Mets lose their first grapefruit league game

The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves today at Disneys Wide World Of Sports. The final score was 9-5, the Mets spring record is now even at 1-1. Pat Misch got the start for the Mets and was impressive pitching 3 scoreless innings, he did give up a couple of walks. He only allowed one hit. Eric Niesen pitched 2 scoreless innings giving up a hit and a walk. Eddie Kunz didn't fare so well giving up 4 runs and 2 hits in 1/3 of an inning. He also gave up 3 walks, his era stands at a horrible 108.00. Josh Stinson pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up 3 hits and 5 runs with a strikeout. Only one of the runs was earned. Neal Musser pitched 1 inning giving up a hit and a walk but no runs. I don't know any of these guys except for Misch and Kunz. Angel Pagan, Josh Thole and Daniel Murphy all had rbi singles. Fernando Martinez had a rbi triple. He had a good day going 2 for 3. Mike Cervenak had a rbi single. The Mets committed four errors in the seventh inning, I thought they were working on fundamentals, that is pretty hard to do. Matthew Cerrone has some video and pictures from todays action. He also has a good interview with Gary Matthews Jr. It can all be found at http://metsblog.com. The Mets will take on the St. Louis Cardinals at 1:00PM tomorrow in Port St. Lucie at Tradition Field.

Derek Jeters Contract Status

The New York Yankees will come to a interesting place at the end of this season. Derek Jeters contract is up and they have will have to pay him. He will be 36 yrs old and is a shortstop which is a story for another day. Derek Jeter is the Yankees and will be for the next 50 or 60 years. He will eventually retire but will still be the one that comes out last at the Old Timers Days and will be the best known and most popular Yankee. The Yankees could never let him wear another uniform and he doesn't want to either. The debate will be how much will he get and how much should he get. Derek Jeter may want to act tough with the Yankees although I doubt he will and if he does then what happens. The reason I have brough all this up is because Derek Jeter had a one on one interview with Harold Reynolds. The interview ran on MLB Network last night and if you haven't seen it, it is a good one. Here is the video, enjoy it. Hank Steinbrenner after missing for months now resurfaced today. He had this to say: He like the Yankees move so far and thinks they have a good chance of repeating. Here is what he had to say about Derek Jeter and his contract situation " We will get into all of that eventually. Jeters place in Yankees history is obvious, so I think you can pretty much assume from there." A little side not to this, Jeter is already down in Tampa working out. Those quotes from Steinbrenner came courtesy of the AP and were posted on the great Lohud Yankees Blog by Chad Jennings and Sam Borden.

My Interview With Chad Jennings

Here is my interview that I did with the Scranton Yankees beat writer. He does a great job in AAA, you got to check out his blog at http://community.thetimes-tribune.com/blogs/yankees/ He did a great job with this interview and I hope you guys really enjoy it. Thanks to Chad again for doing this. Guys please support him and his blog, im sure you will enjoy seeing what he has to write. First I would like to ask you for a little bio of yourself? I grew up on a farm in Southeast Missouri and started driving a tractor when I was roughly 12 years old. Out of high school, I majored in journalism at the University of Missouri -- I also minored in political science and economics, though it's not entirely clear why -- and moved to Scranton in January 2003. I shared the baseball beat for a couple of years and have been doing it full time for the past four seasons. I know Scranton only became a Yankees farm team a couple of years ago, but how long have you covered the Scranton franchise for??Just the two years they've been here. Do you ever dream of doing the same job for a major league team?? Sure, I'd like the challenge of a big league beat, but I do enjoy covering minor league ball. Did you always want to be doing what you are doing now? If not what did you want to do when you were younger?? When I was young I wanted to be a farmer like my dad, but when I was about 15 I realized I really enjoyed writing and I've wanted to do this ever since. Early on, I wanted to cover basketball, but I've found that I really like the grind of a baseball season. Is the traveling tough? Does your employer cover meals, lodging etc? Most everything is covered by the newspaper. The travel is tough at times -- I don't enjoy leaving Buffalo at 11 p.m. to drive four and a half hours and cover a game in Scranton the next day -- but I'm not married and I don't have kids, so being on the road is not as hard on me as it is some other baseball writers. What is the most fun time of the year for you, spring training? The Regular Season? The offseason?? My time in spring training is probably when I'm most busy, but I like the work. My most fun time of the year is probably the middle of the regular season when I'm in the routine and feel like I'm on top of things. I'm much less busy in the offseason, but I don't enjoy it nearly as much as when I'm working my way through the season. Have you ever got to cover a major league team?? What was that experience like if you did so? I've never covering a big league team as a full time beat, but I've covered plenty of major league games in St. Louis, Philadelphia and New York. My first experience in New York was a lot more comfortable than I expected. I'd never been to the stadium, but I knew so many guys in the clubhouse that I felt at ease. What player that you have covered has been your favorite to cover and why?? I covered Dan Giese for a long time, so it was fun to watch him make that run to the big leagues last season. Several years ago, I enjoyed covering A.J. Hinch because he was very willing to share his experience and knowledge. On the field, I've always enjoyed watching the speed guys. Shane Victorino. Brett Gardner. Justin Christian. Pablo Ozuna was a lot of fun to watch too. I also saw Ryan Howard hit some absolute bombs and watched Chase Utley play as well as anyone I've ever seen day in and day out. Those guys were fun to cover. What player has been the most challenging to cover and why?? He wasn't a bad guy, but Cole Hamels was tough only because he was such a big name prospect that I had to be careful not to over do it. It would have bothered a lot of the guys in the clubhouse if I fallen all over myself trying to write too much about Hamels. To some extent, it's that way with Phil Hughes and some of the other starting pitching prospects in the Yankees system. I have to find the right balance between reporting on the individual big names and reporting on the team as a whole. It's important to do both. What player are you most looking forward to seeing this year in Scranton?? Obviously it will be interesting to watch Austin Jackson try to take that last step to the big leagues. I'm also curious to see whether Kevin Russo can put himself on the big league map. But I'm most interested in seeing how Hughes, Kennedy and every other young starting pitcher responds to New York filling it's rotation through free agency this winter. Do you think it is neat to cover these guys and then some of them become stars or good players in the majors?? Do you ever keep in touch with any former scranton guys that have made it big?? Sometimes it's neat. Sometimes it's inevitable. I enjoy watching Giese and Chris Coste as much as I enjoy watching Utley and Howard. As far as keeping in touch, those relationships are different from any other. I might send a text message or something to check in or ask a question, but for the most part staying in touch is limited to talking the clubhouse or on the field during the season. It is, however, always a lot of fun to see those guys after they've moved on. Victorino positively attacked me the last time I saw him. Is there another job that you would ever want to do?? I'm pretty happy doing this, but most any form of writing would be a lot of fun. You think Aaron Sorkin needs an intern? If you weren't covering baseball, what other sport would you like to cover? I covered men's college basketball for a year and enjoyed it. That was a good University of Missouri team and I covered them through the Elite Eight. Lack of access in college sports, though, is annoying. I've often wondering what it would be like to cover tennis or golf. The travel would probably be insane, but it might be a lot of fun. Is it easier to write up a story for the newspaper or to work on the blog you have?? They're completely different. Day to day, I'm not sure one's easier or harder, but there is certainly less pressure with the blog. I pretty much get to do whatever I want on there, and the only deadlines are the ones I put on myself. What gave you the inspiration to start your blog?? My boss told me to start it. Does that count as inspiration? What are your favorite sports teams?? University of Missouri. Of course. Do you reside somewhere near the stadium during the year?? I live about six miles from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre stadium. I used to live about 20 miles from the stadium. It's a lot better this way. How do you think the New York Yankees will do this year?? Hard to pick against them, isn't it? It's the depth that makes me think they'll do well. The one place they don't have much depth is the infield, and most of those guys have little or no history of being injured. You know a pitcher or two is going to break down for a little while during the season, but the Yankees have plenty of depth in the rotation and the bullpen. That's why I think they're the team to beat in the East. What player on the Yankees would you like to interview if given a chance?? I'm trying to learn Spanish and would love to get to the point that I could interview Robinson Cano or Melky Cabrera in Spanish. A one-on-one with Alex Rodriguez would obviously be nice because he doesn't seem to give those very often. There's no one in that clubhouse who I would want to interview simply because he's a "star." Outside of the Yankees, I think the best stories in baseball might be Josh Hamilton and Rick Ankiel. I'd love to be in a position to write those stories. Especially Ankiel because his comeback seems to have been overlooked a little bit. If it's not going to be me, somebody get Gary Smith on that one! .AOLWebSuite .AOLPicturesFullSizeLink { height: 1px; width: 1px; overflow: hidden; } .AOLWebSuite a {color:blue; text-decoration: underline; cursor: pointer} .AOLWebSuite a.hsSig {cursor: default}

Interview with AAA Scranton Yankees Beat Writer

Keep your eye out for my interview with AAA Scranton Wilkes Barre Yankees beat writer Chad Jennings. He does a great job with his blog at http://community.thetimes-tribune.com/blogs/yankees/. I should be posting it later tonight and if not for some reason it will be up tomorrow.

The Day In Tampa

These Notes are via Peter Abraham of the Journal News and Yankees Lohud Blog with my own thoughts and opinions mixed in of course. CC Sabathia went home with a stomach flu, he was scheduled to throw live BP today but didn't make it. Bernie bailed out today and won't be back until Monday. Joba threw 2 sets of 20 pitches today resting in between. The idea was to simulate 2 innings, he started out rocky but was better in the second set. Joba said "For Feb. 21 it was just fine." Christian Garcia was impressive, he has great stuff but with him it is a matter of staying healthy. He was a top prospect but always seems to have something go wrong with him. If he stays healthy this year he could be knocking on the door to the majors. It was almost all baseball questions today, which im sure the players were thrilled with. ESPN has had a reporter there the whole camp, you would think they might give up soon. I would say that eventually unless something major happens what else can they do, Arod will be leaving March 1st for the WBC and that should clear everyone out of camp also. The Yankees do seem to be going about their business and not too bothered by it. CC and Nick Swisher seem to be helping with keeping the team loose, they are great guys and im sure everyone is going to love watching them play this year and seeing them in interviews. Arod did banter back and forth with the media today about the economy,traveling to Mexico City and some other assorted topics not related to baseball or steroids. He said he isn't involved with the same group that Nady and Damon got caught up with. Jason Johnson was late to camp because he had a cancerous growth behind his right eye and was receiving radiation treatments. This is scary stuff and it is good to see that he seems to be doing ok now. Joe Girardi did speak today about the strengths of Melky and Brett Gardner and it seems to come down to whoever hits in spring training will get the job, although I do think they will both be on the team. Melky is out of options so they risk losing him if he isn't on the 25 man roster. Dante Girardi-The managers son was in the clubhouse with some of his buddies and they tried to attack Shelly Duncan. At one point he had a kid wrapped around his legs on his shoulder etc, they looked like midgets trying to attack Andre The Giant.

Arod To Speak?

SI's Jon Heyman is reporting that Arod is most likely going to make a statement today. He is contemplating whether to just issue a statement or do a live national TV interview. We await word and as soon as more information becomes available I will try and post about it as fast as possible. I know in the court of public opinion it doesn't matter what he says, but I am very interested to see if he fights it or just admits it, either way he better just be telling the truth.