This coming Hall of Fame ballot only features one Hall of Fame lock. Beyond that is a rabble of jerks who will be laughed out of future consideration, and beyond that is a selection of Tommy John-caliber guys. These guys shouldn't be forgotten, but there's the creeping feeling that if we let them in, we risk lowering the bar a little. We must all remain pragmatic and cynical. If we don't, the 2022 induction ceremony will feature David Eckstein and, like, Joe Crede.
From the Windup is FanHouse's extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.
The 2009 Hall of Fame ballot was released Monday, and with it is certain to come heated debate right up until and after the voting results are revealed on Jan. 12, 2009. This year's class of candidates is similar to last year's, in that it's a shallow group.
There is only one sure-fire Hall of Famer among the 23 candidates, which means this is a critical vote for the borderline players who have been up for election on multiple occasions. Now is the time for those borderline guys to get over the top or make a big push to lay the groundwork for election in future years.
After the jump is a breakdown of the ballot, complete with what I think will happen and what should happen with this year's class of Cooperstown contenders.
The YES Network is airing a show called "Captain's Corner" tonight in which a panel of great New York captains all pat each other on the back and talk about what it takes to be a captain. The panel features guys like Harry Carson of the New York Giants, Mike Eruzione of the 1980 U.S. hockey team, and of course, Donnie Baseball and Derek Jeter of the Yankees.
When you play 162 games and watch a guy like this (motions to Jeter), you know that he's a leader because he plays hurt, doesn't complain, doesn't talk about it, keeps going out there, you know. Guy gets hit... whatever happens to him, it's just that you see that toughness day in and day out.
You know if you see a Derek Jeter and see his face right, you think, "Oh a pretty boy right?" Right? But you know, but there's a toughness inside of this guy that you see when you're in that locker room everyday, and that's what guys respect. They respect a guy, and that's where you gain it (in the locker room), cuz' you know, there's a saying for me in the locker room, "Guys are naked." And not just "naked" but, you see their personality, you see them inside and out, you know what a guy's all about when you see them in the locker room.
A couple of weeks ago, the Dodgers announced that Don Mattingly wouldn't be joining Joe Torre in their dugout this summer. It wasn't because Mattingly still harbored ill feelings about not getting the Yankee manager job, but because he had to deal with the always popular "undisclosed family matters." This weekend those issues came to light when Vanderburgh County Sheriffs were called to Donnie Baseball's home to deal with a person who refused to leave his property.
When deputies arrived, Kim Mattingly, 45, allegedly said her husband had taken her phone and she wanted it back.
Don Mattingly told deputies he did not have the phone, so deputies informed her that he did not have the phone and that she needed to go through her lawyer for future dealings with him. She also was told to stay away from the property.
Mrs. Mattingly was arrested later when deputies returned to the property and found her still there and intoxicated. The couple filed for divorce in November. This hostile incident is probably what led Mattingly to make his decision last month.
Hopefully all will work out for the best for both Mattinglys. That said, the Yankees must be feeling pretty good about their choice of Joe Girardi today. If they'd opted for Mattingly, they would either have a manager with divided attention or an opening to fill weeks before pitchers and catchers report.
Don Mattingly was understandably disappointed when he wasn't appointed as Joe Torre's successor managing the Yankees, but right about now he might be glad the way things worked out.
"I'm very grateful that the Dodgers have allowed me to take care of these family matters and I hope that everyone can respect our privacy during this time," Mattingly said in a released statement. "I truly appreciate the support of all Dodger fans since joining the organization and I look forward to helping the team win in 2008 and beyond."
Mike Easler, originally tabbed as the hitting coach for Triple-A Las Vegas, will fill Mattingly's shoes in the majors, though the door is still open for Mattingly to return to Torre's staff in 2009. Had Mattingly taken the Yankees job, the decision to leave his post to attend to his family would have been much more difficult. As things currently stand, he can take care of business off the field this year, return to his job next year and still have his hat back in the ring for a managerial job somewhere by 2010.
As I'm sure you surmised by now, that's Joe Torre being officially introduced as the new manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He didn't say anything extraordinarily interesting, except for confirming that Don Mattingly and Larry Bowa will follow him from New York to join his coaching staff, which we kind of already knew. Is Alex Rodriguez soon to follow? Will the Dodgers turn into Yankees West?
So you know how earlier today there were those "Joe Torre to Los Angeles" rumors floating around that you probably looked at and figured, "That's gotta be crap, the Dodgers just committed to Grady Little," like I did? Turns out where there's smoke, there's fire. Peter Abraham is now reporting that the the Dodgers are going to fire Little and hire Torre as their skipper, bringing Don Mattingly along with him as his bench coach.
My first thought is that this is a really low blow to Grady Little and a pretty classless move by the Dodgers. Right after the season ended, Frank McCourt committed to him for the 2008 season. Now that someone better is available, they're sending him packing after every team, except the lead-footed Pirates, with an open manager's job has filled the position. I mean, I'd rather have Joe Torre manage my team, too, but it's not like Torre being available wasn't a possibility on October 1st, because we all know it was.
My second thought is that this means that the Dodgers are going to get in on the A-Rod sweepstakes, right? It always seemed to me like A-Rod and Torre got along pretty well in New York. Transporting the coaching staff out there has to be a move made with one eye on bringing him out to Los Angeles, doesn't it? Maybe I'm just reading too much into things.
The Yankees have offered their vacant manager position to Joe Girardi, SI.com has confirmed.
As reported here yesterday, it is believed the Yankees are offering Girardi a three-year contract for about $6 million to take over for Joe Torre, whose contract expired this season after three straight first-round losses in the playoffs.
He hasn't yet, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Girardi will accept the offer. There have been rumors that the Dodgers would go after him if the Yankees job fell through, but I think it's obvious Girardi wants to manage the Yankees. He's been angling for the job for years now.
Girardi of course was manager of the year in 2006 with the Marlins, and was then fired because that's just how they run things in Miami. If you win, you're gone.
The hiring of Girardi is also another sign that George Steinbrenner's role with the Yankees is diminishing. Steinbrenner reportedly wanted to hire his personal favorite, Don Mattingly, but his sons have decided to go with Girardi.
As for the team he's taking over, there are a lot of question marks. Alex Rodriguez has already opted out of his deal, though I still expect him to be a Yankee next season. I don't expect Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera to be back though. Both are free agents, and I don't think there's much interest in re-signing either on the Yankees end. Yes, both are were huge members of those Yankees teams that were winning the World Series every year, but so was Joe Torre and the Yankees didn't seem to have much of a problem getting rid of him, did they?
Don't expect an announcement from the Yankees regarding who their new manager will be until next week at the earliest. Even if the team makes a decision over the weekend, they have to coordinate their announcement with the commissioner's office, who wants to time these sort of things so they don't overshadow the World Series. Considering Tuesday is an off-day for the Rockies and Red Sox, don't be surprised if that's when we hear something.
As for handicapping the candidates, the Yankees have given no indication who might be in the lead. In fact, Hank Steinbrenner went out of his way to dismiss any notion that it's just a two-horse race between Don Mattingly and Joe Girardi, which should be somewhat reassuring to Tony Pena, though he remains something of a dark horse. To make the decision, GM Brian Cashman is soliciting the input from all of the front office staff. From the NY Daily News:
Cashman met individually with members of his baseball operations department yesterday, getting each person's take on the three candidates. He is expected to process that information and make a recommendation to the Steinbrenner family, with whom he met for a couple of hours before heading back to New York.
Hank Steinbrenner pointed out that while he, his brother and father would make the final call, they'd most likely go with whatever Cashman recommended. For Cashman, that's both empowering yet daunting at the same time. You have to figure the family won't hire a guy that's not their favorite of the three, yet framing the process this way puts Cashman solely on the hook if things don't work out.
The Yankees have barred ESPN from news media conference calls with their managerial candidates this week. The move was in retaliation for the network violating rules covering last week's call on which it was announced Joe Torre had turned down a contract offer.
Jason Zillo, the Yankees' media relations director, said yesterday afternoon he told operators conducting calls with Joe Girardi Monday and Don Mattingly Tuesday not to accept ESPN as an affiliation.
First MLB wouldn't let ESPN do Baseball Tonight from the All-Star Game because they announced the All-Star rosters before they were supposed to, and now the Yankees are freezing them out of any conference calls. Do you think ESPN is going to realize at some point that they aren't God? They can't just do whatever the hell they feel like doing.
I get a bit of a kick out of the fact that I could call the Yankees and get some information from them on their managerial search, but if Peter Gammons calls they'll tell him to go to hell. That's just awesome.
(As for the picture, Erin Andrews has nothing to do with this story, though if she did call the Yankees they wouldn't answer her calls either. I would though. Seriously. Call me, Erin.)
This coming Hall of Fame ballot only features one Hall of Fame lock. Beyond that is a rabble of jerks who will be laughed out of future consideration, and beyond that is a selection of Tommy John-caliber guys. These guys shouldn't be forgotten, but there's the creeping feeling that if we let them in, we risk lowering the bar a little. We must all remain pragmatic and cynical. If we don't, the 2022 induction ceremony will feature David Eckstein and, like, Joe Crede.
A couple of weeks ago, 
So you know how earlier today there were those 
The rumor yesterday was that 
Don't expect an announcement from the Yankees regarding who their new manager will be until next week at the earliest. Even if the team makes a decision over the weekend, they have to coordinate their announcement with the commissioner's office, who wants to time these sort of things so they don't overshadow the World Series. Considering Tuesday is an off-day for the Rockies and Red Sox, don't be surprised if that's when we hear something.
If you're closely following the Yankees process of hiring a new manager, and you want to keep abreast of the situation, I have a suggestion for you.
