Big Man in a Little…

In what seems to be some sort of homage to my favorite Chris Farley gag regarding big men being forced into anything too small, David Ortiz recently got a ride around the streets of D.C. courtesy of the D.C. Clown Brigade official police escort.

This is already a few days old, but brightened my morning anyway.

Ridiculous.

Photo by EducatedCheese over at SonofSamHorn.

Manny being… well, I’m not really sure, actually.

AHOY MATEYS!  Yo Ho Ho!

Did he arrive directly from the deck of a cruise ship? Men should not let other men wear linen capris.

 

ARGH.

Shelley Please Be My Valentine

Yes, there is yet ANOTHER reason to love Shelley Duncan’s sense of humor and it’s not his silly grin in the NASCAR pits last Saturday… nor is it the kick-ass autograph he left in Boston last year. Nope.

This time it’s his comments to the New York Times about how the Congressional Hearings yesterday involving Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee didn’t really interest him. “I saw Congressman Waxman’s opening statement,” Duncan said, “and that’s when I fell asleep.” He answered the media’s questions remarkably well and then stole my heart with this added gem:

“If it was a cage match between the two of them,” Duncan said, “that would be fun to watch.”

It’s so hard not to love this boy.

It’s that time once again…

Valentine’s day, Schmalentine’s day.

Today, pitchers and catchers report to the Yankees’ spring training camp, and that’s a much more important holiday. New spring, new grass, new hope.

Ben over at River Ave. Blues posted a great one today that beautifully sums up my feelings about how quickly the off-season passed and how ready we are to remember why we love this game.

Happy Spring!

Gentlemen Start Your Engines!

Pitchers and Catchers Report Tomorrow! I am beside myself with excitement, I can’t believe it’s that time of year again already. You certainly wouldn’t know it by checking the weather outside my window today!

In other news, Phil Hughes (who is recently confirmed as having a new number – #34), Ian Kennedy and Shelley Duncan got a little revved up for the season by getting out to last weekend’s NASCAR Budweiser Shootout in Daytona. Yes, that is Shelley’s silly grin you’re seeing in the picture. Check out Phil’s comments on the weekend and a few more pictures over at his personal blog.

Let me admit right now that I’m completely jealous of the access that comes with being a professional sports phenomenon. I’m pretty good at what I do too, but unfortunately the perks that come with my job do not include being invited into the pits at Daytona.

Oh well, it’s hard to find to complain about at the moment, dreary weather and all… it’s Spring Training time!

The Name Remains the Same

Around this time next year, the New York Yankees will begin playing home games in a new stadium. Now, some people have a problem with this change, as is to be expected, but I choose to see it as a good thing… we need updated facilities and more leg room (our poor knees!) and besides… it’s only just across the street.

But I, like so many other fans, were very afraid of what would happen with the naming rights. Of course it will always be “Yankee Stadium” but it seemed very unlikely that the Yanks would pass on the money that comes with corporate sponsorship. I truly expected to see something like “Yankee Stadium at JPMorgan Chase Park” or something like that. I think most realistic fans knew that it was likely with a stadium price tag in the BILLIONS of dollars.

Well in yet another development that has put a huge smile on my face, the Yankees have announced that tradition and history are more important than sponsorship; that the long history of understated consistency would carry over to this new era… the new stadium will NOT be sponsored and will remain, simply the iconic “Yankee Stadium”. Oh Happy Day.

“You don’t re-name the White House or the Grand Canyon,” Lonn Trost said Thursday. Moreover, the Yankees COO said the construction cost will exceed the announced $830 million by a half billion. In the name of tradition, the successor to The House That Ruth Built and John Lindsay refurbished will cost $1.3 billion to build.The cost is for the Yankees to calculate, meet and privately lament.

“We’ll make it up some way,” said Trost. Their public won’t care about that anymore come 2009, when the gates open for the first time, than it cared about Derek Jeter’s salary the night he sailed into the boxes in ‘04. The name of the park does matter, though.

It’s nice to know that fans and management are mostly on the same page with this one.

I Heart Tino!

I’m super-happy to hear that Tino Martinez, one of my favorite all-time Yankee players, has returned to the organization as a special instructor.

On Tuesday, he reportedly worked one-on-one with Shelley Duncan, who he described as “tall and lanky” with “soft hands.” Awwww, Tino… don’t gush now! He does seem genuinely happy to be involved in the Yanks again, this time on the coaching side of things…

“It’s awesome,” Martinez said. “I really enjoy this, the opportunity to come out and coach and help these guys get better, especially the young guys.”

You know what’s awesome Tino?

YOU ARE!