RIP Bobby Murcer

Bobby Murcer died today after a long battle with cancer. It's incredibly sad, and the Yankees family has truly lost one of its best.

Pretty much everyone with knowledge of the Yankees knows how beloved Murcer has been the past few years, but the funny thing is, it wasn't always that way. When he came up with the team in the mid-60s, he was seen as the next Mantle. Like Mantle, he came through the minors as an infielder (a shortstop). Like Mantle, he was moved to the outfield when it became apparent that his fielding wouldn't work in the infield.

That's where the comparisons ended, though. Murcer was no Mantle, and for a long time, it seemed Yankees fans held this against him. He never won a World Series with the team, and he never put up Mantle-type numbers. He was probably most well-known as a player for delivering the eulogy at Thurman Munson's funeral, then hitting a three-run home run that same night at Yankee Stadium, when the entire team flew back to play the game.

That's only part of the story though. While he wasn't a Hall of Famer, Murcer was a very good player, the type of guy who deserved more credit than he received. He had a handful of excellent seasons in the 1970s (including back-to-back seasons in 72 and 73 where his OBP was above .980), and ended with very solid career numbers.

No, Murcer attained his popularity as an announcer with the Yankees throughout the 80s and 90s, into the 21st century, and it was in this capacity that I got to know of him. I started following the team in the mid-80s, and I remember my dad talking about following Murcer through the lean years of the late 60s and early 70s. His voice on Yankees telecasts became as well-known as that of Phil Rizzuto, Tom Seaver, or, later Ken Singleton and Jim Kaat. He always gave well-reasoned analysis, and didn't depend on being the loudest guy in the room. He seemed to be a voice of reason over guys like Al Trautwig and Michael Kay. From all accounts, he was as good a person as he was a baseball player and announcer.

When Murcer was diagnosed with brain cancer, there was an outpouring of support. He had finally gained that appreciation that was so lacking during his career.

So it is that today, we mourn the death of a Yankee. My thoughts go out to his friends and family.

Observations made at Yankee Stadium

So yesterday I was back at the buzzsaw that is Yankee Stadium with three Yankee fans in tow. Scary huh? Yes, very scary.

Some thoughts:

1.) There weren't as many Red Sox fans as last time I was there. I was kind of surprised, I thought more would come out of the woodwork to do a little gentle ribbing of Yankee fans.

2.) There were a ton more of those "26-6" shirts. Yes, I am well aware that the Yankees won 26 World Series and the Red Sox have only won 6. Insecure much?

3.) Most fans in the upper deck seemed more intent on watching a fucking squirrel on top of the foul pole. I swear they were cheering louder for the squirrel than anything else. The morons in front of me literally had a 20 minute conversation about the decision making process of the squirrel and when it would come down. I swear to God. I was quietly hoping it would jump to it's death.

Seriously, the fans didn't really seem into the game. As noted by the guy next to me, "I can't even get a Boston Sucks chant going". Geez, what is the world coming to nowadays?

4.) J.D. Drew hates the following things: America, freedom, puppy dogs, swinging the bat, etc.

Seriously, I hope he dies in a fire. He sucks so bad that he made Manny make that error. (Note: Not really, Manny was also distracted by the squirrel. After the game he chased it around the field for two hours.)

5.) After Johnny Damon hit his home run, one of the moron fans in the row in front of me turned and actually said:

"He used to play for you!"

Wow. Did he think I didn't know? Was I supposed to be surprised? Seriously, that is the best you can come up with? With cutting wit like that he can probably work for YES. I'm pretty sure that is more intelligent than anything Michael Kay has said in at least two years.

6.) Another gem from the fans in front of me, who I started to suspect might be mentally retarded:

After Dice-K gave up a run in the first: "I'm glad we didn't pay him all that money. Geez, what a waste."

The utter stupidity of that statement almost made blood shoot of my nose. Actually Kei Igawa stopped selling peanuts and smacked him in the back of the head. I think that guy should work for the Yankee front office. Actually I would give him a letter of recommendation.

7.) Joba is a stupid name. Where in the fuck are parents coming up with these names? I'd rather abort my child than have my wife name it Joba.

So that was my adventure at Yankee Stadium. As always, the fans showed class and intelligence. To quote Rodney Dangerfield, "Lovely boy -- Now I know why tigers eat their young."

Mind-bottling

An entire weekend of NFL draft and Miller Genuine Draft, and it's safe to say that in the spirit of Kwanzaa, I've got a problem with most of you people.

I really don't want to get into the Philly draft, mostly because I can't really comprehend what was going on. The 2nd-round QB has me mind-bent, and while I realize I'm slightly less risk-adverse than most (HI POKER), passing on Bush was hilarious, even for the current Eagles regime and their stodgy (and successful) personnel strategies.

Instead, let's talk about firing Joe Torre - one more reason why I could never be a Yankees fan. The Dan Duquette administration had more than its fair share of bizarre moves and reactionary drivel (hellooooooooooo Mike Lansing/Dante Bichette), this is certain. However, the sheer amount of drive shown by the NYC press, along with Steinbrenner's zeal (which, while commendable, works as a detriment as much as a positive - see: the 1980s), lead to such ridiculous situations that I can't really get over it easily.

Firing Torre would be just surreal - there's absolutely no chance you can blame him for the team's start. The Yankees are near the top of the league in runs scored (lead AL/2nd MLB), and their bullpen (while tattered) is not the glaring weakness most are claiming, in spite of Rivera's noted problems. The problem is mostly starting pitching, and specifically injuries. While research has shown a correlation between injuries and certain staffs, the Yankees have never really had problems - most of these are probably flukes.

Certainly, you cannot blame overwork here - Torre's bullpen usage is remarkably inefficient and suboptimal, but with possible exception of not controlling Wang's innings somewhat better, his use of starters has been flawless for years. He's willing to adapt (throwing starters from the pen on their throw days) and doesn't overwork needlessly. The starters, quite simply, cannot blame Torre, nor can the offense.

He also shouldn't be punished for Karstens sucking, or Igawa adjusting slowly, or Chase Wright being a punching bag. There is no alternative that is clearly more desirable. To reward a guy who has done great things with this team by using him as a scapegoat (all this after 1/8th of a season) is horrifyingly shortsighted at best, and borderline negligent at worst.

On an unrelated note, I've watched all of Matsuzaka's starts this year - I have absolutely no problem with his pitch selection or use of multiple types . . . so Ryan, I think you're 100% wrong. Unless you can identify which of his breaking or off-speed pitches are actually below-average offerings, I can't see anything specific that gets him into trouble other than locating the fastball early.

The only flaw with Daisuke so far is that he loses a little bit of command out of the stretch, so teams are taking a little more against him to try to get him out of the windup. He'll have to adjust - however, with his borderline-retarded 10+ K/9 and almost 4:1 K/BB ratio, color me unconcerned - exactly half of his earned runs have come against the Yankees, who have the best hitting lineup in modern baseball history, and he's still only at 4.38 ERA. All good in this hood.

Also all good: this Diplo remix of TV on the Radio's "Starting at the Sun" - just unreal. This whole Baltimore gutter scene has me super excited, in a scared white boy way.
TVotR - Staring at the Sun (Diplo Hollertronix mix)