WITH APOLOGIES TO BOB HOPE...THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES ROCKET!

On June 13th, that's right, Friday the 13th my daughter and I were fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time. We were in Yankee Stadium getting ready to witness Roger Clemens fourth try at winning his 300th game. It was a magical night to be sure. We got to see Roger strike out Edgar Renteria of the St. Louis Cardinals for his 4,000th stikeout. Although it wasn't Rocket's sharpest game he gutted it out and left in the 7th inning after giving up just two runs, while striking out 10 and walking two. Fortunately, the bullpen help, consisting of Chris Hammond, Antonio Osuna and Mariano Rivera, held it together and blanked the Cardinals the rest of the way. Roger Clemens place in baseball history was cemented.

Over the next month Roger's starts were up and down. He'd be on one game and not in the next. He had an embarrassing loss against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on July 5th and I just wondered if maybe Roger was finally wearing down. What was I thinking?

When I got home from New York City all my son Mason could say to me was, "Dad you were so lucky to see Roger Clemens win his 300th game." That's when I promised him that if Roger was scheduled to pitch when the Yankees visited Anaheim I would take him. Well, last night was the night. As I said, 'what was I thinking?'

The Yankees got Roger ahead 2-0 in the first inning and Roger took the mound. He allowed a one-out double to Darin Erstad and I though "Oh-oh." Not to worry though. Erstad made it as far as 3rd base where he was stranded. Roger cruised after that. The Angels threatened only once more in the third inning when the Angels got two on, with two-out when Adam Kennedy popped out to end the inning. From that point on the Rocket was in control. With every out you could sense a little more history in the Roger Clemens legacy being made.

In the eighth inning Roger was out on the mound when I was wondering if he would be allowed to finish the game. Then I saw Sterling Hitchcock get up and I sort of had a sinking feeling that Joe was going to have the bullpen finish out the game. Again, 'what was I thinking.' Before the eighth inning was over I looked back at the Yankees bullpen and saw that no one was throwing. I knew then that Torre was going to give Roger the opportunity to close this thing out.

By the bottom of the ninth inning most of the Angels faithful and a few Yankees fans had left Edison Field and I thought what kind of fans are you? You have the opportunity to watch, maybe the last 300 game winner ever, pitch a shutout in his last game at your park and you leave? No real baseball fans here. I don't care what uniform a guy like Roger Clemens is wearing. When you're a witness to something as special as this you stay until the last out is recorded.

God love my little boy. I knew he was tired, but he was a real trooper and stuck out the entire game. Roger made the bottom of the ninth inning look easy. When Adam Kennedy grounded out to second baseman Enrique Wilson to end the game Roger's reaction was classic, if not classy. He gave a little pump with his right fist, then pointed at his catcher, Jorge Posada, and the Yankees dugout. He then joined in the team high-five celebration and left the field. I turned to my boy and said, "You just saw the best of Roger Clemens." He said he was sorry it was going to be the first and last time he was going to see him pitch. I was sorry too. Because, like my son I knew this would be the last time I would see Roger Clemens pitch in person. And with that we exited the stadium and drove home.

Roger Clemens has always been one of my favorite players. Like Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax I have always been drawn to power pitchers. Even when he played for Boston and Toronto I liked his tenacity and rough edges. When Roger was traded to the Yankees in 1999 for popular David "Boomer" Wells I was one of the few Yankees fans who supported the trade. The traffic on the Yankee message boards lambasted the Yankees for making the trade. Instead of withering under the media and fan onslaught Roger just got stronger about the situation. Over the past 5 years Roger Clemens has won over all, but the most unforgiving 'he played for Boston' Yankees fans. Roger Clemens has earned the respect and support of the fans, media and his teammates. He is one of the leaders in the Yankees clubhouse. He doesn't lead with words, but with work and work ethic. He became a New York Yankee. HE IS A NEW YORK YANKEE!

Five years after the 2003 season ends make your reservations for Cooperstown to see Roger Clemens inducted to the Hall of Fame. He will be a first-ballot choice for induction and if he has his way he will go in wearing a Yankees cap. I am going to do my best to see that I get there to see that. If the Hall of Fame board is smart they'll give in to Roger's preference. He's earned it and he deserves it. But for now, I am going to enjoy the rest of this year and I plan to watch as many of Roger's starts as I can. I would suggest you do that too. If you're able to get out to a game when Roger is starting go and enjoy one of the last of his breed. A throwback pitcher who came in with power and will go out the same way.

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES ROGER! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!

PS: My favorite Roger Clemens moment: As most of you who visit and post on my board know Roger Clemens' sister Janet is a big supporter/contributer to the site. In 2001 I went back to New York to attend the Forum Party and see the "Old Timers" game. Before that party Janet and I only knew each other by posting and email. However, we became friends and I knew she was going to be at this party. What I didn't know was what was going to happen after she got there. She came rolling up in a van and she climbed out on one side and her brother Roger got out on the other. My trip to New York was my wife's 50th birthday present to me. I made the trip with my brother. Just having Roger attend the party was birthday surprise enough, but Janet did one better. I heard her call out my name. I was standing in the back of the pack and I looked at my brother with a "did she just call me up there?" look. I went up to where Janet and Roger was standing and Roger presented me with a baseball that he personally signed and personalized for me. The ball said "To Russ. Best Wishes. Rocket." On the side of the ball he autographed it and wrote CY5 (5 Cy Young awards at the time) and WSC 99.00 (World Series Champion 1999, 2000). You could have knocked me over with a feather. I protected that ball with my life and when I got home I put it in a ball case to protect it and put it in my small, but personal Yankees memorial spot. It stands beside my signed Mickey Mantle ball. I will always cherish those two items. I will always cherish that moment in New York and I will always cherish my friendship with Janet. Thank you Janet for providing me one of the big highlights in my life. Roger, thank you for your generosity. You made a big baseball fan eternally happy.

ARE YOU READY FOR SECOND PLACE?

Here we are in the death throes of July, 2003 and I'm seeing a sight I haven't seen in a long time. Especially this far into the season. I'm seeing the Boston Red Sox still hot on our trail, positioning themselves to take over the AL Eastern Division. As did many of you, I watched tonight's 3-game finale on ESPN between the Yankees and Red Sox. The Yankees struck early building to a 3-run lead. Jeff Weaver, counter to his usual style, threw terrifically for 6+ innings. He entered the 7th inning and with one out proceeded to walk Trot Nixon and then hit Bill Mueller in the foot with a breaking ball. At this point Weaver had thrown 113 pitches. This is when things went terribly wrong for the Yankees.

With two Red Sox on Joe Torre collected his starter and summoned lefty Chris Hammond from the bullpen. The move forced the next batter Jason Varitek, who is a switch-hitter, to move from the left side of the plate to the right side. Guess which side is his stronger side? Hammond threw an off-speed pitch over the plate and Varitek hit it out over the green monster in left field to tie the score 3-3. One batter later Hammond surrendered a solo home run to Johnny Damon that curved around the Pesky Pole in right field. And just like that, with 4 hits, Boston lead 4-3. They scored two more times on Jesse Orosco to cap a 6-run 7th inning. The Sox ended up winning the game 6-4 and took this pivotal series 2-1. The Yankees outhit the Sox 11 to 7, but in the end had nothing to show for it.

As much as I have been a critic of Jeff Weaver, you can't hang this loss on him. He entered the 7th inning pitching a 2-hit shutout. For a guy his age (27) 113 pitches certainly wasn't going to make his arm fall off. Personally, I think Torre should have left him in for Jason Varitek. It was Weaver's lead to lose and even if Varitek hit a homer off him Weaver would have left the game tied and not in danger of losing. Torre, because of Weaver's instability as a starter, didn't have the confidence in him to get out of the jam. He turned the game's fortunes over to a very leaky bullpen. This time the bullpen didn't leak it burst like a dam.

There are plenty of villians to point fingers at in this game. First and foremost Joe Torre for making the move to Hammond, which forced Varitek to switch to his stronger side. Hammond for coming into a game that his starter pitched very well in and promptly surrendering 2 home runs in 10 pitches thrown. If you don't like those candidates how about Alfonso Soriano, who went fishing again by chasing balls down and away, out of the strike zone, and striking out 2 of the 5 times he was at bat? The other 3 outs were ground outs. He finished the night 0-5 with 4 men on base. Then there's Nick Johnson who stranded 5 baserunners or Raul Mondesi who stranded 3 more while going 0-3. How about the entire Yankees lineup who left 25 men standing on base?

Does this sound like a championship caliber team to you? The Boston Red Sox literally took this game from the Yankees and the Yankees almost willingly let them do it. The Sox definitely wanted this game and clearly the Yankees did not. The season record now stands at 7-6 in the Yankees favor, but the momentum for now has swung in the Red Sox favor. They are the team that nutted up, while the Yankees laid down and played dead.

Now comes the hard part. The Yankees are headed for a tough 6-game west coast road swing starting with the world champion Anaheim Angels. And we all know whether the Angels are in first place or last place they always play the Yankees tough. They are the only team in the past 5 years with a winning record against the pinstripers. The road doesn't get any easier as they have to take on the Oakland Athletics next. Another team that would like nothing better than to knock the Bombers off their perch. Meanwhile, Boston goes on the road against Texas and Baltimore. Who do you think has the rougher row to hoe?

Am I giving up hope? Not in the least. I still think the Yankees can finish strong and take their 6th straight division title. But they better not mess around or like the moth flying around the flame they're going to get burned. By this time next week there could be change on the leader board in the AL East. And in this situation I pose the question, "are you ready for second place?"

I'M NOT!

JEFF WEAVER NEEDS TO GO...NOW!

I consider myself a reasonable and rational person. Sometimes I have patience in things and sometimes I don't. In this case I did, but after yesterday's pitching (if you can call it that) performance by Jeff Weaver I have run out of it. Jeff Weaver needs to go....NOW, if not sooner. I am tired of looking at the pitching matchups and seeing his name. Because when I do I just write off the game as a loss.

Let's go back to last July, 2002. The Yankees, as had been the case in recent times, needed pitching help. Brian Cashman went forth into the trade market world and found, what he considered, a diamond in the rough. A California kid, pitching on the worst team in the AL Central Division, the Detroit Tigers. This kid was 25, had an array of pitches, including a 95 mph fastball, an ERA of 3.18 and his strikeout-to-walk ratio was better than 2-to-1. So on July 5th the Yankees grabbed this kid in a 3-way deal involving the Oakland Athletics and Detroit Tigers. The kid's name was Jeff Weaver. Oakland landed Ted Lilly and two of the Yankees' top propects. They sent outfielder John-Ford Griffin, the team's then No. 1 pick, and right-hander Jason Arnold to the A's. Detroit also acquired minor league right-hander Franklyn German and a player to be named from Oakland. Regarding the trade Brian Cashman's words were, "We had to seize the moment and acquire one of the best young starters in baseball. We're a pitching-oriented organization. Pitching is what's going to make or break us." I wonder what words Cashman would be using today to describe the trade. Words like "bust" or "screwed" come to mind. But let us continue our sojourn into history.

Weaver threw his first game for the Yankees on July 7th. He had a mediocre start. He got a 10-6 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays. Weaver's next decision came on July 27th in a losing effort against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In fact, he didn't win his next game until September 10th when he notched a 3-1 decision against the Baltimore Orioles. Between July 27th and September 10th Weaver spent a lot of time coming out of the bullpen or when he did start getting a no-decision. Afterwards, Weaver finished strong by winning 3 more games and finishing his regular season with the Yankees 5-3 with an ERA of 4.04. Not too bad, if you consider that Roger Clemens, the 2001 Cy Young Award winner finished the season with a record of 13-6 and had an ERA of 4.35. The Yankees went into the post-season against the current World Champion Anaheim Angels and as eveyone remembers the Yankees got blown out of the ALDS in an embarrassing fashion. Yours truly sat through both losses at Edison Field. I still have nightmares. Where was I? Oh yes! Everyone figured, ok, this was Weaver's first exposure to the Bronx. He finished strong so let's give him the benefit of the doubt.

In the off-season the Yankees dumped Mike Stanton and Ramiro Mendoza. They acquired Chris Hammond and Steve Karsay, whom they picked up in 2002, was slated to be Mariano Rivera's set up man. The Yankees needed one more pitcher and in a classic duel between the Bombers and the Boston Red Sox the Yankees acquired the pitching services of highly touted Jose Contreras. Contreras, like Orlando Hernandez before him, had pitched for the Cuban National Team. The Yankees signed Contreras to a 3-year, $24 million contract that so incensed Red Sox President Larry Lucchino he dubbed the Yankees "the evil empire."

The Yankee nation was all abuzz with the prospects of the pitching corps. Pre-season prognosticators inked the Yankees as the odds on favorites to win their 6th consecutive AL East title. The first four spots in the rotation were cemented in the persons of Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte and David Wells. Manager Joe Torre hadn't made up his mind as to who the 5th starter would be. So he pitted Jeff Weaver against Jose Contreras. Weaver outshined his teammate and the $8 million-per-year Contreras was sent to the bullpen. The Yankees rotation was now set for the 2003 season. Early on in the year Contreras had a myriad of problems while trying to learn the ropes in major league baseball. On April 22nd over the objections of manager Joe Torre, Contreras is sent to Tampa to work with pitching guru Billy Conner. The move to the Yankees' minor league complex had been orchestrated by owner George Steinbrenner. Torre had wanted to sent Contreras down to the minors to pitch and continue working, but Steinbrenner would have none of it. In the end Steinbrenner had his way.

In the meantime, Weaver had his own problems. The strong finish in 2002 was soon forgotten as he started out the new season with two victories and then things unraveled for Weaver. He struggled in his next two starts before winning his 3rd game on May 15th. Since that date Weaver has gone 2-6 and his ERA is the worst on the starting staff (5.40 ). Adding to Weaver's woes was the return of Jose Contreras from his minor league stint and Contreras promptly took Weaver's spot in the rotation. Contreras pitched brilliantly, earning two wins in a row before shoulder problems landed him on the disabled list.

Once again, fate and fortune smiled on Jeff Weaver. With Contreras going down Weaver was handed the ball and told to go forth and pitch. Weaver went forth, but the pitching didn't. Weaver struggled in start after start. He continually pitched from behind and usually about the 5th inning the opposing batters would catch up to him and chase Weaver from the game. More times than not Weaver didn't give his team a chance to win. Finally, on July 13th Weaver pitched the type of game the Yankees had hoped he would pitch from the moment they got him from Detroit. Weaver pitched 8 strong innings while giving up only 2 runs on 4 hits, while striking out 7 and walking none. This was the kind of performance that would give a struggling pitcher confidence. The kind of performance that Weaver could build on.

Jeff Weaver had 8 days between starts due to the all-star break. He had time to savor his win; time to watch film and study his mechanics; time to work with Mel Stottlemyre to correct any problems and time to get ready for his next start. So what did you do during your time off Jeff? Obviously, nothing to improve your pitching. Last night Weaver reverted to form and continually pitched from behind. He threw breaking balls that didn't break and fastballs that were offered over the center of the plate. The Toronto Blue Jays, who are second in the league in runs scored, did what every good hitting team does. They hit. The pounded Weaver and the Yankees all over the yard and by the time Joe Torre came out of the dugout to pull Weaver out of the wreckage he created the Yankees were down by 5 runs. The Blue Jays collected 11 hits off Weaver. The Yankees ended up getting shut out 8-0.

In case you haven't noticed, the Yankees are in a real dogfight this year. Boston is still in our rearview mirror and Toronto is lurking in the background too. The Bronx Bombers, because of a very leaky bullpen, can't afford to have a guaranteed loss every fifth game. That is just about how you would describe Weaver's starts. A guaranteed loss. This kid is never going to make it in the Bronx. I think he has amply proven that he doesn't have what it takes to pitch for the New York Yankees. Every time he goes out and has a game like this it's one more time his ego is damaged. The Yankees need to move this kid and very quickly before the psychological damage is irreversible.

I think Jeff Weaver can still be an effective pitcher. He just can't be effective in New York. If the Yankees can fashion a deal to get some quality in return for him I say pull the trigger and get him out of Dodge City. If they don't they may not make it to the finish line in first place.

Thanks for playing Jeff. Now GO!

WE HAVE BENITEZ! NOW WHAT?

There is one reason George Steinbrenner is called the "Boss." Because he is and everyone who works for him knows it. Yesterday the Yankees' owner put his stamp of approval on a trade that brought Armando Benitez from the crosstown rival Mets to the Bronx in exchange for pitcher Jason Anderson and two minor league pitchers (Anderson Garcia and Ryan Bicondoa). Anderson appeared in 22 games for the Yankees, accumulating a record of 1-0 with an ERA of 4.79. Benitez, who is best known by Yankees fans for drilling Tino Martinez in the back with a fast ball in 1998, starting a bench clearing brawl, comes to the Bombers having saved 117 out of 129 games he had save opportunities. That's 90+%, which is the best in baseball over the past 3 years.

However, it always seemed that when Benitez pitched against the Yankees in the closer role he would blow the opportunity. He always seemed to unravel against the pinstripers. Most notably in Game 1 of the 2000 Subway Series Benitez, which gave the Yankees momentum and they went on to knock out the Mets in 5 games.

Benitez, who was an all-star this year, had 21 saves and 7 blown saves (most in the majors) for the Mets as their closer. Fortunately, maybe for him and the Yankees, he won't have to worry about that role. He is being slated as Mariano Rivera's setup man. Benitez is a proud man and it's going to be interesting to see how well he handles it. Remember when Mariano went down earlier in the year and they gave the ball to Juan Acevedo and told him "you're the man." Acevedo responded with 5 saves. When Rivera came back from the disabled list Acevedo went back to being "a reliever." Acevedo's effectiveness and attitude went south and he was soon released. Will Armando accept his role or will he long for the opportunity to be a closer? Will he have a willing attitude knowing that he isn't "the man" in the Bronx. Only time will tell.

Now to the other side of the coin. The Yankees have always been known for their farm system. They have always had the ability to bring players up from the system to play on the big team. Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Alfonso Soriano, Derek Jeter and Nick Johnson have for the most part performed admirably at the major league level. However, in recent years the Yankees have made numerous trades to obtain talent at the cost of their farm players. Has the "win now" mantra of George Steinbrenner finally caught up to the farm system? Are they hocking their future for the present? The answer has to be yes. The Yankees and their fans have become accustomed to seeing their team a perennial playoff team and world champion. Nonetheless, it wasn't all that long ago when the Yankees were a perennial "also-ran." From 1982 until 1995 the Yankees went home in September. The continual buying, trading and selling of players had depleted the Bombers from being a contending team. It wasn't until, with a few key acquistions (i.e. Tino Martinez, Paul O'Neill, Scott Brosius) along with bringing up players from their system that the Yankees transformed back into a world series championship caliber team.

Are the Yankees setting themselves up for a crash back to earth? Or can money truly buy you everything? Personally, I don't like the way things are going. I think the Bombers are headed for darker days in the near future. Roger Clemens is retiring, David Wells may or may not be back, Mike Mussina is turning 38, Andy Pettitte is a Jekyll and Hyde and do we have a 5th starter? If we keep trading our "future" pitching for "now" pitching I don't see anyplace for the Yankees to go, but down. But, then again, I've been wrong before. I have my opinion. You have yours. The only thing that is certain is "time will tell."

July 16, 2003

It was nice to see the Yankees well represented at the 74th annual MLB All-Star Game in Chicago. For those of you who missed it you missed a great game. It seemed that Dusty Baker made all the right early moves, but it was AL Manager Mike Scioscia who made the right moves when it counted.

Most of the experts had the National League mailing in a victory, because they felt that if the NL had a lead going into the late innings Baker only had to rely on his trio of closers, Atlanta's John Smoltz, Houston's Billy Wagner or LA's Eric Gagne. Unfortunately for Baker, a guy named "Murphy" stuck his nose into the proceedings. In the 8th inning, with Eric Gagne on the mound, the AL had Toronto's Vernon Wells on second when the Rangers' Hank Blalock came to the plate to pinch hit for the Angels' Troy Glaus. Gagne, as he usually does, threw Blalock the heater and Blalock promptly deposited it over the right field wall to give the AL a 7-6 lead. The lead stood up and the American League won home field advantage for the World Series.

The evening started off with mixed reviews. The players, managers and coaches were introduced. The best part was watching the Yankees' Jorge Posada's son come out of the dugout and low fiving all the AL starters. That kid is so cute. He was dressed up like his daddy and looked like he could have played a few innings. The flyover was terrific and then came the National Anthem. It was sung by a young lady, who in my humble opinion, would have been roasted over an open fire pit by American Idol's Simon Cowell. She sang horribly and she dressed as well as she sung. She should have checked a mirror before going out in front of a national television audience with what she wore. Mr. Blackwell would have been gnashing his teeth. She wore tight hip-hugging pants and a top that showed her midriff. It was not a midriff that should have been revealed. Fortunately, she only sang the anthem once.

The game started out a pitcher's duel as only one run was scored in the first 4-1/2 innings. That came on Carlos Delgado's RBI single, scoring Ichiro Suzuki. Then came the bottom of the 5th inning and Shiggy Hasegawa. Hasegawa gave up 4 runs on 2/3 of an inning and after it was all said and done the NL had built up a 5-1 lead. Now those closers the NL had in the bullpen were looming large.

However, there was no quit in the American League dugout. They chipped away slowly. In the bottom of the 6th the AL's Alex Rodriguez got an infield hit, bring up Garret Anderson. Anderson hit a shot over the right-centerfield fence off the NL's Woody Williams, cutting the NL lead to 5-3. The NL countered in the top of the 7th as Andruw Jones hit a solo shot off Mark Mulder giving the NL a 6-3 lead. That's where things started going the American League's way.

In the bottom of the 7th frame Houston's Billy Wagner came in to pitch and with 2 outs Jason Giambi homered to make the score 6-4. The AL held the NL in the top of the 8th setting up the eventually game winning rally for the American League. With one on Eric Gagne relieved Billy Wagner. Gagne pitched to Vernon Wells who doubled in Melvin Mora. The American League pulled within one run when Scioscia pulled off his best move of the night. He sent up Hank Blalock to bat for Troy Glaus as Glaus had gone 0-3. Blalock worked Gagne to a 3-1 count when Gagne tried to blow the heater by him. Blalock jumped on it and sent it out over the right field wall giving the American League a 7-6 lead. Dusty Baker never got to John Smoltz. Brenden Donnelly came in for the American League in the top of the 9th and finished off the National League 1-2-3. Donnelly earned the win and Gagne took the loss.

Roger Clemens, who originally wasn't slated to be at the game, answered a call from his general manager, Brian Cashman, who told him they needed another arm at the game. Clemens was at his vacation home in Texas when the call came. Clemens gathered his family around him and they gave him their approval to go. Clemens fought a hurricane and made it in time to pitch a scoreless 3rd inning. It was a typical Roger Clemens performance.

Bud Selig, I am sure, gave a big sigh of relief as to how the game turned out. It was one of the best all-star games ever. It had drama, scoring, entertainment and the crowd in attendance got to see two of the best managers in baseball counter each other move for move.

The only thing now, left in suspense, is who is going to be the beneficiary of the home field advantage in the World Series. I am hoping it's the Yankees.