Ozzie Guillen, manager of the Miami Marlins, told Time Magazine that he loves Fidel Castro. He goes on to say that you have to admire Castro for remaining in power for so long. Apparently, Ozzie does not understand how a dictatorship works. However the Cuban population, especially those exiled and now living in Miami, do. Ozzie also recently said he gets drunk after every game - win or lose. And apparently before interviews with Time Magazine as well. One has to wonder if he thought baseball fans don't read Time. He found out quickly, they do. The Marlins have suspended Ozzie for 5 games and he flew back to Miami and apologized to everyone. Hopefully that didn't include Castro.
The Yankees lost their first three games to Tampa Bay. The first loss came at the hands of a blown save by Mariano Rivera. The Chicken Littles of baseball came out in droves. The Yankee sky must falling and Mo and the Yankees for sure are done, they said. New York hadn't seen this kind of panic since 1929 and we all know how that turned out. When was the last time the Yankees lost the first three games of the season? Well, it just so happens it was 1998. That year the Yankees went on to win 114 games and the World Series. Not bad odds. Thankfully they won the 4th game. Because honestly, I was out of positive statistics.
We had our first look at Chris Stewart, the catcher the Yankees traded for and who replaced Francisco Cervelli, as the back up to Russell Martin. His stats read as follows: Since his MLB debut in 2006 he has played in 94 games with 212 at bats. In those 212 at bats, he has 13 RBIs and 3 HRs. My question is - whose nephew is he? No wonder Cervelli was upset having to back down to the minors. It was for a guy who basically sucks. Next time Cashman should just pick a seat number and the person who it belongs to will be your catcher. They would probably do just as well and cost much less.
Yu Davish made his first major league start in the majors for the Texas Rangers. He cost Nolan Ryan and friends over $100M ($50m to Japan and $60M over 6 years to Yu). What does one get for $100M these days? A guy who gave up 5 runs in 8 hits over 5 plus innings. If I paid $100M, of which $50M was upfront, for a pitcher, he should be so good that every batter would walk away from the plate wondering if the guy ever actually threw the ball. Nolan should put a hold on the check for the time being.
The NY Mets are 4-0 to start their season. Maybe the Miyans ARE right.
Lastly, a marvelous book came out this week. "Driving Mr. Yogi" by Harvey Araton about the special relationship between Yogi Berra and former Yankee pitcher Ron Guidry. If you are a Yankee fan, I promise this book will not disappoint.
Only 158 games left of the season - Go Yankees!
