Fantasy Sports Dirt

Yanks’ First Half MVP?  It’s Brian Cashman

by Eddie Mayrose

Tell the truth. Last February, if you’d somehow found out that the Yankees would be without Rafael Soriano and Joba Chamberlain in the back of their bullpen, that Mark Teixeira would be hitting just .240 in July and that Alex Rodriguez would have just 13 HR in an injury-plagued season, you’d have been hoping for a third-place finish in the AL East. At best. Yet, here are the Bombers, without one truly reliable pitcher in their rotation after C.C. Sabathia, sitting just a game-and-a-half behind the Red Sox in the game’s toughest division while enjoying a seven-game Wild Card lead over its closest rival. How? Look no further than General Manager Brian Cashman.

Cashman was vilified over the winter for his perceived disloyalty to the Yankee organization — first, by refusing to be suckered into bidding against himself for the services of Derek Jeter, then, for not falling in line behind the signing of Soriano, which was orchestrated over his head. Jeter, despite the incredible fashion in which he eclipsed 3,000 hits, has been muddling along with a batting average below last year’s, the worst of his career, while registering just 17 extra-base hits. Soriano, after disappointing early, is on the DL with no return date in sight. At this juncture, Cashman looks anything but disloyal; rather, he seems to have had a crystal ball. Maybe the baseball decisions should be left to the baseball guys. Continue reading »

Who’d a Thunk? They Were Actually Listening

by Eddie Mayrose

It was a long and difficult season. I had been coaching the fifth grade CYO basketball team in my parish for five campaigns and that year’s version was, by far and away, the smallest. There was not a single team in the league that didn’t have three players taller than our biggest guy and it showed in our winless record.

We played hard every week, ran our offense, trapped all over the floor on defense and rarely lost by more than five or six points. But, we did always lose.

I learned a lot from that team; still, to this day, my favorite. We came to practice twice a week and worked hard — running drills, improving skills and supporting each other. We, as a group, became so focused on getting that first win that we bonded like no other team I’d ever had. Personally, I felt like I was right in there with them, a member of the team rather than its coach; wanting more than anything to see these determined ten-year-olds enjoy some measure of success.

Don’t misunderstand. This was a talented bunch that saw eight of its nine members go on to play in high school. They were just so … so small. When games would get tight in the fourth quarter, they couldn’t get a rebound, no matter how hard they tried. Yet, they’d show up at practice two days later as if it was the season’s first. Continue reading »

Not Everyone Interested in the Action

By Eddie Mayrose

Before you read any further, you should be aware that my wife, Virginia, is of the opinion that I shouldn’t often be out in public, as the commonly accepted idiosyncrasies of normal people tend to drive me crazy.

She’s right. I can’t get a handle on why people lunch on the free samples at Costco, spread out four across on a sidewalk when I’m walking toward them, or buy $50 worth of Lotto tickets while I’m waiting in line for a Metrocard to get to work.

While these and many other things tend to put me over the edge, I’m fully aware that the onus is on me to assimilate; I’m the one with the problem. Except, that is, when these wonderful little oddities invade my own sacred bastion: baseball. That’s where I draw the line. I will not suffer thoughtlessness well when it gets in the way of my enjoyment of the national pastime. And any who might disagree with my opinions on the subject can kick rocks — get your own column! Continue reading »