Extra man in Yankee dugout also gives speeches

3/10/12, Bill Madden, "We’re betting Joe Girardi didn’t know he was going to have an extra set of eyes and ears on the bench with him this spring. That would account for the look of astonishment on the Yankee manager’s face when, a couple of times in early exhibition games, he looked down the dugout and saw none other than Felix (The Gardner) Lopez sitting there, cheering the boys on. George Steinbrenner’s son-in-law apparently doesn’t know that his job as Steinbrenner Field supervisor does not extend to being in the dugout during games. Still, Felix the Gardner continues to act as if he’s an extension of the late Boss. Before one of the Yankees’ first Grapefruit League games (on a day Hal Steinbrenner was conveniently out of town), Lopez decided to deliver a pregame pep talk to Yankee players. After rambling on incomprehensibly for 10 minutes, invoking something about “playing with heart” numerous times, he left with players shaking their heads in bemusement."

• 3/10/12, "Former Cleveland Indians Omar Vizquel, Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez give it a go for one final spring," Bill Madden, NY Daily News, 'It's a Madd, Madd World'

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