Quit, Quit, Jorge: Yankee Fans Cheer Jorge Posada's Selfish Behavior

Watching the Yankees get swept by the Red Sox Sunday night left a bad taste in my mouth. And the fact that Jorge Posada received two salutes during the evening -- one from the Bleacher Creatures, and then a standing ovation when he pinch-hit for Andruw Jones, made it even worse. Not to mention the dopey "We stand behind Jorge" sign shown on ESPN a gazillion times last night.

Look, I am not a fan of booing your own players. But vociferously cheering Posada was flat-out ridiculous. What, exactly, was he being hailed for? Was it for quitting on his own team? Insubordination? Pretending to be injured, when he really wasn't? Getting his wife to spread that phony story on Facebook and Twitter? Making a rather lame -- and late -- apology the next day? Sitting in the dugout making the Nomar face? Sorry, but there is nothing Posada did this weekend that was worth giving him a standing ovation for.

I don't often use the money card, as all the players, even the rookies, make more than the rest of us. That being said, I don't really have a whole lot of sympathy for somebody making $13.1 million this year (around $81,000 a game) whose .165 average is the worst in the league among hitters who have enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title, begging out of a game because he was put as No. 9 in the lineup. Boo bleeding hoo.

The fact is, Posada should have been moved to that spot weeks ago. But Joe Girardi has been way too deferential in keeping the "core" guys happy, looking fearful of starting a media firestorm. Derek Jeter gets to stay in the leadoff spot, no matter what his stats show. Incidentally, after all the "Jeter's back" stories last Monday, Jeter's back, alright -- back to hitting poorly. He's just 3 for his last 23. And Posada's 9 for his last 62.

Posada has hit mostly in the No. 7 and the No. 6 spots this year, even though, other than the first week of the season, he's been hitting terribly. He's only been in the No. 8 spot once. Meanwhile, Curtis Granderson, the team's MVP so far, has hit in the No. 9 spot four times, and eighth in the order three times. And Russell Martin, who has done a seamless job at replacing Posada as catcher this year, and hit well to boot, has hit 17 times in the No. 8 spot, and 11 times as ninth in the order.

It's funny, Joe Girardi gets such grief about being Joey Looseleafs, the manager obsessed with the stats binder. But can anybody really say that the Yankees' lineup is based on statistics? No, it's based on keeping certain people happy, no matter what their numbers are. And the one time Girardi actually tried to put the .165 hitter where he belongs, in the No. 9 spot, he gets grief for somehow, in the words of Posada, disrespecting him. Puh-lease. (And yes, before anybody brings it up, if it makes sense to move A-Rod further down in the lineup, I'm fine with it.)

I heard a lot yesterday on Facebook that we fans should give Posada a pass, because he's been on the team a long time, and has five rings (he actually has four, but I digress.) No, him being a veteran Yankee makes it even worse. All these years on the team, and he hasn't figured out that it's not cool to throw a hissy fit and refuse to play because he doesn't like his spot in the lineup? Spare me.

But we're all supposed to hail Jorge as some hero because he mouthed a few words of supposed remorse, perhaps because he could be facing a suspension if he didn't do so. Let's talk about that pseudo-apology a bit:

“It’s just one of those days that you wish you could have back,” Posada said. “I talked to Girardi and kind of apologized to him. I had a bad day. Reflecting on it, everything, all the frustration came out. I’m trying to move on.”

No, A-Rod had a bad day, when the ball went through his legs, Bill Buckner-style, last night. Quitting on your team a la Manny Ramirez isn't a bad day; it shows some bad character. And isn't it nice Posada is trying to move on. Whoo-hoo. Also, nothing shows sincerity like saying he "kind of apologized" to his manager for being insubordinate.

In addition, Jorge said, "I did tweak my back a little bit. And I took that as an excuse to tell you the truth. I just needed a day." What a weird coincidence, that he would hurt his back, and need a day, the very night he happened to be penciled in the lineup at No. 9? What, exactly, did he need a day for -- to recover from a bruised ego?

Posada also said, "Everything happens for a reason. You learn from it." But this didn't just happen to him. He is the one who pulled himself from the lineup less than an hour before the game because he felt disrespected. If he hasn't figured out that this isn't a good thing to do, then I don't really know what to say.

And how about the Yankee captain's defense of his best friend? First, he was MIA after Saturday's game, not talking to the press at all. Then, he defended Posada's behavior, saying:

My reaction was that I didn't think it was that big a deal," Jeter said about the Posada incident. "If you need a day, you need a day.


"It's over. It's done," Jeter said. "It's not the first time a player asked out of a lineup. Joe says if you feel like you need a day, let him know. It's understandable."

Of course, the fact that Posada is Jeter's best friend had nothing to do with his reaction, right? 

Jeter is right that this isn't the first time a Yankee has asked out of a game. But when it involved another player, he didn't have quite so blase a response. Page 241 of Ian O'Connor's book "The Captain" details how angry the captain was when Jason Giambi asked out of Game 5 of the 2003 World Series, with Jason telling Joe Torre that his knee was bothering him.

The book characterizes Jeter as "furious Giambi had begged out of the lineup on a night he was healthy enough to hit a home run." O'Connor writes, "Asked if players were upset with Giambi, one Yankee said, "It was more like rage, and Jeter was hotter than anyone. It was like, 'Are you [bleeping] kidding me?'"

Anyhow, I can get that the Yankees want to sweep this brouhaha under the rug and move on. And I get that Posada is only part of the team's problems. But sorry, I am not going to join the mob cheering like Jorge Posada cured cancer or something. What he did Saturday was completely unacceptable, and should not be celebrated, no matter how many rings Posada has.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Jorge Posada Pulls a Manny Ramirez After Joe Girardi Bats Him Ninth

As soon as I heard the news that not only had Jorge Posada had pulled himself out of the lineup last night, two hours after he got the news that he would be batting ninth, but that he had reportedly thrown a fit over the situation, another player came to mind -- Manny Ramirez. And it wasn't exactly a positive comparison.

Remember in late July 2008, when Manny asked out of the lineup before the start of a Yankees-Red Sox series? He claimed his knee was bothering, then couldn't seem to remember which knee it was that hurting? The Red Sox ran MRIs on both knees that night, found nothing, and traded him to the Dodgers a few weeks later.

Granted, Posada doesn't have Manny's track record, but he quit on his team last night, before a Yankees-Red Sox game, because his ego couldn't take the humiliation of being batted ninth. And it's just as unacceptable, in my view, as what Ramirez pulled that time. Sorry, Yankee fans, but it's true. 

And here's another comparison to make your skin crawl -- what is the difference between Posada glowering on the bench last night, and Nomar Garciaparra glowering on the bench in the July 1, 2004 "Jeter dives into the stands" game? 

On the other hand, I don't remember A-Rod throwing a "hissy fit," as Jack Curry said a Yankee official told him Posada did, after Joe Torre humiliated him by batting him eighth in the 2006 ALDS. Or begging out of the game, either.

Anyhow, Squawker Jon and I were hoping a reporter would ask Posada, "Where do you think a batter with a .165 average should hit in the lineup, Jorge?" Because frankly, Posada should have been moved down weeks ago. He hasn't hit a homer since April 23. Since then, he is nine for his last 62. He doesn't have a single hit against left-handed pitchers this year. 

Yet despite all the deference Girardi has shown him (he only had him bat eighth once this year), it still wasn't enough. Posada pulls the "disrespected" act last night and had about five different reasons why he didn't play.  I haven't heard so many lame excuses thrown out at once since John Belushi's "Blues Brother" character rattled off all the reasons he stood up Carrie Fisher's character at their wedding! Oh, and Posada had to get his wife -- and his father -- running interference for him. Please. Posada needs a mental health day before Yankees-Red Sox? Are you flipping kidding me?

The thing is, Posada has always gotten away with a bit of an inflated opinion of himself. Even though he wasn't really part of the 1996 championship team (he only played four games that season), he still gets the credit for that ring. As Squawker Jon always sez, Georgie is the Ringo Starr of the Core Four, without the self-deprecating personality. Has there ever been a catcher who has fought with as many pitchers? Roger Clemens. Andy Pettitte. Orlando Hernandez.  Randy Johnson. Mike Mussina. A.J. Burnett, etc. etc. But the Yankees (mostly) put up with Posada pulling the diva act behind the plate, because of his bat. Now he can't hit, and he can't catch anymore, although he still thinks he's aces at both.

And, thanks to Omar Minaya taking Georgie to that Le Cirque lunch in 2007, and the Yanks giving him a fourth year on his contract afterwards, Posada's got 13 million reasons this year to put on a happy face.

Here's what Jorge Posada should have said last night, instead of throwing daggers at Brian Cashman about having the nerve to tell the media that he begged out of the game, and insinuating that Girardi disrespected him:

"It's been a frustrating season, and I let my ego get the best of me. This is unacceptable, and the Yankees have the right to be angry over me begging out of the lineup. I had my wife spin this 'back spasms' story because I panicked over how I would look after Cashman said I asked out of the game. I'm angry with myself for missing the big picture, and putting my ego above the team. I am deeply sorry, and this will never happen again."

My first thought last night, when I heard that Posada had asked out of the game, but before the hissy fit details came out, was that he was going to retire. Come to think of it, maybe Posada ought to think about doing that now, and leave with at least a shred of dignity, before playing out the year griping about how he's being disrespected.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Astros' Mess Shows Why Mets Shouldn't Trade Carlos Beltran to Yankees

This weekend, the Mets are seeing what could happen after you trade off your stars.

Longtime Astros Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt, dealt at last year's trading deadline, are now key components of first-place teams, while the Astros have the worst record in the NL and are drawing fewer than 25,000 fans per game.

It will be years before we know if the Astros got enough back to justify trading two longtime faces of the franchise. So far, it looks like they ended up with only one impact young player, Brett Wallace, who was acquired for Anthony Gose, who came to the Astros in the Oswalt deal.

Meanwhile, Berkman is off to an MVP-caliber start with the division rival Cardinals, while Oswalt is part of the "rotation for the ages" in Philadelphia.

Berkman won't keep up his league-leading OPS of 1.131. And Oswalt is currently on the DL. But it's reasonable to expect these players to play key roles in the pennant race while the Astros play out the string before empty seats.

Sure, the Mets are likely to get more for the much younger Jose Reyes than the Astros got for their older stars. And while Reyes' fast start is thankfully causing more people to realize that trading him will set this franchise back for years, it makes sense to trade an older player like Carlos Beltran who is very likely to leave the Mets anyway.

But if the Mets trade Beltran, they'd better get a really good prospect in return. The Post's Mike Vaccaro speculates on whether Beltran could get traded to the Yankees. Vaccaro concludes:

A one-sided trade between the two would be perilous. Is Beltran worth the risk? For the Yankees, absolutely. For the Mets? They might be better off winning than having to face that question.

I agree on the Mets' part. It would be bad enough to see the Yankees get back to the World Series. But to get back with Beltran playing a key role would be intolerable.

But what if Sandy Alderson could land one of the Yankees' top prospects for Beltran? Someone like Jesus Montero, Manny Banuelos or Dellin Betances? I still wouldn't want to see that move, but I'd have to concede that it would probably be worth it for the Mets in the long run.

But I can't imagine Brian Cashman agreeing that a Beltran trade is "absolutely worth the risk" if it involves dealing Montero, who, if traded, would only be part of a Cliff Lee-type package, not for a Beltran rental, or either of the two pitchers, currently considered untouchable.

When the Yankees traded for Berkman last year, they gave up Mark Melancon and Jimmy Paredes. Melancon is now the Astros' fill-in closer with Brandon Lyon on the DL and Paredes is their sixth-ranked prospect, with a three-star ranking out of five, according to Baseball Prospectus.

Doesn't sound like a lot for Berkman, but it's probably along the lines of what the Yankees would want to give the Mets for Beltran.

If I were the Yankees, I wouldn't want to give up a top prospect for Beltran, but from the Mets' point of view, if that's the case, better to hold on to Beltran than to watch him help a rival in the postseason while you are trying to put together a rebuilding plan on the cheap.

Hear Me on the Radio on 4:30 p.m. Today

I will be on Brian Sinkoff's "Sound-Off With Sinkoff" radio show today at 4:30 p.m., squawking about Yankees-Red Sox. If you live in the Albany area, turn your radio to 104.5 FM, or you can listen to me live by going to ESPN 104.5 The Team's website.

From the Balcony: Remembering Bill Gallo

Squawker Jon and I were very saddened by the passing of sports cartoonist Bill Gallo. Gallo was not just a legend; he was one of the nicest people we have ever had the pleasure of meeting. And with his death, the journalism world -- and newspaper readers -- have suffered a huge loss.

When I was a kid growing up in New Jersey, I read the New York tabloids every day, and particularly enjoyed Gallo's Humor. We used to hang up the caricatures he drew of Yankees and Mets players that ran in the Sunday funnies. And who could ever forget his Thurman Munson tribute?

His creation Basement Bertha was as much as a cartoon fixture to me when I was a kid as Bugs Bunny and Snoopy. And that was just one of the many characters he came up with over the years. Who could forget Yuchie? General Von Steingrabber? And I still want a telekeg!

Gallo was the lead cartoonist for the Daily News' sports page for over 50 years, wrote a weekly column for the paper, and worked at the News since 1941. But there was a gap in his 70 years of working for the paper, when he served his country in World War II. As a Marine. At Iwo Jima. What a life!

So when I went to work for the New York Daily News in 2000, I was thrilled to get to meet Gallo. And he did not disappoint. His book Drawing a Crowd: Bill Gallo's Greatest Sports Moments had come out around that time, and I bought a copy of it to give to my father on his 80th birthday. I was introduced to Gallo, and with a little trepidation, I asked him if he would please autograph it to my father. He not only did so, but he drew a cake and candles on the page as well. After my father died in 2007, I asked for the book back when we divided up my father's things.

Over the years, I would see Gallo, or as I always called him, "Mr. Gallo," in the newsroom, and he was invariably friendly, and willing to share a story or an observation. When I got to read Richard Ben Cramer's book on Joe DiMaggio, I saw how Gallo was friends with Joe DiMaggio for many years, until the end of Joe D's life. This was quite a feat, given how DiMaggio was quick to anger -- and to hold a grudge. So I asked Gallo why the friendship lasted. He said it was two things -- that he never asked DiMaggio for anything, and he never brought up Marilyn Monroe!

Anyhow, the thing is with Gallo was that he was cordial and kind and giving to everybody he met, whether they be blue-collar or bluebloods. That is one of the reasons so many people are sad today at his passing. Even though Gallo was the most famous name at the paper, he never put on airs. You could always swing by his office and chat, no matter where you ranked in the pecking order.

However, I was unable to convince him to let me in at one of his Gallo's Geezers lunches at Gallagher's Steak House -- you had to be a senior citizen to go, and I didn't fit the bill for that! But those who did qualify by age were in for a real treat -- he had celebrities like Tom Brokaw, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Yogi Berra and Ralph Branca talk to his Geezers. Still wish I could have gone!

Gallo's was reknowned for his "From the Balcony" cartoons whenever an iconic sports figure died. The balcony, of course, was in the clouds, in heaven. Jon and I are sure that Bill Gallo is there now, surrounded by the same legends he once drew.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Did Brian Cashman Insult Derek Jeter or Compliment Him?

Quick note while watching tonight's game. Brian Cashman spoke today about Derek Jeter's importance to the Yankees. When I first heard fans griping about what Cash said, I didn't get at first why they were mad. After all, his comments looked very complimentary -- he said Jeter was "a championship-caliber contributor and an above-average shortstop."

Then Squawker Jon pointed out something else in the interview. Here is the money quote from what the GM said on ESPN 1050 radio today:

"I think he's an above-average shortstop in major league baseball," Cashman said. "He's not the same player he used to be, and how many people are when they start to get older? But I think he's a championship-caliber contributor and an above-average shortstop, and that's more than enough. We have other guys on offense that are charged with leading the way. Derek has always been a table setter, but Derek's offense isn't gonna make or break us. That's gonna come from other guys in the lineup that are expected to do more."

Squawker Jon sent me an email with the last part of that paragraph, asking, "Isn't this pretty much what A-Rod said about Jeter in the infamous article a decade ago?"

Let's take a look. Here's A-Rod's quote, from the infamous 2001 Esquire interview:

"Jeter's been blessed with great talent around him," Alex says. "He's never had to lead. He can just go and play and have fun. And he hits second—that's totally different than third and fourth in a lineup. You go into New York, you wanna stop Bernie and O'Neill. You never say, Don't let Derek beat you. He's never your concern."  

I don't think what Cashman said is that big a deal, but I do agree with Jon that the similarity in the quotes was amusing. However, I don't think the Captain will be quite as amused!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Why Didn't John Sterling Have a Home Run Call Ready for Francisco Cervelli?

The most shocking thing about Sunday's Yankee win wasn't Derek Jeter hitting two home runs, or even Francsico Cervelli hitting a grand slam. It was the fact that John Sterling did not have a personalized home run call for Cervelli ready to go.

Granted, Cervelli only had one home run in his career prior to Sunday. But geez, Sterling had "Russell has muscle" prepared for Russell Martin in only his second game as a Yankee. And Andruw Jones got the "Andruw Jones makes his bones" treatment for the homer he hit in his very first at-bat in pinstripes. Cervelli has been on the team since 2008. Is it too much to expect Sterling to have *something* in the can for him? I think not, especially when there are more than a few options.

Squawker Jon and I were tossing around some ideas for what Sterling could have done. Here are some possible calls. If John Sterling happens to hear about this, he is free to use any of these ideas:

* Frankie 'Velli and the four-bagger!
* It's a San Francisco Treat!
* Francisco Cervelli turns pitchers to jelly!
* Cervelli hits that ball to New Delhi!
* Turn on your telly and watch Cervelli!
* It's the Frisco Kid!
* What's the buzzelli? It's Francisco Cervelli!
* Frankie Goes to Hollywood!
* Francisco hits the disco!
* What the helli? There goes Cervelli!

Or maybe you have some better ideas for home run calls for Cervelli? What do you think?

So Now That Derek Jeter Had a Good Day, It's Time to Start Bashing A-Rod Again

Since Derek Jeter looked like the old Jeter this weekend for basically the first time since last spring, some of New York's reporters are back to griping about Alex Rodriguez again.

Never mind that Jeter's struggles have been going on from mid-June to the present, while Rodriguez started out the season on a tear, but has been hitting poorly over the last two weeks, since straining his oblique. As Mark Feinsand notes, Rodriguez  hit ".366 with four home runs and 10 RBI in his first 13 games," but although he did hit a grand slam and drive in six runs on April 23, "over his past 14 games, A-Rod is batting .170 (9-for-53) with three RBI and one extra-base hit." The Daily News writer says, "With his RBI groundout on Sunday, he snapped an eight-game skid in which he hadn't driven in a run."

It depends on your perspective whether Rodriguez is suffering a temporary setback, or an age-related decline.

George King of the New York Post writes:

While Rodriguez wasn’t the only non-producer, he hits fourth, makes the most money, has the out-sized personality and is the lightning rod for everything wrong in the Yankees’ universe.

Until Jeter started to warm this past week, his plate woes provided cover for Rodriguez, who batted .290 with five homers and 18 RBIs in April.

Let me get out my trusty calculator. Those stats over the course of six months would equal .290 over the year, with 30 home runs and 108 RBIs. Are those type of numbers something that would really kill the Yankees' season?

Kevin Long and Rodriguez told the media that the hitting coach noticed something awry this weekend with A-Rod's leg kick. But Wallly Matthews figures Rodriguez is doomed, doomed, doomed. The ESPN writer has an overwrought piece about the fact that A-Rod hasn't hit a home run since April 23. 

"...now that the Yankees have "fixed" Derek Jeter -- or more likely, Jeter has fixed himself -- it is time for someone to do the same with Alex Rodriguez.....

At the rate he was hitting homers and driving in runs, a 50-homer, 150-RBI season was not out of the question.

Now, it certainly seems well beyond his reach. In fact, sometimes when he is at the plate it looks as though he will never hit No. 6.

He continues:

Plenty has been said so far this year, but by Alex Rodriguez, very little has been done.

Derek Jeter's struggles caused us all to forget about that for a couple of weeks. But on one big day in Texas, Derek got better.

Now it's Alex Rodriguez' turn to get better, and fast.

Geez, Louise, you would think he was slumping for six months!

I hope Jeter is back, although I would put an asterisk on the second homer, against Arthur Rhodes (as Bill Madden writes, the pitcher has given up 17 homers in 85 innings against the Yanks, and has a 7.52 ERA against the team). If Manny Ramirez was the greatest Yankee-killer of all time, Arthur Rhodes might be the greatest Yankee patsy of all time.

But really, the biggest beneficiary of the focus on Jeter over the last few weeks wasn't A-Rod, but Jorge Posada. A designated hitter who is batting just .152 is pretty terrible. While Posada does have 6 homers (but he hasn't hit one since April 23, the same date as Rodriguez,) any other player batting so poorly for the year wouldn't be the DH. And given that Posada will turn 40 this August, it's not unreasonable to start wondering what it all means.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Attn: Sandy Alderson - Jose Reyes Leads All Shortstops in OBP

In laying the groundwork for a potential trade of Jose Reyes, Mets GM Sandy Alderson has expressed concern about Reyes' health and on-base percentage. So far, Reyes is healthy, and, after getting on base six times Tuesday night, he now leads all full-time shortstops with a .377 OBP, ahead of Troy Tulowitzki (.373) and Jimmy Rollins (.370). (Angels' infielder Maicer Izturis (.386 OBP) made ten starts at shortstop while Erick Aybar was hurt.)

If Reyes keeps this up, the front office will have to scramble to find new reasons why the Mets will be better off without their star shortstop. Perhaps we'll start hearing things like "Some catalyst - Reyes gets on base six times against the Giants and the Mets still lose."

More likely, we'll start hearing rumors about the haul of prospects the Mets can expect to land for Reyes. But if you follow the links in today's Metsblog item "The Giants have discussed acquiring Jose Reyes," it shows how what the Mets should want for Reyes is unlikely to match up with what other teams are willing to give.

From MLB Trade Rumors' Tim Dierkes:

At the big league level, the Giants have two established starters the Mets could try to acquire. One is Jonathan Sanchez, a solid lefty with a walk problem. He's under team control through 2012; how much value would his '12 season at a salary of $8MM or so be of to the Mets? Perhaps GM Sandy Alderson could flip Sanchez for longer-term players. The Giants also have southpaw Madison Bumgarner, who is more valuable than Belt and controlled through 2016. Like Belt, Bumgarner is way too much for Reyes.

Let's forget about Sanchez, who is 28 and not too long ago was being compared to Oliver Perez as a talented but wild lefty who couldn't put it together. While Sanchez, unlike Perez, has become a viable big-league starter, he's 28, has walked 20 in 33 innings this season, and as Dierkes points out, will make $8M next season and could become a free agent after that.

Brandon Belt is a highly touted young prospect, ranked 17th overall in ESPN's Keith Law's list of MLB's top prospects at the start of the season. Madison Bumgarner pitched a shutout in the World Series last year at age 21.

I really don't want the Mets to trade Reyes, but if they could get both Belt and Bumgarner, it could at least be intriguing. But here again is Dierkes' last line from the above quote:

Like Belt, Bumgarner is way too much for Reyes.

If I were a Giants' fan, I wouldn't want them to trade Bumgarner, either. But someone like Belt would have to be a starting point.

Even if Belt did turn out to be the centerpiece of a Reyes trade, he's a first baseman, and the Mets already have a good young first baseman. Law speculates that Belt could move to left field, but Jason Bay is likely to be there for the next few years.

Oh, and by the way, if the Mets did get Belt and found a way to get him into the lineup, they would still need a shortstop.

Reyes' success so far this season only makes it more likely that trading him will hurt the team not only in the short term, but in the long term as well, because in the current baseball landscape, a young shortstop with Reyes' skills is irreplaceable.

Should the Mets trade Jose Reyes? Tell us what you think.

Osama bin Laden, the Mets, and the Phillies

I hope you will indulge me with a (mostly) non-baseball post regarding the news that Osama bin Laden is no more.

I was watching Channel 11 news last night, and at around 10:40 p.m. or so, one of their anchors made a very strange announcement: That President Barack Obama would be addressing the nation with a national security announcement, and that it had nothing to do with Libya.

My very first thought was that it was something to do with Osama bin Laden. Here's what I wrote on Facebook last night:

"Just saw that President Obama is about to make a national security announcement in around 15 minutes. Could it mean that Osama bin Laden has been nabbed?"

A few minutes later, news started trickling out that not only was Osama found, but that he was dead. President Obama said, "Justice has been done." My response to the news was a lot less eloquent. "Ding, dong, the &^%$# is dead!" I wrote on Facebook.

In flipping around the dials last night to watch the coverage, I heard about Philadelphia Phillies fans (and Mets fans in the ballpark) united as one, chanting, "U-S-A! U-S-A!" So I watched some of the game. It used to be that when breaking news came out during sporting events, fans who brought radios to the game would spread the word (when I was at the Pine Tar Game, that's how we first heard what George Brett was flipping out about.) Now word spreads via smartphones.

Squawker Jon and I were wondering what the Phillies and Mets players were thinking, as the chants went around. Apparently, they were the last people to know in the ballpark.

I normally wouldn't have been watching the end of a 14-inning Sunday night Mets-Phillies game to the bitter end. But I did actually catch the end of the game, and saw the Mets win.

* * *

I have lived on Staten Island for a decade. When I first moved here, I used to love gazing the Twin Towers when walking to the Staten Island Ferry. Then I saw huge plumes of smoke where the buildings used to be. Now, I see the Staten Island 9/11 memorial. This morning, I will stop there again, and pay my respects to those who were murdered on September 11, 2001.
 
What do you think? Tell us about it!