All hail Helen!!

All hail Helen!!
Helen Carmona and your humble blogger

Monday, March 10, 2008

WWJ(T)D?

It's hard to imagine Joe Torre going on about the Francisco Cerevelli-Elliot Johnson collision to the extent that Joe Girardi has. I'm not lobbying for a return to the good ol' days of yester-era, but you do have to wonder, in the same situation, what would Joe Torre do? (Or say...)

Girardi's three-day (and possibly more, if he approaches Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon on Wednesday) campaign for the condemnation of Johnson's home plate imitation of Pete Rose has become tedious to the point of being shrill. We get it, Joe G., you're upset about the broken wrist and the (according to you) misplaced hustle of the young Johnson. But let it go, already. Not a single player has taken up the media call to support your claim that Johnson's shoulder dip into Cerevelli's abdomen was as bush league as you claim it was. And the question must be asked: if you're so adament that spring games are devoid of any meaning, then why didn't you instruct your catchers not to block the plate? If Cerevelli had gotten your memo on just how meaningless these games are, then he might have 'ole'd' the play and just allowed Johnson to run freely across an unguarded plate. But Cerevelli is a competitor, a catcher caught up in trying not to waste a terrific throw from the outfield. And the equally competitive Johnson was caught up in trying not to get tagged out. It was a good, solid baseball play all around.

And WFAN's Evan Thomas was wrong on Monday when he informed his on-air partner, Joe Benigno, that Johnson had "stood over Cerevelli after the play, almost to intimidate him, it seemed." Thomas then went on to say that the camera cut away from Johnson to the fallen Cerevelli, so it was impossible to tell how long Johnson stood there. "Then that's wrong," Benigno responded. You're right, Joe, something is wrong, but it wasn't Johnson, it was Evan Thomas.

The replay cameras stayed on Johnson long enough for viewers to see that Johnson did not "stand over" Cerevelli. He stood near the plate looking down, and if anything can be read by his facial expression, it was that Johnson had some passive concern about Cerevelli's condition. After leaving the plate, Johnson did not sprint to the dugout to exchange any excited high-fives with Maddon or with any teammates. No one from Tampa displayed any kind of false bravado over the incident.

And on one final note, it is near-shameful for the media to be speculating that hard-nosed Yankee reserve infielder Shelley Duncan might somehow exact some measure of "revenge" for Cerevelli by crashing into a Tampa infielder or catcher should Duncan get the chance Wednesday (or sometime during the regular season). This kind of silly hypothesizing not only paints a false picture of the original play last Saturday, but it unfairly paints Duncan as some kind of NHL-like goon who's job it is to even scores. Duncan's a natural hardcharger who has earned a reputation for going all-out, all the time. If he does end up in any similar play against the Rays, it's a shame that he will now have to answer questions about his intent. Score another one for the media trying to 'develop' a story that was never there in the first place.

In the best interest of all involved -- including fans who are getting bored reading and hearing about it -- can we just let this go, once and for all?

More good things from Joba

Not the total-command Joba Chamberlain we've seen in the past, but Monday's performance against the Cincinnati Reds was another positive outing for the rookie hardballer. His first-pitch fastballs were crisp and biting the corners. His breaking balls ate a lot of dirt, but he got the job done. Yankee fans can now look forward to Chamberlain's first extended start, say of the five-to-six-inning variety. We've never seen him go that far against major league hitters. It should be interesting to watch.

0 comments: