Jeter Earns Honor

New York Yankees' history is loaded with legends. Twenty seven championships produce a list of heroes that stretch from the Bronx to the Canyon of Heroes. An elite few are elevated to iconic status: Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle and Berra fill the history books. Time marches on; the list grows.

News that Sports Illustrated awarded their prestigious sportsman of the year honor to Derek Jeter sounds appropriate. The captain snatches another accolade.

We live in a time dominated by bad news. Heroes are hard to find. Tabloid gossip mongering is an art form. Human frailty is exposed for the sake of profit. Derek Jeter navigates the nonsense by playing the game the right way. The captain consistently turns a bang-bang double play of elite performance and competitive zeal. Class counts. Cheating isn't in the mix. The list of Yankees' legends grow.

Painting via Bronx Banter

The Next Yankees' Plan

The resounding success of the '09 New York Yankees is a matter of fact. A ring was snatched with top-tier-talent, guile and good fortune. Bountiful resources insure that elite talent will keep on coming. Money will overtake mistakes, dubious judgement or lack of vision. Whiff on Pavano, Igawa and company, no matter, sooner or later, aces will be dealt. All is forgiven.

Guile helps. Girardi delivers. Preparation never sleeps. The new Joe isn't going anywhere. It's all good. The third variable,good fortune, doesn't last long. Lady luck is fickle. She can't be bought (Uh-OH). Somehow, the pinstriped over-the-hill gang thrived in '09. Go figure: a forty year old elite closer, a 38 year old catcher coming off major shoulder surgery, a perpetually hobbled World Series MVP, a 36 year old shortstop who was left for dead by stat. wizards, a tabloid icon with a balky hip. Not exactly a recipe for success but it worked. Miracles happen.

The '09 Yankees are finished. Next season's model is under construction. There is work to be done, decisive decisions are on deck. It won't be easy.

Damon, Matsui and Pettitte produced logic-defying numbers for a special team. The timeless baseball axiom: "It is better to trade a player a year early than a year late."--(Branch Rickey/paraphrased.) is balanced against team chemistry, loyalty and replacement cost to produce a quagmire. Long term logic dictates letting the long-in-the-tooth winners walk, replacing them with younger models and hope that the new blood adapts and produces. A more comfortable short term fix is bringing the good old guys back for a highly unlikely run at a ring while the rickety roster rusts.

George Steinbrenner's perpetual plan was to buy the biggest and the brightest. Gene Michael built a dynasty on the farm. Two years of the Cashman is king regime resulted in recession. A new generation of Boss authored a $423 million stimulus package that bolstered recovery. Long term success requires more than money, another year, another plan.

Yankees' Shopping Season

Baseball's shopping season commences. Hyperbole, innuendo, rumor, speculation, distortion and lies rule. Yankee fans give thanks that their team can pick and choose this year's shrewd plan. Last year's $423 million orgy of spending wiped away front office folly. A ring resulted. The Bronx is beaming.

Let's hit the links for an all-you-can-eat free agent speculation buffet:

• Rules in a knife fight?
• Let's hear from the luckiest man in show business: "We're entering it slowly because we have to get organized."
• The plate is full.
• Silly trade rumor.
• Sounds familiar.

PHOTO/NY Daily News

Billy Martin Revisited

The name Billy Martin conjures up mixed memories. The feisty dugout force built a career on winning and controversy. Many remember Martin's Bronx Zoo chapter and forget the bold innovations that he brought to the game.

Chris Jaffe of Hardball Times previews his book, Evaluating Baseball's Managers, by detailing Billy Martin's success. An in depth analysis reminds us of how talented and accomplished Martin was. It is a must read for Yankee fans.

PHOTO/Sports Illustrated

Book Review: The First Fall Classic

New York City basks in the glow of the last World Series courtesy of the Yankees' 27TH championship. A new book: The First Fall Classic, by Mike Vaccaro, chronicles Gotham circa 1912 when the New York Giants and the Boston Red Sox squared off.

Vaccaro writes: "They showed just how arresting and addictive the game could be (especially when played on the level-or, at least mostly on the level). And they introduced the rest of the nation to the reality of rabid, passionate, unyielding fans willing to go to any length to support their teams."

History comes alive as Christy Mathewson and John McGraw headline a list of legends battling for baseball's bragging rights in a city hungry for headlines: "This was the peak of New York's grand newspaper wars...And there was no surer way to separate a citizen from his two pennies than to satisfy his baseball jones with huge scare headlines chronicling the collapse of the local nine."

The more things change; the more they stay the same. 97 years pass, some circumstances strike a familiar chord: "Soon enough the crowd was snapped back into a frenzy, thousands of them plunking down ten cents for a program (a reduction from a quarter the year before, when so many people had complained of price gouging."

"New York City, after all had waited seven long years for a team that they could rally its full force behind." John McGraw provides a quote that would be an appropriate motto for Steinbrenner's Yankees: "Any son of a bitch can make money...but it takes a special son of a bitch to be world's champion."

Mike Vaccaro's The First Fall Classic turns a bang-bang double play by combining history with vintage baseball writing: "...his spitball all but giggled at the flailing hitters as it splashed into Meyer's glove." The result is a rich reward for baseball fans and history buffs.

Yankees Move On

The confetti is gone from the Canyon of Heroes. The '09 New York Yankees are finished, their beaming fans simmer on success until spring. The hot stove will keep us warm through winter. Baseball's rumor mill never sleeps. Let's hit the links:

• Silly question.
• Contreras revisited?
• Gone but not forgotten.
• Hot air on the horizon.

PHOTO

Winning Eases Yankees Pain

Waves of accolades wash over the World Champion New York Yankees. A winning induced fervor brings the Canyon of Heroes alive. The Big Apple embraces a fresh chapter in pinstriped lore. The page turns on bad news. Thorny issues fade. Let the good times roll.

It wasn't long ago that an opulent new stadium opened with five-star ambiance and vast stretches of empty seats. The tax payers dug deep, corporate welfare happened while the great recession roared. Outrageous ticket prices spurned loyal patrons. Greed permeated the Bronx air. Fair and ethical weren't in the mix.

The biggest star money could buy, Alex Rodriguez, confessed to cheating then ended up in a hospital bed while his surgically repaired hip healed. Mediocrity took the field, Wang wobbled, Joba transitioned, Girardi's neck was in a noose. Bleak was on deck.

Adversity didn't kill the '09 Yankees, it made them stronger. A team struggled, survived and thrived. Camaraderie counted. The MVP returned with a bash. Relentless winning resulted. The rest is history. A chapter of bad news is closed. Let the good time roll.

PHOTO/NJ.com