Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:10:48 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Steven Goldman :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Steven+Goldman istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/delgado-surge-has-put-other-contributions/85729/ Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST When I was a teenager, my high school class was dominated by Yankees partisans. The Mets fans were small and harried, small mammals scurrying between the dinosaurs' toes. Then came a day, about this time in 1986, that the roles were suddenly reversed. With the Mets rampaging through the NL East, the hitherto shamed Mets fans were suddenly standing tall, joined by a huge number of supposedly devoted Yankees fans, newly outfitted in Darryl Strawberry jerseys and Dwight Gooden T-shirts. The... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/these-yankees-need-to-be-dismantled-immediately/84323/ Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST "Break up the Yankees" was the cry after the Joe DiMaggio-led Bombers won straight championships between 1936 and 1939. In an effort to stop the Yankees from improving or replenishing their dominant team, the American League even briefly adopted a rule saying that no team could trade with the previous season's pennant winner. The rule was misguided, since the Yankees largely built from within in those days; it took until World War II to accomplish what the rule was intended to, and then only... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/martinez-mussina-exits-may-mark-end-of-an-era/86840/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST It's the end of an era in New York. Forget the dual destruction of two long-standing baseball edifices in Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium; the end of the season may also have brought a conclusion to the careers of two fin de siècle pitching greats, Mike Mussina of the Yankees and Pedro Martinez of the Mets. Mussina has indicated that he might retire, while Martinez has not made his future plans known. "Fin de siècle" refers, in this case, to the end of the 20th century, but given the current... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/team-now-faces-plenty-of-offseason-questions/86776/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST For the second year in a row, the Mets have suffered elimination on the final day of the regular season. These consecutively aborted grasps at destiny recall lines from the Bob Dylan canon: "Tonight you got the power to take it, tomorrow you won't have the power to keep it. ... I see the turning of the page, curtain rising on a new age, see the groom still waiting at the altar." The groom, that is, the pennant, has indeed been left waiting — incomplete and unconsummated. The Mets now go into... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/mets-season-again-may-come-down-to-spot-starter/86608/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST History has a strange way of repeating itself. On Tuesday, the Mets pitched their big gun, Johan Santana, and won. No surprise there: the Mets have gone 21–12 when their lefty ace starts, the equivalent of being a 103-win team over a full season. When anyone else starts, they are more of an 86-win team over a full season. The difference between those two versions of the Mets is their biggest impediment to keeping their hold on a postseason slot. Unfortunately, with Santana unavailable to pitch... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/bostons-better-prepared-for-future-than-yankees/86373/ Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Now that the Yankees have bid farewell to that gloried but antiquated relic they have called a home since 1923, it's time to figure out when they're going to start hoisting new pennant and championship flags at their McMansion across the street. In other places, I have advanced the notion that the Yankees will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 2000 World Series winners before they have a new championship to celebrate. This has provoked a rejoinder from the diehards in the audience that goes... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/hall-of-fames-purpose-to-start-debate-not-end-it/86127/ Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Whenever the Hall of Fame makes the news, as it did this week when the annual Veterans Committee ballot for players whose careers began after 1943 was released, there is a knee-jerk reaction on the part of some fans and commentators to dismiss the institution as irrelevant and no longer worthy of discussion. This by-now clichéd position is the pseudo-intellectual response to the lax standards adopted by the Veterans Committee during the period the panel was dominated by Frankie Frisch, with the... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/yankees-must-be-patient-with-problematic-cano/85926/ Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Robinson Cano was in an unusual position as last night's game at Yankee Stadium began, watching from a seat in the dugout rather than second base. Joe Girardi, whose touch with young players this season has epitomized the Hollies' 1967 single, "King Midas in Reverse," belatedly discovered his disciplinary powers on Sunday after Cano disdained to pursue a ball that had deflected off of Jason Giambi's glove. Girardi showed the second baseman the bench, and there he remained as of the start of... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/cashman-has-been-slow-to-react-all-season/85529/ Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST There have been a lot of opportunities over the years to level fair criticism at Mets general manager Omar Minaya for some of the moves he's made, but you have to admire the fellow's audacity. When Billy Wagner went down, he acquired Luis Ayala from the Washington Nationals, and together he and Jerry Manuel proclaimed him the team's closer. This was jaw-dropping wishful thinking given Ayala's track record in D.C., but it has somehow worked out, at least so far, and if it keeps working out... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/has-the-torre-touch-sparked-la/85435/ Tue, 9 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Though most of us have never been invited to Joe Torre's house (houses?), we can safely assume that if the manager, bedecked in his "Kiss the Chef, Sports Fans" apron, were to give us the grand tour before his big holiday barbecue, we would have no problem spotting the open space on the wall of his trophy room reserved for his Hall of Fame plaque. "No, no," he'd say if you asked about it, fearful of appearing presumptuous. "It's been a lifetime dream of mine to acquire Manet's "Le déjeuner sur... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/cashman-or-not-yankees-must-embrace-rebuilding/85171/ Thu, 4 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST This week, reports have circulated that the Steinbrenner boys have made it clear to Brian Cashman that they would like to re-sign him at the end of his current contract, apparently believing that the man who built the disappointingly mediocre 2008 Yankees also has the insight to craft the roster of the (it is hoped) surprisingly good 2009 Yankees. The only thing that's not clear is why they think that. No insult to Brian Cashman is intended. He clearly is intelligent and experienced, and is an... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/closing-is-key-for-mets-postseason/84985/ Tue, 2 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST In the 1990 Tom Hanks film "Joe Versus the Volcano" (a classic to some, though not many), Dan Hedaya has a long, one-sided phone conversation that mostly consists of him repeating the phrase, "I know he can get the job, but can he do the job?" That question may well apply to the Mets, who are in a good position to make it to the postseason, but may not have what it takes to win in the postseason. The formula for October success is slightly different from that of the regular season, as teams... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/many-many-people-to-blame-before-we-blame-a-rod/84814/ Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Barring divine intervention, the Yankees' season is over. They will not win the American League East or the wild card. After the first game of the current series with the Boston Red Sox, the ever-vigilant scapegoat brigade spent its best efforts on Alex Rodriguez, and their efforts were bolstered by the man himself, who said, "Tonight you can put it on me." This was fair but overly generous, given that A-Rod didn't give up 10 hits and six runs in 4.2 innings. Andy Pettitte did. Rodriguez didn't... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/both-ny-second-basemen-need-to-step-it-up/84541/ Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST In the song titled "Ted [Expletive] Williams," on Scott McCaughey and Steve Wynn's new "Baseball Project" album, Williams, presumably mid-career, ponders why Willie, Mickey, and the Duke are so much more popular than he is. The answer, then and now, is that a coltish natural is always more attractive than a determined grinder. On the baseball field, Mays may have only appeared effortless, but his early exuberance was more than a match for Williams's humorless determination to be the greatest... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/one-regrettable-side-effect-of-matsuis-return/84166/ Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST As strange as this season has been for the Yankees, it's about to enter an even stranger phase. Back in the early 1980s, there was a time when George Steinbrenner overbooked the Yankees' roster, leaving the team with a large set of ill-matching parts, all of whom had a claim on playing time. As a result, the Yankees experienced two seasons of first basemen/right fielders, shortstop/first basemen, first basemen/center fielders, and other equally baroque part-time combinations. The team defense... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/al-east-players-dropping-like-flies/83850/ Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST The players are dropping like flies in the American League East, with an All-Star team of players populating the disabled lists of the contenders. Imagine one of those Olympic swimming races that Michael Phelps has been dominating, except that halfway through the race, right after the kick-turn, all the swimmers sink. It's been like that. This afternoon, the Boston Red Sox put third baseman Mike Lowell on the disabled list with a strained right oblique muscle, joining nominal starting shortstop... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/yankee-lineup-card-signals-dark-omens-for-season/83689/ Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST With the Yankees entering last night's action having gone 2-5 on their current road trip, including being swept by the Angels in Anaheim, it's difficult not to look for and find signs that the end is nigh. After all, Joe Girardi's team now stands 8.5 games behind the American League East-leading Tampa Bay Rays with 44 games to play; according to the latest polls, Senator Obama has a better chance of winning the East than the Yankees do. Entry to the postseason through the wild card remains a... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/the-joba-rules-prove-irrelevant/83377/ Thu, 7 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST With Joba Chamberlain on the disabled list with tendinitis in his rotator cuff, the full extent of which has yet to be disclosed, it is time to acknowledge the secret truth of the Joba Rules: There are no Joba Rules. Although commonsense precautions such as pitch counts and innings limits may avoid exacerbating a pitcher's already high chances of serious injury, they don't do anything to reduce them. Far too many factors are at work — from the mechanical interactions of the parts of the... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/mets-now-paying-price-for-a-poor-farm-system/83205/ Tue, 5 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Whatever one thinks of the accomplishments (or lack thereof) of the Bill Clinton presidency, his initial campaign did succeed in making one indelible mark on American culture, giving us the quintessential expression for keeping your eye on the ball. Clinton's early campaign mantra, "It's the economy, stupid," has proved wonderfully adaptable to almost any situation in the form of "It's the [fill in the blank], stupid." As the Mets demonstrated during the weekend, it's a phrase of which they... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/what-this-deal-means-from-a-yankee-perspective/83042/ Fri, 1 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST The Boston Red Sox took a terrific risk on non-waiver trade deadline day, dealing future Hall of Fame left fielder Manny Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a three-way trade with the Pirates that brought two-time All-Star Jason Bay to Boston. Few organizations, particularly one with as rabid and frequently disappointed a fan base as Boston's, would risk the inevitable backlash that would come with finishing just short of a playoff berth having dumped a 500-home-run man with a lot of... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/overachieving-angels-snag-big-bat-at-deadline/82880/ Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Yesterday, the Los Angeles Angels scored the coup of the pre-deadline trade market when they acquired slugging first baseman and free agent-to-be Mark Teixeira from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for first baseman Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Stephen Marek. Teixeira brings the Angels a career .286 AVG/.373 OBA/.536 SLG line with power from both sides of the plate and a four-year record of hitting 30 or more home runs. From both ends, the trade is a victory for realistic... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/yanks-must-find-pitchers-who-can-succeed/82793/ Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST As the Yankees took two of three games from the Red Sox at Fenway Park over the weekend, acquiring Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte from the Pirates along the way, there was much speculation as to what kind of game the team should capture on its next trading safari. Much of the discussion centered on Mariners left-hander Jarrod Washburn, a relative mediocrity with an inappropriately large contract whom Seattle would like to unload, perhaps freighted with Jose Vidro, who may be the worst full-time... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/yankees-suddenly-appear-very-much-alive/82536/ Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST For the Yankees, this has been the season of second chances. They got off to a miserable start, and though they have played very well since finally getting above the .500 mark in mid-June, at first it appeared that the Red Sox and Rays were too far ahead and too good to catch. Now the Yankees are very much alive. Jason Giambi seemed finished, then he grew a mustache. Robinson Cano forgot how to hit, then he remembered. Joe Girardi seemed nervous and indecisive, then he found a bullpen. Most of... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/with-posadas-season-in-doubt-yanks-need-another/82369/ Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Jorge Posada, one of top three catchers in Yankees history (behind Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey, ahead of Elston Howard and Thurman Munson), is feared to be out for the season after once again hitting the disabled list yesterday afternoon. While a precise determination as to his short-term future has yet to be made, season-ending surgery seems foreordained. Posada's shoulder troubles him when he throws and when he hits. If surgery is necessary, the recovery time is reportedly four to six months... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/struggling-yankee-offense-gets-more-bad-news/81969/ Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST On the same day as the All-Star Game comes bad news from the Yankees' Droid Repair Shop in Tampa, Fla., where the installation of new gears on Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon have not rejuvenated the outfielders as had been hoped. Though Matsui has been on the shelf since late June, he is still experiencing soreness in his left knee. Damon's shoulder is still troubling him enough that his planned encounter with a batting tee has been put off until the end of the week. For both players, the... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/for-yankees-mets-a-summer-reminiscent-of-1987/81896/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST It must have seemed like a pretty obvious ad campaign going into the 1987 season. The Mets had won the World Series the previous fall, and there was every reason to think they'd be good again. The Yankees had gone 90-72, finishing second in the American League East behind the Red Sox. Their pitching was unremarkable, to say the least, but with Don Mattingly, Willie Randolph, Rickey Henderson, Dave Winfield, and more, the Yankees had the best offense in their league, if not in baseball. Thus... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/remembering-what-never-got-to-happen-at-stadium/81595/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Though Yankee Stadium is popularly known as the House That Ruth Built, and its shortened right field line was built with him in mind, the great Babe never cranked a fair ball out of Yankee Stadium. Neither did his teammate Lou Gehrig, nor Joe DiMaggio. Mickey Mantle came closest, whacking a couple off of the outfield façade. In fact, no major leaguer has ever popped a fair ball clear out of the stadium, but a Negro Leaguer might have. Though there are no photos of the event, it is said that... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/girardi-may-top-torre-at-managing-a-bullpen/81413/ Tue, 8 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST In my other guise as armchair quarterback for the YES Network Web site, I get a lot of mail from irate Yankees fans. One theme that emerges from time to time is, "Joe Torre would have sorted this team out!" Denial, as they say, is a river in Los Angeles — Torre has had no success in overcoming the Dodgers' many injuries and ill-considered player moves, and there's little reason to think that he would have had much more insight into the Yankees' problems. In fact, in one specific area, that of... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/yanks-must-seize-opportunity-vs-struggling-sox/81233/ Thu, 3 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Each baseball season contains many turning points. It seems as if the Yankees have already had dozens. Think of the man whose boat has been sunk and he's clinging to a piece of wreckage in the middle of the ocean. Every time he slips off into the water, he manages to scramble back aboard his raft without drowning. The Yankees are the man in the water, the sunken boat their miserable start to the season, the raft their postseason hopes. This time they have slipped off the raft to find a shark... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/padres-on-trading-block-but-stats-may-be-skewed/81024/ Tue, 1 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST The San Diego Padres' CEO, Sandy Alderson, acknowledged the obvious yesterday, that his failing team would be selling at the trading deadline. Despite coming painfully close to a postseason berth in 2007, with an 89-74 record, this year's Padres team has the worst record in the National League, at 32-51, has lost eight straight games — including being swept at home by the Seattle Mariners, the team with the American League's worst record — and could lose 100 games. "It's probably easier to see... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/no-shame-relying-on-the-utility-players/80742/ Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Two nights ago, outfielder Justin Christian, 28, made his major league debut in Pittsburgh, starting in left field for the Yankees. He had two hits, including a double, and also made an error. His name is now in the Baseball Encyclopedia, and he will be in future editions of the annual Yankees Official Media Guide on the long list of every player to wear the team colors in the bigs. No matter what happens, regardless of what happens in the rest of his life, no one can take that away from him... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/yankees-should-trade-melky-cabrera/80545/ Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Two key tenets of successful team building in baseball: First, deal from strength, and second, take advantage when the market overvalues your assets. Brian Cashman may find himself in the unusual position of meeting both conditions for making a trade when it comes to his center fielder, Melky Cabrera. Cabrera is a bundle of contradictions: a functional defensive center fielder with a great arm but unexceptional range; a mostly inoffensive hitter whose hot streaks are outnumbered by deep slumps... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/randolph-takes-fall-for-minaya-shortcomings/80220/ Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST On April 30, 1973, just after the congressional testimony of a White House counsel, John Dean, had dragged the Watergate scandal to President Nixon's office doorstep, the president asked for the resignations of two of his closest advisers: the chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, and the domestic adviser, John Ehrlichman. Nixon hoped that by sacrificing these men he might short-circuit the growing political crisis. It didn't work. Nixon himself was forced to resign just more than a year later, on... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/yankees-should-replace-wang-in-house/80139/ Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Moments after Chien-Ming Wang limped off the field in Houston, a Yankees employee of my acquaintance who was not in the ballpark said, "I just hope it's not a Lisfranc sprain." He turned out to be amazingly prescient, but not in the way he had hoped: It was indeed a Lisfranc sprain of the right foot, with a bonus partial tear of the "peroneal longus tendon" in the same extremity. Wang will be in a boot for at least six weeks. Assume extended rehabilitation time after that, and it becomes a... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/like-mets-rangers-have-rich-history-of-frustration/79973/ Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Interleague play kicks off again today in an all-Texas way, with the Yankees visiting the Houston Astros and the Mets hosting the Texas Rangers. As disappointingly and strangely as things have gone for the Mets this year, with the latest development being Billy Wagner's three-game total of 2.1 innings, six runs, and a trio of blown saves, their frustration cannot match the primal strain of thwarted ambition that annually distinguishes the Rangers. The Rangers are the only American League team... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/mets-may-benefit-from-losing-if-it-sparks/79873/ Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Though the Mets ultimately chased the once-and-future Cy Young award winner Brandon Webb last night, it must have been disheartening for Willie Randolph to make out his lineup card beforehand. The bottom half of his lineup was given over to the fading Carlos Delgado at first base, the journeyman subs Marlon Anderson and Endy Chavez manning the outfield wings, and the inoffensive catcher Brian Schneider. This is how he would combat the great sinker-baller. Unfortunately, between injuries and... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/torre-not-doing-much-better-than-girardi/79655/ Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST There are still many Joe Torre diehards lurking about town. It's not surprising given just how long he managed the Yankees and how successful he was. One is reminded of the country's shock when Franklin Roosevelt died in office in 1945. For many, he was the only president they had ever known. As such, one still sees and hears the occasional talk-radio or online muttering that Torre would have been able to fix what ails the 2008 Yankees whereas Joe Girardi has failed. These arguments would have... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/yankees-real-problem-is-getting-men-on-base/79381/ Thu, 5 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST There has been a lot of talk on the airwaves in recent days about the Yankees struggling in the clutch. They would be winning, this theory goes, if they could only get the big hit. The only problem is, it's not true. The average American League hitter is batting .272 AVG/.348 OBA/.414 SLG with runners on base. The Yankees are right there with them at .278/.346/.425. Many Yankees, in fact most of them, are hitting quite well with runners on, including Bobby Abreu at .350, Hideki Matsui at .348... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/the-yankees-and-mets-draft-pick-woes/79179/ Tue, 3 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST The Cincinnati Reds have witnessed one of the hottest prospect debuts in recent memory. Center fielder Jay Bruce made his major league debut on May 27, going 3-for-3 and driving in two runs. He kept raking from there, hitting in five of six games and blasting a walk-off home run in extra innings on Saturday for his initial round-tripper in the show. He followed up with another long ball on Sunday. Overall, Bruce went 13-for-22 (.591), driving in six runs and scoring 10. Bruce isn't Superman, so... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/rays-yanks-find-different-ways-to-build-a-bullpen/78878/ Thu, 29 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Given the number of bulletin-board posters and callers on talk-radio shows asking, "Are the Tampa Bay Rays for real?" it's obvious that the public still isn't used to the inverted standings in the American League East. As the Rays sit in first place with the best record in baseball, the Yankees sink heavily to the bottom, like something wrapped in a tarp that Tony Soprano rolled off the back of his yacht. Yet, if the Rays are the fishes while the Yankees only sleep with them, the two teams... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/one-hot-streak-wont-get-yankees-out-of-woods/78667/ Tue, 27 May 2008 00:00:00 EST The Boston Red Sox might very well have a difficult time winning games during its present series against the Seattle Mariners: While the Red Sox are 21-5 at home, they're only 10-17 on the road. But — despite having one of the best young power pitchers in baseball, Felix Hernandez, and home field advantage, which is particularly strong during this year's regular season — the M's have a poor offense. King Felix aside, they also have the worst pitching-defense combination in baseball. As the... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/moving-joba-to-rotation-maximizes-his-value/77385/ Fri, 23 May 2008 00:00:00 EST To paraphrase Mel Brooks, Joba Chamberlain is just a pawn in the game of life, buffeted from the rotation to the bullpen and back — a victim of some of baseball's most cherished idiocies. Simply put, having Chamberlain in the rotation is a no-brainer, one of the few ways the Yankees have within their power of lowering the disastrously high ERA of their starting rotation, currently third-worst in the American League. Worrying about the effect his removal from the bullpen will have on the eighth... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/if-things-dont-improve-yanks-must-reconsider/76690/ Tue, 20 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Jumping off the Yankees' bandwagon is rarely a wise thing to do. In two of the last three seasons, the team's performance was at least as bad as this year's aggregation, if not worse, and the Yankees would have been well-justified in throwing in the towel and trying to rebuild. Yet in both 2005 and 2007, the team stubbornly stood pat and rallied to make the playoffs. This season, though, the odds seem longer, and the long-term implications of trying to hang in the race are more damaging. The... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/if-the-boss-was-in-charge-someone-would-be-fired/76424/ Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 EST With the Yankees reaching the one-quarter mark of the season two games below .500, in fourth place in the AL East, and having just watched the Tampa Bay Rays make a historic move to first place on their backs, there can be no doubt that if the George Steinbrenner of 20 years ago was still running the Yankees, heads would have rolled by now. The Boss made 10 in-season managerial changes, and while there was no pattern to the timing — sometimes you had to wait for Billy Martin to do something... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/pitching-separates-yankees-from-rays/76325/ Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 EST It's not often in a baseball season that one sees the violation of a rule that seemed otherwise to be part of the natural order of things. With nearly a quarter of the season gone, the Yankees are looking up at the Tampa Bay Rays, something that had not previously happened at the same point of the season in any of the 10 years that the Rays have been in existence. The traditional order might be restored later this season. Then again, it might not. The Rays did pass the Yankees at a later point... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/joba-cant-help-save-leads-that-arent-there/76075/ Thu, 8 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Imagine an old-style, politically incorrect Western flick: Banditos are about to attack the wagon train. A courier with arrows sticking out of his back gets word to John Wayne and the cavalry with moments to spare. Wayne and company run for their horses, spurring the frothing creatures to get them to the battle before it's too late. They finally arrive, panting, dirt-covered, but instead of seeing circled wagons bristling with rifles, they find disorganized, naked hippies wandering disoriented... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/mets-fans-must-embrace-glass-half-full-attitude/76001/ Wed, 7 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Having passed the 30-game mark, the Mets have reached the point of the season where their record is a significant indicator of their outcome. "It's early" no longer applies: After 30 games, that euphoric feeling that comes with a dominant start is a bit like that of a healthy pregnancy in its second trimester. Alternatively, that tickling cough that accompanies a weak start might be a sign of an illness that requires more than a lozenge to relieve it. According to research done by Rany... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/posadas-value-will-be-clear-in-his-absence/75476/ Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST Because Jorge Posada is not a big personality to the press — Derek Jeter sucks up all available oxygen, plus Posada isn't the type — because he wasn't a hyped prospect, because he has prominent ears and a weak chin, because Joe Girardi-the-player kept him in a subordinate role for at least two years too many, because Joe Torre batted him sixth and seventh and religiously gave him days off, limiting his chances to have big RBI seasons, the Yankees' catcher's great value to the team will be made... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/mets-yanks-have-been-slower-to-address-problems/75257/ Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST One of the odd notions that has developed in American culture, and especially in politics, is that you have to be as stupid today as you were yesterday. If a leader lets his views evolve, he's accused of being a hypocritical, inconstant flip-flopper. This is likely why, in the current season of presidential politics, Senators John McCain and Hillary Clinton have refused to repudiate, have even embraced, certain past decisions that now seem unwise. Perhaps they would like to say that they've... STEVEN GOLDMAN http://www.nysun.com/sports/it-may-be-time-for-yankees-to-cut-giambi/75052/ Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST As the Yankees have struggled to a .500 record in the early going, the focus on how to "fix" the team has focused on the pitching staff and the difficulties of Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, the team's two hurlers on the rare side of 20-something. This weekend, Hank Steinbrenner raised the possibility that Joba Chamberlain, another young pitcher, will switch out of the bullpen and rescue the rotation. Yet the offense has also been a disappointment, and it's something that the Yankees can improve...