Rieber: Yankees changing their tune
Joba Chamberlain appears in Game 1 of the ALCS against the Rangers. (Oct. 15, 2010) Credit: Getty
This past week, general manager Brian Cashman slammed the door on any thought of giving Joba Chamberlain a chance to compete for a spot in the Yankees' thin rotation in spring training. Cashman explained that he believes that Chamberlain's "stuff'' works better out of the bullpen. But the Yankees, including Cashman, haven't always felt that way. Here's a sampling of their quotes about Chamberlain since the early days of the "starter or reliever'' debate:
APRIL 21, 2008
"You don't have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a setup guy . . . You have to be an idiot to do that."
JULY 25, 2008
"You are talking about a top-end-of-the-rotation guy.''
- Joe Girardi, after Chamberlain outdueled Josh Beckett in a 1-0 win at Fenway Park
MARCH 25, 2010
"He's a starter in the bullpen. He can do both.''
- Cashman, after Chamberlain was beaten out by Phil Hughes for fifth-starter spot in spring training
JAN. 19, 2011
"Joba's a bullpen guy. For the 200th time."
- Cashman
Warning: Danger
Remember when first baseman Lance Berkman fell hard on his back on the warning track in foul territory at Yankee Stadium while going after a pop-up during ALCS Game 5 last year?
Mark Teixeira, who was injured at the time, told reporters, "That warning track around our stadium is very dangerous. It's hard. It's basically concrete with sand on it. It needs to be fixed. It's not a safe surface.''
Yankees president Randy Levine said this past week that the team "spoke to Tex, spoke to a lot of people," but ultimately decided not to alter the warning track.
"We looked at it," Levine said. "But there were never any issues. We always look to improve the stadium. But as of today, there doesn't seem to be any issues, and that seemed to be the only time that ever happened . . . Player safety is the most paramount thing. We never heard from anybody before or after that."
Unique experience for Mets
The Yankees deservedly get a lot of credit for "Hope Week'' - a concentrated series of charitable endeavors that is well-planned, well-executed and well-publicized by the YES Network.
The Mets, in their familiar mom-and-pop-store way, also deserve kudos for their charitable and community outreach programs.
This past week, they hosted a group of Queens students at Citi Field, opened a Mets-themed care room at a Queens hospital and had four players and COO Jeff Wilpon go through simulated firefighter training at the FDNY's Training Academy on Randall's Island.
Wilpon was joined by Mike Pelfrey, R.A. Dickey, Bobby Parnell and Dillon Gee. They donned full firefighter uniforms and went though drills, entering a burning room, putting out room and car fires and dropping feet-first off a five-story building.
Gee and Parnell have fathers who are firefighters - Gee's in Fort Worth, Texas, and Parnell's in Salisbury, N.C. "Pretty awesome,'' Pelfrey said. "It makes you appreciate the things that they do even more.''
