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Last night was a perfect example of the neighborhood play on the ball Jeter fielded up the middle and fipped to Cano and relayed to first for no outs instead of a double play.  Now, the runner at first looked like he was safe so I won’t assume the double play, but this call raises something I’ve talked about for years. 

The Neighborhood play has been a part of the game forever.  It is sometimes incorrectly stated to be that the middle infielder does not touch the bag at all.  Not so.  There is actually an art to the neighborhood play and Cano practiced it perfectly last night.  The neighborhood play is that ball and foot on the bag do not occur simultaneously.  Last night, Cano stepped on the bag and an instant later had the ball in his glove before wheeling it over to first base. 

Now before some people yell about calling the play “honestly” and that the runner should be safe – remember this.  If you enjoy watching the contact between baserunner and middle infielder (like I do) when a runner is trying to break up a double play, I think it’s important to give the middle infielder the benefit of the neighborhood play.  The issue here is escapability.  Unless you want to see many all-star middle infielders who make lots of money ending up on the disabled list because of broken up double plays, I think the umpires should allow the fielder to escape and use their judgment in how much leeway they want to give a fielder in time elapsed between foot on the bag and possession of the ball.  Obviously you don’t want ridiculous lapses of time between the two and after watching baseball for a long time, managers know when to argue when a runner is called out and it was “too long.”  Girardi went out last night and probably commented on the neighborhood play, but there’s nothing he could do about it.

Cano had it entirely right last night.  Was the runner safe?  Absolutely, but Cano had all of the other elements right.  He hit the bag, caught the ball a second after leaving the bag.  I think that’s what Girardi was defending, “hey, you want my all star second baseman to get killed out here?”

I for one, still like to see contact around the bag between baserunners and fielders but I don’t want to see guys hurt – these professionals avoid that with the neighborhood play – escaping just in a nick of time

The press is writing that “no one cares” about A-Rod becoming a member of the 600 home run club. Other writers say, “the home run has lost it luster”.  I actually agree. But…I think this helps A-Rod. Providing there are no other surprises with PEDs, he can quietly amass home runs as he pursues the record.

If you remember, I did a post a while back arguing that Virgil Trucks should not be deemed the “Oldest Living Yankee” since he was essentially only with the team for a short period of time.  My conclusion was Ralph Houk was the oldest living Yankee.  That is now not the case.  I don’t know who falls into that category now, but a couple of those guys the brought in for the 60th anniversary of the 1950 championship team probably qualify.

Sports Illustated has a poll of 187 MLB players which I usually dismiss as not making sense but the most overrated this time with 12% of voters- Joba. Seems that the poll holds water now, doesn’t it?  But wait – #2 overrated is A-Rod. How do you overrate a guy with 599 HR’s? Jealous about his women perhaps?  Conclusion – 187 players with enough time to do polls for shrinking circulations sports magazines ain’t too bright.

In 1995 I had a press pass to the Yankee Fan Fest in the Javits Center before the season started.  I got to meet a number of the ball players past and present.  I had the pleasure of meeting Houk there and he signed a ball for me (Mike – you have it).  Back then, he looked bad and had the shakes so bad that he had to steady the ball against the table to sign it.  He had that big red drinking nose.  But he lasted 15 more years.  Nice man.  Good player’s manager.

As a player he hit the foul pole once before that qualified as a home run and so he never hit an HR in the majors, in a very short playing career.

He was a good manager, of course with the 1961 and 1962 Yanks it was a just don’t screw it up situation. After a Series sweep loss in ‘63 (the team was aging but Koufax and Drysdale would have beaten God’s all-stars) he wisely became GM. Leaving Yogi the team and eventually the weird Johnny Keane manager swap after Yogi’s loss as manager in 1964.

George’s first manager, but not near to the last.

The media is not like today but I never heard any degree of negative stuff about Houk. Solid man, solid person. —- R.I.P.

 Now we have to worry about Yogi, he’s not making it to Cooperstown.

I don’t know if anyone else was getting pissed off at aging Yankee-hater Tim McCarver during the Fox broadcast his weekend, but I was.  Aside from adding nothing to the game (and coming up with the ludicrous theory that AJ hurt is hand throwing a pie in Swisher’s face), the guy finds a way to disparage the Yankees in every game he covers.  He was going on and on about how the Yankees are still mistreating Torre and how they are trying to erase him from existence.  Then he went a little to far.  This article details the incident and adds a nice refute.

Pettitte being out a month is serious for sure. He said he had had a groin injury years ago but doesn’t recall much about it (steroid forgetfulness?). If Burnett doesn’t pull out of his uncontrolled dive we will be extra sorry we are in the competitive AL East. {Insert Burnett rant here.}

Old Timers Day – how do they get find those 1950 WS Championship guys, a few of which (not Ford or Coleman of course) were the most marginal of short-term fill-in guys. (Was Coleman’s hot mike comment to Ford a snide remark? couldn’t figure what he meant). But the NYY management probably made those small profile guys happy for years – classy!

THE BEST – Mickey Rivers (who can still do the bat twirl) interviewed after the Old Timers game and answered a question as if the game was game 7 of the World Series. Something like, “Yeah, I wanted to drive the pitch to right and deep so we would at least score one run on a hit”. HE WAS SERIOUS. I want Mickey to get his own reality show, the hell with Snookie and “Inane Housewives from Anywhere.’

The radio shows have been kicking around the various ways to honor George M. Steinbrenner.  Most of the talk has been centered around the appropriateness of the patch to be worn on the front of the uniform above the NY on the home pinstripes and above the “York” on the road greys.

Personally, I think the patch is a little gaudy and goes against what George thought about the Yankee tradition.  He wanted everything to coincide with history. Clean cut, no uniform changes, no names on jerseys.  Generally the Yankees have honored fallen legends with a black armband (if they were a player of significance) and with a number on the sleve if they were a retired number HOFer (i.e. the black 5 when Dimaggio passed away).   George was not a player so I guess an armband doesn’t work, and he has no number so they can’t do that either. 

Bob Sheppard gets his own, overly complex patch

 In any other year I think a “GSM” patch or “The Boss” patch on the sleeve would have been appropriate, but with Sheppard also passing (and getting his own gaudy patch), George needs to be distinguished. I would have preferred a simple microphone patch on one sleeve (no name) for Sheppard and a “GSM” or “The Boss” patch on the other sleeve.   But we have what we have and I’ll have to wait to see how it looks before I disapprove.

As for other, more lasting, tributes to George, some were suggesting re-naming new Yankee Stadium “George M. Steinbrenner Stadium.”  I think that’s a mistake and goes against the Yankee brand and the whole “Yankee Stadium Forever” concept that they pushed on us when the old place was shut down.  Others have suggested naming a Gate after him (Too little in my opinion) and others suggested a monument or plaque in Monument Park.  I think Monuments should just be for players, and I have no doubt they will have a plaque out in Monument Park, but its so inaccessible to the fans.

The best idea proposed was to rename ”The Great Hall” “George M. Steinbrenner Hall”.  Its the grand entrance to the ballpark he built and would stand as a monument to his ownership of the team.  The Yankees could commission a 10 foot bronze statue of George in his glory days perhaps in his trademarked turtleneck and blazer standing proud.  Place the statue right in the center of Great Hall and plaster his name in big Yankee Blue letters above the ribbon board.  Replace the photos of the Championship teams over the ribbon board with a couple of oversized portraits of George with champion trophies and other ”inspirational” photos on the same wall and I think we are in business.   

A little late on your post Russ, but that was superb. Don’t go free agent on us and migrate to a better paying blog gig!!