Manny Ramirez About to Drive Joe Torre CrazyThe Red Sox traded Manny Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers this afternoon, and while this means plenty to the balance of power in the AL East, it means plenty more to our old pal Joe Torre.
Leitch: Jason Giambi, Yankee Most True — and the One We Most DeserveIn 2008, a time when every record is steroidally suspect, a time when fans spend as much time analyzing players’ contracts as they do their statistics, who is our superstar? Will Leitch can’t think of anybody better than Giambi.
The Problem With All Those Yankees WinsThey might just think the club can get by with starting Brett Gardner in left, handing Darrell Rasner the ball every five days, and going without a useful lefty in the bullpen.
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Jorge Posada’s Bad SignsIn the past, beloved figures like Bernie Williams, Roger Clemens, David Wells, and Don Mattingly have come back for one too many curtain calls. It’s now Jorge Posada’s turn.
Home Run Derby Already Not a Hit With FansModerately popular All-Stars will compete to hit the most home runs toward Pleasantville, White Plains, or whatever other upstate suburbs Chris Berman has identified on a map of the metropolitan area.
Lizzie Grubman Rises AgainThe PR guru takes on a managerial role, Dina Lohan goes house hunting on Long Island, and Kathie Lee Gifford makes people uncomfortable in the bathroom. That and more in our daily gossip roundup.
Oh, Jeez: A Stripper Who Says She Slept With A-Rod Takes Cynthia’s SideIn an effort to class things up a bit in the divorce proceedings between Alex and Cynthia Rodriguez, the Boston ‘Herald’ uncovered a woman (who used to uncover herself for a living) willing to speak out on A-Rod’s alleged adultery.
The Rodriguez Divorce PapersCynthia’s lawyers file for her divorce from A-Rod. The papers are short and sweet, but they promise big battles ahead.
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C-Rod to A-Rod: Give Me a D-RodThe Yankee slugger’s wife decides that tales of his relationship with Madonna are the last straw and files for a divorce today in Miami.
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Lenny Kravitz: Cynthia Rodriguez’s Grand Slam?The best gossip story of the summer just got even better. The ‘Post’ reports that A-Rod’s ex is shacking up with the rocker stud muffin, who’s Madonna’s ex!
Hank Steinbrenner Has Gone JobonkersOl’ Hank is mad that Chamberlain hasn’t been starting this whole time — as though he never had any say in the matter.
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David Ortiz ‘Curse’ Jersey Up to $30K on eBayJust when you thought we had put that whole story behind us, it rears its ugly head again on the online auction site (though it’s for a good cause!).
Hank Steinbrenner’s Greatest HitsThis weekend the Yankees owner told the ‘Post’ that he hoped that the guy who buried Red Sox uniforms in the cement of his new stadium got the shit kicked out of him by his co-workers. We take this opportunity for a short walk down memory lane.
Yankee Stadium: The Long Good-byeAnd so it begins: the final season in the old Yankee stadium (built in 1923) begins today. The first regular game, against the Blue Jays, starts today at 1:05 p.m. What the press is wondering about on the big day.
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Yankees’ New Monument Park Hints at Another Retired NumberWhen we first saw the photo of the new Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park last week, we were bummed to learn that not only had it been moved from its quirky home in left–center field, but that its new location would be a charmless spot underneath the restaurant, in the center-field batter’s eye. But after seeing the photo again on Curbed today, we noticed something much more uplifting.
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Chamberlain Takes Broken ‘Joba Rules’ in StrideAs the Yankees try to sort out their pitching lineup for the year, manager Joe Girardi announced yesterday that 22-year-old Joba Chamberlain won’t be in the starting role that Hank Steinbrenner noisily projected for him.
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Clemens Testimony Referred to DOJ for Perjury Investigation, After AllAfter hedging a bit, Congress has decided to refer Roger Clemens to the Department of Justice for a perjury investigation. They are concerned that his testimony over his alleged steroid use directly contradicts that of former trainer Brian McNamee and fellow Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte. You’d think this would be bad news for Clemens and his legal team, as a handful of U.S. leaders just basically called BS on his testimony. But we sort of suspect that his lawyers were a little bit psyched, because they got to deliver this line:
“Now we are done with the circus of public opinion, and we are moving to the courtroom,” Clemens’ lead lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press. “Thankfully, we are now about to enter an arena where there are rules and people can be held properly accountable for outrageous statements.”
You can just hear the crack coming through between the words, as Hardin imagines himself hitting a PR homerun. No matter how good he is with words, it’s not going to fix all the damage Roger has done to himself by being bad with them.
Congress Asks DOJ to Investigate Clemens [AP]
Earlier: As Clemens’s Story Weakens, Congress Drafts Perjury Letter
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As Clemens’s Story Weakens, Congress Drafts Perjury LetterRoger Clemens’s congressional steroid testimony appears to be unraveling word-by-word and boob-by-boob just as the Times discovers that a letter is being drafted to refer Clemens to the Department of Justice for a perjury investigation. The Daily News reports that a famous Yankee locker-room story about Debbie Clemens, Roger’s current wife, comparing her breast enhancements with Roger’s previous wife, Jessica, at a 1998 barbecue at Jose Canseco’s house may be proof that the pitcher was lying about not being there. Meanwhile, the Times pokes holes in Roger’s claim that he needed to privately meet with his nanny before she talked to investigators because her English is “not that good.” According to the paper, she speaks the language very well, with just an accent, which indicates that Clemens may have wanted to prep her for another reason. The letter to the DOJ has not been sent, but its mere existence is a blow to Clemens. So far, Congress has not drafted one to recommend a perjury investigation on Brian McNamee, his former trainer who has supplied the steroid allegations. But more importantly, if there is an investigation, Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte will probably be dragged into all this again to testify. Leave our Andy alone! He’s trying to put all this mess with Clemens behind him. Can’t you just let him enjoy his rebound bromance in peace?
Congress May Single Out Clemens [NYT]
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A-Rod Also Finds Andy Adorable!Looks like Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte has a new big brother on the team. After the Mitchell Report was released and Andy Pettitte claimed that he and Roger Clemens both used performance-enhancing drugs (a claim Clemens very publicly denies), the media made much over the former “bromance” between the two. Since they were both from Texas and frequently trained together, it was easy to assume that they had a close mentor-protégé relationship. It added a dramatic detail to the steroid mess. Since that’s clearly been shot in the ass (HA!), it looks like the media is ready to assign Pettitte another bromantic entanglement. The Daily News says they have a “strange love” today:
“If I had a daughter, I would want her to marry Andy Pettitte,” Rodriguez told reporters. “That’s the biggest compliment I could give. The age difference might be a little awkward, but in today’s day and age anything is possible,” he said to laughter.
The Post quoted Rodriguez as calling Pettitte “one of the greatest human beings I’ve ever met,” and pictures of the pair hugging joyfully appeared in papers and blogs all over. What can we say? The sports press loves a good bruv story!
A-Rod in Strange Love for Pettitte [NYDN]
WEAKEST LINKS [NYP]
Earlier: Andy Pettitte Is Delightful, Doomed
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Hal Steinbrenner Calls His Dad ‘George’We’ve always thought it was kind of nice that Hal Steinbrenner, unlike his brother, Hank, keeps his mouth shut. He doesn’t talk himself into a tizzy, he doesn’t battle with the press, and he doesn’t even bluster when events call for it. But this week, he talked at length with GQ and explained a lot of what he has been thinking in a calm, non-obnoxious way. It’s a great interview. “I’m more introverted than extroverted, for sure, but I’m definitely not a recluse,” he told staff writer Nate Penn. “I can’t speak for Hank, but for me, I had my hands full. I didn’t have time to sit down like I am with you. I’m glad I’m doing it now.” Here are some of the highlights:
• On reports that he “hates” and “avidly disdains” the media: No truth to that. That was Bill Madden [of the Daily News]. Look, first of all, I don’t hate anybody. It’s a useless emotion. It accomplishes nothing.
• On whether he always expected to take over the Yankees: My dad would say, “Someday this is going to be yours. We’re counting on you; we’re counting on Hank. I’m not going to want to do this forever.” I don’t know [laughs] if that was true. George was very involved, and he loved it.
• On calling his father by his first name: That’s purely an office thing. I guess when you’re right out of college and working in the office, you don’t want to go around saying [puts on little-boy voice], “Well, Daddy said this. Daddy—” Throughout the course of fifteen years, I think it took on a life of its own here, but certainly not at home. [Steinbrenner adds the he doesn’t call his dad “George” to his face. “That would be completely disrespectful.”]
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Derek Jeter Considers Himself Less Mickey Mantle Than Jim CarreyThe Yankees begin full-squad workouts tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean their focus has completely shifted back to baseball yet. Take Derek Jeter, who spent his off-season working on plans for a line of health clubs, the first of which will open this June near Madison Square Park. The Yankee captain says that not only will his name be on the front door, but he’ll often be inside working out. We caught up with him last week and asked whether he was afraid of this additional opportunity for fans to harass him for autographs. “Not at all,” the shortstop laughed. “The more you’re around, the more people get used to seeing you, and probably tired of seeing you.”
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Andy Pettitte Is Delightful, DoomedBreaking news: Andy Pettitte is adorable. He’s likable, he’s sweet, he’s honest, and he may just be the victim in all of this MLB performance-enhancing drug mess. Sure, he may have received injections of human growth hormone and been forced to throw his friend and mentor Roger Clemens under the bus, but isn’t he a peach? That’s the takeaway that many viewers and fans were left with after the Yankee pitcher’s hour-long press conference yesterday, during which he answered questions about his own drug experiences but avoided directly contradicting Clemens’s assertion that he “misremembered” a conversation about steroids with the older pitcher. (He did, however, pointedly say that trainer Brian McNamee, who claims to have injected Clemens and Pettitte, “told the truth about me.”) New York’s sports columnists, on the whole, were wildly impressed with Pettitte’s humble, endearing performance — if not entirely sold on his emotional honesty.
• George Vecsey was impressed by Pettitte’s reference to biblical lessons on conscience. “[It’s] a word one does not hear on a daily basis, particularly in the big-time sports mill.” [Times]
• Will Leitch thought the performance was similar to many other vaguely apologetic sports press conferences after past scandals. But he also thought Pettitte was being honest. “He’s completely full of bullshit,” Leitch wrote. “But we nevertheless agree with him, across the board.” [Deadspin]
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Digesting the McNamee-Clemens Testimony Before CongressIf you haven’t been watching today’s drawn-out congressional hearing with former Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens and his ex-trainer, Brian McNamee, then you’ve been missing a whole lot of awkwardness, lies, and frustration. As expected, Clemens began his testimony by insisting that he had never been injected with human growth hormone or steroids. Shortly afterward, McNamee (sitting two seats away) maintained that Clemens did. What has followed has been an incredibly tense grilling from cranky congressmen, in which one of the two men must be lying and both seem to be constantly contradicting small elements of their previous stories. One, if not both, will most likely be charged with perjury, according to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chairman Henry Waxman. Below, we’ve summarized what we’ve learned so far during each of the grillings by various members of the committee.