“he said began bothering him even before he left Yankees camp for the WBC, though he said the team didn’t know.”

This is unacceptable, but ok, such is life, it’s not on my dime.  But what in the world possessed him to admit to having done this?

I feel tightness in my pectorals after lifting.  Get over it, Dam.

This is unacceptable, but ok, such is life, it’s not on my dime.  But what in the world possessed him to admit to having done this?

I’d guess nationalistic pride.

player A is a little sore/tight/stiff after baseball activity in ST:  not really a story.

baseball activity slightly different from normal ST as it is part of WBC: everyone shit your pants!!

Done and done.

“I’d guess nationalistic pride.”

That’s why he did it, but why admit to it and infuriate your employer and fans?  Well, maybe someone asked him directly and he’s just naively honest.

I’d be more worried if I weren’t so stoked at the deal I’m getting on Mary Kay stuff.

If Pavano hiding an injury resulting from a car accident is 100% on the “You Really Should Have Told The Team” Scale, where does this rank?  25%?

It’s probably nothing, but I’m sure the Yankees trainers would have liked to take a look before sending Cano out to play in the WBC.

That’s why he did it, but why admit to it and infuriate your employer and fans?  Well, maybe someone asked him directly and he’s just naively honest.

Actually, it’s essential that he admit to it.  I would think to trainers/doctors, “it started hurting yesterday” is a lot different than, “it started hurting two weeks ago”.  If something happened yesterday, you rest it for a couple of days.  If it has been persisting for 2 weeks you go for tests.

He should have told the Yankees.  But I’m sure he thought (and would have been correct) that if he said something they would have told him not to go.

I’m glad to see that the tenor of these comments is mostly reasonable.  Over on Pete Abe’s blog, they’re losing their minds.  He has rocks for brains.  He has the talent Pedroia has, but only 1/10 the effort.  Ad nauseum.  Is it, uh, because he’s Dominican?  I don’t know, but these commenters seem to be able to pretty effectively unpack and analyze Cano’s mental gifts.

Now for something completely different:

Ivan Rodriguez says he’s open to playing third base.

Ivan Rodriguez says he’s open to playing third base.

When I saw this, I figured that he was targeting the Yankees in particular.  Which begs the question…how bad a signing would it be to get him?

Didn’t he barely outhit Molina last season?  I guess you have to ask how much catching hindered his hitting, which could be significant.  But I still think you could probably do better for a team that hopes to win 95+ games.

“mostly reasonable”?

[9] Ok, fair enough, but still, why make it public?  Now that Torre’s gone they could have handled the insubordination (or whatever it is) entirely in-house.

Didn’t he barely outhit Molina last season? 

With the Yankees he did, in like 100 PA’s. In the other 300, he had an OPS+ of 98. It doesn’t seem like he’d be any sort of option at 3B, but if he can hit better than Molina and play just as good defensively, it would make some sense, no? I would have thought someone would have snatched him up by now.. he must have some kind of stink on him.

I think Rodriguez honestly turned down offers, because he wasn’t going to sign for chump change.

And who would want him for more than chump change?

Now he might be willing to reconsider.

Remember, Kenny Lofton basically retired because he wasn’t getting more than chump change offers - some of these dudes take this shit pretty seriously, pride-wise

I am also open to playing third base.

I am also open to playing third base.

My guess is that teams are steering clear of you because of your atttude.

the all-douche team:

C - AJ Pierzynski
1B - Chick Gandil
2B - Barry Bonds
SS - Alex Rodriguez
3B - Don

OF - Gary Sheffield
OF - Ty Cobb
OF - Barry Bonds

DH - Marge Schott

Bench - Jose Canseco, Rogers Hornsby, Billy Martin, Gary Carter

SP - Kenny Rogers
SP - Kevin Brown
SP - Josh Beckett
SP - Roger Clemens

RP- Al Hrabosky
CL - John Rocker

help me out guys. this looks like a damn good team though

also: don, i’m just kiddin’

2B - Barry Bonds

Only two positions for Barry Bonds?  I would have thought you would have found more room for him.

i figured his head could play second.

I’d call Joe Morgan a douche, and also the second-best 2b ever.

yeah i was considering putting him up there. but he’s a douche for completely different reasons than most of these guys

was hornsby a KKK member?if so, instant douche

douche for completely different reasons

A douche is a douche, my friend.  And Joe Morgan?  Douchie.

Douche douche douche douche douche!  Heheheheh.

I see Pedroia’s strained oblique stripped the US of its grit tonight.

Dixie Walker- Total Douche.
He passed the Douchey improperly. Would have liked to see him take on Mr. Robinson in a fair fight.
Tommy Lasorda and Joe Garagiola.
They made old school Italians scream “Douche Nozzle”
Leo Durocher- Too dirty to be a douche but deserves honorable mention.
Randy effin Johnson. I’ve owned animals that bathed more often.
Tom Yawkey- Wish he had lived long enough to see the Papi and Ortiz show. Not a NAACP kind of fella.
Bud-Lite Selig. Ignorance is rich. Double secret probation dew bag.
I gotta throw Pete Rose in. Talent aside, the guy was a complete assholio.
Then there is our old buddy ketchup foot shill. Die twice you scumking.

Papi and Manny show.
Jayzus what a few ouncws of whiskey can do.

Ounces.

Drams.

Wee glasses.

Non douche lineup= Scooter and Murcer. Pee Wee Reese.

WBC = waste of players and money

And Joe Morgan?  Douchie.

Oh I don’t know.  He’s an idiot and he’s stubborn.  But by all accounts he’s a nice guy.  You can be a nice guy while still being a stubborn idiot.

Ok, fair enough, but still, why make it public?

How often does stuff remain secret in Yankeeland?  Better to come out with it right away.  It would look worse if he missed some time and it came out later.

Is it, uh, because he’s Dominican?

W/o having read all the comments (that’s not research, that’s masochism), I’d say that some of them are for that reason.  Some are probably just honestly frustrated that he’s got a shot to be the best Yankees’s 2B since Lazzeri, but isn’t doing it yet.

You can be a nice guy while still being a stubborn idiot.

Really?

How often does stuff remain secret in Yankeeland?  Better to come out with it right away.  It would look worse if he missed some time and it came out later.

Absolutely.

I also think - no really! - this stuff gets blown out of proportion.  Cano’s shoulder probably ached a bit, and he thought it was nothing or something he could easily play through.  Now it hurts more.  Players play with a lot of pain, a lot of wear and tear.  It must be difficult for them to discern what’s really bad and what isn’t.

Really?

Oh yeah, I know about Morgan and Moneyball.  I think it is his stubborn idiotness at its peak.  But from what I understand Morgan is the type of guy that will stop and talk to a fan, as opposed to others on the list above that will just as likely spit on a fan.  I guess if we’re going to say, “you’re either a douche or you’re not”, I wouldn’t put Morgan in with those others is all.

I think the issue is likely that we simply differ on what makes a douche.  You see, stubborn idiotness, like its sister willful ignorance, more than qualifies one as a douche in my book.  But fair enough…Joe Morgan may well be a nice guy until you actually start talking about baseball analysis.

Me, I prefer someone who is not a reactionary propagating biases, lies and misinformation to someone who makes celebrity chit chat with the fans who’d be interested in talking to him. 

W. is a personable fella, too, by all accounts. “Douche douche douche douche douche!” is right, Dave S.  (Reservoir Dogs, correct?)

Reservoir Dogs, correct?

I wish.  I just like the word douche.

i’m alright with Morgan.  it’s silly on my part, but in a way, i think Morgan was so effing awesome at baseball that he’s “earned” a little slack for when he says some stuff that’s…uh, not smart. 

compare his credentials to someone like Steve Phillips, that’s my point.  i’d much rather listen to Morgan say something a little wrong than listen to Phillips say just about anything.

i’d much rather listen to Morgan say something a little wrong than listen to Phillips say just about anything.

This is certainly true.  Plus, Morgan gets the details right, the individual mechanics of the game.  It’s when he tries to put it all together that he gets in trouble…and it’s how he says it all.  I can listen to him when I’m in the right humor.  Otherwise, it’s mute for the tube and I’ll listen to, say, Soundgarden.

So, no Watchmen comments from anybody?

And how about Posada hitting leadoff?  Always thought he was a prototypical leadoff man.

Apparently Joe Morgan does a lot of good in the Oakland community, so credit where it’s due.

Probably the first and last time this gets written:

“Posada just led off the bottom of the inning with an infield single.”

Probably the first and last time this gets written:

Not sure how many are to lead off an inning, but Jorge has 50 infield hits to his credit.

Sorry, I’m VERY bored.

Liked Watchmen.  I agree with all the critiques—that it was little to close to the comic book, that the ultra-violence was kind of pornographic, and that some of the performances were weak. 

But it was a very good adaptation of a great comic.  I mean, come on, how can you stack the Chicken Soup for the Superhero’s Soul of “with great power comes great responsibility” against the moral complexity of Alan Moore?  You can’t, and I thought the film did a good job of presenting that. 

I even liked the one major change from the book, which made me think that with a little more confidence Snyder could have pulled off a few more.

A-.

So, no Watchmen comments from anybody?

How is it?

A-.

Oh.  I’m psyched to see it on video.  I just don’t get out to see the pictures anymore.  Kids’ll do that to you.

I’d give it a B myself. The big change was an improvement and I agree that they did a good job sticking to the comic. But the acting was pretty bad, and I can’t forgive the abysmal song choices. Maybe it’s because I’ve read the book, but I didn’t think there were that many gripping scenes.

Oh.  I’m psyched to see it on video.  I just don’t get out to see the pictures anymore.  Kids’ll do that to you.

Well, I’m not sure where you live, but you’re probably not missing much. Going to a theatre to see a movie is getting less and less bearable. I’m at the point where I refuse to see a serious movie in the theatres because the first time someone makes a funny face or says something silly (even if it’s a serious scene), the crowd bursts out in laughter.

“Kids’ll do that to you”

My mom was in town so we got out to the films.

“Going to a theatre to see a movie is getting less and less bearable”

Agreed, but worth it for some films—and I find that CGI looks much wore on the small screen, not sure why that should be.

We went to a 12:15 Saturday showing and there were not more than 10 other people in the theater.  It was great.  The only problem is that the volume is dialed up to deal with the noise/sound absorbing qualities of 300 people, but I’ll take it.

“the acting was pretty bad”

Not uniformly.  Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Jaley were pretty good.  As for Crudup, it’s hard to act while you’re blue…

I’ll second (or third) the lack of interest in movie theaters.  A few friends were going to see it at the IMAX, so I went along, but this was the first movie I saw in theaters since No Country for Old Men.  With an HDTV and surround-sound, as well as the ability to pause so I can explain something to the girlfriend or get a beer, what’s the advantage of the theater?

I really liked Watchmen.  I’ll admit I hadn’t read the “graphic novel” yet, but have fully intended to for a while.  I thought that Ozymandias and the younger Silk Sillouette were a tad weak, but loved the perfomances of Rorschach and the Comedian.

Oh yeah, Comedian was good too.  There were issues with the dialogue too—I didn’t think Malin Akerman was that good, but some of the lines she had weren’t very good either.  This was partly an issue of adaptation—they may have worked on the page, but not on screen.  And there were a couple clunkers straight from the book, about which I remember thinking when I read it, “Surely that could have been better…”

So, no Watchmen comments from anybody?

It was OK, although it seems that if you haven’t read the comic it is much better (the split was obvious among the people I saw it with). The character development is really weak, the only two who really had any sort major development were Silk Spectre II and Dr. Manhattan. As I watched the film I was thinking to myself that it easily could be a 5+ hour movie and be very watchable.

In fact, I think it suffered from being cut down. It felt uneven, I think because the characters were never totally explained, especially Rorschach. I think Snyder also missed one of the major themes, that the “Watchmen” are all sociopaths. But, looking back at the graphic novel, it’s really pretty unfilmable. Sure the original material is pretty cinematic, but so much of the story/theme is conveyed through the excerpts between “chapters.”

Personally, I really dislike the “major change.” I think it bastardized Dr. Manhattan’s character.

And yankz is spot on about the music, the selection was iffy and it was overpowering and painfully conspicuous.

Looked spectacular though (especially on IMAX), even if some of the blood/gore was a bit over the top.

On the possible plus side, the DVD version is rumored to be about 5 hours long…

I guess now I have Star Trek as my big budget film to look forward for the near future.

Interesting sidenote, the stunt coordinator I worked on for my senior film worked on Race to Witch Mountain. He was also the Blue Ranger for 8 years.

I guess now I have Star Trek as my big budget film to look forward for the near future.

Oh! What was I thinking! Fast & Furious comes out on April 3!

I don’t have anything against superhero comics (e.g. I’ve been reading Powers Online), but I thought the book was pretentious, overwrought, and toward the end unconvincing and finally insulting.  Maybe it just went over my head (though I think the ending was awful regardless).  Wonder if the movie kept the monologues on Mars or wherever it was.

Looks like Manny pulled a hammy…

I think I’m going to rent the original Fast and the Furious and then watch the new one on theater, just to see if there are any differences.

In good fun (I don’t do smileys but this is where I would), I note that a guy who screen-names himself a fan of Rilke, on a baseball site, thinks that a superhero comic is pretentious.

Come on, Frog.  Do a smiley.

I think I’m going to rent the original Fast and the Furious and then watch the new one on theater, just to see if there are any differences.

Despite bringing it up in the first place, when I read this I saw “Faust and the Furious.”

Someone should make that!

WBC isn’t a waste of time or money if you understand or care how baseball is doing internationally .

of course, I guess if you feel that we go back to the 50s with all white american MLB within our life time is a good thing, then yes, WBC is counter productive.

I like the idea of the WBC, just not the timing of it.  I say, WBC years, cram the tourney into a 1 1/2 week extended All-Star break.  It’s what, a total of 32 games?  You could easily play all of that in a week.  Your pitchers are stretched out, your hitters have their timing, and the American fan is warmed up as well.

of course, I guess if you feel that we go back to the 50s with all white american MLB within our life time is a good thing, then yes, WBC is counter productive. 

wow, so now i am a racist b/c i don’t want to see the players on my favorite team get hurt playing in exhibition games?

awesome argument. 

the WBC would be fine by me if zero Yankees participated.  that’s my position.

i guess that makes me a racist.

So what exactly does the performance of a bunch of guys from small islands in the Caribbean who are pretending to be Dutch and playing in front of fans from San Juan and Miami tell me about how baseball is doing internationally?

I like watching baseball on TV, and the WBC is baseball on TV, so I’ve got no real problem with it.  I would not characterize the WBC as a waste of time and money, because I do not believe that it is possible for baseball to be a waste of time, and I’m not spending any of my own money on the WBC, so I don’t much care if anyone else is wasting money on it.  But the WBC is not what it pretends to be on so many different levels that it’s pretty hard to disagree with those who say it’s a joke.

Still, it was cool to see that 38 year old guy who missed out on his shot to play in the show get a hit last night.

It has nothing to do with race, it has everything to do with international baseball promotion.

the fact is, baseball is getting killed internationally by basketball and soccer, one of the main reason is precisely because baseball’s complete lack of truely competitive international tournements. basketball uses the Olympics, Soccer has the world cup, what does baseball have really? nothing, Olympic baseball became such a joke that it was kicked out, most other international tournment is unheard of by most baseball fans, and is dominated by Cuba except when Japan manage to send their A team.

Let’s point out the simple facts. for baseball to not get annihilated internationally, it needs something like the WBC, for that, you will have to have MLBers play, whatever time it is at, injury risk is always going to happen.

It has nothing to do with race, the all white MLB is a obvious pointer to that if the MLB doesn’t give a damn about international events, then in 50 years no other country will play it at a competitive level .

Even in a country like Japan , where you’d think baseball is very successful, the box office of the NPB has been consistently shrinking while the box office of the J-League (soccer) has been consistently rising. and it is even more clearly reflected in the choices of their youth sports.

The Americans obviously would have a tougher time seeing all this, at least until they get killed in the WBC a few more times anyway. how their team does matter a lot for countries like the Japan / Korea / Taiwan and the South American teams. obviously. baseball’s international promotion is not just limited to this , but it needs it.

[62] Brekekek koax koax.  Rilke’s a very popular (though mostly for the wrong reasons) and influential poet, so I can’t see my handle as inherently pretentious, even if I adopted it ten (?) years ago pretentiously.

baseball is getting killed internationally by basketball and soccer

Accepting this premise for the sake of argument, you have not articulated a reason why this should matter to the average American fan.  Major League Baseball easily can and very likely will remain not only viable but vibrant, and endlessly entertaining for us Americans, for decades to come whether the sport grows internationally or not.

The WBC doesn’t exist because baseball “needs” it in any meaningful way.  It exists because MLB owners want to expand their marketing opportunities.  There’s nothing at all wrong with that of course.  After all, we’re not communists.  But there’s a pretty big gulf between a bunch of rich guys wanting to make themselves even richer and the game of baseball needing to grow internationally in order to survive.

Accepting this premise for the sake of argument, you have not articulated a reason why this should matter to the average American fan.  Major League Baseball easily can and very likely will remain not only viable but vibrant, and endlessly entertaining for us Americans, for decades to come whether the sport grows internationally or not.

Of course, this is why I pointed out the all-White MLB thing, it is obvious that it doesn’t matter a whole lot to the Americans, for logical reasons. If you feel that it doesn’t really matter if baseball ends up back to where it was 50 years ago then this argument is moot. if you feel that baseball’s expansion (or at least continued existence) outside of the States matter, then it’s ridiculas to not support something like the WBC.

But then it matters to the owners, just like you said, because the market expanding is always good for them, and obviously to that end, they control wether the players gets send, not the fans.

I understand that for fans in the US this obviously is irrelevent, as they wouldn’t really care if Yao Ming and all the European players don’t exist anymore in the NBA, but the fact is also that NBA’s revenue and market share has grown quiet a bit in recent years, and the start of it all was sending the Dream Team to the Olympics.

It obviously also has to do with the other leagues around the world, if say.. the NPB eventually become almost as competitive as the US, then the WBC will matter more. (like the World cup)

I’d also like to point out the obvious , that in the longer run , larger international market = larger talent pool

If you feel that it doesn’t really matter if baseball ends up back to where it was 50 years ago then this argument is moot.

This is utterly ridiculous.  The WBC is neither necessary nor sufficient to maintain a broad-based international talent pool for MLB.  In fact, you’ve got the cause and effect backwards here—the WBC was not invented to bring international talent to the US; it came about because of all the international talent that found it’s way into the US to play major league baseball.  Players from other countries aren’t going to decide against coming to the US because it might involve passing up an opportunity to represent their homelands in an international tournament.  The only thing that will make them want to stay home is the opportunity to make more money at home.  So growing popularity and financial success for baseball in other countries could actually lead to less talent finding its way to MLB in the same way that international soccer stars can choose to play in a number of different parts of the world for comparable money.

And if you think that the Dream Team came about because the NBA wanted to expand its international marketing reach, you need a history lesson.  It had a lot more to do with our college kids not being able to beat pros from the rest of the world anymore.  IOW, you’ve got cause and effect backwards again.  The international growth of basketball’s popularity led to the Dream Team, not the other way around.

And if you think that the Dream Team came about because the NBA wanted to expand its international marketing reach, you need a history lesson.

Yeah, the Dream Team was definitely a matter of the US got tired of other countries beating us at “our” sport.  Similar to how a few years ago when the US got embarrassed in international competition, it is now a 2-year commitment for players who want to be on the team so the coach has enough time to integrate everyone.  So far so good.

I think you (RollingWave) are taking it entirely too far to say that w/o the WBC we’re going back to baseball 50 years ago.  Yes, I think the WBC can be good for growing the game internationally, if it is done correctly.  I think the main argument is how to do it correctly?  W/o the major-league players (for all countries) there won’t be interest.  But if the major-league players are there, there is concern everywhere for injuries.  Not sure what the best solution is, and maybe what they’re doing now is the best.  We’ll wait and see…

Certainly, the WBC is only applicable because there is baseball outside of US, the point is though, is that market growing or shrinking vs it’s competition? at least from the view outside, I’d say it’s the later.

There’s many examples we could use. in China for example. obviously they already have NBA level talents, while their soccer is improving and has a fairly large and popular league, but their baseball league in comparason is a joke.

Taiwan has had a baseball league for several decades. but it’s certainly trending backwards for quiet a while now. despite the fact that the country has produced MLB players, the new local basketball league is actually more popular , dispite being nowhere near a respectable international level.

Certainly, the WBC isn’t going to solve all of this, but the point remains that it is good for baseball’s international well being to have such a tournement, other international tournements of baseball draw near 0 interest due to the exact reason that it doesn’t have professional players .

I certainly think that it’s execution could use a ton of improvements. and certainly the all-white 50 year back step is a exaggerated metaphore, but the point remains the same, Baseball is losing to basketball and soccer in terms of international market expansion, in many places it is even going backwards. for that trend to not continue, I strongly feel a event like the WBC is neccesary.

I’ve been wondering for several years why MLB doesn’t do some barnstorming in India (and Pakistan, when less violent).  Large, English-speaking populations, growing affluence (India anyway), intimate familiarity with bat-and-ball games.  In fact a newer cricket league, featuring matches that last a couple hours instead of all day or several days, has become very popular in the last couple years.  Worth a flutter to see if MLB can establish a beachhead—it’s a potential talent pool of hundreds of millions.

I’m not taking this position because I think baseball needs to make more money, just as a fan who would like the rest of the world to share our passion, and also the mor eplayers feeding MLB the better the level of competition.

intimate familiarity with bat-and-ball games.

Slightly amusing story; I may have told it here already, but I’m over 30 and past my mental peak so I forget things.  One of the guys I work with was born and raised in India, but has lived here for about 15 years now.  He grew up playing cricket religously. 

About a decade ago, he was invited to his first softball game.  His first AB, he hit the ball, and started running the bases with his bat.  Apparently, in cricket you carry your bat with you, and use it for things like reaching out and touching the bases on your way around.  People screaming at him to drop his bat and he doesn’t know what to do.  Wish I had been there.

Perhaps before they start playing there they need to distribute some brochures on the differences betweent he two sports…