During the Yankees’ dynasty it seemed like every player they called up filled a role and no one did it better than Shane Spencer.
Former Yankee and three-time World Series champion Shane Spencer joined me to talk about September 1998, the 1998 World Series against his hometown Padres, Gary Denbo and the Yankees’ minor league staff, the 2001 World Series, playing after 9/11, his success against Curt Schilling, the breakdown of the Flip Play, his relationship with Paul O’Neill, coming up through the minors with the Core Four and how the team changed in 2002.
For the first time since 1996, the Yankees have a new face of their team and it’s somehow not every fan is going to be happy about. It’s A-Rod.
My whole life someone has been the “Face of the Yankees”. I worn born in 1986 and back then it was Don Mattingly. When he retired after the 1995 season, Derek Jeter was the starting shortstop, Rookie of the Year and World Series champion in 1996, so it was a nice seamless transition from one era of Yankees baseball to the next. But now that Jeter has retired (or so he says since I’m still holding out hope he will be in the Opening Day lineup), the Yankees need a new face.
Brian Cashman was recently asked about who would be the next captain of the Yankees and he said, “As far as I’m concerned, and I’m not the decision-maker on this, that captaincy should be retired with No. 2. I wouldn’t give up another captain title to anybody else.”
Being the captain of a team doesn’t make you the face of it, but it’s just worked out recently that it has been the case for the Yankees. I’m not sure that the Yankees should never have a captain again. I mean if somehow the Baseball Gods give us another Derek Jeter (please) then that’s one thing, but for now, I do agree with Cashman. The Yankees don’t need a captain. They do however need a face. The Yankees can’t be faceless. They can’t be the Blue Jays or A’s.
On the 2015 Yankees, you can eliminate Stephen Drew, who will be designated for assignment at some point this season and hopefully by Opening Day, from being the face of the team. Drew will be part of the Everybody Gets to Be a Yankee Once Team the second he is released, so at least he has that going for him.
You can eliminate Didi Gregorius, who hasn’t played a game for the Yankees, and you can also eliminate Chase Headley, who is just a guy on the team and not “the guy” on the team. I’m a Headley fan, but he isn’t the reason people are going to spend their nights watching the team on YES or spend their hard-earned money going to the Stadium.
Aside from winning an MVP award, it’s equally as hard for a starting pitcher to be the face of a franchise since they will at most play in 21 percent of the team’s games (based on 34 starts) and only having the face of the team play once every fifth day isn’t an easy sell. Well, unless you’re Clayton Kershaw or Felix Hernandez. The only starting pitcher that even comes close to that level is Masahiro Tanaka and while he comes close to that level, he isn’t there yet and deeming someone whose right arm status is being treated as a ticking time bomb isn’t the most sound decision.
Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran were all free-agent signings in the same offseason, so they’re out of the question because they were free-agent signings. But that’s not a bad thing since I don’t want a player who won two World Series with the Red Sox, a catcher who hit .232/.286/.406 last season or a soon-to-be 38-year-old oft-injured outfielder the Yankees signed nine years too late to be the face of the team.
CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira were free-agent signings in the same offseason, so like the pre-2014 class, this pre-2009 class is also eliminated. But also like the pre-2014 class, it’s not a bad thing since I don’t want a 34-year-old starter coming off a serious knee injury, who has made 40 starts in the last two seasons, going 17-17 with a 4.87 ERA to be the face of the team. As for Mark Teixeira, or “The Mailman” as I have decided to call him since he has mailed it in for the last three years despite making $22.5 million, I obviously don’t want him to be the face of the team.
That leaves us with Brett Gardner and Alex Rodriguez, the two longest-tenured Yankees. Gardner isn’t “face of the team” material despite being homegrown and having been in the majors with the Yankees since 2008. And when it comes to A-Rod, he is loved and hated by the fan base, is coming off a full-season suspension for PED use and is somehow still viewed as a postseason failure and unclutch even after he single-handedly carried the Yankees to the 2009 World Series.
But also when it comes to A-Rod, he’s been the focal point of every Yankees story since the last out of 2014. He’s the reason people have paid attention to spring training since Joe Girardi has made it clear there aren’t any position battles to follow. He’s the reason people will go to the Stadium this spring and summer. He’s the only Yankee that has the Yankees star power that every era of Yankees baseball has had. With Jeter gone, A-Rod is the first person someone names when you ask them “Who do you think of when you think of the Yankees right now?” A-Rod is the face of the Yankees.
Having 2015 A-Rod as the face of your team isn’t exactly the most exciting idea and maybe not the proudest moment of being a Yankees fan, but every team needs a face, and for now the Yankees’ is a 39-year-old, who has played 265 games in the last four seasons. A-Rod represents what the Yankees have become, which is an old, broken-down, non-homegrown, overpaid player trying to stay healthy enough to play out of the rest of a bad contract.
Aside from October and the beginning of November 2009, very little has gone the way I envisioned it going when A-Rod was traded to the Yankees in February 2004 when he was still viewed as a face of the game. But in this new era of Yankees baseball, I want to add 2015 to the very little that has gone right for A-Rod in the last 11 years.
The Rangers are now the class of the NHL along with the Blackhawks and for the second time in a little over a week, we get a potential Stanley Cup Final preview.
The Rangers are the class of the Eastern Conference. The Blackhawks are the class of the Western Conference. For the second time in just over a week the two teams meet in what we might be able to call a Stanley Cup Final preview if both teams stay healthy for the next two-plus months.
Ryan Brandell of Barstool Sports Chicago (known as “Chief” on that site), joined me to talk about welcoming the Rangers to the class of the NHL, the comfort of knowing your team is going to the playoffs early on and what to do with the shootout and loser point.
Every Yankees season comes with “that guy” and you don’t want to be “that guy”. Right now, Stephen Drew is “that guy” for the 2015 season.
Every Yankees season comes with “that guy” and you don’t want to be “that guy”. Right now, Stephen Drew is “that guy” for the 2015 season.
Sometimes there’s more than one “that guy”. Last year, we were blessed with two of them in Brian Roberts and Kelly Johnson. And when they were finally released and traded respectively, Brian Cashman was nice enough to give us a handful of bad relievers to fill the void. In 2013, the entire team was built of “that guy” with Lyle Overbay, Vernon Wells, Travis Hafner, Kevin Youkilis (when he played), Chris Stewart and David Adams playing for the Yankees, and I’m being nice by only including those names. In 2012, we were treated to a second year of Freddy Garcia and with him came a 5.20 ERA, Andruw Jones’ .197 average and we also got 39 appearances from Cory Wade and his 6.46 ERA. Get the picture?
I wish I could say that A.J.Burnett, Nick Swisher and Mark Teixeira could be classified as “that guy” in recent years, but they can’t. See, to be “that guy” your contract has to be reasonable enough that the Yankees could release you at any time without eating a ridiculous amount of money. Actually, I guess you could call A.J. Burnett “that guy” since the Yankees were willing to trade him for two minor leaguers and pay the Pirates $20 million over two years just so he wouldn’t have to throw another pitch for the Yankees. Every “that guy” should have been released long before they finally were and in some cases never should have been signed to begin with. Stephen Drew matches both criteria.
In 2013, Drew “helped” the Red Sox win the World Series by going 2-for-15 () in the ALDS, 1-for-20 (.050) in the ALCS and 3-for-19 (.158) in the World Series. Then in the offseason, he turned down the Red Sox’ $14.1 million qualifying offer for 2014. He went unsigned and then re-signed with the Red Sox in May for about $10.2 million for the year, missing two months of the season and costing himself about $4 million by turning down their offer. He hit .176/.255/.328 in 39 games for the Red Sox and then was traded to the Yankees for Kelly Johnson. An historic “that guy” for “that guy” trade. (I’m still upset that Kelly Johnson ended up with the Orioles last year and got to play in the postseason.)
As a Yankee, Drew hit .150/.219/.271 in 46 games. So of course the Yankees re-signed him to a one-year, $5 million deal (with incentives it could get up $6.5 million) for 2015. A month after acquiring Didi Gregorius to be their shortstop of the future, the Yankees signed Drew to be their second baseman, blocking a path to the majors for both Rob Refsnyder (who hit .342 in Double-A and .300 in Triple-A in 2014) and Jose Pirela (who Reggie Jackson called the best hitter in the organization this spring training). But I guess when you have the chance to block two of the best position player prospects the organization has seen in a while to make a roster spot for Stephen Drew, it’s a move you have to make. On Monday, Joe Girardi made it clear that Drew is the Yankees’ second baseman.
“We signed (Stephen Drew) to be our second baseman,” Girardi said. “We didn’t sign him to struggle. We signed him to play at a very high level, and we expect that he will.”
Well, Joe you did sign Drew to struggle because that’s all he’s done. Actually, you traded for him to struggle in a garbage-for-garbage trade with Kelly Johson and then after he struggled, you signed him again anyway despite having traded for a shortstop and with depth at second base in the minors.
I have always pictured the Drews (like the Weavers) driving around Georgia in the early 90s with J.D. and Stephen in the back and the “O’Doyle Rules!” family scene from Billy Madison taking place. The fact that both Drews have World Series rings and both with the Red Sox is so effed up it makes me hate sports. But Drew is making it easier and easier as a case to unanimously be “that guy” for this season because it seems like with each out he makes this spring, Refsnyder and Pirela add another hit to their March stats.
If Drew continues to play this way, hopefully the situation will take care of itself before Opening Day and I won’t have to worry once the games actually count. Girardi will likely recite his story about Raul Ibanez during 2012 spring training and how bad he was entering the season, trying to make believers out of Drew’s critics, as if what happened three years ago with a player offensively better than Drew has any relevance to Drew’s struggles.
On April 6, I will have no choice but to root for Drew and be a Drew fan. Once Opening Day comes, if Drew is going to be a Yankee then I will want him to do well to help the team win since that’s all the matters. But if Drew continues to struggle the way that Girardi says he isn’t here to do, he will eventually be released the way “that guy” each year has been before. If that happens, I hope the Yankees haven’t lost too many games before it does.
This is it. The last Rangers-Islanders game ever at Nassau Coliseum. Well, that is unless we get a Rangers-Islanders playoff series this spring.
This is it. The last Rangers-Islanders game ever at Nassau Coliseum. Well, that is unless we get a Rangers-Islanders playoff series this spring. But for now, this is the last time we will see the two rivals play on Long Island before the Islanders move at the end of the season.
With the Rangers and Islanders battling for first place in the Met and meeting for the fifth and final time this season, I did an email exchange with Dominik Jansky of Lighthouse Hockey to talk about the rivalry, what it’s like to have the Islanders relevant again, if Islanders fans want to see the Rangers in the playoffs and the sentimentality of the closing of the Nassau Coliseum.
Keefe: To anyone I know who is a real Islanders fan and didn’t just come out of the woodwork to rejoin rooting for a good team this season, I have compared being an Islanders fan to being a fan of a band that plays at bars and clubs and then all of a sudden they are playing arenas and stadiums and liking them is the cool thing to do. It seems like every hockey fan not already rooting for the Rangers is on the “I hope the Islanders win if my team doesn’t” bandwagon this season. And while I’m happy to have the New York hockey rivalry back, I’m not rooting for the Islanders if the Rangers are eliminated.
But what’s it like to have the Islanders back as a Cup contender after two decades of mediocre and bad hockey? Does it feel good to have attention on the Islanders once again?
Jansky: Of course it’s fantastic and long overdue to have the Islanders as contenders again. There is something poetic about it coinciding with the final season of the Coliseum, too, and to have the reassurance that they will hit the ground running in Brooklyn.
The “out of the woodwork” thing hasn’t been too much of an issue. One thing you find with a team that was so historically dominant during a certain era is there are a lot of fans who were kids or teenagers then who are absolutely loving the chance to relive even a taste of that success through the current team with their offspring.
Keefe: Two years ago when the Islanders nearly pulled off the upset of the Penguins in the first round of the playoffs before losing in six games, it was a glimpse into the future of the Islanders. Then injuries derailed last season and now we’re finally getting to see what took so long to build on Long Island.
Two years ago, you got the first playoff appearance since 2006-07, but the team still hasn’t won a playoff series since 1992-93 with six first-round exits since then.
What would you consider to be a successful season for the Islanders this season? Is it winning a series? Winning two? Reaching the Eastern Conference finals? Or are expectations even higher than that after their success in the regular season?
Jansky: Well, it’s already been a success based on the first three-quarters. Though it’s common for fans to write off the regular season, the fact is it consumes most of the season and, in some ways, is a bigger test than two months of playoffs.
Certainly winning a series would be nice, in terms of wiping that “not since 1992-93” factoid off the narrative, but they should do much more than that. They have as good a chance as any team in the East of becoming this year’s version of the sacrificial lamb offered at the altar of the West. However it plays out, they need to send the Coliseum off in style.
Keefe: Jaroslav Halak has been a major upgrade over Islanders goalies in recent years and will give them a better chance to win in the playoffs than they have had in some time. I have never been the biggest Halak fan and have never been worried when the Rangers have played them even though he has done a nice job against them this season outside of the Feb. 16 game.
Do you believe in Halak and are you worried about him for the playoffs?
Jansky: Halak has had his tougher moments, but his strength is in his steady calm amid the storm. He shakes off bad goals, he shakes off good goals, his movements are predictable and reassuring for the defense.
Considering Halak’s largest playoff sample was the year he carried the Habs over better opponents, I’m not worried about any of the traditional playoff narratives in his case.
Keefe: It’s the end of a chapter in the storied rivalry as Tuesday night will be the last time the Rangers and Islanders ever play at the Nassau Coliseum. Well, unless we get a playoff series between the two teams.
For a while I was against the Rangers and Islanders meeting in the playoffs, and it wasn’t because the Islanders beat up on the Rangers in their first three meetings this year. I said I didn’t want a Rangers-Islanders playoff series because from a Rangers fan standpoint, nothing good can come from it. If the Rangers win, they’re the Rangers and they’re supposed to win. And if the Islanders win, it’s basically the worst thing imaginable. It’s the same feeling I have about Yankees-Red Sox playoff series. If the Yankees win, they’re the Yankees and they’re supposed to win. And if they lose, well, it’s the worst thing imaginable. The aftermath of a series loss far outweighs the satisfaction of a series win, unless that series win eventually leads to a championship.
There’s nothing for the Rangers and Rangers fans to gain by playing the Islanders in the playoffs. Sure, it would be great for New York hockey and for the mainstream media around here to pretend like they care about hockey and it would be good fuel to rekindling the fire of a once-strong rivalry. But if the Rangers don’t win, it’s a disaster.
But after the last game between the teams on Feb. 16, which should be used a commercial for the NHL, I’m all for the teams meeting in April or May. Give me more Rangers-Islanders this season. Don’t make Tuesday’s game at the Coliseum the last between them.
Are you for or against a playoff series between them?
Jansky: I think what you’re describing is the fear that accompanies any rivalry: the bounty is incomparably sweet if your team prevails, but on some level you’d rather not risk the encounter if the flip-side is humiliation at the hands of your rivals and friends on the other side.
It’s not so much that the Rangers are “supposed” to win any more than they were “supposed” to beat the Capitals or Flyers or Penguins in years past, it’s that they haven’t faced that test in ages because the Isles haven’t been good enough to force them to.
I’d love for it to happen because of the great theater, even though it would be of the potentially torturous variety. Ultimately I know that, just like with the Penguins in 2013, even if it ends in a loss, history still favors the Islanders unparalleled accomplishments.
Keefe: With Tuesday’s game being the last Rangers-Islanders game at the Coliseum for now, has the sentimentality of the Coliseum closing start to set in? The Islanders only have nine home regular-season games left and then they’re only guaranteed two home playoff games as of now. So we’re looking at the real possibility of only nine more hockey games on Long Island.
Has it hit you yet that this is the end? What are your feelings on the move to Brooklyn?
Jansky: There was high sentimentality about the Coliseum in the preseason and opening months, but I feel like it’s taken somewhat of a backseat to marveling at just how good and consistent the Islanders have been this season. They were expected to improve and make the playoffs, maybe even contend for home ice in the first round. But to be in the division title conversation all season long, to avoid prolonged bad spells to this point, that has surprised even the biggest optimists and somewhat distracted from the Coliseum story. Now that we are in the stretch run, it is definitely on the mind though.
As for Brooklyn, it’s clear the political situation was too infested with incompetence to allow the Islanders to stay in Nassau, and Charles Wang certainly served his time trying to find a way. So with that ship sailed, I’m looking forward to the advantages Brooklyn will provide. It will be different, but also intriguing. As any fan who has watched both 19 playoff series victories in a row and a series drought of over 20 years knows, conditions change, nothing in sports last forever.