Yanks do A-Rod an in-Justice, NY Daily News, June 30, 2006

Only in Yankee Land could A-Rod’s walk-off become overshadowed by controversy. The Daily News is reporting that David Justice wasn’t the only YES-man commissioned to take down Rodriguez on Tuesday. Allegedly all three booth broadcasters were ‘encouraged’ as well. Justice, who appeared yesterday afternoon on Michael Kay’s radio show, justified his comments and received nothing but high praise for his honesty. But others have their own take on the matter:

“This is the same thing George used to do, but simply done differently,” a source said. “Any number of people could have been involved in this, but everyone seems to agree David Justice didn’t do this on his own.”

Update: David Justice on the Mike and the Mad Dog show this afternoon: “What I gave you that night was my observation. If somebody told me verbatim what to say then I had to memorize one heck of a speech.”

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Advising A-Rod? That’s Sweet, Lou, Daily News, June 29, 2006

• The angel mystery has been cleared by Bill Madden in today’s Daily News. In the words of A-Rod, Tuesday’s chance sighting of Lou Piniella (in town on business) was like seeing “an angel from the sky.” The two met for an hour, leading up to Wednesday’s ‘Yankeeography Moment’.

• Could David Justice be doing The Boss’ dirty work from the YES studio? After hearing Justice call out A-Rod on Tuesday, that’s what today’s Post seems to be implying:

With YES being owned by the Yankees, there is always a question of where this incredible frankness comes from.

Last year, the Yankees hierarchy fed some questions to reporter Kimberly Jones in an attempt to unnerve Joe Torre. In the offseason, Torre even confronted George Steinbrenner and team president Randy Levine about the issue.

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NY Yankees 4, Atlanta 3, 12 innings, AP, June 28, 2006

All the booing and jeering turned to cheers as A-Rod hit a dramatic walk-off homerun this afternoon. In a tightly contested match up that Joe Torre managed like a playoff game, the Yankees narrowly squeaked by the anemic Braves.

Well what have Yankee fans learned from all this? Booing really does work. Repeat as necessary.

Update: Did A-Rod really tell WCBS 880’s Suzyn Waldman he saw an angel prior to hitting his game-winning homerun? Details pending….

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Yanks don’t do Wright thing, NY Daily News, June 28, 2006

They’re considered to be the smartest fans in baseball. But could their constant booing be the cause of A-Rod’s hitting woes?

A-Rod went 0-for-4 and was booed each time he made an out, a habit of the fans that Rodriguez conceded may be making it harder for him to get into a groove at the plate.

“A little bit,” he said. “Then I try to do a little too much and that’s not going to help.”

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Atlanta 4, NY Yankees 1, AP, June 28, 2006

Yankee fans booed their reigning MVP and a disgusted Jorge Posada abandoned Kyle Farnsworth on the mound. From today’s NY Times:

“They hit the ball,” Farnsworth said, describing what happened last night. As for his theory on his overall performance, Farnsworth said, “No idea.”

By the time this one was over, even the Yes-men were left grumbling. During the fitful eighth, Michael Kay questioned Farnsworth’s ability to pitch in New York. And David Justice was clearly fed up with A-Rod, imploring him to step up in the clutch.

Robinson Canó is headed to the DL. But what is the cure for the ‘healthy’ Yanks?

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NY Yankees 5, Atlanta 2, AP, June 27, 2006

Win number 43 comes courtesy of Balco Bomber Jason Giambi, who drove in all five NY runs. Yankee fans must be convinced that juicing is a San Francisco problem. Otherwise they’d think twice about all these curtain calls, wouldn’t they?

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NY Yankees 2, Florida 1
Florida 5, NY Yankees 0

• Warrior-Meter: Jason Giambi has back spasms and misses game one. Robinson Cano strains his left hamstring in game two.

• The Yanks were one Farnsworth mistake away from being swept. He teetered again but escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth to preserve a 2-1 victory in game one.

• A-Rod: Two games played and no hits, but only 6,809 boos in the nightcap. It was the smallest crowd at Yankee stadium since 1994.

• Giambi made two costly throwing errors in game two. His fielding will continue to pose problems for Torre, as he tries to rest his other veterans. From today’s Post.

“Jason, ideally, especially after what happened in the first game, you’d like to DH him, but we just felt that Johnny needed it more,” Torre said.

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To Gossage, Bonds Isn’t Fit for Hall, NY Times, June 25, 2006

In town for Old-Timers’ Day, a comfortably retired Goose Gossage is once again ready for battle:

“I would have drilled Manny years ago. He wouldn’t have pulled that stuff, stand there and stare at home runs.”

The Grey Goose also discounts Barry Bonds’ steroid statistics, curiously avoiding any mention of the numerous Bomber users.

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60th Annual Old Timers’ Day, Yes Network.com, June 20, 2006

No day of the year epitomizes Yankee self-indulgence and narcissism like Old-Timer’s Day. Only the rain spared us from having to watch Yankee legends hobble around the diamond, shamelessly exploited by their former employer one more time. Thanks to the rain out (second year in a row), YES was once again able to focus on what it does best: praising and glorifying the legacy of pinstripes.

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NY Yankees 6, Florida 5, AP, June 24, 2006

• Farnsworth nearly blew last night’s game with more of his eighth inning antics. Kyle, kissing the cross is a good start but how about a few ‘Hail Marys’ too?

“The rain had nothing to do with it. I pitched like (garbage), so I had to get myself out of it,” Farnsworth said.

• A-Rod gets a standing ovation and tells the NY Post, “It felt great. We’ve always said, they don’t hold grudges.”. In other words, he finally realizes just how fickle NY fans really are.

• And it seems Chien-Ming Wang has become the latest psychology project for Torre and staff:

“We made sure right after the game to talk to him, to tell him we trust him and will continue to trust him.”

So there you have the blueprint for the modern Yankee Warrior: a high-achieving, talented player with a very frail psyche. Does Torre realize he is fostering this mentality?

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