FanHouse SuzynWaldman

If we've learned anything about Suzyn Waldman, it's that she's passionate about the New York Yankees. She exalted like crazy when Roger Clemens was in GUERGAGE'S BOX. She wept when Joe Torre took his final bow. So when it comes to the latest Clemens news, you would expect her to be in Roger's corner more so than most.

And well, she is.

"I can only judge people on what I observe and how they treat me," she said, "and since the mid-'80s, I've known him and all of his family and watched the kids being born and knew his mother and know his sisters ... I never saw this stuff. I don't know if it's true. Does it change what I think of Roger Clemens? I don't think so." [ ... ]

"The only thing that surprises me about anything that happens is the glee with which people are dealing with this venom," she said. "It surprised me last year when it happened to me."

It's easy to go after Clemens these days. But when he's close enough to you that you know his children, know him as someone else, know him as a terrific pitcher and friend, well, it's not so easy to turn the tide on your opinion, no matter how bad the accusations seem.

That being said: she's in the minority. A caring and compassionate minority sure, but a minority nonetheless.

Now that the dust has settled a bit regarding the tête-à-tête between Roger Clemens and Brain McNamee up on the Hill about two weeks ago, everyone involved in advancing the litigation has had time to digest just what was said and just how to proceed. (Or not proceed at all.)

Well, according to three lawyers familiar with the situation speaking to the New York Times, the first step in the Department of Justice launching a criminal perjury investigation against Roger Clemens has begun.

A draft letter referring Clemens, but not his accuser, Brian McNamee, had been drawn up by staff members for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform by the end of last week, according to two of the lawyers. However, all three lawyers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly on the matter, said it was possible that McNamee could also be included in the referral by the time it is sent to the Justice Department.

If this holds true and only Clemens is brought under investigation, it's a pretty clear indication that Congress believed Clemens is the liar here and McNamee is not. (If this picture surfaces, it's certainly not going to help Roger.)

Somewhere, Suzyn Waldman weeps.

The Yankees are one of the most polarizing teams in all of sports, so not surprisingly a lot of people are happy to kick them when they're down. Trouble is, guys like Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are far too polished to have a public moment of weakness, which makes it all the more difficult to take pleasure in their pain.

Fairly or not, that's why rival fans decided to target their disdain for the Evil Empire at Suzyn Waldman and her on-air tears. Is the criticism deserved? Probably not, but she doesn't care: as she explained to the New York Times' Richard Sandomir (via CSTB), it's just who she is:

"That's who I am," she said by telephone. "It's unusual, but not for me. I am emotional. I'm a conduit between the players and the fans, and everyone was crying."

She added: "That's what I felt. I am who I am. I'm emotional. A lot of people like it, a lot of people don't. I didn't do it in a game, and I recovered."

As I said before, I agree with her. She is a conduit for the fans, not a national host pretending to be objective. And she reacted as a fan would react, not as the team wanted her to. Besides, while it's easy for fans of other teams to make jest of her reaction, let's not forget her target audience: Yankees fans listening in on regional radio. As Sandomir goes on to explain:

To me, it is worse to be a clueless announcer than one who is emotional in a sport where crying is prohibited by the cinematic manager Tom Hanks. But Torre cries, so maybe it's good for all of us to get out our hankies. Chip Caray of TBS can set aside the hanky for a copy of a Manhattan map, access to MLB.com and a Yankees media guide.

Even if you think it's unprofessional for a radio host to show that much emotion, Sandomir hits the nail on the head: listening to emotional but informed local talent is still far better than the cold professionalism of an ignorant out-of-towner, right?

Whatever your opinion is about Suzyn Waldman's reaction to the Yankees losing to the Indians on Monday, the fact is, people care about Joe Torre. They care so much that they put socks on their hands and shoot videos to express those feelings.

That's how you know somebody cares.

Granted, the whole new internet phenomenon that is "Leave [Insert Criticized Public Figure's Name Here] Alone!" videos is already starting to lose it's steam, but how can I not reward a sock puppeteer? Do you know how many years of schooling this guy probably had to go through to achieve such technical brilliance?

The least we, as fellow Americans and lovers of Joe Torre, can do is support his cause.

(Hat tip to Deadspin)

That's Yankees announcer Suzyn Waldman following the Yankees' loss on Monday. I'm torn: is this funny or sad? On the one hand, Joe Torre is getting a raw deal, but wow, talk about not even pretending to be objective. This is hardly the first time we saw Waldman wear her heart on her sleeve (her on-air freak out upon seeing "Roger Clemens standing right in George Steinbrenner's box!" is a highlight of the entire MLB season, no?), but is she overstepping her bounds by displaying such emotion? Awful Announcing thinks yes; I'm not so sure.

Why? I guess because it's genuine. Look, showering Torre with sentimental affection can't possibly be the company line right about now. If anything, the Yankees' brass should be trying to take sentiment out of the equation so they're not vilified when Torre is shoved out the door. So while crying on the air may not be the most professional response, it's proof that Waldman is a fan of the game and not just a Yankees mouthpiece. I don't turn on the radio for serious journalism, so I can appreciate that.

Follow-up: Suzyn Waldman Not Sorry She Cried

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