hope the often-injured Burnett didn't break a toe!

Pie-thrower Burnett was the one with pie on his face after this debacle. He said this after the game:

"It's embarrassing, it's very disappointing," Burnett said. "But obviously I'm not going to kill myself. I'm not going to go and try to figure out what went wrong or this and that. I'm going to get back out there. The confidence is there."

I appreciate that he was mortified over the way he pitched. But I'm troubled by A.J. saying he wasn't going to try to figure out where he went wrong.

Here are his numbers against Boston so far this year: 12.91 ERA, with 13 hits and 8 walks in 7.2 innings. Last night Burnett gave up five walks and five hits in 2 2/3 innings, and the slumping David Ortiz hit a monster shot off him. Heck, a double by Nick Bleeping Green knocked him out of the game!

I'm not saying Burnett needs to be a shoe-gazer, but it wouldn't hurt him to figure out where the heck he went wrong.

As for Ortiz, I did call that homer in my pre-game predictions. What's funny is that Squawker reader Paul from Boston disagreed with that prediction of mine!

While Burnett was a thousand shades of awful, I can't let the Yankee batters off the hook. I figured Beckett would pitch well, but I didn't think he would flirt with a no-hitter. I was so peeved over that turn of events that I went on Facebook last night and wrote this in my status update at 8:34 p.m. "Lisa Swan is going to jinx Josh Beckett's potential no-hitter. There, I said it. Jinx, jinx, jinx!"

Literally within a minute, Robinson Cano had broken up the no-hitter, albeit with a little help from Dustin Pedroia. Lisa the Jinx strikes again!

The Yankee bats managed two hits all night. Two. It didn't matter who was pitching - Beckett, Manny Delcarmen, the man in the moon - the Yankees weren't going to do anything, and they got shut out for the first time this season. What a disaster.

One other note - did you hear how Michael Kay called Beckett "Burnett" not once but twice, including after Beckett struck out the side in the fourth? Good grief.

(Puking pumpkin pic courtesy of extremepumpkins.com)

What did you think of Tuesday's game? Leave us a comment!

Michael Kay and Mike Francesa: Self-appointed arbiters of 'The Yankee Way'

The Yankees have won seven in a row, with C.C. Sabathia getting his first win at Yankee Stadium, and Alex Rodriguez hitting in his fourth straight games. But some broadcasting voices don't like the team's current penchant for actually having fun while winning.

I watched the Joe Girardi Show before last night's game, and heard Michael Kay ask - or should I say complain - about the new Yankee whipped cream tradition. Kay claimed that his boothmates David Cone and Paul O'Neill were "not really cool with that." The broadcaster also said it wasn't "The Yankee Way."

Girardi said he was fine with it. He noted that because it was done after the game when the other team was off the field, it wasn't showing up the opponents.

But geez, is Michael Kay head of the No Fun Zone or what? He didn't like Nick Swisher laughing about pitching. He doesn't like condiments, seafood, soup, or bananas. Now he doesn't like - shudder - the Yankees actually acting like other teams, which means having a good time playing a kid's game. Sheesh.

For goodness sake, this team has won seven games in a row, with three walkoff wins in a row in that streak. If having fun contributes to winning - and I believe it does (and vice versa) - then why can't Kay, Cone, and O'Neill get behind that? The late 90s super-serious vibe worked for that team, but it shouldn't mean that every Yankee team ever has to act the same way. Besides, the Bronx Zoo teams didn't exactly carry themselves like choir boys.

Kay's sports radio competition, Mike Francesa, is just as super-serious. He griped on Monday about A.J. Burnett being the instigator, saying that Burnett should win a few games first.

Francesa also said that Burnett better not try that stuff with Derek Jeter or Jorge Posada, a point Squawker Jon and Newsday writer Anthony Rieber agree with. Rieber writes in today's Newsday:

It's a good thing Jeter didn't get the walk-off hits on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A.J. Burnett smashing a shaving cream pie into Jeter's mug on live television might have been the last thing Burnett ever did as a Yankee.

Jeter had already said that the Yanks better not do that to him, so yeah, I wouldn't be surprised over that outcome!

On the other hand I noticed on Saturday how Alex Rodriguez handled the whipped cream pie. He seemed thrilled to be - for once - just one of the guys! For somebody who's been known to worry too much about his looks and image, he appeared to let his hair down there when talking to Kim Jones with egg - I mean whipped cream - on his face!

Besides the whipped cream, and the new WWE wrestling belt tradition (CC Sabathia won it last night), there are a few other new looks in the Yankee clubhouse this year. The bullpen guys are shaving their heads! Phil Coke showed off his new bald look before Tuesday's game. He told the New York Times:

"So far, it’s me, [Jose] Veras, [Brian] Bruney and Alfredo Aceves," Coke said of the bullpen baldies. Coke said Jonathan Albaladejo "is thinking about it; he’s on the fence now. He’s not sure."

Maybe Edwar Ramirez will shave his head, too, whenever he comes back to the big leagues. He got sent down to open up a roster space for Bruney. Ramirez has given up too many walks this year - 15 in 17 1/3 innings. Hopefully he can fix that in AAA.

LoHud's Sam Borden blogged today about the Yankees team's newfound team spirit, including how the Yanks are having a Kangaroo Court today, with Judge Mariano Rivera presiding. Cool! That's the first time I can remember that happening in many years, although it used to be a staple of the Bronx Zoo Yankees.

Borden asked Johnny Damon about the team's current makeup:

Johnny Damon, who started the WWE belt trend, was supposed to help “change the rigid Yankee culture” when he arrived in 2005, but that’s tough for one guy to do by himself. This year, the Yankees have several new players and that’s how the vibe of a team changes, Damon said. “We’ve got a lot of new guys here,” he said. “A lot of guys didn’t know what it was like here before, so they bring their own flair and so far it’s working.”

Newsday's Ken Davidoff wrote about this as well earlier this week.

I think this team having fun, and coming together, is all a good sign for the Yanks. Maybe it all started when Joe Girardi took the Yanks out for that pool expedition this spring. At any rate, I hope this era of good feeling continues.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

More on Michael Kay, Derek Jeter, and the Yankee way

Yankee fans are still squawking about Michael Kay. Besides him jinxing A.J. Burnett's potential no-hitter, many take issue with his negative reaction to Nick Swisher actually - shudder - enjoying himself when pitching during Monday's loss.

Baseball Think Factory featured my post yesterday about how Kay said what Swisher did while pitching was "not cool." The Yankee broadcaster/radio host suggested that Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter should have a talk with him about "the Yankee way."

Speaking of Jeter, a reader on Baseball Think Factory found this quote from Jeter after the game:

"You get a chuckle out of it just because it's him, and he's not going to stop talking about it," Jeter said. "I guess that's the only way you can look at it. It doesn't look good and it doesn't feel good when you get beat by that many runs, but if you're going to make light of the situation in any way, who better than Swish?"

Talk about a backhanded compliment. Meow!

I've heard fans suggest that this quote meant Jeter was okay with what Swisher did. Maybe because I lived in the South, where passive-aggressive little digs are common, but I read it differently, and more negatively. And given Jeter's history with little digs - "they're not the same team" is the most famous one - I give him very little benefit of the doubt on this one.

You know, the more I think about it, the more I think that the Yankee way is really the Jeter way, where every player is expected to act like he does, and have his personality. Talk about a recipe for failure.

Fans like players with personalities, though. There's a reason so many, including myself, were bummed by the death of Mark Fidrych. Yesterday I watched his 1976 game against on the Yankees on the MLB Network, and it was thrilling to see somebody who enjoyed pitching so much, instead of acting too cool for school.

The Yankee clubhouse dynamics are going to be interesting to watch this year. I can't help but think of the Billy Joel line about how he'd "rather laugh with the sinner than cry with the saints/The sinners are much more fun."

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Michael Kay says Nick Swisher is 'not cool'

Fans like me may have enjoyed Nick Swisher last night, but Yankee broadcaster Michael Kay was not pleased by the player's sense of humor in last night's game. Kay had as much an aversion to it as he does to ketchup, and he devoted a big portion of his ESPN 1050 radio show to complaining about Swisher.

Kay repeatedly griped, both on the air last night, and on the radio today, about Swisher rolling the Gabe Kapler strikeout ball towards the dugout, saying it was 'not cool' and worried that the other team would take offense to it. (Yeah, next thing you know, the Rays will bash the Yankees' heads in, and score 15 runs off their pitching or something. Oh, wait.)

The broadcaster agreed with Posada over Swisher because Jorge "has four rings," Kay noted. (Yes, because those 15 at-bats Jorge had in the 1996 season were so crucial.)

Kay suggested that, as I predicted earlier, that Posada and Derek Jeter should have a talk with Swisher about "the Yankee way." Good grief.

What, is this, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," with Swisher as Jack Nicholson's character McMurphy, and Posada as Nurse Ratched? Next thing you know, Johnny Damon will bring out a pillow.

"Think about the championship teams of the past, and tell me who the goofball is on it?" Kay asked on the air. Hmmm, how about the 2004 and 2007 Red Sox (Damon and Millar in 2004, and Manny Ramirez in '04 and '07). Or the 1977 and 1978 Yankees (Sparky Lyle in 1977, Mickey Rivers in 1977 in 1978.) Or the 1998 Yankees, one of the greatest teams ever, with David Wells as a starter.

I mean, really. Can you imagine what a tizzy Kay would have had if he had been broadcasting when Sparky Lyle was sitting naked on birthday cakes, or Phil Linz was playing a harmonica after a loss? Oh my goodness gracious!

What do you think? Leave us a comment!