It's Either Sadness or Euphoria

Stop the presses! Okay, it wasn't that dramatic, but the moment Alex Rodriguez hit home run #600 yesterday, media everywhere trotted out prepared articles. (I'm sure some were fresh, but wouldn't you work ahead on the inevitable?)

As you would expect, most of the media has downplayed the event due to A-Rod's admission of steroid use. Things went like this in the metropolitan area:

Apparently the NY Daily News didn't want to sell any extra newspapers or collectible items, such as posters. The back page, pictured here, says it all.

Mike Lupica also mentioned that no matter how hard A-Rod tries, he'll be forever linked to the steroid users. I chuckled a bit in reading Lupica's column today since he made a tidy sum with his book, "Summer of '98'. Everyone but Bud Selig suspected steroid use during that very tainted season, but Lupica rejoiced in the single season home run chase (I really enjoyed the big; probably the only that Lupica has ever written that I have liked.)

The NY Post is the paper you would expect the above cover from, but they were actually tasteful for once (I'm sure Page Six more than made up for it with their daily garbage.)


Joel Sherman shared an interesting personal story between he and A-Rod, but also threw this gem out in another piece, "Alex Rodriguez never is going to be fully a Yankee." I've said this before. I don't know where this garbage came from, but there is no such thing as a "true Yankee". It's some nonsense started by either the media and/or some spoiled younger Yankees fan early in this decade. It's complete and utter nonsense and doesn't deserve to be delved into further.

The Star Ledger's Steve Politi took at look at how the fans themselves weighed out the steroid past and the milestone present. Big props to Marc Carig and Dan Worthington on their full page breakdown of A-Rod's home run history. Here's part of it online.

Newday's Ken Davidoff took a look at the "very human" A-Rod. There was more steroid talk from Bob Klapisch.

Former Yankee Bucky Dent had this to say. Johnny Damon took a shot at the media for their negative portrayal. David Wells took some shots at A-Rod.

Kyle Koster of the Chicago Sun-Times wonders if anyone cares.


Me? I still don't know what to think.

Politi: Hank Full of Hot Air

Steve Politi of the Star Ledger can always be counted on for an interesting feature. Yesterday, he was one of the many members of the media who had a sit down with Hank Steinbrenner after the prince's recent comments.

As we're sure you already know Hank blasted the Yankees lackluster play and threatened to force them to play better. As Politi shows, Hank never backs up his words with actions like the old man did.

Maybe we just miss his old man. The angry shouts from George Steinbrenner were the stuff of legend. They defined life for an entire generation of Yankees fans. We waited for him to call Hideki Irabu a "fat toad" or to dub Dave Winfield "Mr. May." That Boss has been MIA for years now.

He said, in October, that under no circumstances would Alex Rodriguez return as the third baseman for the Yankees. "If a player doesn't want us, we don't want him," Hank said. "That chapter is closed."

Result: Rodriguez is the third baseman for the Yankees.

He made it clear throughout the offseason that he was willing to trade one of his top pitching prospects -- and, as it turns out, he was absolutely right -- to get Johan Santana from the Twins.

Result: Santana is pitching for the Mets.

He told me in January that he would be at Yankee Stadium "a lot" during the season, unlike his father in recent years. "It's absolutely critical for the players to know the owner is there," he said, "and for the fans to know the owner is there."

Result: He has yet to attend a game in the Bronx.

He insisted Joba Chamberlain would be in the starting rotation at the start of this season, and then last month, took that up a level when he said he wanted his young star starting games "now."

Result: Chamberlain is still in the bullpen.

His father fired managers and chased players out of town. Hank still supports manager Joe Girardi -- "Joe is playing with the deck he's been dealt," he said -- but even if he didn't, he would have to clear it with his brother, Hal. And, for that matter, with his father.

"I'll make my judgments at the end of the season -- that's the way you should do it in a business," he said. "I'm not doing what my dad did and just tear apart everybody. I thought it was constructive criticism and stating the obvious."

"I guarantee you we're going to make a run," Steinbrenner said. "We have too much talent to not do that."

This just in: The new boss promises a big run! Don't stop the presses.

Yes indeed, Hank is proving that his alter ego is Captain Obvious.

Politi: Hank Full of Hot Air

Steve Politi of the Star Ledger can always be counted on for an interesting feature. Yesterday, he was one of the many members of the media who had a sit down with Hank Steinbrenner after the prince's recent comments.

As we're sure you already know Hank blasted the Yankees lackluster play and threatened to force them to play better. As Politi shows, Hank never backs up his words with actions like the old man did.

Maybe we just miss his old man. The angry shouts from George Steinbrenner were the stuff of legend. They defined life for an entire generation of Yankees fans. We waited for him to call Hideki Irabu a "fat toad" or to dub Dave Winfield "Mr. May." That Boss has been MIA for years now.

He said, in October, that under no circumstances would Alex Rodriguez return as the third baseman for the Yankees. "If a player doesn't want us, we don't want him," Hank said. "That chapter is closed."

Result: Rodriguez is the third baseman for the Yankees.

He made it clear throughout the offseason that he was willing to trade one of his top pitching prospects -- and, as it turns out, he was absolutely right -- to get Johan Santana from the Twins.

Result: Santana is pitching for the Mets.

He told me in January that he would be at Yankee Stadium "a lot" during the season, unlike his father in recent years. "It's absolutely critical for the players to know the owner is there," he said, "and for the fans to know the owner is there."

Result: He has yet to attend a game in the Bronx.

He insisted Joba Chamberlain would be in the starting rotation at the start of this season, and then last month, took that up a level when he said he wanted his young star starting games "now."

Result: Chamberlain is still in the bullpen.

His father fired managers and chased players out of town. Hank still supports manager Joe Girardi -- "Joe is playing with the deck he's been dealt," he said -- but even if he didn't, he would have to clear it with his brother, Hal. And, for that matter, with his father.

"I'll make my judgments at the end of the season -- that's the way you should do it in a business," he said. "I'm not doing what my dad did and just tear apart everybody. I thought it was constructive criticism and stating the obvious."

"I guarantee you we're going to make a run," Steinbrenner said. "We have too much talent to not do that."

This just in: The new boss promises a big run! Don't stop the presses.

Yes indeed, Hank is proving that his alter ego is Captain Obvious.

The Fallout Continues

While some players continue to deny steroid and HGH use (Roger Clemens), others have come forward, albeit with half-hearted apologies (Andy Pettitte). There are those who have given full disclosure and co-operated (Dan Naulty) with the Mitchell investigation, but they are in the minority. And there are those players like Johnny Damon and Albert Pujols who are furious about their names being mentioned in a premature and false report produced by NBC news.

Steve Politi of the Star-Ledger had an excellent piece in today's paper on Naulty. It's the story of a player who took the easy route to get what he wanted, and has lived with regrets- and physical and mental ailments- ever since (photos to the left are Naulty in '89 and '97).

Naulty was a 6'6" stringbean who used steroids to bulk up and help him to gain entry to major league baseball. Later, he switched to HGH to help the numerous injuries that occurred as a result of too much muscle mass on his frame. Naulty actually received a World Series ring from the 1999 Yankees, though he wasn't much of a contributor. His career was taking a downward spiral at that point. Ironically, he credits a new faith that he gained by participating in Christian-based meetings with several Yankees. The ironic part? Andy Pettitte and Mike Stanton, both named in the Mitchell report, were also part of that group.

Today, Naulty is a pastor and tries to counsel youth to stay away from drugs and alcohol. If only more players would learn from his mistakes. Click here to read more of Naulty's story.

The more you re-read Andy Pettitte's statement, the more you realize his apology rings hollow. It's not even really an apology. "If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize." Those words don't exactly say, "I'm really sorry for what I did and I was stupid."

We're huge Andy Pettitte fans and have always admired and respected him. Anyone who has ever dealt with him speaks glowingly of him. Joe Torre once said, "If you have a son, you'd want him to be like Andy Pettitte."

Okay, maybe not completely. We are still Pettitte fans and we think it was great that he came forward. But, at the same time, he could have been a little more sincere with his words. Dan Graziano and Peter Abraham sum up our feelings quite nicely.

As for Roger Clemens, now that his buddy Pettitte has come forward it kind of puts him in an awkward position. His reputation is already tainted. He's in the Mitchell Report as a repeated steroid user. And if he did want to come forward, he made it even harder by having his attorney blast the report and defend his honor. Of course, he could just claim that his lawyer spoke on his own without consulting him.

But, how do you remove the taint when you haven't done anything wrong? That's what Johnny Damon is wondering right now. Damon's name appeared in that erroneous NBC report. He considered suing the station, but his agent advised against it.

"I woke up and my brother is telling me there are reporters at my father's house," Damon told The Post. "My dad told them, 'My son isn't a liar, my son doesn't lie.'"

"It sucks. I am wondering if there is any legal course to turn to", Damon said. "I walk around with my shirt off. If I had anything to hide I wouldn't do that. I really don't know what to say. There seems to be some people who don't like me..."

"I asked my agent about legal action, but he said it wasn't worth it. Maybe the president [of NBC] will write me a nice letter."

Damon was one of 41 players listed in the NBC report that were not included in the Mitchell report. Pujols was also on the erroneous list and worried about his family's reaction.

"What concerns me is the affect this has had on my family and that my character and values have now been questioned due to the media's lack of accuracy in their reporting."

MLB wants to pull a Mark McGwire and move forward, but this is all far from being over.

The Fallout Continues

While some players continue to deny steroid and HGH use (Roger Clemens), others have come forward, albeit with half-hearted apologies (Andy Pettitte). There are those who have given full disclosure and co-operated (Dan Naulty) with the Mitchell investigation, but they are in the minority. And there are those players like Johnny Damon and Albert Pujols who are furious about their names being mentioned in a premature and false report produced by NBC news.

Steve Politi of the Star-Ledger had an excellent piece in today's paper on Naulty. It's the story of a player who took the easy route to get what he wanted, and has lived with regrets- and physical and mental ailments- ever since (photos to the left are Naulty in '89 and '97).

Naulty was a 6'6" stringbean who used steroids to bulk up and help him to gain entry to major league baseball. Later, he switched to HGH to help the numerous injuries that occurred as a result of too much muscle mass on his frame. Naulty actually received a World Series ring from the 1999 Yankees, though he wasn't much of a contributor. His career was taking a downward spiral at that point. Ironically, he credits a new faith that he gained by participating in Christian-based meetings with several Yankees. The ironic part? Andy Pettitte and Mike Stanton, both named in the Mitchell report, were also part of that group.

Today, Naulty is a pastor and tries to counsel youth to stay away from drugs and alcohol. If only more players would learn from his mistakes. Click here to read more of Naulty's story.

The more you re-read Andy Pettitte's statement, the more you realize his apology rings hollow. It's not even really an apology. "If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize." Those words don't exactly say, "I'm really sorry for what I did and I was stupid."

We're huge Andy Pettitte fans and have always admired and respected him. Anyone who has ever dealt with him speaks glowingly of him. Joe Torre once said, "If you have a son, you'd want him to be like Andy Pettitte."

Okay, maybe not completely. We are still Pettitte fans and we think it was great that he came forward. But, at the same time, he could have been a little more sincere with his words. Dan Graziano and Peter Abraham sum up our feelings quite nicely.

As for Roger Clemens, now that his buddy Pettitte has come forward it kind of puts him in an awkward position. His reputation is already tainted. He's in the Mitchell Report as a repeated steroid user. And if he did want to come forward, he made it even harder by having his attorney blast the report and defend his honor. Of course, he could just claim that his lawyer spoke on his own without consulting him.

But, how do you remove the taint when you haven't done anything wrong? That's what Johnny Damon is wondering right now. Damon's name appeared in that erroneous NBC report. He considered suing the station, but his agent advised against it.

"I woke up and my brother is telling me there are reporters at my father's house," Damon told The Post. "My dad told them, 'My son isn't a liar, my son doesn't lie.'"

"It sucks. I am wondering if there is any legal course to turn to", Damon said. "I walk around with my shirt off. If I had anything to hide I wouldn't do that. I really don't know what to say. There seems to be some people who don't like me..."

"I asked my agent about legal action, but he said it wasn't worth it. Maybe the president [of NBC] will write me a nice letter."

Damon was one of 41 players listed in the NBC report that were not included in the Mitchell report. Pujols was also on the erroneous list and worried about his family's reaction.

"What concerns me is the affect this has had on my family and that my character and values have now been questioned due to the media's lack of accuracy in their reporting."

MLB wants to pull a Mark McGwire and move forward, but this is all far from being over.