"There are going to be problems, especially if they go after our stars," Steinbrenner said. "It's not going to be tolerated. We never have done it to them. It's just not going to happen anymore."
Two thoughts: 1) The whole "there are going to be problems" stance contradicts the explanations issued by Shelley Duncan and Joe Girardi that Duncan's hard slide into Akinori Iwamura was unintentional. So, unless Steinbrenner wants to give MLB fuel to suspend Girardi, perhaps he ought to pipe down. 2) It's a bit early to start whining about protecting stars, isn't it? The incidents so far have involved the likes of Elliot Johnson, Francisco Cervelli, Shelley Duncan and Jonny Gomes -- in other words, players I'd be shocked if Steinbrenner could pick out of a lineup without a program.
So what's really the root of Steinbrenner's anger?
The Yankees and Red Sox have been rivals for ... forever .. but after Saturday's home plate collision incident and the subsequent "retaliation" pulled by Shelley Duncan on Wednesday, it appears that the Yankees have cultivated a rivalry with another AL East team -- the Rays.
If you recall, Saturday''s game featured a rough collision at home plate by Elliott Johnson that broke Yankee catching prospect Francisco Cervelli, and on Wednesday slid cleat-first into Rays' second baseman Akinori Iwamura. The benches cleared, five players were ejected, and now the three players that were most integral in the action have been suspended. Obviously, Shelley "Spirit Coordinator" Duncan was one of the three; he will miss the first three games of the season, as will Melky Cabrera. Jonny Gomes will only miss two for his tackle job. They'll also all be paying fines, but I'm not sure how much they'll be ponying up
It's no surprise that those guys were penalized. I, for one, think they absolutely deserved it. It seemed very obvious that Duncan's wacko slide was intentional, and I don't think it was appropriate to pull that move, particularly in Spring Training. If this was a late September game that the Yankees had to win in order to get closer to a playoff spot and were down by a couple runs, maybe I would feel differently. Is that fair of me? Probably not ... but I have a feeling a lot of fans feel similarly. Am I right? Comment away!
"I saw it a couple times. I still don't understand why they were as upset as they were."
Shelley, I'm guessing it was because you tried as hard as you could to injure one of their teammates. Your reason for it, I'm assuming it was the home plate collision heard around the world, doesn't much matter and you should hope your teammates do the same thing if someone takes such a cheap shot at you. While it wasn't "borderline criminal" as Rays manager Joe Maddon claimed, it was a dirty play and I imagine that Girardi told you not to do it again.
Duncan will likely be suspended and MLB told Peter Abraham that any suspensions will be served during the regular season.
When we talk about yesterday's Yankees-Rays fight in the future, everybody is going to remember that Shelley Duncan started it. But while it was his slide into Akinori Iwamura that caused tempers to flare, Iwamura was actually arguing with the umpire when Jonny Gomes poured gasoline and lit a match by flying in from right field to tackle Duncan.
"I just think Duncan tried to inflict some pain on Aki," Gomes said. "I was taught all the way from T-ball to have a teammate's back. It's a baseball field. There's fans and kids watching. I had to let him know that's not going to fly."
Good for him for putting his foot down and fighting the good fight (literally). If he'd done nothing, the fans would have left the park shaking their heads in shame that their favorite team is a bunch of pansies, and the kids would be all confused about what sportsmanship and fair play is really all about. Duncan is just lucky that Gomes didn't hit him with a garbage can.
On a side note: the Rays know they traded Elijah Dukes, right? Did they mean for their team photos to look for mugshots or is that just a nice bonus?
(Disclaimer: Despite my holier-than-thou tone, I actually don't mind Gomes' decision to get involved -- it's his lame justification that ticks me off.)
As the lovely Yankees Chick informed you of earlier, the Yankees and Rays got into a bit of a brouhaha this afternoon in Florida after Shelley Duncan went spikes high into second base. I think it's pretty clear in the video above that Duncan wasn't as interested in how the shortstop's wife and kids are doing as much as he wanted to know what he'd look like with a few holes in his thigh.
I'm not sure I dig the immediate ejection by the umpires, but I'm a huge fan of Jonny Gomes' tackle. Overall, I'd say it was your basic baseball fight: not a lot of punches thrown, a lot of pushing and shoving, and an overwhelming sense of shame for what they're doing out there.
To think, it's still March and the Yanks and Rays already want to kill each other. Should be an interesting season. (Video via Awful Announcing)
The Yankees and Rays faced off for the first time since Saturday's ill-fated game, which left a Yank and a Ray with injuries, and things were wild again.
Despite Girardi saying he didn't want his players to retaliate, Shelley Duncan warned us all on Sunday that he was going to play rough during today's game, and he was true to his word. During the first inning, Yanks pitcher Heath Phillips (who? Yeah, I'm with you) plunked Evan Longoria and was ejected from the game, and while the Rays didn't retaliate, Duncan went ahead with his plan for some roughness in the second inning. While running out a ball hit down the left-field line, Duncan slid hard right into second baseman Akinori Iwamura -- with his cleats spike-side up. He ended up kicking the poor guy in the thigh, narrowly missing his crotch-zone (good thing he missed, or Akinori would have been in the same boat as Felix Pie). Jonny Gomes rushed to Aki's defense from his post in right field, tackling the Shellster. Both benches cleared and four more people joined Phillips on the ejected list: Gomes, Duncan, hitting coach Kevin Long, and third base coach Bobby Meacham.
Today's brouhaha was more dramatic/exciting than Sunday's, and it was essentially all the fault of the Yanks. Sunday's game and Girardi's criticism of the Rays' play brought about the question of whether it is appropriate to go all out during a Spring Training game, and most folks agreed that the collision at home plate was not excessive. How will people react to Shelley's maneuver? Was it acceptable? Would it have been OK in the regular season?
I can't wait to hear what Girardi has to say about this one, now that the tables have turned!
"What it does is it opens another chapter of intensity in the spring training ballgames," Duncan said Sunday about the incident in Saturday's game between the Yankees and Rays. "They showed what is acceptable to them and how they're going to play the game, so we're going to go out there to match their intensity - or even exceed it."
The Rays and Yankees meet again in two days -- I can barely wait for the 20-second highlight on SportsCenter! I know teams get up for playing other teams during the regular season, but this might be the first time I've heard of a player circling a game on the spring schedule. Needless to say, the Rays still think the Yankees have their panties in a bunch for nothing -- I love Joe Maddon's dismissive comments:
Maddon even made light of the situation when he was asked if he planned to talk to Girardi about the incident before Wednesday's game. "I've always liked Joe," Maddon said. "If he would like to have a conversation, I'd like to talk about politics, I'm good with global warming, I'm good with a lot of different topics on a daily basis. I like iTunes, I download some stuff off iTunes, I like different restaurants, I like red wine. I have a lot of different areas I can go conversationally."
I would love to talk to Maddon about iTunes -- given his hipster glasses, you just know he has awesome taste in music.
Here, in what the YouTube user describes as a moment YES Network didn't go to commercial during an MLB.tv broadcast, Duncan says something or other about wanting to "(expletive) kiss" someone to Johnny Damon (I think he says: "D.O." Any guesses?) and being "so (expletive) happy right now."
Ah, you've gotta love the exuberance and excitement of youth. Wouldn't games be that much better if we heard this kind of stuff all the time? (Clip contains NSFW language, if you haven't figured that out by now.)
Yankees fans seemed to be all aghast with excitement with the news that New York had offered free agent Mike Lowell a four-year deal to play first base. (Rodriguez, Canoe, Jeter and Lowell in the infield, oh my!) But as more information trickles out from Yankee camp it looks like the interest previously reported for Lowell really isn't there at all.
ESPN's Peter Gammons reported that while Lowell's agents, brothers Seth and Sam Levinson have remained in touch with the Yankees, several sources indicated that they are now inclined to use Shelley Duncan and Jason Giambi at first rather than lure Lowell from the Red Sox and move him across the diamond.
The New York Daily News also reported that according to sources, a Boston-area TV report the Yankees had offered Lowell a four-year deal worth between $50 million and $55 million to play first was "pure fantasy" -- and that the Yankees were not interested in a major investment in another first baseman.
See everyone? The Yankees aren't always the totalitarian ruler, poaching all the best MLB talent from your squad's clutches. And with all the old guys the Yankees have locked up (Jorge Posada) and are trying to lock up (Mariano Rivera) it's probably a good idea to try and stick it out and see what the youngster Shelley Duncan can produce.
Well, if you can call a 28-year-old a youngster, that is.
Shelley Duncan has had a smidgen of success reprising the role of Shane Spencer for the Yankees this summer. And by all accounts, he's helped inject a bit of levity into an otherwise stoic Yankees clubhouse, though not all opposing fans appreciate his playfulness. From the Boston Herald:
Griffin Whitman, a 10-year-old Red Sox fan from Swampscott, was excited to attend his first Yankees vs. Red Sox game Friday night. The young autograph -collector was even more thrilled to score Yankees outfielder Shelley Duncan's signature before the game. That is, until Griffin read the message from the 27-year-old rookie: "Red Sox suck! Shelley Duncan."
"It was cool to get his autograph," Griffin said. "It didn't make me feel happy when he wrote that."
Griffin's mother, Karen, blasted the Yankees slugger's bad manners.
"This is someone who wears the Yankee uniform and is on the payroll and should be setting an example for 10-year-olds," she said.
Apparently, a player with a sense of humor is not the kind of role model Karen wants for young Griffin. (Quick, someone warn her about Jonathan Papelbon!) Am I a callous jerk or does anyone else think Griffin and his mom are taking this way too seriously?
As Duncan explained later, it was supposed to be all in good fun -- he was joking back and forth with all of the Red Sox fans and was simply trying to be funny. If Griffin felt slighted by Duncan's little barb, he could have thrown out the autograph -- after all, it was only on a piece of notebook paper, not a ball, hat or ticket stub. Instead, he mugged for the camera, got his picture in the paper and is probably the most popular kid in school at the moment. Everyone wins, right?
Considering Hank Steinbrenner is sensitive enough to respond to comments made by Jonathan Papelbon, you better believe that he has an opinion about the growing Rays-Yankees feud. From the New York Post:
The Yankees and Red Sox have been rivals for ... forever .. but after Saturday's home plate collision incident and the subsequent "retaliation" pulled by 
When we talk about yesterday's Yankees-Rays fight in the future, everybody is going to remember that 
The Yankees and Rays faced off for the first time since 
Yankees fans seemed to be all aghast with excitement with the news that New York had offered free agent 
