Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Beyond the dugout

It seems to me that Tom Verducci wanted to write a book about the Yankees' recent history. It makes sense--they won four World Series in five years, lost it dramatically the year after, and then changed the way the team ran in the quest to continue the glory. The Joe Torre years. I have this image of Verducci pouncing on Torre as soon as it became official that he wouldn't be a Yankee again, convincing him to do a book.

I started The Yankee Years thinking that it would be about Torre. Oh, how foolish I was. I read 477 pages and don't feel that I really know Torre any better than I did before I began the book. This book is the story of the Yankees as a team, with a lot of quotes from Torre. But there are also a lot of quotes from David Cone, Jason Giambi, and Mike Mussina.

(Side note: If you like baseball books, go read Living on the Black, about Mike Mussina and Tom Glavine in 2007. It's a great read.)

Verducci does some things really well. The chapter on steroids in baseball is great. He does a fantastic job tracking the problem from the early days, describing how it was allowed to grow, showing the connections between the teams. If you want a good description of steroids in baseball, read Chapter 3 of this book.

I also found the depiction of George Steinbrenner fascinating. You see the imperial side, the crazy side demanding nothing but wins. But the book also shows his softer side. You see a good relationship with Torre. You see Steinbrenner anxiously hiding in the clubhouse during playoffs, unable to watch.

(And God knows I agree. I actually was not able to read the sections on Game 7 of the 2001 World Series or any of the 2004 ALCS.)

But other things grated. People tend to accuse the Yankees of buying their championships, which certainly is a case that could be made for much of the Oughts. But the 1996-2000 teams? That was a homegrown, low-cost ("low-cost") group. It was a great group of guys. A group who were incredibly talented, who clicked well, who complemented each other. So when Verducci credits their run to a "desperation to win"? Yeah, no. There's a lot of debate about the importance of chemistry on teams, but no team wins because they're desperate to. They might lose because of it; the book even mentions the problems of a team being tight and trying too hard. Ask guys playing on the Red Sox before 2004. I'd imagine they would say that they were desperate to win. It didn't help once they reached the post-season.

And then there's Jeter and A-Rod. I like Jeter. I like A-Rod, probably more than a lot of people. Verducci, I'd say, does not like A-Rod. A-Rod was bad for the clubhouse. A-Rod sucks in clutch situations. A-Rod tried too hard to sound good. A-Rod hits home runs when they don't matter. A-Rod wins MVPs, but can't come through in the post-season. Of course, we'll ignore that those numbers that got him the MVP also helped the Yankees make the playoffs. A-Rod won't speak up in team meetings to encourage the other players. Who apparently don't like him, but he should be a leader, you know, like Jeets! Verducci tells a story about A-Rod going over to Jeter's house. Rodriguez wanted to watch a game, and asked Jeter where the baseball package was on his tv. Jeter doesn't have it. And somehow, A-Rod comes across badly. Because wanting to watch baseball is wrong, somehow. The story is told fairly neutrally, but it comes in the midst of a description of The Selfishness of A-Rod, so of course Rodriguez looks bad. Throughout the book, there are little jabs at A-Rod, and it just grates.

Jeter comes off beautifully. For all I know, there really is nothing negative about the guy. Verducci mentions in passing Jeter's less-than-stellar defense, and completely ignores the question of whether Jeets should've moved to third when Rodriguez joined the club. But exploring that may have put Jeter in a negative light, and Jeter is like a son to Torre, so I doubt we'd see that.

My other big problem with the book is how it deals with baseball stats. Verducci postively fawns over the transformation of the Red Sox. He goes on about how the league changes around the Yankees, finding players who aren't valued, living the Moneyball dream. But then, when Cashman comes in and starts focusing on stats, when he suggests that Torre (God forbid!) field a lineup with high on-base percentage guys at the top of the order, that's portrayed as just being crazy. Cashman suggests something based on (eww!) numbers, but he ignores what Torre knows about these guys. You know, by watching. Which is it?

The book ran longer than it needed to, but it was an interesting look into the Yankees clubhouse for Torre's years. At times, the bitterness bleeds through, though. A number of times, Verducci writes something like, "And the Yankees haven't won a World Series since." Now, I could understand "And the Yankees never won a World Series under Torre again" (which he did, a couple of times). But really, Tom Verducci? It's just foolish to write that "never." With the Yankees, in particular. The book is copyright 2009. On November 4 of that year, the Bombers dated the book.

Monday, June 14, 2010

I don't love farce THAT much

I'm not going to say much about last night's Tony Awards. The plays looked way more interesting than the musicals--I'd love to see all of the plays up for Best Play.

The low point, though, was clearly Catherine Zeta Jones's "Send in the Clowns." Weird pauses, insane head gestures, overacting...no. No no no no no. Some people are trying to say that it makes sense in the context of the show, but I've seen A Little Night Music and no, it doesn't. HERE'S how you do "Send in the Clowns":



Yeah, I still need to get the horror of CZJ's version (and her WIN! NO!) out of my head. I think I know what will help...



Mmm. Much better. (I LOVE "All I Need Is the Girl"! Hearts, Matt Morrison!)

Monday, June 7, 2010

It's all over the second we ride up Troy's bucket




Great story in the Washington Post today about the 25th (!) anniversary of The Goonies.

When I was in Oregon for Thanksgiving last year, we drove over to Astoria, and I insisted on doing my own little Goonies tour. I actually saw the owner of the Goonies house (she was taking out the garbage). If I had known she'd be so cool about it, I totally would've asked for a tour!

(I was glad that it was my dad who walked to the house with me. He'd never seen the movie, so didn't know that he should've asked me to do the Truffle Shuffle.)

Anyway, good times. I'm kind of bummed the museum hadn't opened yet when I went out there, but what can you do?