What You Need to Know Before Roger Clemens Testifies Before Congress TomorrowRoger Clemens’s bullpen got a little emptier today after his former Yankee compatriot Andy Pettitte effectively came in for relief on the opposing team. In the morning, Newsday broke word that Pettitte has already backed up a crucial piece evidence linking Clemens to steroid use. According to Representative Tom Davis, Pettitte’s account of a particular 2002 workout session with the two athletes and Clemens’s trainer Brian McNamee corroborates the version that McNamee tells — that while the three were training six years ago, McNamee told Pettitte that he was giving Clemens illegal drugs. McNamee, of course, is the source of much of the Mitchell Report’s evidence on steroid and HGH use in the MLB. He’s insisted that he repeatedly injected Clemens with steroids and HGH, and Pettitte with HGH (which Pettitte has admitted to). If Pettitte’s deposition validates the conversation, as Representative Davis said it did, then Clemens is going to have a much harder time convincing the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that McNamee was merely injecting him with a healthy dose of legal vitamins. Now, instead of just disputing the testimony of McNamee — a somewhat shady character to begin with — Clemens is also contradicting Andy Pettitte, who is (a) Clemens’s best friend, (b) a relatively honest guy since he came clean about the HGH, and (c) a two-time twenty-game winner. More important, Pettitte has no reason to lie. (Clemens’s claim that his fellow pitcher is simply “misremembering” sounds pretty weak.) Add to this McNamee’s recent delivery of allegedly tainted old syringes and gauze pads to authorities, and Clemens isn’t going on the mound tomorrow looking too good.
photo op
A Brief Conversation With Alex RodriguezNew York ran into Alex Rodriguez at last night’s Gucci event for UNICEF. His trademark boyish skin was looking, as you can see, a little orange even for him. But it may have been because we asked him about the Mets scoring pitcher Johan Santana from underneath the Yankees’ noses, and he was blushing with, um, goodwill. His response:
“Johan Santana. I love him. I think it was a wonderful move for the Mets. I love all this great energy that’s happening in New York, with the Giants winning the championship, with the best pitcher going to the Mets, and the Yankees keeping all their great, young, wonderful players. It’s going to be a great year.”
Young players are wonderful, aren’t they? Man, and you thought good sportsmanship in baseball was dead.—Jada Yuan
the sports section
Breaking: The Mets Snag Johan SantanaIf USAToday.com is to be believed, the Mets, after eating the Yankees’ dust all off-season, have just become the National League East favorites — and Omar Minaya has once again become a hero. The general manager who presided over the greatest-September-collapse-ever last season has apparently stolen Johan Santana from the Minnesota Twins and out from under the Yankees and the Red Sox. (You’ll recall, Hank Steinbrenner had been full of bluster about a potential Yankee deal for Santana for months, though lately he’s been claiming he doesn’t care.) Yes, the Mets are trading away four highly rated prospects: outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra, and Kevin Mulvey. But odds are that two, at most, will become big-league regulars, let alone stars. Santana, on the other hand, is the best lefty in the bigs, in his prime, and exactly the ace that’s missing from the Mets’ rotation. Supposedly the only hurdle is a contract extension. Here’s betting that the Wilpon family gives Santana everything he wants, up to and including his name on the new ballpark. Heck, the way things are going on Wall Street, he’ll be worth more than Citigroup. —Chris Smith
Twins agree to deal Santana to Mets for prospects [USAT]
Earlier: Hank Steinbrenner Talks Himself, Twins Into a Tizzy
the sports section
Hank Steinbrenner Talks Himself, Twins Into a TizzyAnyone following the Yankees in the news for the past few months must be tired of hearing from Hank Steinbrenner about the possibility of a trade with the Minnesota Twins for young pitcher Johan Santana. It’s been literally weeks and weeks of the same mantra: “I’m in charge!” “We’re still open!” “Our offer was the best offer!” Even though way back on December 2, Steinbrenner set a one-week deadline for the Twins to accept his offer, it’s been dragging on and on. Since today, just over a month later, papers are reporting Steinbrenner as saying actually “there were no offers on the table,” we thought we’d take a little walk down memory lane of all of his bluster:
December 3, 2007: “I’m not going to be played against the Red Sox. That’s not something I’ll do. That’s not something the Yankees should ever do, and that’s I think what they’re trying to do now,” Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner said Sunday. “So if they want the best offer that has been offered to them, then they need to make up their minds.” [Boston Globe]
the sports section
A-Rod Hires Guy Oseary, in Order to Better Entertain UsThere’s a new boss in the house of A-Rod, and sadly it’s not Cynthia Rodriguez. The Yankee third-baseman, who famously just renegotiated a $275 million contract with the Steinbrenners without the help of his longtime agent Scott Boras, has hired talent manager Guy Oseary to help steer his career. “He’s focusing on baseball and needs someone whose interests are aligned,” Oseary told Variety, seeming to imply that he will be A-Rod’s only management. “This is to help him have more control of his image and brand.” Now, we watched 60 Minutes on Saturday and A-Rod definitely said that he would keep Scott Boras onboard (Boras is getting $15 million from the A-Rod’s new contract, even though it was A-Rod’s wife, Cynthia, who coached him through it). “There hasn’t been a lot of talking back and forth” between Boras and A-Rod, the Yankee explained, but it seems like they’re still working together. Which is confusing, considering that Variety says they’re not. But it’s not as confusing as the fact that A-Rod hired Oseary in the first place. Oseary, who co-founded Maverick Records in the eighties, only has entertainment clients like Madonna, Lenny Kravitz, David Blaine, and the show Last Call With Carson Daly. Which we can only guess means that television, music, or magic is somewhere in A-Rod’s near future. We’re hoping for all three.
A-Rod Bats for Oseary’s Team [Variety]
Earlier: Scott Boras Out, Cynthia Rodriguez In?
the sports section
MLB Steroid Report Fingers 29 New York PlayersGeorge Mitchell’s report on steroids was released today, and there are plenty of local names named. The document is a whopping 409 pages long, but we count no fewer than 29 onetime Mets and Yankees. The report lacks the out-of-nowhere bombshell name — did anyone really expect someone like A-Rod or David Wright to turn up? — but does confirm the rumors that Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte had juiced up. In fact, eight members of the Yanks’ last World Series championship team — Clemens, Pettitte, David Justice, Chuck Knoblauch, Mike Stanton, Glenallen Hill, Denny Neagle, and Jose Canseco — are named. Pettitte, Jason Giambi, and Scott Schoeneweis are the only active New York players on the list. —Joe DeLessio
the sports section
Bloomberg Thinks the Big Guy Is Worth the Big PaycheckOh, Bloomberg, you’re such a kidder. Today on his weekly WABC-Radio show, his co-host John Gambling asked Hizzoner about A-Rod’s potential $275 million contract with the Yankees. “You know John, I work for one dollar a year so I really don’t have anything in common with A-Rod.” See, that’s so funny. We love it when people who are billionaires eleven times over joke about not knowing what it’s like to be rich. Bloomberg went on to hint, though, that he thinks Rodriguez is worth the paycheck. Most sports fan think, he says, that A-Rod is “probably the best athlete — physical, pound-for-pound, just raw talent — playing baseball today or playing in any professional sport, and that may very well be true.” “He’s a very nice guy when I’ve chitchatted with him,” Bloomberg added. “I remember when we tried to convince him to come to New York. The Yankees asked me to have dinner or drinks, I forget which, with he and his wife. And I said [to A-Rod], ‘The New York press is tough, but this is the Big Apple.’” Yeah, we probably were a little harsh on the ol’ guy over the years. But that’s nothing compared to what will happen when he comes back and stops living up to his price tag
Bloomberg: I’m Not In A-Rod’$ League
company town
Rove, Regan and Rather: Crazy? Or Crazy Like Foxes?MEDIA
• How did Judith Regan’s high-level lawyers let her bat-shit-crazy legal complaint get through? Oh that’s right, she’s Judith Regan. [Legal Pad/Fortune]
• CBS finally got around to filing their motion to dismiss Dan Rather’s suit. The network claims they are “mystified” by Rather’s “bizarre allegations,” and that the lawsuit amounts to a “regrettable attempt by plaintiff Dan Rather to remain in the public eye, and to settle old scores and perceived slights, based on an array of far-fetched allegations.” [NYO]
• Karl Rove signed on to become a regular contributor to Newsweek. Maybe they should consider changing their slogan to “fair and balanced”? [Mixed Media/Portfolio]
the sports section
Scott Boras Out, Cynthia Rodriguez In?As we all know, living in the world, hubris never bites people in the ass the way we want it to. Karl Rove left the White House before anything brought him down, people still read Perez Hilton, and Donald Trump still retains the power of speech. But could it possibly be that Scott Boras, the man who thought he was bigger than the World Series, is finally getting thrown from his high horse? Since it was announced last night that A-Rod went back to the negotiating table with the Yankees — alone — everyone’s been speculating on what this means for Boras. L.A. Times columnist Bill Shalkin even calls today “Schadenfreude Day” (which is funny, because we thought every day was Schadenfreude Day).
gossipmonger
Zoe Kravitz Shows Some Leg Lenny Kravitz complained that his 18-year-old daughter’s skirt was too short. Nancy Reagan wants Mayor Bloomberg to run for president. New York Ranger Sean Avery may be cheating on Mary-Kate Olsen with ex-flame Lake Bell. Heath Ledger and Kate Hudson may or may not have made out at the Beatrice Inn. A lady clamoring to see Jessica Simpson at the Waverly Inn knocked over a table and tumbled into the fireplace. Leroy Barnes, a drug-dealing competitor of Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), says American Gangster, portrayed him inaccurately. An ex-cop made a board game that highlights the incompetence surrounding the rebuilding of ground zero.
the sports section
Is Hank Steinbrenner Trying to Make a Name for Himself?After a columnist labeled George Steinbrenner “The Boss” years back, the cranky Yankees owner started using the term to describe himself. He’d refer to himself in the third person by the name. Now that his sons are taking over control of the team, one has to wonder if they’ll try the same tactic. It seems like Hank, at least, has started to try to make one stick for himself this week.
• On new manager Joe Girardi’s last firing. When asked if the club looked into it, he said: “I don’t want to get too much into that, but we’re not stupid.” [10/22]
• On Brian Cashman’s recommendations: ”The baseball people we have are the smartest guys in the game,” he said. ”I’m not stupid. It’s not like I’m not going to pay attention to what they say.” [10/29]
• On A-Rod’s contract: “I really believe that in his heart, [A-Rod] wants to be a Yankee, and we’re going to let him know he’s wanted. But we’re not going to be stupid.” [10/27]
• On prospects: “We want to win the World Series every year,” Hank Steinbrenner said. “We’re not stupid enough to think we can do it.” [10/25]
Oh, Hank. Nicknames have to make sense for them to stick.
it just happened
It’s Time to Party for Joe Girardi!It looks like Fox broadcaster and former Yankees catcher Joe Girardi is going to be the next manager of the Yankees, according to ESPN.
“The Yankees have offered Joe the opportunity to become their next manager. Discussions are ongoing.” Steve Mandell, Girardi’s agent, said.
Girardi beat out Steinbrenner favorite Don Mattingly and Yankees coach Tony Pena for the contract — reportedly $6 million for three years — after a ten-hour interview in which he apparently charmed the pants off the Steinbrenner family. But not everyone thinks he’s so sweet. “There remain concerns about Girardi’s aggressive style of handling people,” George King and Joel Sherman of the Post wrote in an article that appears on the Fox News Website. “He isn’t afraid to bruise feelings.” Aw, did someone at News Corp., perhaps, get his feelings hurt?
Yanks Offer Job to Giardi [Fox]
Yanks Officially Offer Skipper Job to Giardi [ESPN]
the sports section
A-Rod: What World Series?Did you hear that the Red Sox won the World Series last night? No? Was it because everybody was talking about how A-Rod went free agent, as was announced during the game? After Rodriguez’s shameless agent, Scott Boras, upstaged game four by releasing the news during the early innings, it was all anyone could yammer about. Sure, the Series had been a little boring, and yeah, A-Rod has no reason to love the Sox, but couldn’t they have at least thrown the Rockies a bone? A young team with a thrilling (if disappointing) moment in the spotlight, having their last moments in the sun robbed by a man who is just hoping to make more money next year. Kinda sucks, huh? Anyway, if you didn’t hear about the Red Sox last night on TV or radio, surely you saw the news in this morning’s paper. Oh, you didn’t? You must read the Daily News or the Post, where the Series news was relegated to tiny text ribbons on the front and back pages, dwarfed by coverage of the Yankees. Well, just FYI: The Red Sox won the World Series. Not that you wanted to know. You’re a New Yorker, after all.
A-Rod Putting Himself Above the Game [ESPN]
the sports section
Rooting for the Red Sox: Rudy’s Ultimate BetrayalRemember when Hillary Clinton made headlines by saying she’d “have to alternate sides” if the Cubs (her real home team) and the Yankees (her adopted one) faced off in the World Series? “SHE’S FLIP-FLOPPING!” cried conservative pundits, cackling wickedly. Except, as Clinton herself pointed out, such a matchup was completely unlikely and didn’t actually pan out in reality. But Rudy Giuliani today flip-flopped on team loyalty for absolutely no reason. He told a crowd in Boston this afternoon that he is “rooting for the Red Sox” in the World Series. His wafer-thin logic is that he always roots for the American League. Um, WHAT? Why don’t you eat our American League assholes, Rudy? No real Yankee fan would ever root for their bitter rival, not even in the most extreme circumstances. This makes us question everything about Rudy and what he says he stands for. Sure, people may change their position about abortion and gun control all the time. But on team loyalty? That just goes too far.
Yankee Fan Giuliani Backing Red Sox [NYT]
the sports section
Joe Torre: ‘I’ve Been Pretty Damn Lucky’This was June in Chicago, at the end of a long, weird Yankees road trip that had started with A-Rod cavorting with a woman not his wife and ended with the team winning three in a row and finally showing some signs of life. Right in the middle of the turnaround had been Joe Torre — though, characteristically, we didn’t find out until much later just how much credit Torre deserved. We knew he’d called a team meeting in Toronto, but neither Torre nor any of the players would even hint at the tone or content; only when the season ended, after another disappointing first-round playoff exit, did word get out that Torre had ripped the team behind closed doors. It was rare for him to raise his voice; far more of his best work was done with pats on the back. But Torre always had a gift for what the moment required, and he never deployed it better than this season, when he kept the team battling and focused after a horrendous April and May.
it just happened
Breaking: Joe Torre Turns Down Yankees’ OfferJoe Torre has turned down an offer from the Yankees brass to return as manager next year, ESPN.com reports.
The Yankees offered Torre a one-year deal with a base salary of $5 million and incentives that would have increased his salary to $8 million based on postseason performance. Under that offer, if Torre reached the World Series in 2008, an option for 2009 would have vested.
Torre traveled to Tampa from New York on Thursday with general manager Brian Cashman and chief operating officer Lonn Trost. The manager was at Legends Field for about an hour and then left for the airport.
Team president Randy Levine said that the two sides were “working on it” and expected more meetings. Wow, we have no idea what to think! And we thought this was the first playoff season we weren’t going to spend all our time worrying about what was going on with the Yankees.
Torre Turns Down Offer to Return As Yanks’ Skipper [ESPN]
the sports section
Don Mattingly: Don’t Pick Me!Today’s the day the Steinbrenners get together in Florida with the rest of the Yankees brass to decide the fate of Joe Torre. What are they talking about? We have no idea. But according to the Newark Star-Ledger, one Steinbrenner boy was sent to the meeting with the following message: Don Mattingly doesn’t want to take Torre’s place. The bench coach is one of the names being bandied about to replace Torre if he gets the can, but many see him as too green to take on the role — including Mattingly himself. The popular former first-baseman thinks he’s “not ready” for the gig and would be “uncomfortable” in the role, reports the paper. So, yeah, we still have no idea what they’re debating down in Florida. Except maybe whether to root for the Indians.
Friend: Mattingly Says It’s Not Time [Newark Star-Ledger]
early and often
Rudy Can’t Get to First Base With Yankees FansAre Rudy Giuliani’s fellow Yankees fans revolting against him? Rudes has always been the team’s No. 1 fan (in fact, Salon recently noted that in 2001 he spent more time at Yankees games than he did at ground zero), and the sight of him glad-handing his fellow fanatics, in a gratuitously emblazoned Yankees cap and jacket, has become familiar. But on Monday night, when his face appeared on the Jumbotron at Yankee Stadium during the seventh inning, “there was no mistaking what happened,” Keith Olbermann said on the Countdown last night. “He was briefly but lustily booed. No cheers or applause at all. Kind of uncouth, during ‘God Bless America,’ but perhaps very telling.” Indeed! If Rudy’s losing baseball fans, could that mean he’s losing his base?
Rudy Giuliani, Booed at Yankee Stadium During “God Bless America”[MSNBC, transcript]
After 9/11, Rudy Wasn’t a Rescue Worker — He Was a Yankee [Salon]
the sports section
Getting Washed by the Sports-News Spin Cycle
When my editors and I were finishing up last week’s story about Alex Rodriguez’s (and agent Scott Boras’s) hold on Yankees Nation, our main concern was whether we spelled “vituperate” correctly (we had) and whether anyone had taken a photo of Yankees COO Lonn Trost in the last ten years (apparently not). The piece was meant to capture a unique snapshot in the history of a team that has owned this town for a decade, a once-dictatorial enterprise facing a pivotal moment and held hostage by the best baseball player on the planet and his evil-genius agent. I didn’t expect much fuss.
But when the Post printed an excerpt from the story in its Sunday editions about discussions Boras had with a group trying to buy the Chicago Cubs, saying Boras had talked about A-Rod potentially owning a piece of the team after his career ended, I was sucked into the all-too-familiar sports-news-cycle vortex.
the sports section
Plunking Toward Postseason
Baseball in New York has now descended into the energetic predictability of mid-career Oasis. (Which ain’t all that bad. The Gallagher brothers nearly sold out Madison Square Garden last time around and, after a few vodka cranberries and an Excedrin Migraine with extra caffeine, they sounded damn good.) There’s possibility of another Yankees-Sox matchup to which noted philosopher king Derrick Coleman would say, “Whoopty damn do.” Then there’s the lure of another Subway Series. Seriously, who is really rooting for twelve days of Mike and the Mad Dog frothing over Torre versus Randolph or reprising their asinine argument of whether Billy Wagner is entitled to use “Enter Sandman” as his entry song? I’d rather have my molars removed without anesthesia. Or watch Dane Cook shout inane baseball promos for Fox. Oh crap, that last thing really happened.
in other news
Brad Pitt Makes Derek Jeter Weak in the StirrupsOMG! Brad Pitt and his magical face went to see the Yankees play last night! And they totally won! Pitt and his son Maddox, 5, sat in Mayor Bloomberg’s box. At one point, Derek Jeter came over and actually gave Maddox a bat and a ball. “He loved it,” the normally reserved Pitt told the press happily about his son. But then, as usual, the Post had to make it personal — asking where Angelina Jolie was that night. “Hey, we got three other kids!” Pitt shot back. Wait, really? We had no idea
Pitt ‘Pops’ up in Bronx [NYP]
gossipmonger
Divorces, Horses, and So OnPaula Zahn’s friends say she wanted to stay in the Fifth Avenue apartment she shares with soon-to-be ex-husband Richard Cohen for the sake of their kids, but he made it too difficult. Lou Dobbs’s daughter Hillary won the Open Jumper Class (and $7,500) at the Hampton Classic Horse Show. (Soon-to-be-mom Kelly Klein also rode there.) Heather Mills has racked up a number of parking tickets in her Bentley convertible in East Hampton. NYU’s school newspaper went out of its way to point out that people use the campus library to commit suicide and hook up on Craigslist. Larry David doesn’t like fund-raisers on yachts in Martha’s Vineyard. Courtney Love is blaming ex-boyfriend Steve Coogan for Owen Wilson’s attempted suicide, and now Coogan is worried about his career prospects. The New York Times has a clear anti-Yankees bias, “Page Six” says.
the sports section
Yanks Sweep Sox; We Confess Stupidity
So, hey, remember back at the all-star break, when we wrote that “the Yankees’ season is already over: They’re ten games behind the Red Sox and out of the wild-card race”? And remember how we went on and on about it? “They’ve run out of saviors,” we continued. “Unless the earth starts spinning backward, or someone fudges the math, or Steinbrenner discovers a way to fire the entire A.L. East, there will be no signature late-summer heroics, no storming back and humiliating the Red Sox, no sweeping the postseason awards. We are witnessing, at long last, the global-warming-ish collapse of the Torre dynasty — long predicted by doomsdayers, supported recently by airtight statistical trends, and now suddenly upon us.” Yeah, well, they swept the Sox, and now they’re only five games back, and they’ve got a one-game lead for the wild card. Apparently we had no idea what we were talking about.
Earlier: The Yanks’ Losing Season: How Can Fans Cope?
obit
Holy Cow! Rizzuto Dies at 89
There was a certain amount of eye-rolling when Phil Rizzuto, the scrappy Yankees shortstop who died today at 89, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994. The Scooter had repeatedly been denied entry by the voting sportswriters on the grounds that his stats were good, not great (.273 lifetime batting average, one MVP year) and that his presence on seven World Series–winning teams was dumb luck. It was said at the time that his pal Yogi Berra had talked to the veterans’ committee, which digs up early players forgotten by history, and smoothed the way for his old buddy Rizzuto. This may or may not have been true, but, either way, it was ridiculous.
the sports section
Hundreds and Hundreds
To recap the weekend in local sports milestones: Tom Glavine pitched a win against the Cubs in Chicago last night, notching his 300th and becoming the first Met to do so. Also yesterday, up at Yankee Stadium, Hideki Matsui hit his 100th home run, a day after A-Rod — finally! — hit his 500th. We’ll note only that none of this happened Friday night, while we sat, shvitzing, in the Stadium and Rodriguez, a full nine days after his 499th homer, could manage only a double, a walk, and a sacrifice fly. Boo. Well, actually, yay. But also a little boo.
in other news
The Twilight of the Boss
So George Steinbrenner is, apparently, off his rocker. The Post reports this news today, based on a profile in the upcoming issue of Portfolio that finds the Boss puttering around his Tampa home in pajamas and a robe, repeating “great to see ya” in response to nearly any question. (And Fortune, meantime, is reporting that YES, the team’s TV network and apparently the true cash cow of the operation, is up for sale — as might be the franchise, too.) This raises a series of questions. First, is it really different to have George crazy in this way rather than crazy in the old way? And if it is, is it possible that his current dementia is the cause of the team’s present woes, that they actually need a competent, meddling George to succeed? Also, what would a post-George Yankees even look like? And, finally, how the hell did Howard Rubenstein, who reps both the Yankees and the Post, ever let such a shitty piece about one client appear in another?
Tragic Madness of King George [NYP]
The Dismantling of the Yankee Empire [Fortune via CNN/Money]
the morning line
Partly Cooked
• Something to ponder during your commute: The most recent federal survey rated the upkeep of the Brooklyn Bridge lower than its collapsed Minneapolis counterpart. [NYDN]
gossipmonger
It’s His PrerogativeBobby Brown beefed up security in Australia because he still thinks Osama bin Laden is after him. Former party girl Taylor Stein, who just had a baby with William Lauder, has dated a lot of very, very wealthy older men. A documentary producer claims Bobby Kennedy got into a shouting match with Marilyn Monroe the night she died, and not in the bedroom where her body was found. Mom of the Year Dina Lohan is being sued for allegedly failing to pay back a $400,000 loan she used to jump-start Lindsay’s music career. ABC misspelled Whoopi Goldberg’s name in a press release announcing her as the new host of The View. Rudy Giuliani made up for the fact that the Yankees lost Eric Gange to the Red Sox by raising $350,000 at a Greenwich fund-raiser. Chelsea Clinton tried, and failed, to quietly read Harry Potter on the 6 train. CBS News execs are not pleased with the performance of some of the company’s interns. Tyra Banks attended a party for her Air Force cadet brother, who is going to Iraq.
party lines
At Joe Torre Golf Benefit, Billy Crystal’s the StarThe Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation’s 2007 Golf Classic — an annual fund-raiser for the Yankee manager’s domestic- violence-awareness program — teed off at the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester this morning, and, well, it just seemed like a couple of guys getting together to shoot eighteen. Except that these guys are rich, famous, pretty powerful — oh, and were served a catered BBQ lunch at the sixth hole. Torre, Mayor Bloomberg, Donald Trump, and Billy Crystal made up the lead foursome, and, surprisingly, the comic was the best golfer. “I wasn’t a great athlete, and I’m just a terrible golfer,” Torre said before they got started. “Billy Crystal, believe it or not, will be the most serious golfer in the group.” (“Serious and good are two different things,” Crystal later clarified.) Bloomberg seemed to be pretty serious, too. “No mulligans, no gimmes, no laterals,” he said before they started. While we hoofed it down to the first tee, we were nearly run down by The Donald — shiny with sunscreen — driving his own cart. The foursome was bickering about who’d shoot first. “How about the mayor starts it off in honor of the city?” Trump suggested. So Bloomberg swung, then Torre, then Trump and Crystal. There were some oohs and ahhs at nice drives, and also some fist bumps. They were, after all, just a few guys playing golf. —Jocelyn Guest
the morning line
How Now Dow Jones?
• Thirty or so Bancrofts are converging on a Boston Hilton today to discuss whether they’d like some more money. (Actually, spread across the clan, the estimated $500 million in profit a Dow Jones sale would bring doesn’t sound like a staggering amount.) [NYT]
• Councilman and former Black Panther Charles Barron (he of the “Sonny Carson” avenue-renaming idea Bloomberg called “the worst ever”) announced he’s running to replace Marty Markowitz as the Brooklyn beep. Should be a lively campaign, as they say. [NYP]
• In rapper-arrest news, Lil Wayne and Ja Rule have been picked up on separate (!) gun-possession charges in busts an hour apart. [WNBC]
• Midtown businesses that lost money to last week’s steam-pipe blast will not see a red cent from Con Ed — not even restaurants that lost their supplies to spoilage when the power was cut. Some are threatening to sue. [NYDN]
• And the Yankees beat the Devil Rays 21-4 last night, which both tabs agree puts the team in the “21 Club.” Yuk yuk yuk. [NYDN, NYP]
in the magazine
Summer of Sam Revisited: The 1977 Championship YankeesThough the Yankees eventually won the 1977 World Series, the title was not assured that summer. The team, one of the most racially mixed in franchise history, had the flash and character of the city. Reggie Jackson joined the Yankees that year, only to clash with manager Billy Martin and several teammates who regarded his ego as outsize and overbearing. But it was also when Jackson became “Mister October” and helped the Yankees beat the Dodgers four games to two. In a season preview published in New York in April 1977, Peter Bodo wrote: “[The Yankees] are in a number of ways the ball club of the future, given the increasing freedom demanded by the players, their increasing preoccupation with money, the increasingly frantic shuffling of talent by owners who need to make a winner to make a budget.” Sounds like an accurate prediction to us. Except for the budget part.
Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio [NYM (pdf)]
the sports section
The Yanks’ Losing Season: How Can Fans Cope?
As the halfway mark passes — um: yay, American League! — the Yankees’ season is already over: They’re ten games behind the Red Sox and out of the wild-card race. They’ve run out of saviors. Unless the earth starts spinning backward, or someone fudges the math, or Steinbrenner discovers a way to fire the entire A.L. East, there will be no signature late-summer heroics, no storming back and humiliating the Red Sox, no sweeping the postseason awards. We are witnessing, at long last, the global-warming-ish collapse of the Torre dynasty — long predicted by doomsdayers, supported recently by airtight statistical trends, and now suddenly upon us.
This leaves Yankee fans in an unfamiliar position. How do we cope with an entirely meaningless second half of the season?
party lines
At ‘Bronx’ Premiere, ‘77 Yank Mickey Rivers Remembers Reggie
It can’t be easy to watch yourself portrayed as Reggie Jackson’s rival in an eight-week ESPN miniseries. But at last week’s premiere party for The Bronx Is Burning, which debuted last night, Mickey Rivers, who played center field for the Yanks in that ‘77 season, was laughing up a storm. When he left the screening, he had a friend deliver a few words to Daniel Sunjata, who plays Jackson: “I still don’t like Reggie, but you’re okay.” Then he spoke to New York about his old nemesis, life in the old dugout, and whether Alex Rodriguez is the new Reggie.
in the magazine
Summer of Sam Revisited: ‘New York’ on the Search for SamThirty years ago this summer was arguably the lowest point in New York’s late-seventies bad years. The Bronx, as Howard Cosell informed the nation, was burning; July 13 brought an epic blackout; there was a heated Democratic primary for the mayoral race; Reggie Jackson and Billy Martin dramatically feuded en route to the Yanks’ World Series win; and, mostly notably, a serial killer calling himself Son of Sam was terrorizing the city, with police seemingly unable to stop him. ESPN started its eight-episode The Bronx Is Burning miniseries about that season last night, the Daily News is running recollections of the year, and we thought we’d join in the fun with some classic New York features from that long, troubled summer. In our first installment, here’s Robert Daley’s August 22, 1977, cover story, “The Search for ‘Sam’: Why It Took So Long.”
The Search for ‘Sam’: Why It Took So Long [NYM (pdf)]
Guv Love?The “tall and attractive” 25-year-old aide whom Jon Corzine may have been sitting next to at the time of his car crash was reassigned last month because she and the governor were allegedly getting too close. Larry and Laurie David may have split because Laurie had an affair with a married man on Martha’s Vineyard. Some Columbia Records staffers are worried that producer Rick Rubin has been named co-head of the label, given that he has no executive experience. Richie Sambora dumped Denise Richards during a Hawaii vacation a few months ago; she’d been expecting him to propose. Michael Jackson placed a number of odd, ill-timed room-service orders at an inn in Maryland, but he did bless the manager. Oliver Platt is an ardent supporter of the business tactics of George Steinbrenner, whom he plays in The Bronx Is Burning. Lindsay Lohan is dropping booze for bottled water.
the morning line
Safe
• Crime is drastically down so far this year, with the city on track to set a record in 2007: the fewest murders since the police began keeping track in the sixties. An NYU prof credits an NYPD program that sends crowds of rookie cops to bad neighborhoods — and those rookie cops would be the ones they’re now paying $25k. [NYDN]
• Is Joe Bruno the Alan Hevesi of the sky? The state’s top Republican is under investigation for allegedly steering state contracts to associates; now Spitzer is threatening to look into Bruno’s use of state aircraft — and police escorts — to fly to fund-raisers in New York City. [NYP]
• Those new New York City condoms hit 100 of New York’s 325 senior centers last week. The remaining 225 centers — save for seven apparently run by prudes — will get their rubbers this week, along with pamphlets on HIV prevention. [NYP]
• Bloomberg’s new noise code went into effect yesterday. See, isn’t the city nice and quiet now? [NYT]
• And A-Rod’s wife wore a tank top to yesterday’s game bearing the words “Fuck You” on the back. Perhaps it would have been better to convey this message at home? [NYP]
photo op
Bad Games, Cool Photos
So the Yankees lost yet again last night, their second straight to the Colorado Rockies, which puts them just barely above .500 — and ten games behind the first-place Sox. But these new direct-from-overhead pix Getty Images is offering — that’s Andy Pettitte mid-pitch — are, we think, pretty damned cool. Small pleasures.
Standings [MLB.com]
photo op
Yanks Win, Monochromatically
The Yankees beat the Diamondbacks last night to bring their winning streak to seven and — finally! — put the team at a .500 record. Plus Getty Images apparently started taking some nifty black-and-white sports photos. Cool all around, eh?
Yanks Get Even As Bobby Socks [NYDN]
the sports section
Last Night in New York Baseball: The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat
Pro sports can be simultaneously rational and bizarre, painful and joyous, and in less than an hour last night all those elements came together to perfectly crystallize the New York big-league baseball narrative so far this season: One of our teams can’t catch a break, one can’t do anything wrong, and that hour showed it. It’s a moment worth commemorating before SportsCenter’s tsunami of highlights washes it all away.
photo op
Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad
Of course, when you’re under .500 and nine and a half games back, it ain’t that good, either.
Related: Yanks Make a Dent as Pettitte Finds Support [NYT]
developing
What Does a $91 Million Train Station Look Like?
Because there’s news today that the new Metro-North station to be built at Yankee Stadium, set to open in spring 2009, will cost $91 million, twice its initial price tag, with the city kicking in some $39 million, and because we also like showing you renderings of construction projects under way throughout our fair city, we herewith present a sketch of the new station — that bridge on the right heads east from the station, above East 153rd Street, and lets fans off behind home plate of the current stadium, which will still leave them more than a few blocks from the new stadium — provided by the MTA. For what the thing costs, we hope the real one’s at least in color. —Alec Appelbaum
Next Stop: Yanks [Metro NY]
gossipmonger
The Soho Grand Is a WonderlandRumors of the demise of the John Mayer–Jessica Simpson relationship may be greatly exaggerated; the two spent Sunday night together at the Soho Grand. (Mayer is also still doing the stand-up comedy thing). Today show correspondent Jill Rappaport owns eighteen acres in the Hamptons. Johnny Damon hung out till 4:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, but he still hit a two-run double later in the day. Ivanka Trump and Zach Braff exchanged numbers. (Uh-oh. Does Jared Kushner know about this?) Warren Buffett, David Remnick, John Kerry, Ted Turner, and Jann Wenner, among others (ahem), were all rejected from Harvard. After asking for $5.5 million, Stone Phillips sold his penthouse on West 72nd Street for $4.35 million. Times managing editor Jill Abramson is suing the truck driver who ran over her foot.
photo op
If They Don’t Win, It’s a Shame
As we write this, the sun is shining, the birds outside the window are chirping, and last night, on six and a third solid innings from Chien-Ming Wang, the Yanks beat the Sox, 6-2. It’s a good day to be a New Yorker.*
* The whole nine-and-a-half-games-back thing notwithstanding.
it happened this week
Forever
It was a good week to consider one’s legacy, as the world’s most beautiful women Scarlett, J.Lo, Cameron, et al. descended on the Met decked out in some of the world’s shiniest dresses to honor a long-dead, but once terribly important, French designer. Mayor Bloomberg spent the week giving high marks to himself, for fulfilling campaign promises. But he denied that he was seeking immortality in Albany by gunning for Eliot Spitzer’s job in 2010. (State Republican chief Joseph Bruno’s insistence notwithstanding, Mayor Mike said any reports of Albany envy were “totally made up.”)
photo op
Freddy Sez: It’s Opening Day!
And the Yanks beat the Devil Rays, 9-5, at the Stadium yesterday. Welcome back, Freddy.
the sports section
This Is Not a Baseball Preview
We refuse, on principle, to offer a baseball season preview. We will not devolve into dewy-eyed fawns trembling in sweet-hearted wonder at the shimmering mysteries to come. (“New Season Brings a Fresh Start for Yankees,” this morning’s Times excitedly reports.) It’s futile to make predictions about a sport in which a season lasts almost as long as human pregnancy — picking a World Series winner now is like predicting that a zygote will turn out to be eight pounds, five ounces, born via c-section at 6:32 on a drizzly November morning, with a mild overbite and his father’s eyes. Trust us: You’ll be wrong.
the morning line
Bell, Boss, and Bikes
• The Sean Bell case continues providing bizarre auxiliary scandals. Now the boss of a grand-jury star witness (a janitor claiming to have seen someone shoot at cops that night) is arrested — for commanding the janitor to keep quiet. [NYP]
• Mayor Bloomberg is dishing out some of his patented TLC as thousands in Brooklyn and Queens begin defaulting on their high-interest mortgages: It’s “the marketplace at work,” he explains. “You can blame the people that borrowed the money.” Stop griping! [NYDN]
• The Yankee dynasty may be left without an heir apparent: Steinbrenner’s daughter, Jenny, is divorcing George’s announced successor Steve Swindal. (Of course, there are three more Steinbrenner kids in VP positions). [amNY]
• Scorned bicyclists are filing a federal lawsuit against the NYPD, whose new rules let cops stop and ticket any group of 50 or more cyclists that doesn’t have a parade permit. (How about a parade permit for those pointless cop-car swarms down Fifth Avenue?) [Streetsblog]
• If your bike is your livelihood, however, you’re on easy street, kind of. The city just signed a law that requires businesses to provide helmets and ensure safety (new brakes, etc.) to bike messengers and delivery workers. [NYT]
party lines
Yankees Too Hard to Resist
In April, it’ll be 60 years since Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier, but as the scholarship foundation in his name gathered at the Waldorf-Astoria on Monday to hand out awards to modern-day African-American pioneers like Spike Lee, Merrill Lynch chairman and CEO Stan O’Neal, and BET founder Sheila C. Johnson, the speeches were mostly about how little race relations in this country have changed. MC Bill Cosby advised one black college student there to change his last name from Robinson to Robinsky. “They’ll think you’re white!” Cosby said. “How do you think Stan O’Neal got ahead? They thought he was an Irishman.” After the jump, Jackie’s daughter Sharon, an educational consultant for Major League Baseball, answers a few pressing questions.
the sports section
A-Rod Is Underwhelming, Now Statistically Proven
A slow Friday at the New York sports desk was enlivened by the arrival of this season’s Baseball Prospectus. The massive tome, featuring analysis of every player on every Major League team, down to those with even the slimmest chance of actually seeing big-league playing time, has a reputation for making highly accurate predictions. So what do the gurus think about the New York teams’ chances? You’ll have to buy the book (or subscribe to the Website) for the complete story, but the general sentiment is bullishness on the Yankees (whose off-season personnel moves are praised for their long-term wisdom) and bearishness on the aging Mets (who “may have finally gotten out from under the Braves only to find that they’ve already peaked”). But perhaps most interesting are the comments on Alex Rodriguez.