Staten Island Yankees Media Day

I got to take part in Media day on Saturday afternoon for the Staten Island Yankees. It was my first experience with any kind of media day and it was fun. It was held at Richmond County Ballpark in Staten Island, New York, home of the Staten Island Yankees who are the class A short season affiliate of the New York Yankees. The ballpark is really spectacular with a nice backdrop being the Manhattan skyline.

I didn’t really know what to expect, I kind of thought we would be led to a press area and they would bring players and coaches to us for us to get to ask questions. When I arrived I was led to an elevator to wait with a couple other media members. Staten Island Yankees staff came up on the elevator and led us down to the clubhouse where we were able to chat with some of the players, after about 10 minutes or so they announced that Justin Pope the manager was available and me and a small group of reporters were led into his office where we asked him questions just like you see on TV with Joe Girardi. Pope is a guy I remember from his Trenton Thunder days. He was very gracious and a good guy. He answered all the questions; he shook all of our hands as we came into his office. I look forward to working with him this year as I cover the team.

I can’t say that I got any real news worthy statements but I do have some quotes from Pope on the upcoming season and also about him managing in his second year compared to his first which was last year. He said, “I just want the guys to play hard and to get better” He said that is their main goal at this level developing over winning. He said the potential to have three first round picks this season is very exciting and can be a good thing for the team. He said in his second year it could be more relaxing, he knows what to expect now but he is always nervous during games. He loves seeing guys succeed of course and go to the next level. He did say he felt that last year was a tough year, that they started off bad the team and he wants that to change this year. He felt that chemistry was an issue, which I found interesting. He said that you have a lot of guys out of college that have never been with a Latin player before and vice versa and they have to learn to be teammates and respect each other. He said that he has to do better with that because when they get to the next level Tony Franklin and Dave Miley aren’t going to put up with that stuff. Franklin is the manager of the AA Trenton Thunder and Miley of the AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre Railriders.

Pope said he doesn’t really feel his approach has changed but he may be more aggressive and more ahead of the game then last year. He said the hardest thing for him is to leave his wife in Florida and who knows how many times he will see her now until Sept/October when the season is over. He said the good thing is he has been down in Tampa since March with spring training and then extended spring so he was home until now when he had to leave to start the season with Staten Island. He said it sounds weird but it is normal for him because baseball is what he knows and he has always had to leave her for a few months a year. He said that he loves baseball and it never goes away, he can never get away from the game.

I find it very interesting and cool that the Staten Island Yankees will have Michael O’Neill the nephew of Paul on the team along with Eric Jagielo at some point who was their number one first round pick out of Notre Dame. Jagielo tweaked a hammy down in Tampa and will miss a few weeks. He will be at third base though when he does join the team. Aaron Judge hasn’t signed yet but when he does he will also be on his way to Staten Island. He is a tall outfielder with a lot of power. I think it will be exciting to see these guys in action this season and the Staten Island Yankees have a chance for a good season. I may be covering these guys this year and then who knows in the next couple of year’s maybe I will see them in the majors with the New York Yankees.   

Yankee Notes from Tuesday

Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain each threw 40 pitches in their bullpens today. They will throw again on Friday when they throw live batting practice to the position players. Joe Girardi said he didn't see Andy Pettittes bullpen today, he was watching the catchers throw to second. He said the main reason he was there was to see their arm strength but also to tell them not to overdo it. Damaso Marte was sporting an ice pack on his left shoulder today. He still hasn't thrown a bullpen, he said he will next week. He has thrown off flat ground. Boone Logan has decided to go to a changeup as his third pitch, he has been using a splitfinger in recent years but decided to go back to the changeup which has come back to him fairly quickly. Here are the pitchers who threw today Group 1 was Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes,Andy Pettitte and Edwar Ramirez. Group 2 was Kei Igawa,Mark Melancon, Boone Logan and Dustin Mosely. Group 3 was Zach McAllister,Ivan Nova and Kevin Whelan. Group 4 was Jeremy Bleich,Hector Noesi and D.J. Mitchell Derek Jeter will meet with the media tomorrow and Alex Rodriguez on Thursday. Joe Girardi will give his team address tomorrow morning.

Fridays News and Notes from Tampa

Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes spoke to the media toay and you can hear about 3 minutes from each on the Lohud Yankees Blog. Here is the link http://yankees.lhblogs.com Andy Pettitte followed the lead of the other starting pitchers and stayed off the mound, he will wait a few days before he revs it up. Here is what he had to say "My bodys feeling good, everything feels good coming into the spring. I feel real good about that." Andy also said the workload of the playoffs shouldn't bother him because the Yankees did a good job at the end of the year of resting their pitchers for the playoffs. He also said he is happy they added another reliable arm and that they never had met before but have already played golf together. Joe Girardi said you would love to have 2 lefties in a perfect world but they feel their righties get lefties out well. He specifically mentioned Dave Robertson but did say that 2 lefties gives you so many more options. Yogi Berra was in the clubhouse this morning according to Chad Jennings of the Journal News. Greg Golson and David Winfree both stopped in the clubhouse today, they are both going to be fighting for a job. It will be interesting to see what happens with guys like this, do they serve as trade bait, the last spot on the bench or go to the minors and add depth. Joe Girardi said the thing that has jumped out at him this early in camp was a lot of quality arms. He said some of the pitchers are big and intimidating, that he needs a step stool to talk to them. Here are the pitchers who threw today Joba Chamberlain, Christian Garcia, Phil Hughes and Edwar Ramirez. The second group was Kei Igawa, Mark Melancon, Boone Logan and Mosely. The third group was Zach McAllister, Ivan Nova and Kevin Whelan. The last group was Jeremy Bleich, Hector Noesi, Wilken De La Rosa and Mitchell. There isn't too much going on but I am going to try and post some pictures over the weekend and the starters are going to start throwing bullpens and then on Wednesday the full squad reports so it will get more interesting.

Yanks love pie

The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays tonight by the score of 3-2. Nick Swisher hit a walkoff homerun in the bottom of the ninth to give the Yankees the victory. Chad Gaudin got the start and pitched really well going 6 strong and then tiring in the seventh. He gave up 1 run on 6 hits with 6 strikeouts. Phil Hughes who has been lights out gave up a solo homerun in the eighth but then Mo had a 1-2-3 ninth to set up the heroics. The Yankees were pretty much shutdown by David Price who was really good tonight showing the promise that he has. Nick Swisher hit a monster homerun to left field and A-rod had a rbi single. Derek Jeter went hitless once again disappointing many people and going through his longest hitless stretch of the season. He is now 0 for his last 13 and did not make himself available to the media after the game. That is very unusual for him so I wonder if it is getting to him a little bit. The Yankees magic number is now 15 and they are 40 games over 500. David Price became the first pitcher to strike out Jeter 3 times in a game since Curt Shilling did it on April 19, 2004. Nick Swisher's 2 homeruns were the 3rd time this season he has done it from both sides of the plate. Johnny Damon reached 100 runs scored for the 10th time in his career. Dave Robertson will meet with Dr. James Andrews on Thursday in Florida, that is never a good thing. This kid was really coming on this year so lets hope it is nothing too serious. Chad Gaudin has allowed 4 runs in 14 innings as a starter for the Yanks and they are 3-0 in those games. Joba Chamberlain will be on the mound tomorrow against Jeff Niemann. The Yankees will go for the 4 game sweep.

Wrapping up Arod Day

Tomorrow is the first official full team workout. Derek Jeter will meet the media for what he says is the one and only time regarding Arod. I think he will actually be more supportive then he ever has been, a lot of people are waiting to see. The Yankees and Arod think this will go away and it won't but eventually if the Yankees don't talk then there is nothing they can do. Hopefully the Yankees will get off to a great start and just have a great season. I am really sick and tired of this whole steroids thing and just can't wait for the games to start even the exhibition games so we can concentrate on that. I actually think Arod did pretty well, there are always going to be questions but the bottom line is he has said way more then anyone else has said including Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi who were forgiven. I said this to someone today and I really believe it that Arod could go out and cure cancer and people would still be killing him over it, he just can't win. The best thing for him is to just go out perform at a high level and win and stay out of the headlines.

The Circus about To Begin

Hey everyone the Arod Press Conference is coming in about 10 minutes. There are over 100 media types there, waiting to grill him. Many of his teammates and coaches will be on hand as well as Hank Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman. Derek Jeter said he isn't going to speak until tomorrow. There is talk Arod may donate some money to kids or whatever, hopefully he says as much as he can and gets it all out there and it slowly goes away. I will be back later with some stuff and reaction, everyone enjoy the circus.

Joe Girardi Meets With the Media

Joe Girardi met with the media today for the first time in 2009. The majority of the questions were of course regarding Alex Rodriguez but then he did get to some baseball stuff. He said he hasn't talked to Arod regarding him addressing his teammates and he is sure he will meet with the media but he is not sure how he will handle it. He said as long as this isn't a distraction on the field they will be fine. He said it takes a lot of people to win a championship so if Arod doesn't have a great year that doesn't mean they can't win a title. Joe said it is important for him to relax and put up the numbers he is capable of. He did say with all the injuries last year he is going to cut back on all the running that he had the team go through last spring. They expect Melky or Gardner to be in CF but in Yankeeland anything is possible Girardi said. He thinks Nady will be the RF right now but Swisher is going to have a chance. Hideki Matsui had his knees check out today and he is doing fine. I think Joe Girardi did a good job with the media and he even admitted to the media that if they don't get back to the playoffs he expects he won't be the manager after this year. He said he has a good relationship with Arod and they talk a lot. I think Joe was very candid and honest and a good start as he had a rough time with the media last year. I think Joe is a very good manager on the field and if he can improve his handling of the players and the media he will be in great shape especially if this team performs the way that they can. Tomorrow the pitchers and catchers will report and I can't wait, I hope we will have some quotes from CC and AJ but we will see.