Derek Jeter to play two games in Trenton this weekend

• Andy Pettitte pitched for Trenton Thunder in Sept. 2010

6/30/11, "Derek Jeter will play in two rehab games in Trenton this weekend before rejoining the Yankees on Monday in Cleveland in his run for 3,000 hits.

“I feel good now,” Jeter told reporters after working out at the Yankees’ minor-league complex in Tampa, Fla. “I’m ready to get out of here.”

Yankees manager Joe Girardi confirmed Jeter’s plans after today’s 5-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Jeter remains six hits shy of becoming the 28th player in major-league history to reach 3,000. A strained right calf June 13 landed him on the disabled list.

His two games with the Double-A Thunder (Saturday and Sunday) will come while the Yankees play the Mets on Saturday and Sunday. The Yankees then play three games against the Indians before returning to the Bronx on July 7 for a four-game series against the Rays — an opportune time for Jeter to reach the milestone."...

• Andy Pettitte pitching in Trenton, Sept. 2010:

• Andy pitched 4 scoreless innings for a season high crowd of 8072 in Trenton,
• final score 1-0 over New Hampshire in 12 innings.

9/9/2010, "Pettitte strong in Thunder rehab appearance as Yankees' Double-A affiliate takes 2-0 lead in Eastern League playoff series," Trenton Times, John Nalbone. photos ap

• 6/30/11, "Derek Jeter to play in Trenton this weekend before returning to Yankees," NJ Star-Ledger, Berman, Orr

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Fireworks over Triborough Bridge for July 4th, 2011, through my kitchen window

From East 80's in Manhattan. Despite Harvard saying July 4th celebrations are politically tainted, we still have them:

• "Fourth of July celebrations in the United States shape the nation's political landscape by forming beliefs and increasing participation, primarily in favor of the Republican Party," said the report from Harvard."...
• BELOW, 2010 July 4th fireworks through same kitchen window, in this one you can see the lights of the Triborough Bridge:

6/30/11, "Harvard: July 4th Parades Are Right-Wing," US News & World Report, Paul Bedard, via Drudge Report

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Marvin Miller is asked his view on NFL lockout, says no one is writing that players haven't made a single demand

6/29/11, Neil Best, "Marvin Miller on NFL lockout," "After attending a screening Wednesday of HBO's new documentary about Curt Flood - which premieres July 13...- Marvin Miller, 94, was asked about the current labor difficulties for the NFL and NBA.

He said he didn't know much about the NBA's situation, but he did weigh in on the NFL. Guess who's side he's on!

"I think in football it appears that finally they have some leadership that understands what’s going on,'' Miller said. "I don’t think most of the media understands, or at least they haven’t written about it. You’ve got to consider the football thing for what is. And what it is is an industry that not too long ago was a marginal industry, which now has become THE professional team sport in the United States, and perhaps in the world. An industry which was barely making it and has gross revenues of close to $9 billion a year, with every indication that in the next 10 or 15 years they’re going to double that. They are

• the wealthiest of all the team professional sports.

"But despite that, the players have the lowest salaries of any of the team sports – baseball, football, hockey, basketball. They have the shortest careers. They have the worst and most serious injury rate. And nobody is writing about this. Here’s this industry that has gotten to be a $9 billion a year industry. I defied one newspaper man who was asking me about this. He was challenging what I was saying. I said, 'Tell me about your opposition to the players striking.' He said, ‘Well, the fans, etc., etc.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but tell me what the players are demanding.’ He said, ‘What?’ I said, ‘Tell me what they’re demanding.’ There are no demands from the players! Nobody’s writing this.

"This is entirely caused by a $9 billion a year industry with their demands that despite their affluence the players should give them a billion dollars off the stupid salary cap. That the players with the worst and most serious injury rates should have their season extended with two additional games. And that’s what’s causing the problem. And no reader picking up a sports page is going to be able to come out with an appropriate conclusion based on what I just said, because they don’t know that. That’s what I think about football.

"I know less about basketball. I don’t know the leadership there. I do know the new leadership in football and I think DeMaurice Smith is a bright man who’s going in the right direction.""

• 6/29/11 from Neil Best Watchdog blog, Newsday, subscription

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Fans reach for Russell Martin homer in 4th, Nyjer Morgan steals 2nd in 1st

• Fans reach for Russell Martin 3 run home run in 4th inning v Brewers, LF Ryan Braun reaching too, ap

• Milwaukee Brewer Nyjer Morgan steals 2nd in 1st inning v Yankees, later came around to score. June 29, 2011, getty

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Blue Jays used unusual defensive shift v Victor Martinez and it worked

6/27/11, AP, "NOTES: The Blue Jays used an unusual defensive shift against Martinez in the sixth. Instead of shifting all the infielders to the right, Farrell left shortstop Yunel Escobar in his normal position and placed third baseman Jayson Nix to the right of second base.

• The move worked, as Martinez grounded to Nix for a 5-3 putout."…

6/27/11, "Peralta’s 8th-inning triple leads Tigers over Jays," AP (item at end of article) final 4-2 Detroit

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'Welcome back Bernie' fan sign for Bernie Williams at Yankee Old Timer Day

• Above fan sign 'Welcome back Bernie' Yankee Old Timers Day, ap

• Above Bernie Williams at Yankee Old Timers Day, 6/26/11, getty

• Above at Yankee Old Timers Day, Arod, Rivera, Posada, Swisher watch Monahan ceremony, getty

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Cecil Fielder, Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden at Yankee Old Timers Day

• Above, Cecil Fielder, Yankee Old Timers Day, 6/26/11, getty

• Above, Darryl Strawberry, Yankee Old Timers Day, 6/26/11, getty

• Above, Dwight Gooden, Yankee Old Timers Day, 6/26/11, getty

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Lou Piniella at Yankee Old Timers Day

Lou Piniella at Yankee Old Timers Day, June 26, 2011, getty

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Just one more thing...Peter Falk, RIP

6/24/11, "Columbo star Peter Falk dies aged 83," BBC "Peter Falk, the American actor most famous for his role as scruffy TV detective Columbo, has died aged 83.

The actor died peacefully at home in Beverly Hills on Thursday night, his family said in a statement.

He had been suffering from dementia for a number of years.

Peter Falk won four Emmys for his cigar-chomping role as the deceptively bumbling Columbo, and was nominated for Oscars in 1960 and 1961 for Murder Inc and Pocketful of Miracles....

But for most fans, even his best-supporting actor nominations were eclipsed by his incarnation as the sleuth in the shabby mac with no known first name and the killer catch-phrase:

• "One more thing..."

Columbo first appeared on American TV screens in 1968, and NBC commissioned a series in which the detective appeared every third week from 1971 until it was cancelled in 1977.

The part of its policeman hero had originally been written for Bing Crosby, but Falk made the part his own and continued to make special episodes well into his 70s.

He reportedly turned down an offer to convert it into a weekly series, citing the heavy workload.

The actor bought Columbo's trademark raincoat himself, only for it to be replaced after it became too tattered through its near constant use in the series....

Peter Michael Falk was born in 1927 in New York City, where his parents ran a clothes shop.

He had an eye removed at the age of three due to cancer. He said he learned to live with the ailment after it became "the joke of the neighbourhood".

"If the umpire ruled me out on a bad call, I'd take the fake eye out and hand it to him," Falk told the Associated Press in a 1963 interview.

As an aspiring actor, he was reportedly warned by one agent the false eye would preclude him from working in television. In fact, it became another endearing trait of his most famous character....

The actor is survived by his wife of three decades, Shera, and daughters from a previous marriage Catherine and Jackie."...

top columbomaniachez, bottom governortv

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Giambi has happy night at Yankee Stadium

• Above Giambi at Yankee Stadium waves before game, 6/24/11, Todd Helton on right, ap

• Above Giambi after home run v Yankees in 2nd inning, 6/24/11, Ty Wigginton left. getty

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Derek Jeter Newsday back cover, 'Wait Problem,' may need longer on DL

• "His 599 postseason at-bats amount to just about an extra season’s worth of swings."...

• Newsday back cover, Fri., June 24, 2011

Sunday June 26, 2011, NY Times Magazine feature on Jeter,

• "For Derek Jeter, on His 37th Birthday," by Michael Sokolove

"His 599 postseason at-bats amount to just about an extra season’s worth of swings."...

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Young Yankee fans in Cincinnati

Top, young Yankee fans in Cincinnati look on before 2nd game of doubleheader, 6/22/11, getty. Above, in first game of doubleheader Posada hits tie breaking 2 run home run v Reds, sixth inning, final 4-2. reuters. Reds won nightcap.

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Reds closer is paid pretty well too says commenter

6/21/11, "10 things you might not know about ... Mariano Rivera," Cincinnati.com

• Comment

"garygenius

9:21 AM on June 21, 2011

"Future Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees is scheduled to make more money ($15 million) this season than the current Reds starting rotation ($13.5 million)"

• Yeah but, Reds closer Coco Cordero makes $12.1M.

• That's a much better comparison!

Think about all the $M the Reds wasted on Harang!"

• Original article, "10 things you might not know about...Mariano Rivera," Cincinnati.com, 6/20/11

Cot's Baseball Contracts, Cincinnati Reds

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Giambi hits 3 run home run in Rockies 8-7 win v Indians

Giambi in Rockies dugout after 3 run home run in 5th inning, final 8-7 v Cleveland Indians, June 20, 2011, ap

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Ivan Nova Newsday back cover, 'Cincinnati Kid'

• Ivan Nova Newsday back cover Tuesday, June 21, 2011

• Alex Rodriguez in 'C' of Red, 1st inning, 6/20/11

• Scott Rolen breaks up a double play in the 9th inning against Yankee shortstop Eduardo Nunez. all photos Getty, final 5-3 Yankees over Reds.

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Fans at Wrigley Field June 19 v Yankees

• Above, Cubs fans cheer after Alfonso Soriano hits 3 run home run, 3rd inning v Yankees, 6/19/11, reuters;

• Above 2, standing room at Wrigley, June 19, June 17, 2011, both getty.

• Russell Martin after hit in face with foul ball, 6/19, getty; Arod walks into dugout as fans ask for autograph, 6/19, getty

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Tom Gordon and Tony Gwynn with MLB sons on Fathers Day at Dodger Stadium

• Above Tom Gordon and Tony Gwynn with 2 Dodger sons, Dee Gordon and Tony Gwynn Jr., June 19, 2011 at Dodger Stadium getty

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Clarence Clemons plays National Anthem for Florida Marlins opening day vs NY Mets, April 1, 2011

• Wearing Marlins gear.

---------------------------------

• "Clarence Clemons "Jungleland" solo (Milwaukee 3/17/08)"

---------------------------------

• Clarence Clemons on Letterman a long time ago

• May he rest in peace.

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Dick Durbin and Justice Sotomayor in front row at Wrigley Field

Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin at Wrigley Field for Yankee-Cubs game, June 18, 2011. reuters. 4-3 Yankees.

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New Mike Lupica Show on 1050 ESPN radio NY a home run per NY Radio Message Board Chief Allan Sniffen

5/17/11, "XM 210 and Sirius 93 add sports talkers Lupica, Kay, Waddle & Silvy"

• 6/10/11, "Mike Lupica: Sounding VERY Good on 1050 ESPN (WEPN)," Allan Sniffen, New York Radio Message Board Chairman

"Mike Lupica is doing a GREAT job on WEPN/1050 ESPN NY. And that's not something I expected to be posting five weeks ago.

I'm not necessarily a Lupica fan. I find many of his columns and his TV appearances to be pretentious. He sometimes is trying so hard to be insightful that he goes overboard. Even with Imus, he seems like he's trying too hard to be funny when, really, saying less would be more.

But on the 1050/ESPN? He's got it beat. He comes through as a guy who knows sports, knows the nuances and can communicate clearly and in an engaging way. I've got to hand it to him. He's really that good. In fact, he's the one guy who I think could give Mike Francesa some real competition. I still think Francesa is the best of all. But if Lupica were on for more hours, Francesa would have a real competitor in PM Drive.

What I don't get about 1050 is how they can hire a guy like Lupica and then turn around and have a show like Ruocco and Lundberg. That could indeed be the worst radio sports show I've ever heard. Too gimmiky, too loud, too much hyping of the obvious and two guys who sound so much alike you can't even tell them apart. I think Jared Max is doing a fine job. Kay can be good when his show is focused on sports and not wandering around. And Mike and Mike (although syndicated) is a very good show (and, BTW, it's hitting younger demos by talking sports and not guy talk type gimmicks--hello?).

So, given all of this, if I were running 1050/ESPN and listening to my station, I'd be trying as hard as I could to convince Mike Lupica to do more hours. And, even more importantly, I'd learn to stop trying so hard to appeal to younger demos by putting gimmicky "guy talk" on the air and, instead, put real sports talkers on who can see beyond the basics. That's where the key to the ratings castle is hidden.

Mike Lupica has flat out amazed me. And I have to say... it's been a long time since I've heard anything on NY radio that has amazed me."

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Don't expect sports media to protect baseball from Selig's expanded playoffs-Mushnick

"In baseball, the press is traditionally seen as the guardians of the game."...Marchman

• 6/17/11, "Expanded playoffs greed-fueled," NY Post, Phil Mushnick

"How can you call yourself a big baseball fan when you just sit there with a blank look as Bud Selig and his puppeteers continue to disfigure The Game?

I know, most sports media are no help; they're compliant and co-opted; they capitulate as a matter of expedience, access or corporate considerations. The media don't protect fans or the games as they were once inclined.

• They're no longer able or willing.

But that doesn't mean you have to fold, too.

It's now a given that MLB will add two more playoff teams, for a total of 10. Finishing in first after a 162-game regular soon will mean even less than it did last season.

Recall last season? Early October? The final series between the Red Sox and Yanks, a series to decide if the Yanks finished first, meant nothing because Joe Girardi logically didn't care. The system told him so. He cared about getting his starting rotation rested for the playoffs.

So, on the last days of a 162-game season, in what once would have been the biggest games of the season, the Yanks didn't much care if they won or lost. They lost two of three and finished second. No big deal.

In the series to determine first place, the Yanks rested their best starter, CC Sabathia. Now that's baseball in the

• Age of Bud!

And with 10 playoff teams there will be plenty more where that came from. What once would have been the biggest games of the regular season soon will be institutionally rendered even less relevant. The "biggest" games will be played by also-rans just looking to get into the money.

Money? Did someone say money? Remember, this isn't the NBA, NHL or NFL. MLB plays 162 games to distinguish the best from the rest.

But with 10 teams in the playoffs that diminishing reality will be further eroded.

No matter the sweet, embracing words Selig chooses to frame it, 10 qualifiers aren't in the best interests of fans or baseball any more than cats serve the best interests of mice. It's about adding more artificial stimulants in pursuit of more money.

And money's the prize for which Selig and his button-pushers allowed baseball to be overrun by drugs, the same reason Sunday afternoon games are moved to 8 p.m. and why

• last week's Red Sox-Yanks began at nearly 11 p.m.

MLB couldn't care less if fans and media debate whether 10 playoff teams is good or bad. Let fools argue an irrelevancy. It's about money."...

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Toronto Blue Jays to face star Canadian Votto in Cincinnati

"It took Votto five years before he got his first opportunity to play in a big-league game."...

• 6/16/11, "Blue Jays refuse to focus on Canadian players," Globe and Mail, Robert Macleod

"The Toronto Blue Jays don’t view Joey Votto as the Canadian superstar baseball player who slipped through their grasp.

Same with Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins.

But if Canada’s only major-league team can dream, the next Canadian-born player to have an impact at the big-league level will do so wearing the colours of the Blue Jays.

“It would be terrific for this franchise,” team president Paul Beeston conceded during an interview in his office at Rogers Centre on Thursday. “I don’t think there’s a negative to it.”

On Friday, the Blue Jays are in Cincinnati to play the Reds as the second phase of 2011 interleague play, pitting American League teams against those from the National League, begins.

It will provide the Blue Jays the opportunity to renew acquaintances with the Toronto-born Votto – last year’s NL most valuable player – who is expected to line up at first base and

• is in the midst of another terrific season.

Last season marked the second time in four years that a Canadian walked off with one of baseball’s most-cherished awards.

In 2006, Morneau of New Westminster, B.C., earned MVP laurels in the AL.

At the start of this season, a total of 16 players from north of the border were listed on MLB opening-day rosters, including all-star catcher

• Russell Martin of Chelsea, Que., with the New York Yankees.

In their 35-year history, the Blue Jays have not enjoyed much success developing or drafting top-flight Canadian talent.

Paul Quantrill of London, Ont., who pitched for the Blue Jays from 1996 through 2001, is probably the most successful Canadian to play in Toronto –

• and he was obtained in a trade.

The Blue Jays believe they might already have that blue-chip prospect in their midst in Brett Lawrie, a third baseman from Langley, B.C., whom they acquired in a trade from the Milwaukee Brewers last December.

Lawrie, who has been tearing it up for the Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas, would be with the Blue Jays right now, had he not broken a bone in his left hand after getting hit by a pitch earlier this month.

Montreal-born Alex Anthopoulos, the Blue Jays general manager, said it would be ideal – but not feasible – if he could stock his team with more Canadian-born players....

As it stands, the Blue Jays already gamble on more Canadian players

• than any other major-league team.

At this year’s first-year player draft (college and high school), the Blue Jays chose seven Canadians among the 55 they selected – more than double any other MLB team. And the team has nearly doubled the number of scouts on staff to about 30 to try to make sure no player, Canadian or otherwise, falls between the cracks.

Even then, Anthopoulos says, his top priority is not to make sure his team drafts all the top-rated Canadians.

“It doesn’t drive what we do,” he said. “I’m not trying to sound unpatriotic but I also know our mandate is not just to have a team built entirely of Canadians. It’s to have a winning team.

“That is what will ultimately lead the fans to identifying with and being proud of the team.”

• The draft is a crap shoot, Anthopoulos says, and even the Reds didn’t know what they had when they picked Votto, a high-school star, 44th overall in 2002.

The Reds picked two players ahead of him – high-school pitcher Christopher Gruler third overall and university hurler Mark Schramek at No. 40. Neither player has yet to play in the majors.

It took Votto five years before he got his first opportunity to play in a big-league game."...

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Rafael Soriano goes on 60 day DL

Rafael Soriano walks with Mariano Rivera on Feb. 17, 2011 on Rivera's first day at spring training in Tampa. Soriano is now on the 60 day DL. reuters photo

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Jeter NY covers continue on occasion of DL, June 15

• Above, Derek Jeter Newsday back page, Wed., June 15, 2011

• Above, Derek Jeter NY Post back page, Wed., June 15, 2011

• Above, Derek Jeter gets mention on NY Post front page, June 15, 2011

• Above, Derek Jeter NY Daily News front page, Wed. June 15, 2011

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Derek Jeter makes both front and back covers of 3 NY newspapers, 6/14/11

From top, front and back of Newsday, front and back of NY Post, front and back of NY Daily News, Tuesday, June 14, 2011

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Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts bravely chats in Wrigley Field

6/10/11, "Wrigley Field is "a dump" that could be a bigger problem than expected for new Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts, according to MLB Network analyst Peter Gammons.

“The problem that (Ricketts) has, and the Ricketts family has a serious issue, is they’re going to have to understand it’s not only rebuilding personnel,” Gammons said Friday on "The Mully and Hanley Show" on WSCR-AM 670. “They got to make that ballpark livable, it’s a dump, Wrigley Field. They’re going to have to spent $200-and-something million on re-renovating Wrigley Field, do what the Boston owners did with Fenway Park. And the investment is far greater than, I think, maybe they realize.""...

• 6/10/11, "Gammons: Wrigley 'dump' tying Ricketts' hands," Chicago Tribune, staff. photo, Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts speaking before the game vs Brewers. getty

6/13/11, MLB warns teams about violence in downtown Chicago

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'Major League Baseball is warning their teams about downtown Chicago' -Police spokesman on WLS radio today

From interview on WLS radio, Chicago, during Don and Roma Morning Show today, June 13, 2011, Chicago Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden spoke with Don and Roma about recent violence in Chicago. At about 5:20 into the interview, Mr. Camden says:

• "Major League Baseball is warning their teams about downtown Chicago. That's a crying shame."...

LISTEN: FOP Spokesman Pat Camden joins Don Wade and Roma

• via Drudge Report

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NYY Steak and partner Hard Rock Cafe looking to add locations

6/12/11, "Yankees fans will soon be able to get a taste of their favorite stadium steakhouse -- in a prime Manhattan location.

NYY Steak, a partnership between the New York Yankees and the Hard Rock Cafe, is scouting for new spots in the city, with the first one likely to be in Midtown, Side Dish has learned.

"NYY Steak has been a great success at Yankee Stadium," said Yankees spokeswoman Alice McGillion. "We have been looking at other sites for the restaurant, including sites in Manhattan, but nothing has been determined."

At the upscale steakhouse, carnivores can nosh on a 28 oz. Porterhouse for $54.75 and Maine lobster at $25 a pound, while they take in the "signature wall" featuring dozens of autographs of Yankees greats."

• 6/12/11, "Yankees scouting city to expand steakhouse," NY Post, J.G. Keil. logo above from NY Post

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Kudos to Luke Hochevar for striking out Jose Bautista on a quick pitch-Bill Madden

6/11/11, Madden, "Kudos to Kansas City Royals righty Luke Hochevar for striking out the Toronto Blue Jays' Jose Bautista on a quick pitch in the first inning on Thursday. Quick pitches have become a lost art in baseball and the game needs more of them, if for no other reason than to eliminate all the batters' time-consuming machinations, seemingly after every pitch."

• 6/11/11, "Yankees need to stop babying young arms like Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos to avoid another Joba," Bill Madden, NY Daily News, "It's a Madd, Madd World"

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'Ballpark Frank' Harvard Crimson article by Cleveland Indians pitcher Frank Herrmann on making a decision to play in the minor leagues

Frank pitched at Yankee Stadium on June 10, 2011.

• 4/25/06, "BALLPARK FRANK: Every Man for Himself In Pros," Harvard Crimson, by Frank Herrmann

"Over the past few weeks I have started to see what former Harvard baseball captain Trey Hendricks ’04 meant when he told me, “pro ball just ain’t the same”.

• Last summer, when I was trying to decide whether or not to forego my senior year of eligibility and sign a professional contract, I reached out to a lot of people in the “baseball know” whose opinions I respected.

Most advised me that signing then would be a great opportunity and something I should really consider. And when I called Trey I expected to hear much of the same.

• Having already experienced two seasons in the Arizona Diamondbacks farm system, Trey was able to give me an earnest and startling perspective.

He warned that playing baseball in the minor leagues was really more about developing the individual than about the team-first, “win-at-all-costs” mentality that prevails at Harvard. This is not to say that my current teammates are in any way selfish or that winning is not their ultimate goal but the dugout just seems to lack that same buzz and excitement that is present when playing

• a Sunday doubleheader against Dartmouth with the Ivy League title on the line.

In minor league baseball staying healthy and improving so that you can make it to the major leagues is the ultimate goal. Of course every kid that picks up a bat and ball wants to play in the Majors, but at this point the picture becomes much clearer.

• Sacrifices need to be made to see these goals through.

In my own case, I am currently limited to sixty pitches per outing. Now if I had stayed at Harvard I would likely be throwing a hundred or more pitches every time I took the mound. As a pitcher you pride yourself on how long you can lead your team and how many wins you can earn.

• Throwing only sixty pitches limits me to four innings and thus does not allow me to qualify for a win (the winning starting pitcher needs a minimum of five innings) and leaves others having to pick up the slack.

I understand that the decision-makers within the organization are trying to keep my arm healthy since the professional season is nearly three times longer than what I was accustomed to in college. But it can be frustrating, because I am used to competing for seven or eight innings as opposed to three or four.

• There is also a lot of turnover in the Minor Leagues, with guys being “called up” and “sent down.”

Continually having to meet new guys and adapt to their style of play makes it more difficult to find a comfort level and come together as a team.

• Similarly, all of the roster shuffling tends to leave some uneasiness,

since you are in a sense competing against your own teammates just as much as you are against the other team. If the guy three lockers over is throwing better than you,

• he—and not you—will likely be first in line to get sent up.

On the other hand, in a college setting, when you step into that locker room on the first day of practice and look around, you know that those are “your guys” for the entire season, and thus forging a team bond

• is not only easy but necessary.

Whether intentional or not, by the end of the season you truly come to care for those other guys and play for them as much as you play for yourself. This is especially true at Harvard as opposed to a program like Cal State Fullerton,

• which has the ability to retool its squad each season by bringing in seven or eight junior college players.

Professional baseball has proven to be like most everything else in life in that it has its tradeoffs. Playing in front of 7,300 fans on Opening Night, meeting Roger Clemens, and enjoying countless other new opportunities more than balances out the equation. But it will still be interesting to see how the team aspect

• plays out for us over the long summer months ahead."

—"In 10 1/3 minor league innings, Frank has allowed only two earned runs...."Editor’s note: Former Harvard hurler Frank Herrmann ’06 is a pitching prospect with the Class A Lake County (Oh.) Captains of the Cleveland Indians organization. This is his diary."...

• (The above article was written while Frank was still a student at Harvard).

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'Now newspapers need the teams for their circulation.' WSJ

6/10/11, WSJ, "Let's be clear: This is not a Woe Is Us story. Access is hardly a reporter's entitlement, unless the assignment is the White House or City Hall. Even then, the willingness to wait out a story is a compulsory part of the job. Imagine, too, the view of an athlete, not yet showered and still absorbing a blown save or a missed shot, confronted by a swarm of notepads and microphones and pressed to answer the brain-numbing question: How do you feel?

"What do they expect you to say to that?" asks LaTroy Hawkins, a veteran relief pitcher. "And could they let you get your pants on?"

The relationship between athletes and the press, over generations, has been knotted by distrust. Michael Jordan tangled with reporters. So did Ted Williams. Steve Carlton boycotted them altogether. But beneath the antagonism there was an unwritten code that allowed for small accommodations. We didn't hear much about Mickey Mantle's boozing, but Leo Durocher played cards with reporters during train travel. I saw Billy Martin after road games joined by a cadre of drinking buddies among the press.

For many athletes, the terms of the code were breached in a single moment in 1998 when a reporter spied a bottle of androstenedione in Mark McGwire's locker. "Players remember this," says Hawkins, now with the Brewers. Today, athletes can't even finish a thought before someone camped by their locker posts it to Twitter.

Athletes are bound by league rules to be available to reporters, but not all comply. When they do talk, they slide easily into the abridged remark—or save their breath for Twitter. By the time he announced his retirement, Shaquille O'Neal had nearly four million followers.

There is no serious talk of booting reporters from locker rooms, but leagues are finding ways to reach the fans directly. Major League Baseball's 30 teams, for instance, have a combined 18 million followers on their Facebook pages. The Washington Redskins, like many teams, employs reporters who work for the team's website. "There's been a tremendous transformation," says Sam Smith, who has covered the Chicago Bulls for 25 years, first for the Chicago Tribune and now for Bulls.com. Whereas teams once needed traditional media, he says, "now

• newspapers need the teams for their circulation."...

Reporters don't fly on team planes anymore. Many don't stay at team hotels. Baseball writers are no longer allowed next to the batting cage during batting practice. It's not hard to imagine the day when U.S. teams mimic European soccer and cut locker-room access entirely.

Not long ago, I found myself at Yankee Stadium standing in the middle of the Yankees logo woven into the dark blue carpeting of the clubhouse. With the exception of the stray player, 30 or so reporters had no one to talk to besides themselves. The Yankee players are able to dress in an area that is off limits to the media. Turns out I was waiting in what amounts to a mannequin clubhouse....

In the end, no matter what becomes of this American tradition, it's probably time to start asking if all this standing around amounts to loitering and is worth the strain it puts on the relationship between press and players. It's not clear that either side derives much from the transaction.

"There's something we ought to remember," says Robertson of the Herald. "These guys are not notable for their oratory. They're notable for how beautifully they perform as athletes.""

• 6/10/11, "It's Time for the Sportswriters to Go," WSJ, Craig Wolff, "U.S. Media Sees Locker-Room Access as a Birthright, but It's Getting Harder to See the Point"
• ---------------------------

Baseball reporters work best as stenographers for MLB team owners or management. In the case of the Yankees, they use reporters to publicize negative material about the team's own players. Other teams may do this, but the Yankees really like doing it. Or teams may use the guys to put out info to correct rumors or create new ones. ed.

• Reference: "12/5/2010, "Shame on Yankees for dropping ball and insulting Derek Jeter during heated contract talks," Mike Lupica, NY Daily News

""They wanted it to look, in the more heated parts of this, as though Jeter was the greedy one. They were twitchy to get out there what they said Jeter wanted,

• were delighted to get in the papers

that Jeter wanted $23 million or $24 million a year, whatever the Yankees said he was asking for.

• Not just delighted. Thrilled.

They thought it made them look good. But you know who has always made them look good? Jeter has.

• It is Jeter who has honored all the ideas about the Yankees that the Yankees sell, constantly."...via BTF

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Stats from first 8 meetings between Red Sox and Yankees

6/10/11, "In the eight meetings entering Thursday, the Red Sox are hitting 60 points higher than the Yankees. They have scored 20 more runs. Boston’s ERA is 4.00, compared with New York’s 6.04. Red Sox pitchers have struck out 2.54 hitters for every walk issued to a Yankee; for New York’s hurlers, that number is 1.24.

• The Yankees have committed five errors to Boston’s two in the eight games."

6/10/11, "So far this season, the Sox simply own the Yankees," Providence Journal, Tim Britton

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Yankees finally react to a hit batsman

After Mark Teixeira was thrown at by a Cleveland pitcher, Wallace Matthews wrote on ESPN NY twitter:

• "wallacematthews Wallace Matthews

Red Sox hit 5 Yankees, no fight. Indians hit one, lotsa woofing. Just sayin"

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Tarp on the field in the Bronx June 9

Thunder clouds over Red Sox-Yankee game in the Bronx, June 9, 2011, getty

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Paul McCartney concert at Yankee Stadium July 15, 2011

• Update: 7/15/11, Paul McCartney concert warmup at Yankee Stadium

6/8/11, "Paul McCartney books Yankee Stadium show" July 15

• Seating chart for Paul McCartney at Yankee Stadium July 15, 2011, via XMFan.com

Jack Nicholson, Lorne Michaels, Paul McCartney, and Nancy Shevell stand during God Bless America, 7th inning, 8/26/09, Yankee Stadium game v Texas. photo by Reuters. (Michaels introduced McCartney to baseball a few years ago)

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