Cano Gets His Intro and Clears the Air

For now, Cano has gone back to his old #22

Robinson Cano officially became a Seattle Mariner Thursday afternoon with his introduction to the Seattle media. Sporting a David Ortiz-esque beard, Cano set some things straight about his time in New York and the negotiations that took place this off-season in a sit down interview with ESPN's Pedro Gomez prior to the news conference.

Cano felt disrespected by the Yankees during the free agent process, though he declined to provide details. He said he took less money to come to the Mariners...which is laughable. The Yankees final offer was seven years and $175MM or $25MM per season, while the Mariners deal is for $24MM a year. In Cano's mind the annual salary, which was only a difference of $1MM, was taking less money than the $240MM compared to $175MM. Yeah, okay.

The All-Star second baseman added that it wasn't about the money, he wanted this to be his last contract. He realized that when a player turns 36- or 37-years of age it's more difficult to get a new deal.

Cano admitted that he hated batting second in 2013, that he would have liked to have been consulted about it - (paraphrasing) "it's a difficult spot in the order to hit...you're expected to give yourself up, move runners over, etc. I'm not that kind of hitter. I could understand batting there if all the big guys were healthy, but they weren't."

Despite his spot in the order, the 31-year old said he had no problem with manager Joe Girardi or general manager Brian Cashman. He complimented Girardi on helping him to become an All-Star and having led them to a World Series championship. He had similar words about Cashman.

When asked about his legacy after having watched the send off Mariano Rivera received, Cano said Mariano is a special person and it was wonderful to see what took place and be a part of it, but he has 10 years in Seattle and maybe he will build a legacy there.

Gomez queried him about the much talked about lack of "busting it" to first base every time. Cano's response was "I've heard that criticism before. Would you rather have me for 160 games a year or would you rather I played 120-130 games a year and got hurt?" Apparently Cano didn't pay attention to Derek Jeter all this time.

Cano said he had a great time in New York and he thanked everyone and said he was treated very wellby the fans. Cano reitered that the contract wasn't about being greedy, it was the length of the deal that was important to him. He'll find out that many Yankees fans - who have never seen one of their star players in their prime walk away - don't look it that way.

My Opinion - Those fans that will boo have the right to do so, but Cano should not be treated that way. He did plenty for the team and should be shown respect. The Yankees have constantly pilfered other teams' free agents. It's part of the game, get over it.

Pitching Matchups Set For Boston Series

Kuroda needs to get the Yankees off on the right foot with his right arm

From the Star Ledger:

FRIDAY: Hiroki Kuroda (11-10, 2.99 ERA) v. John Lackey (9-12, 3.48 ERA).

SATURDAY: CC Sabathia (13-12, 4.82 ERA) v. Jon Lester (13-8, 3.86 ERA).

SUNDAY: Ivan Nova (8-4, 3.17 ERA) v. Clay Buchholz (10-0, 1.61 ERA).

You get to suffer through a FOX telecast on Saturday and an ESPN telecast on Sunday night. I recommend the mute button.

Yankees Prevail As Dempster Takes His Game Into The Dumpster

The New York Yankees - Boston Red Sox game last night could have been simply played like a normal baseball game between the longtime rivals. The fans would have booed Alex Rodriguez unmercifully, which isn't any different than any other time A-Rod played in Boston, and a winner would emerge after the usual four hour contest.

Except that Red Sox starting pitcher Ryan Dempster decided to make the moment and the game his own personal statement against A-Rod. In the end, the Yankees got payback at Dempster's actions and won the game, but home plate umpire Brian O'Nora handled things poorly and Yankees manager Joe Girardi was ejected as a result.

The best result of the night for the Yankees was the final score - Yankees 9 Red Sox 6. It was the third straight series win for the Pinstripes, who have won 7 of 10 since they were swept in a three game series with the Chicago White Sox.

The 2nd inning set the tone for the night when A-Rod stepped to the plate for the first time. Dempster, a onetime player rep who helped decide how PED suspensions and appeals would be handled, threw his first pitch behind A-Rod legs. The next two pitches missed their target - A-Rod, not the plate - and were inside and tight. Finally, Dempster's 3-0 delivery hit A-Rod in the back below his armpit.

That's when O'Nora made a mess of the entire situation. Instead of tossing Dempster for the obvious intent of the entire at-bat, he warned both benches. Girardi shot out of the dugout faster than he's run since he legged out that famous triple in Game 6 of the 1996 World Series.

Every vein in Girardi’s neck and head looked ready to burst as he screamed at O'Nora for his actions, or more precisely, inaction. O'Nora ejected him, but not before Girardi called Dempster another word for a cat.

A-Rod stood quietly alongside first base coach Mick Kelleher as both benches emptied, but no altercations took place. Girardi was still furious after the game ended. He told the YES Network:

"Ryan Dempster has hit six guys in his last 320 innings. He throws the first pitch behind him, intentional. He threw the next one inside, he didn't hit him...intentional. At some point Brian O'Nora has to give him a warning and he should have thrown him out of the game. It's the bottom line.

Everyone knows it was intentional and I don't know understand why he's left in the game, and then to give us a warning...You know Brian and I have a long history together. Back in 'A' ball, Double-A, and I respect him, but that was wrong.

You know the one thing you can't do is start changing the system, because maybe you don't like it. Ryan Dempster has been a player rep and he's been very involved in the union, and he knows this is what they decided to do. So you can't change it and take your potshots, and you'd have to have your head in the sand with the comments coming from the other side not to know that something might be happen.

So, I thought it was handled very poorly and I was upset about yesterday, because calls went against us that changed the complexion of the game. Then you have this...it's just flat wrong."

The complete interview:

Jerry Seinfeld once said the best revenge was "living well." In baseball, it's hitting a home run and knocking the pitcher out of the game. Down 6-3 in the 6th, A-Rod crushed a Dempster delivery into the centerfield stands. As he rounded first, A-Rod loudly clapped his hands and pointed both arms skyward when he reached home plate.

The blast fired up his teammates, who then took control of the game. Eduardo Nunez and Lyle Overbay reached on one-out singles and Dempster was pulled after he walked light hitting Chris Stewart to load the bases. Drake Britton came on and Brett Gardner introduced himself by ripping a ball to the deepest part of right-center field. Pinch-runner Jayson Nix, Overbay, and Stewart all crossed home plate as Gardner raced to third with a triple that gave the Yankees a 7-6 lead.

Mark Reynolds and Stewart added tack on RBI singles and Mariano Rivera got out of a two-out, two-on jam in the 9th when he got Jarrod Saltalamacchia to line out to left.

A-Rod was obviously upset after the game when YES asked him, "Joe said that should have been handled differently. The first pitch behind you should have been a warning and when you got hit he should have been tossed. Do you feel the same way?"

"Yeah I agree. That was..whether you like me or hate me, what's wrong is wrong and that was unprofessional and silly. And kind of a silly way to get someone on your team hurt as well.

YES: "Considering how many players have spoken out about you playing during your suspension, are you concerned about this at all moving forward?"

"I'm not at all. You know we um, that today brought us together. Joe's reaction was amazing. Every one of my teammates said "hit a bomb and walk it off. They were more...as pissed as I was. That's just not right."

There was a light moment when a reporter asked if Dempster should be suspended. A-Rod and the media laughed when he responded, "You're the asking the wrong guy about a suspension. I got an attorney I can recommend."

The complete interview:

And so it will continue to go.

Video Killed the Radio Star and TV and Interleague Play Did in the All-Star Game

Everyone in the media continually tries to to figure out why the interest in Major League Baseball’s All-Star game has dwindled to the point that you wonder if it might not exist one day. The reasons why the ratings are at an all-time low are very apparent if you simply look at a few simple facts.

First though, let’s take a look at the ratings since 1967, as amassed by Baseball Almanac. From 1967-1980, the game averaged a 46.7 share of the television audience. The game averaged a 24.5 rating with the 1969 game the only time the share dipped below 20 during the period, and that occurred because the game was rained out the night before and was played the following afternoon.

Ratings began to decline over the next decade, though the share was still decent (36.8 avg) from 1981-1988. The ’81 All-Star game was the first game after a two month player’s strike interrupted the season. After the 1989 game, which had an 18.2 rating and 33 share, the game’s viewership steadily declined. The 2002 season saw the ratings drop below 10% for the first time. Last season saw an all-time lows of 6.8%, a 12 share, and 10.9 million viewers.

If you were a baseball fan in the 1960’s and 1970’s, the All-Star game and the post-season were the only times that you saw players like Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, and Jim Palmer unless they were on your team. Fans were also fans of the league their team was in-if you liked the Yankees or Mets, you rooted for the American or National League in the All-Star game and in the World Series.

The All-Star game was a happening that you looked forward to. When else could you see so many future Hall of Fame players, especially at one time. When I was growing up the NL dominated the game, so I was really into, hoping the AL would finally beat the hated NL. In 1971 it finally happened in Detroit when the AL's sluggers pounded the NL pitchers. The most memorable shot being Reggie Jackson's home run blast off the tower atop Tiger Stadium. The AL wouldn't win again until Fred Lynn's grand slam catupulted the junior circuit to a 13-3 win. 

The AL finally exacted vengance with 18 wins over the period from 1988-2009, but something had changed and the excitement was gone.

A Change in the Air

Perhaps the All-Star game television ratings might have leveled off had the player’s strike not occurred in August, 1994. The regular season was wiped out and the entire post-season was canceled in one fell swoop by MLB commissioner Bud Selig.  Baseball didn’t start up again until April 2, 1995. Some fans would never return to the ball park, others slowly made their way back. (The last game I attended before the strike was August 9, 1994 and I did not return to the ball park until July 30, 1998.) Either way the game was badly damaged.

From that moment on, viewership (slightly) increased  from one year to the next just four times to date. One rise (13%) occurred in 1998 when everyone was caught up in the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa steroid fueled chase of Roger Maris’ single season home run record.  The next increase came in 2001 (10%) when Barry Bonds was in a steroid fueled chase of McGwire’s 1998 home run record.

The third rise in the ratings was in the 2006 game in Pittsburgh (15%), presumably because of the ceremony that was held mid-game in memory of Roberto Clemente. The final increase in ratings came in 2008 when the Yankees held their final All-Star game in the old Yankee Stadium. Ratings (11%) had to be helped by Josh Hamilton’s monsterous home run derby performance the night before.

Television’s Role in Dimishing the All-Star Game's Draw

With no cable TV and teams not broadcasting all 162 regular season games, any time you could watch a game it felt like you won a prize. There was a weekly nationally televised game, but that was it.  Then cable television began to appear and the landscape of televised baseball changed forever.

More regular season out of market games started to be televised in the late 1970’s and then ESPN came into existence in 1979 with highlights and replays of baseball games like you had never seen before. The Connecticut based station started televising baseball games in 1990, so you no longer had to wait for the one national game of the week to be shown. 

Over the next two decades, the MLB Network would be launched, other cable outlets (e.g. TBS) began to broadcast games, you could add the MLB Extra Innings package to your cable or dish plan, and the official MLB site provided video and audio broadcasts.

Baseball games can be found all around the dial or the internet now, which means you can watch Miguel Cabrera or Mike Trout just about any time you want.

The Death Blow

One of the ideas Selig came up with to increase fan interest was the implementation of interleague play. While most fans seem to love it, or least like it, it was a tremendous blow to the All-Star game. What started out quietly in 1997 with opponents playing 15-18 games against the other league is now an every day occurrence in the Major Leagues. Why bother watching an All-Star game when you can see players from both leagues on any day or night on a number of different television stations.

Selig impacted the game again after the AL and NL played to a 7-7 tie in 2002.  To make the game more important, he decreed that home field advantage for the World Series would be determined by the league that won the All-Star game. Fans have laughed at the notion ever since. Selig basically kicked a man when he was already down.

Until someone figures out another way to bring excitement to the game, don't look for the ratings to be anything spectacular in the future. That is if the game still exists.

UPDATE - The 2013 game got an 8.1 national rating, which means there was increase from the prior year for just the fifth time since 1998. It was about a 20% boost from last year's game primarily due to Mariano Rivera and it being the first game at the Mets home field since 1964.

All-Star Game Television Ratings Television Analysis & Ratings Breakdown
Year	Network	Rating	Share	Households	Viewers
1967	NBC	25.6	50	14,050,000	Not Available
1968	NBC	25.8	49	14,450,000	Not Available
1969	NBC	15.1	42	8,610,000	Not Available
1970	NBC	28.5	54	16,670,000	Not Available
1971	NBC	27.0	50	16,230,000	Not Available
1972	NBC	22.9	43	14,220,000	26,300,000
1973	NBC	23.8	45	15,420,000	27,600,000
1974	NBC	23.4	44	15,490,000	Not Available
1975	NBC	21.5	41	14,730,000	28,170,000
1976	ABC	27.1	53	18,680,000	36,330,000
1977	NBC	24.5	45	17,440,000	31,000,000
1978	ABC	26.1	47	19,030,000	35,529,000
1979	NBC	24.4	45	18,180,000	31,980,000
1980	ABC	26.8	46	20,450,000	36,270,000
1981	NBC	20.1	36	15,640,000	Not Available
1982	ABC	25.0	44	20,380,000	34,120,000
1983	NBC	21.5	39	17,910,000	27,190,000
1984	ABC	20.1	35	16,840,000	28,500,000
1985	NBC	20.5	36	17,400,000	28,210,000
1986	ABC	20.3	35	17,440,000	28,375,000
1987	NBC	18.2	37	15,910,000	24,295,000
1988	ABC	20.4	33	18,070,000	29,526,000
1989	NBC	18.2	33	16,450,000	25,840,000
1990	CBS	16.2	33	14,940,000	24,365,000
1991	CBS	17.4	32	16,200,000	24,670,000
1992	CBS	14.9	27	13,720,000	21,981,000
1993	CBS	15.6	28	14,550,000	22,306,000
1994	NBC	15.7	28	14,790,000	22,015,000
1995	ABC	13.9	25	13,260,000	20,163,000
1996	NBC	13.2	23	12,690,000	18,479,000
1997	FOX	11.8	21	11,420,000	16,723,000
1998	NBC	13.3	25	13,026,000	18,970,000
1999	FOX	12.0	22	11,890,000	17,640,000
2000	NBC	10.1	18	10,167,000	14,714,000
2001	FOX	11.0	19	11,198,000	16,029,000
2002	FOX	9.5	17	10,046,000	14,653,000
2003	FOX	9.5	17	10,156,000	13,810,000
2004	FOX	8.8	15	9,573,000	13,995,000
2005	FOX	8.1	14	8,884,000	12,330,000
2006	FOX	9.3	16	10,301,000	14,424,000
2007	FOX	8.4	15	9,343,000	12,530,000
2008	FOX	9.3	16	10,441,000	14,540,000
2009	FOX	8.9	15	10,754,230	14,610,000
2010	FOX	7.5	13	8,692,500	12,100,000
2011	FOX	6.9	12	7,712,000	11,000,000
2012	FOX	6.8	12	6,743,724	10,900,000

A-Rod, Braun Could Be Heading for Home

Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun may be heading for home and not rounding third base to get there. T.J. Quinn, Pedro Gomez, and Mike Fish of the ESPN program Outside the Lines are reporting that Major League Baseball is looking to suspend about 20 players including Rodriguez and Braun.

Anthony Bosch, the owner of the Biogenisis anti-aging Clinic that served as a front for the distribution of performance enhancing drugs (PED), has decided to cooperate with MLB. (Shouldn't he be cooperating with law enforecement?) Of course, the burden of proof lies on MLB and speaking of lying, Bosch could certainly do that to wangle his way out of trouble.

But the biggest liars in these cases generally are the users and A-Rod and Braun can certainly spin a tale. You have to think that the Yankees knew about this since just a few days ago Brian Cashman commented on the inability of A-Rod or anyone to live up to the contract Rodriguez has.

Principle owner Hal Steinbrenner told the media that A-Rod had let the team down. He also backed off his statements a bit by stating that everyone makes mistakes and you hope they aren't repeated, etc.

It also created a bit of a debate on ESPN radio this afternoon. Stephen A. Smith called out the Yankees for commenting on Rodriguez while he's rehabbing from hip surgery. Later, Michael Kay defended the Yankees for speaking truthfully.

The sh*t is starting to hit the fan.

Mark Schlereth is Wrong

Former NFL offensive lineman Mark Schlereth was just on ESPN discussing the Justin Tuck-Flozell Adams incident that took place in the Giants-Cowboys game Sunday night.

Schlereth is angry, and I mean angry, that Adams was fined $12,500 for his trip of Tuck that resulted in a shoulder injury to the Giants defensive lineman. (Adams was also fined that much because of another attempted trip later in the game, but Schelereth didn't bring that up.)

Schlereth contends that you have to stop the defender from getting to the QB no matter what. That if he had been fined every time he tried to trip a player, he'd have "played for free". Schlereth actually wants the union to step in to do something about these type of fines.

Has he lost his mind? Or more precisely is Schlereth biased as a former o-lineman, which in turn clouds his judgement? I'll go with the latter, though maybe a little bit of the former is correct too.

I agree, you have to stop the defender from killing your QB. But you do it within the rules, which means you do NOT make a play with intent to injure and that's exactly what Adams did. Tackle the player, hold them, whatever, but you do not perform just a blatantly dirty act to get the job done.

Adams isn't a first time offender. He is the most penalized offensive lineman in the league. Therefore, I stand by my original thought which is that Adams should have been suspended for one game.

You are very wrong Mark Schelereth.

The Rocket's Red Glare

So Roger Clemens decided to come out of his spider hole this morning to make an appearance on ESPN radio's Mike & Mike show. The first question was, of course, what made you decide to appear in public?

Clemens and his wife are headed on a trip overseas, so the Rocket wanted to make a preemptive strike before the release of "American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America's Pastime".

Clemens maintained his innocence and used every angle possible to mention what a great, generous, family oriented, and clean cut American individual he is.

You can listen to the entire interview at 1050ESPN radio.

The Daily Yankeeland - 9/20

ESPN Television and it's "tributaries" (ESPN Classic, etc.) have Yankees programming all day Sunday and next week as well. The Biz of Baseball has the full slate. ESPN.com also has a page dedicated to the farewell.

A Yankees fan spread his brother's ashes in another goodbye.

More on Bobby Murcer's addition to the Yankees Hall of Fame mural.

Brett Gardner wants to be the Yankees starting center fielder next year.

ABC News made Yankee Stadium it's "Person of the Week".

On this date 40 years ago, September 20, 1968, Mickey Mantle hit his final home run. Number 536 came against the Red Sox Jim Lonborg.

George Vecsey with a wonderful piece on Bob Sheppard.

The Daily Yankeeland - 9/20

ESPN Television and it's "tributaries" (ESPN Classic, etc.) have Yankees programming all day Sunday and next week as well. The Biz of Baseball has the full slate. ESPN.com also has a page dedicated to the farewell.

A Yankees fan spread his brother's ashes in another goodbye.

More on Bobby Murcer's addition to the Yankees Hall of Fame mural.

Brett Gardner wants to be the Yankees starting center fielder next year.

ABC News made Yankee Stadium it's "Person of the Week".

On this date 40 years ago, September 20, 1968, Mickey Mantle hit his final home run. Number 536 came against the Red Sox Jim Lonborg.

George Vecsey with a wonderful piece on Bob Sheppard.

Michael Kay can do the Brobot

You've probably seen the ESPN radio commercial (see below) where a fan comes up to Michael Kay and says how much he loves him. The guy wants to do a special handshake, the brobot, with Kay and eventually asks Kay for the PIN to his ATM account.

"That guy" is Bobby Moynihan and he is the newest cast member of Saturday Night Live, according to TV Squad.

Michael Kay can do the Brobot

You've probably seen the ESPN radio commercial (see below) where a fan comes up to Michael Kay and says how much he loves him. The guy wants to do a special handshake, the brobot, with Kay and eventually asks Kay for the PIN to his ATM account.

"That guy" is Bobby Moynihan and he is the newest cast member of Saturday Night Live, according to TV Squad.

1st Base Getting Crowded with Ensberg

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com is reporting that the Yankees have agreed to a 1-year minor league deal with veteran 3rd Baseman Morgan Ensberg.

Since some guy named A-Rod is holding down the fort over at 3rd, Ensberg is expected to compete for the 1st Base job with Wilson Betemit, Jason Giambi, Shelley Duncan, Jason Lane, and anyone else the Yankees can scrape off the bottoms of their shoes.

The 32-yr old, right-handed hitting Ensberg had a huge 2005 season when the Astros reached the World Series. That year he hit .283 with 36 home runs and 101 RBI. But he tailed off to 23 HRs and 58 RBI in '06, and hit just .230-12-39 in 115 games split between Houston and San Diego this past season.