Meet the new Boss; same as the old Boss

October 29th, 2007 → 3:17 pm @ // No Comments

If you haven’t heard yet, you will soon: Joe Girardi has been named the new manager of the Yankees. That’s all sorts of interesting; for one, I’m curious to see how a guy who occasionally acted like a drill commander while with the Marlins is going to do with the Yankees.

Actually, I’m not that curious – for the next while, I’m just going to revel in the Sox’s total domination. That’s what the rest of the baseball world should be doing too…except that Hank “Mini Me” Steinbrenner is determined to prove that he can be just as much as an egocentric prick as his dad. Seemingly thrown into a frenzied panic when the country’s attention was focused on New York’s rivals—their better, classier, and better run rivals, it’s worth pointing out—Steinbrenner is proving he’s genetically incapable of being gracious and letting a team besides his own dominate the headlines for a couple of days.

Not that this is necessarily bad news. In the last month, Hank has, among other things, ripped into Joe Torre to the tune of, “Where was Joe’s career in ’95 when my dad hired him?” At least we know life in Yankeeland isn’t going to boring just because ol’ George is sailing off into the twilight…


Post Categories: George Steinbrenner & Hank Steinbrenner & Joe Torre & Yankees

10 Comments → “Meet the new Boss; same as the old Boss”


  1. tinisoli

    16 years ago

    Awesome. The Sox have managed to make their segue from the Idiots to the Proud a seamless and successful one, whereas the Yankees are now poised for an offseason implosion and years of rebuilding. Long live the Steinbrenners and their idiocy!

    Reply

  2. Neil

    16 years ago

    It was bad enough that Fox was more than willing to interrupt Boston’s impending World Series victory with the news about Alex Rodriguez opting out of his contract; that’s the kind of disrespect to baseball I expect from Fox.

    But come on, Seth: Our team just won baseball’s world championship in about as convincing a fashion as a team could, and your first post is about the Yankees?

    I realize that our most memorable moments of elation can’t always be put into words, but you would think that today of all days we’d have earned the right not to worry about what the New York front office is doing every five minutes.

    Reply

  3. rog

    16 years ago

    Maybe Seth gets the same kind of sick disgusting gratification every time that the Yankees fall on their arrogant faces as I do. I have to admit, I get at least as much joy watching the Yankees lose as I do when the Red Sox win.

    Reply

  4. branatical

    16 years ago

    Wonder what Johnny “bleepin” Damon is thinking right now and the Rocket too but then again, I don’t give a $%#@ about those guys.

    As for Fox, I heard that they waited an hour and it wasn’t until SI started to report it that they brought it up. MLB is coming out against Boras and Arod, the real culprits here.

    And, Neil, I think Seth’s point is that the Yankees are not showing class by trying to steal our thunder…the only reason he’s bringing it up is because the Yankees decided on today of all days to make a major announcement. But if you’re the Yankees and you just lost the right to exclusively negotiate with your legendary ballplayer, you don’t really have an option but to make swift moves to deflect attention from one bad story to the next. You really can’t blame them can you Seth?

    But it does go a long way to show what a classless SOB Hank Steinbrenner is. I love this quote from him: “They talk about Red Sox nation, we talk about Yankee universe. As bad as they want it, they’ll never be the Yankees with their brand.”

    Nor do we want to be the Yankees, but we sure do like winning the mother-fing World Series Bro!

    Enough with the Yankees, which we all know we’re all obsessed with. I enjoy watching the Yankees lose almost as much as a Red Sox win. Especially since I live in NYC. I pretty much loved wearing my cap with the B on it yesterday…and it wasn’t the Brooklyn B either.

    This win was about now and the future. 2004 was about vanquishing the past. The owners promised to do what they could to get there year after year, and 2 of 4 is pretty good. I am looking forward to more. I want more. This one wasn’t like 2004 but it’s still awesome.

    I am already looking forward to the core of this team staying together next year. Sorry, Coco, I don’t think you’ll be included, great catches and all. This postseason saw the emergence of the future and Coco, you’re sorry to say it, redundant. Manny? One more year? Why not? Lowell, three year deal, he’ll take it. Schill, give him one at 8 Million, he’ll take that, and even offer Gagme 5 million for a year with incentives. Kielty, Hinske, you can stay, just get a little pop to fill Coco’s roster spot…and all we need is a couple of bullpen arms.

    Does this cover it?

    Reply

  5. moctavio

    16 years ago

    I guess the timing of the announcement was just ARod being ARod…

    Reply

  6. wakefield

    16 years ago

    Perhaps Seth wrote not a word about our boys because there’s nothing more to add…they said it all on the filed, with awe-inducing superiority and prowess. Lester’s lights out performance induced no tears because he was just stepping up to the team’s level. 350 as a team! Ellsbry a natural hitting 450! Lugo a star! 4 starters getting wins in a sweep for first time since Babe Ruth! A record for extra base hits by the 5th inning of game one!! For us lifelong red sox fans, it is no problem — a natural transition to lead the world. Just think back 3 years to the full red moon, where you where, how you felt, how even up 3-0 and with the lead in the ninth you struggled along with every pitch wondering and waiting if no when the sky would fall? Compare that to last night’s almost full moon, how you knew it would be OK. Even when OKDokey gave up that blast, how you knew we were going to be triumphant. That confidence is new to us, but grounded in tradition.

    Timlin saving Delcarmen and Manny then meeting him on top dugout step was a great moment.

    A buddy bought me a ticket to game two on Thursday. Flew me from NY to see it, behind the bag on first. We shut them down!. It was my birthday – the 21st anniversary of my birthday present of a World Championship being ripped from my grasp by Mookie, Steamer, and Buckner. The game was redeeming, and even the casual low intensity of the yuppies that copped tickets and seemed not to yell at the same fervent pitch I did could not detract from the magical experience

    Regarding the Yunkees. As a lifelong NY-based red sox fans (the Rhode Island relatives turned me on to Yaz and Petrocelli that summer of 67 and that was that) I can tell you that The Y fans have never been lower, gasping, drowning, sucked down by the lead weight of their own hubris, not even in the 64 to 78 drought or the 81 to 96 drought or whatever. This whole post season the NY talk radio drone has been pathetic, first with Torre, and then Torre says no, then the Donnie/Girardi, with blindered fans calling in parsing the “issue” with an opinion and hope beyond hope to avoid reality… Today’s Post had full page picture of ARod on cover and Torre in a Dodgers cap on the back. Two buried b/w pages on the victory and that’s it. Yunkers control the NY tabloids somehow, and they can have each other.

    There is no way in hell Lowell will go play for them for all the money in the world. He beat back cancer, so he won’t take it from any other master.

    At the heart of the red Sox is the proud heritage of winning 5 of the first 15 world series back when men was men. A patina formed over this purebred heart over the generations as we waited 86 years (and all those RI relatives died) and this is what characterizes our squad for the eons. I think no matter how high we rise, and how great we get, and how beloved we become, and how much we expect to win, this hard-won character will always define us. In around 2075, when the last living BLOHARD who remembers the pre-2004 era dies this DNA may change, but we should have more that 26 World Championships by then. I predict we’ll pass the Yanks in this regard in my lifetime if they keep their 0 for 21st Century pace.

    Reply

  7. rog

    16 years ago

    Don’t want to step all over the victory celebration but you’d be nuts if you didn’t think that Lowell wouldn’t take a three-year deal with the Yankees, who are now desperately in need of a 3B. If the Sox play hardball like they did with Damon, there’s no reason that Lowell wouldn’t take the highest dollar amount since this will be the last time he can cash in on a big free-agent contract (unlike Nomar balked wound up with nothing). And I’d be happy for him if he took huge dollars to go anywhere else but the Yankees…but I’m preparing myself for the possibility in any case.

    Reply

  8. wakefield

    16 years ago

    I don’t think so. The Yunks are a hellhole right now and he won’t end his career there. He can go anywhere! PS the Sox will sign him.

    “Wakefield”

    Guys,

    There’s a great blog to check out if you haven’t already. THIS blogger wrote all these words last night. Pasted as a tribute to Zack’s output…..Loves his Sox and his PC I guess:

    By Zach Hayes |

    http://mvn.com/mlb-redsox//

    Looking back, it all seems so worth it.

    In any field of work or life, finishing a long and time consuming experiment or project always gives you a sense of satisfaction and relief. If your completely task is deemed a failure, all of the work, determination and hours spent is rendered moot. If your completed task is deemed a success in the end, the amount of joy and sense of accomplishment you feel, even without being directly involved in some cases, cannot be properly explained. You can’t help but get the pure feeling the entire process was worth it and validated by the conclusion you hoped and prayed for all along.

    Just after midnight in Boston, Massachusetts, the Red Sox baseball team reached that destination. By finishing off the Colorado Rockies in a four game sweep and winning the World Series, the final approachable goal for any fan base in this grand sport was reached. Sure, you’re not taking groundballs like Julio Lugo or making diving catches in the outfield like Coco Crisp, but the amount of energy consumed just watching your favorite baseball team is remarkable, especially for Red Sox fans. Excuse me if I feel like I’m a part of something special.

    All of the hours spent either counting down to the time for the first pitch of a July game against Tampa Bay, all of the times I’ve tried to sit down in front of my laptop and attempt to coherently summarize or evaluate this revolving door of a baseball team and all of the money spent in support either in the form of an Ortiz authentic or my second Fenway Frank now, suddenly, seems worth the price. All of the nights dedicated, the pillows punched in agony, the hugs, the screams, the feeling like you’re floating in the air after a big win…when it culminates in the one and only desirable goal, it seems totally worth it.

    Only one of thirty major league baseball teams is able to say they won the World Series during the 2007 baseball season. That team is the Boston Red Sox. Let that sink in for a second before I continue.

    Arguably the best part of winning the World Series is the ability to look back at the various exclamation points of the season and be able to laugh. After watching as many as 176 games with the same core players and the same manager, they’re almost a part of your family. As I said before Game 5 in Cleveland when the Red Sox were one loss from elimination, I probably can recite Dustin Pedroia’s total batting tendencies before stepping up to the plate. After all, I likely see him more than my mother (sad?).

    Looking back is a fun activity during these joyous times. Before I finally retired to bed last night after hours of complete and utter hysteria, I was able to recite the most important moments of this eventful season in my head and laugh. Hell, I almost cried. The anticipation for Dice-K’s first spring training start against….none other than the mediocre Boston College Eagles and the mania that followed. The general panic in the air after Schilling got walloped by the lackluster KC Royals on Opening Day (obviously a total overreaction and really puts things into perspective due to where we sit today). It really doesn’t seem so long ago.

    We were able, together as a Nation, watch our own guys evolve into the World Champion they are at this very moment. Josh Beckett became the most feared ace in either league after a horrid debut season, with an uncanny ability to throw fire on any side of the plate and come back with a curveball previously unbeknownst to man. We saw Curt Schilling running on fumes use his final will to push the Red Sox to a World Series advantage. We followed each Matsuzaka start waiting for the inning to hit the panic button, when looking at the big picture we can realize he’s going to be one heck of a pitcher very soon.

    Most importantly, we saw the work of the best player developmental system currently going. We doubted the quick installment of Dustin Pedroia at second base especially following a less than stellar beginning, up until he became the AL Rookie of the Year and an indispensable part of the lineup. We saw Jacoby Ellsbury enter the fray in September in a full-time gig and light an enormous spark into the team with his blazing speed and wicked glove. Young Clay Buchholz gave us a glimpse into what the future holds at the top of the pitching staff with one of the most shocking no-hitters in baseball history. Of course, Jonathan Papelbon was the constant presence to lock up a contest in the win column and ensure The Standells would be blasting from the Fenway Park speakers at any second.

    It would be a crime to deny the glue veterans their proper due. Jason Varitek calling the signals behind the plate and acting as the ultimate leader in the clubhouse, his behind-the-scenes setting attitude grossly understated. The duo of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez providing the fans with just as many laughs as memories and tape measure long balls. Mike Lowell emerging from the label of “contract throw-in” with Josh Beckett as not only the World Series MVP but possibly the team MVP. Through the rough times experienced by J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo, the free agent signings actually emerged as important pieces in a stunning World Series run.

    The structure of any successful sports franchise always begins at the top of the ladder. Manager Terry Francona can sometimes drive the fan base off a bridge with his bullpen management, but anyone who argues he’s not a genius of a postseason manager is kidding themselves (8-0 in the World Series and two championship rings in four years, but you knew that). His ability to block out the overwhelming pressures of leading a raucous group of players in Boston and still remain loyal to his 25 men through the struggles and difficulties a high pressure situation brings is truly appreciated. Theo Epstein has instated a top-notch system from scouting to the medical staff and deserves the ring more than anyone for his work. The job of owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner and CEO Larry Lucchino settles the debate we had in 2002: the right men bought the Boston Red Sox.

    It has been a season for the ages. It doesn’t seem all that long ago during a rough stretch in the heart of the summer the loyal readers were trying desperately to figure out how this team had such a prolific record. It doesn’t seem all that long ago we were struggling mightily to beat the Royals and White Sox at home and booking a colossal choke in the division as a certainty. Through 162 regular season duels, these moments are inevitable. At these moments, we can look back and grin. We didn’t have it that bad, did we?

    The Red Sox persevered through adversity in the ALCS against a talented Indians team by sticking to the plan instituted by every single employee in the Red Sox system from the Wilmington to Portland to Lowell to Pawtucket. We’ll be looking back during a playoff exit in the next years and remembering what a tremendous core of players we had in 2007 with a great mindset. The fashion in which the entire lineup grinds out professional at-bats is a sight to behold. The way the pitching staff became a question mark to the most dominant in the hitting-friendly American League is a story in itself. The 2004 Red Sox were a team impossible to forget, but I won’t hesitate in exclaiming the 2007 Red Sox as superior.

    That debate can take place in the long winter days ahead. When staring out the window at the snow falling from the sky and counting down the days until the van leaves at Fenway Park for Fort Myers, the taste in your mouth won’t be bitter. Instead, it will be one of satisfaction and one of remembrance. The 2007 season was certainly one for the record books.

    And it could not have ended any sweeter.

    ——————————————————————————–

    Reply

  9. johnw

    16 years ago

    It’s gratifying to see the Yankees fumbling around and screaming for attention, and Hank Steinbrenner does show promising signs of turning into the King George we fondly remember from the 70s and 80s. But I wouldn’t gloat too much yet. They still have money, some smart baseball people, and a lot of young talent — almost as much young talent as the Red Sox have, really. Cashman has learned to tame the worst of George’s excesses; he may be able to do the same with Hank.

    Girardi may turn out to be a disaster; after all, he couldn’t get along with Jeffrey Loria, and now he has to deal with Prince Hank. But he was a very good manager with the Marlins. A different team and situation, but he may be able to make adjustments and adopt a different approach with the Yankees. He did play in NYC, so he’s familiar with the whole scene: media, fans, Steinbrenners, and prima-donna athletes. He should know how to handle it as well as anyone.

    Reply

  10. Gee

    16 years ago

    Just to correct an oft-repeated statistic — the Sox won five of the first 14 World Series, not 15. There was no World Series in 1904.

    The truth is, therefore, just a little bit more impressive.

    Reply

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