Monday, January 25, 2010

Save Gate 2 Press Release

Got this in my inbox yesterday and wanted to pass it along...

"Old Yankee Stadium Park"

NEW GATE 2 MONUMENT DESIGN

Proposed to the City of New York by the
Committee to Commemorate Old Yankee Stadium
&
HistoryOfTheYankees.com
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In extensive consultation and coordination with leading historians, architects, construction experts, and engineers - from New York and across the country - the Committee to Commemorate Old Yankee Stadium and HistoryOfTheYankees.com have researched, designed and proposed a NEW GATE 2 MONUMENT to properly preserve and commemorate the history of the original Old Yankee Stadium (1923-1972). At present, the New York City Parks Department plans to completely deconstruct and sell the entire original Stadium, over emphatic concerns and objections of citizens and experts around the nation, as well as those of New York City officials, including but not limited to Bronx County Historian Lloyd Ultan, and the Public Design Commission. The Design Commission has recently (again) rejected the Parks Department most recent proposed plan to recklessly destroy and sell the entire original Stadium, not preserving any part of it whatsoever in commemoration (and otherwise not properly commemorating the site's unparalleled place in New York and American history.)

To address these urgent concerns, top Yankee Stadium historians, architects, and designers have voluntarily joined forces to propose a monument which properly and comprehensively addresses all historic, structural, aesthetic, and financial, issues under City review. The stunning resulting design - generated by the world's preeminent Yankee Stadium 3D modeler, designer & animator, Rick Kaplan - is summarized in the attached imagery. It faithfully, elegantly and feasibly captures and preserves the original majesty of Old Yankee Stadium, immediately allowing park visitors (for hundreds of years to come) to readily and tangibly see what The House That Ruth Built really looked like - inside and out - in a manner that will generate year-round tourism and associated revenues for the South Bronx and City.

To make this monument a reality, the Committee to Commemorate Old Yankee Stadium & HistoryOfTheYankees.com have also voluntarily developed the SAVE THE GATE Commemorative Brick Program, which can raise an additional $1o million dollars for the City, as well as the SAVE THE GATE VOLUNTEER WORKER PROGRAM, which will eliminate virtually all labor costs associated with preserving the Gate. Thus, the City will actually GREATLY profit - not only culturally, but financially, too, by saving Gate 2. Most important of all is the fact that IF Gate 2 is NOT saved, New York will have wantonly destroyed and given away ALL of the greatest stadium and sports site since the Roman Coliseum.

For Previous Media Releases, Stories & Related Videos, Please See:
________________
For Further Information, Please contact:
Chris and Cindy Jones
(804)426-9911
(804)639-9472
Committee to Commemorate Old Yankee Stadium
and/or
Brad Turnow
(516) 523-4749
(631) 874-5754

_______________
The Committee to Commemorate to Old Yankee Stadium has three urgent missions:

1) To Preserve Old Yankee Stadium Gate 2 as a permanent commemorative feature at Old Yankee Stadium Park. To achieve this, we have initiated the SAVE THE GATE COMMEMORATIVE BRICK DRIVE and VOLUNTEER WORKER PROGRAM.

2) To name the new park site of Old Yankee Stadium "OLD YANKEE STADIUM PARK", a majestically unique and infinitely more appealing, accurate, and appropriate name. The currently proposed name has been widely criticized by Baseball, historical and architectural experts (as well as legions of informed fans and concerned citizens) as grossly common, bland, ambiguous, and terribly disconnected from the site's preeminent role in New York history, including its internationally unmatched history in Baseball. (Indeed, there are many dozens of Heritage Parks and Fields across the country, including the Cleveland Indians "Heritage Park" - right in the AL East!!!)

3) To name the baseball field in Old Yankee Stadium Park, "BABE RUTH MEMORIAL FIELD" in tribute to the most renowned player and icon in Baseball history, and to replace the original "BABE RUTH MEMORIAL FIELD" which was destroyed to make room for new Yankee Stadium. (BABE RUTH MEMORIAL FIELD was intended to be a "permanent" tribute to Babe Ruth's immortal and unparalleled contributions to the City of New York. It's destruction, along with the destruction of "The House That Ruth Built", leaves the City devoid of any public tribute to America's greatest and most beloved sports figure.
In the near future, we will also be applying to the U.S. Department of Interior for long-overdue National Landmark status for the site of Old Yankee Stadium, which will provide even further (stimulus and historic preservation) funds available to the City of New York for the preservation of Gate 2 and complete commemoration of "Old Yankee Stadium Park."
--
Brad's Ultimate New York Yankees Website

website - www.HistoryOfTheYankees.com
blog - http://historyoftheyankees.blogspot.com/

Committee to Commemorate Old Yankee Stadium - Save Gate 2!

website - http://ultimateyankees.com/CCOYS.htm
blog - http://ccoys.blogspot.com

Yanks Inquire About Nelson Cruz?

From Frankie Piliere (hat-tip to River Ave. Blues):
Heard whispers that Nelson Cruz is a name the Yanks inquired on. Not confirmed and no word if talks even got off the ground or not
Earlier in the day he said that the Yankees were exploring the trade market for a left fielder.

Not sure what to make of this, but I have to assume the price for Cruz will be too high. He's still just 29-years-old and he's coming off an all-star season that saw him hit .260/.332/.524 with 33 HR and 76 RBI in 128 games with the Rangers, and as Mike Axisa pointed out over at RAB he's a solid left fielder as well.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

1/24 Winter Ball Report

Here's Big Guy's weekly Winter Ball recap:

The Caribbean leagues are having their playoffs at this time. A few Yankee players are still playing.

MEXICAN WINTER LEAGUE:


Ramiro Pena--INF--Culican---Pena’s Culican team has been eliminated from the playoffs. He had an excellent postseason hitting at a .414 clip with 1 homer, 4 rbi, and 5 runs scored. During regular season MWL action he hit .247 in 26 games. Pena has a good chance to be the utility infielder for NY in 2010.

Jon Weber--OF---Mazatlan---Weber has had a very good postseason. His Mazatlan team has reached the championship round in the Mexican league. In the first 2 games he’s 6-9 with 2 rbi and a double. His overall postseason marks, .379 average, with 7 rbis, 5 runs and 3 doubles. He had an outstanding regular MWL season hitting .396 in 40 games with 7 homers, 29 rbis, and 13 doubles. Weber was signed to a minor league deal by the Yankees and should starting the year in the SWB outfield. He was in the Tampa organization last year and played for their AAA Durham team hitting .302 with 14 homers and 26 doubles.

Jorge Vasquez--DH--Culican--Vasquez had a rough postseason, going just 3-21 a solo homer for his only rbi and run scored as the DH. He showed some real power during regular league action with 11 homers and 26 rbis in 32 games. He played at AA Trenton in 09 hitting .329 in 57 games, with 56 rbis and 13 homers. He should be starting 2010 as the DH at SWB.

DOMINICAN WINTER LEAGUE:

Juan Miranda--1B--Licay--Miranda’s Licey team was eliminated from the playoffs. He finished the postseason hitting at a .273 clip with 4 rbi, 9 runs and 2 doubles. He played in 13 regular season DWL games hitting. .409 with 2 homers and 11 rbis. In 2009 at SWB he hit .290 with 19 homers, 82 rbis and 30 doubles.

VENEZUELAN WINTER LEAGUE:

Romulo Sanchez--RHP--Zulia--Sanchez appeared in 1 game this week as his Zulia team was eliminated from the playoffs. He tossed 1 inning, 1 run on 2 hits with 1 strikeout. He had a rough postseason. In 6 games he threw 4.2 innings, 8 runs, 8 hits, 4 K’s--3 walks. During the VWL regular season action he tossed 33 innings, 14 earned runs, 26 hits, 45 K’s---18 walks. In 2009 he relieved and started for SWB tossing 64.2 innings with a 4.04 ERA, 29 earned runs, 66 hits, 64 K’s--34 walks.

Reegie Corona--INF--Maganelles--Corona had been used mostly as a pinch hitter-pinch runner during the regular season but has been a starter in the playoffs. This week he went 7-18 with 3 rbi, 4 runs scored and 2 doubles. His Maganelles team is now in the championship series. In the first 2 games he’s 5-10 with 2 rbi, 3 runs, and 2 doubles. His overall postseason marks so far he‘s hitting at a .343 clip, 5 rbi, 6 runs, 2 doubles. In the VWL regular season he hit .317 in 40 games. He split 09 between Trenton and as a backup for SWB hitting a combined .257. He was added to the 40 man roster.

What a Difference a Year Makes For A-Rod

Remember last spring, when A-Rod had his steroid press conference and broke down while thanking his teammates for sticking by and supporting him? Well, last night he got choked up again, but this time it was for winning the Babe Ruth Award as the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America's postseason MVP. The award was presented by Babe Ruth's granddaughter.

Here's more from the AP:
Alex Rodriguez looked at the award he just received from Babe Ruth's granddaughter with big eyes and a broad grin. It was as if he almost couldn't believe it was his.

"Postseason MVP. Wow," Rodriguez said Saturday night. Pausing for effect he added, "What's next, the good guy award?"

...

And after he told fans at the dinner that "he'd stick to the script of 2009 and keep it very, very brief," he choked up, taking a long pause -- save for a nervous laugh -- to look down at the podium and smile awkwardly.

Unlike the extended pause he took during his steroids news conference, this one was broken when an attendee -- the dinner was crowded with Yankees fans -- shouted, "You're the best, A-Rod!"

...

"I've been to these dinners a couple of times to receive MVP awards and those, I'm very proud of those accomplishments," he said. "But none of those accomplishments will ever compare to the feeling you get from being part of a team that won a world championship. Like Albert [Pujols] said there's nothing like winning a World championship."
If you told me a year ago that A-Rod was going to go from disgraced superstar being outed for steroid use to winning a postseason MVP award and a ring I would have said you were crazy.

Derek Jeter also received two awards, the Joe DiMaggio Toast of the Town Award, and shared the Willie, Mickey and the Duke Award with teammates Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte. However, the Captain was not on hand to receive the awards.

More On The Damon Situation

From Mike Puma:
The Yankees have spoken with Johnny Damon's agent, Scott Boras, in recent days about the possibility of a Bronx encore for the outfielder -- even though club officials aren't exactly holding their breath.

With only $2 million or so remaining in the Yankees' budget (perhaps a few extra dollars would be available in incentives), Damon is expected to say "No" one final time and hope for a better offer elsewhere.

An Internet report yesterday indicated Damon had been given the weekend to decide on returning. However, general manager Brian Cashman denied that was the case.

"There is no deadline," Cashman said. "We'll spend when we feel comfortable."

In a text message to The Post, Damon indicated he was vacationing and not aware of a deadline. More likely, Boras gave the Yankees a deadline of this weekend to make their final offer.
I can see why the team doesn't believe he'll sign for $2 million, but what other options does he really have at this point?

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Heyman: Yanks Give Damon Deadline (Updated)

(UPDATED 6:38 p.m.) According to Chad Jennings, Brian Cashman denied the report:
“That’s not true,” Cashman said. “I have a certain amount of money, and when I decide to spend it, I’m going to spend it.”
But Bill Madden wrote this today:
Still, as recently as a couple of days ago, there was renewed dialogue between Damon, Boras and the Yankees in which the Yankees made one last attempt to have a good Yankee remain a Yankee.

"Tell us your bottom line for what you're willing to play for," they said, "and if it's in the realm of where our budget needs to be we can go to ownership (Hal Steinbrenner) and see if something can be worked out." But instead of giving them a number, Boras came back with more of his patented "mystery team" hogwash, claiming he had a couple of other offers they were still considering.

And Marc Carig says that he received a text from Damon, and he says he "should have a team in a week".

All we fans can do is wait. Like I said earlier, we'll know more in the upcoming days.

...

From Jon Heyman:
damon has days to take low deal with yankees. assuming he says no, theyll sign another OF soon from johnson, nady, winn, edmonds, dye
Not sure what that "low deal" is, nor have I seen anyone else talking about the Yankees making an offer. I guess we'll find out more in the next few days.

New York Mag's Q&A With Granderson

New York Magazine recently did a Q&A with Curtis Granderson (hat-tip to Was Watching). You can check out the entire article at the link above, but here a few of the questions they asked:

So what's happened so far? Who have you met?
When the trade was announced, A-Rod immediately texted me, "you'll love it here." I met him and CC at the press conference with some front-office management. And I know Jeter from the World Baseball Classic. But that's it right now.

What was it like to put on the pinstripes for the first time?
You don't think about it when you play against them, you just see the "N.Y." But when you wear it, man, it's something. It pops.

Have you gotten any advice on just what to expect?
I was lucky enough to talk with Gary Sheffield, who was a Yankee and a Met and on seven total Major League teams. He told me all the things you'd expect: the media, the fan base, cops recognizing you, everyone remembering every slip-up you do.

Damon, Yanks Talkin' Again

Jon Heyman was on the MLB network yesterday and discussed Johnny Damon's situation. Here's the quote via Mike Axisa:
"He did meet or talk to the Yankees in the last couple of days. Still doesn't look like a great chance of happening though believe it or not. They are talking, but the Yankees have these budgetary constraints. They've been telling other teams they have about 2 million dollars to spend. I think for Damon they would probably go over that. I mean this is a guy who's had 100 runs scored 9 times and 24 home runs. Terrific player, but I would still say more likely Braves or Tigers, at this point."
Maybe Jerry Hairston Jr. was right when he said the Yankees were waiting for Damon's price to drop.