Rico Brogna, Good Fit (and other ex-Met updates)

[Guest metirish]

] FLORENCE, Italy -- Joe Torre carried the torch for the Turin Olympics on Wednesday -- after clearing it with his daughter. "The first person I had to ask was my daughter, because today is actually her 10th birthday," said the New York Yankees' manager, who ran 400 yards with the flame. Torre received the torch from Iowa native Brandon Routh, star of the upcoming "Superman Returns" movie, as part of an American day in the two-month relay. "I'm just glad he came down to my level for the handoff. There was no way I was going to get up to him," Torre said. Torre's segment ended at the foot of the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge. He was cheered on by a mix of Italians and Americans, some yelling, "We love you, Joe." "It was dynamite," Torre said. "I wasn't sure if I was going to make it, but it was really great." Torre's mother was born in the small town of Patina near Naples. "That also made this a wonderful invitation for us to come back to take part in the relay," Torre said. "Italy is a special place. I haven't been in Italy for 20 years, but it left some indelible memories in my mind. "Today, I've only been here a few hours so far, and I've already seen some Yankees fans around the hotel. You don't have to be a baseball fan to know who the New York Yankees are. That is something I've learned in my 10 years there." The torch relay ends at the opening ceremony in Turin on Feb. 10. It began in Rome last week. "There is a great deal of spirit that goes along with participating in the Olympics, no matter what minor role you might play," Torre said.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Rick Sweet is reupped by the Louisville Bats.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I'm glad I didn't run into Joe Torre when I was in Florence last year. It would have been a real buzzkill.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Don't say Bob Friend stunk, 'cuz he didn't

[Guest Willets Point]

Joe Torre is now an African man with a prominent Nike swoosh.

[Guest Edgy DC]

]"Today, I've only been here a few hours so far, and I've already seen some Yankees fans around the hotel. You don't have to be a baseball fan to know who the New York Yankees are. That is something I've learned in my 10 years there."

Heck, some would say you don't have to be a baseball fan to be a season-ticket holder showing up 81 times a year at Yankee Stadium.

[Guest MFS62]

Octavio Dotel signs with the Yanks, as reported a few minutes ago on WFAN.
No contract details given.

LAter

[Guest Willets Point]

He's dead to me now.

Joe Torre, btw, now looks like Tiger Woods.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

We took to calling him D'Oh-tel when he pitched with the A's. He really stunk up the joint in Oakland.

[Guest MFS62]

And Orber Moreno is now an Oriole.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/transactions/today.html

Later

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Scarlet "We took to calling him D'Oh-tel when he pitched with the A's. He really stunk up the joint in Oakland."

Well, I certainly hope he regains his recent form while in the Bronx.

[Guest MFS62]

Edgy DC wrote: Don't say Bob Friend stunk, 'cuz he didn't

Who thought that?
He was a key starter during the season for the Bucs when they beat the MFYs in '60, and for that he should have a special place in the hearts of baseball fans everywhere.

He and Vern Law made for a tough 1-2 tandem for a number of years.

I also remember that he was constantly being accused of throwing the "dewy delivery". :)

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

The author and the headline writer ("Friend�s record deceiving") seem to work from the position that Friend is under-appreciated.

[Guest MFS62]

Edgy DC wrote: The author and the headline writer ("Friend�s record deceiving") seem to work from the position that Frield is under-appreciated.

There's a big difference between saying someone is underappreciated and they stink. There are many pitchers who have toiled for bad teams who have career losing records. But I wouldn't have wanted to bat against any of them.
From a standpoint of stuff and style, I would compare Friend to Steve Traschell, maybe better.

Mole, can you help me out here?

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yes, noboody is actually saying that he stinks. You're right. I was overstating the point of the article to the level of obscurity --- not that unlike the original "Rico Brogna, Good Fit" title, which you also didn't get --- as a way of creating curiosity about the content of the link.

I think that should be clear.

[Guest MFS62]

Yes, I got it.
But I was admonished (maybe too strong a word, reminded?) by Scarlett a while back when I was titling my new threads with things that I thought might be intriguing enough to make people want to open them. She suggested (ah, that's the better word) that when decisions are being made as to what threads will get archived, the title should be easier to understand.

You're right, this was not a thread title, but a link title. But given the article itself, I just felt that "stink" was too strong. (no pun intended)

And, I have tried to be careful posting things to the appropriate threads. Sometimes I have to look back a few pages to find the correct one.

Later

[Guest Willets Point]

It's like that thread title "Bec requests oral sex from Doc".

[Guest mlbaseballtalk]

Old friend Edgardo Alfonzo is on the move. Traded to California Angels of Los Angeles, in Orange County, city of Anaheim for Steve Finley

[url]http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20051221&content_id=1286132&vkey=hotstove2005&fext=.jsp[/url]

[Guest smg58]

I was really angry when the Mets let Fonzie go, but other than the second half of the 03 season (and that playoff series with the Marlins where he was the only Giant who showed up), he's been a big disappointment. Maybe the change of venue will do him some good. Of course the same is true for Finley. The deal makes sense for both clubs, but I don't know if either side will really benefit much, as neither player may have anything left in the tank.

[Guest G-Fafif]

smg58 wrote: I was really angry when the Mets let Fonzie go, but other than the second half of the 03 season (and that playoff series with the Marlins where he was the only Giant who showed up), he's been a big disappointment. Maybe the change of venue will do him some good. Of course the same is true for Finley. The deal makes sense for both clubs, but I don't know if either side will really benefit much, as neither player may have anything left in the tank.

The Angels are on Matsui's very limited trade list. Maybe the disappointing contract for disappointing contract dream (mine anyway) lives. I've never stopped missing Alfonzo though I ceased obsessing on him last year. I'd feel a little more secure about things with Fonzie as a better Cairo and a Hernandez/Keppinger (choose one) worked in at 2B.

Finley presumably will get at least one big hit against us some late San Francisco night.

[Guest mlbaseballtalk]

Matt Lawton is sorry, in more ways than one!

[url]http://www.usatoday.com/sports/bbw/columnist/nightengale/2005-12-21-majors_x.htm[/url]

]Lawton awaits forgiveness for miscue Matt Lawton was petrified. The playoffs were about to start. His shoulder ached. His ankle throbbed. And he wasn't playing worth a darn for the Yankees. Matt Lawton's only highlight in pinstripes was this home run against Baltimore the day after he took a steroid injection. By Julie Jacobson, AP Cortisone shots no longer worked for him, and no trainer had any magical cure. So Lawton says he talked to friends and teammates and then made a telephone call that he will regret forever. "It was such a stupid thing, but I was desperate," Lawton told Sports Weekly during his first interview since being suspended 10 days by Major League Baseball for violating its steroids policy. "Maybe it was the pressure of playing in New York, I don't know. I never had the urge to take any of that stuff before, but I was talking to some guys, and they guaranteed it would get the pain out." Lawton, who says he had always taken pride in being clean and that he had never even taken amphetamines, was injected with the veterinary steroid boldenone. "I wasn't playing well enough to be on a Little League roster, let alone be on the roster of the New York Yankees," Lawton said. "I just wasn't physically able to do the job. I had never been in the playoff hunt before. So I did something that will always haunt me." Lawton says the steroid injection is one of the primary reasons why he remains unemployed as a free agent outfielder. He realizes that he also didn't help himself this past season by batting only .254 with 13 homers and 53 RBI between the Pirates, Cubs and Yankees. He hated being with the Pirates before they traded him to Chicago. He never was healthy for the month he played for the Cubs before they dealt him to the Yankees. And he certainly wasn't ready for New York. "If I could, I'd call the Pirates, the Cubs and the Yankees and apologize," said Lawton, who hit .125 in 21 games with the Yankees. "I wasn't myself. I wanted to play well, and then, all of a sudden, you get traded to the ultimate, the big stage in New York. If you don't produce there, you're out. I had a short rope and didn't get the job done. "Everything was going so bad all I thought about was retiring. Well, I don't want to retire anymore. I want to play. I'm healthy. And I'm hungry." Lawton, an All-Star in 2000 and 2004, realizes that no one likely will sign him for more than $1.5 million. But that's fine. He could never work another day in his life and be fine with his savings and investments from his 11-year career. The 34-year-old just wants to experience the postseason at least once in his career. "I don't want people to think that everything I did, the good years I had, were steroid-related," Lawton said. "I learned a lot about myself last year, and I'll be better for it. "Now I'm ready to prove it." Lawton still has difficulty digesting what he did. He says he endured enormous pain in telling his family � particularly his mother, Lynette � about it. All that anguish for one lousy game. "That's what really gets him," said Kevin Kohler, Lawton's agent. "He told me, 'Hey, if I did it all season and hit 30 home runs, it would be something different.' But one game! That's what kills him. "He was willing to do absolutely anything to be on that playoff roster." Lawton took the steroid injection Sept. 20 in New York. Because he hadn't been tested for steroids all season, he figured he was safe. Lawton showed up at Yankee Stadium the next day and learned he was starting in center field. He took batting practice and couldn't believe the difference. He felt no pain. He drove the ball to all fields. He hit the ball into the seats. Lawton recalls Yankees manager Joe Torre joking, "Where did this guy come from?" In the lineup for the first time in a week, Lawton hit a home run off Orioles starting pitcher Rodrigo Lopez in his first at-bat. He went 2-for-3 with two RBI. The Yankees won 2-1 to move past the Red Sox into first place. "It was weird, after that one shot, I felt fresh again," Lawton said. "Maybe it was mental, I don't know, but the ball started jumping off my bat again. I suddenly had oomph." The next day, MLB tested Lawton for steroids. He had only three more at-bats the rest of the season, and the Yankees left him off their playoff roster. "It was like, 'Dang, just my luck,' " Lawton said. "They had me. It was so stupid. I'm a guy who never took that stuff before in my life. I wasn't doing it for strength or trying to hit home runs. I had 13 home runs during the year. I was just doing it because I had so much pain. And then, 'Bam.' I'm still paying for it." When MLB officials asked Lawton to resubmit a urine sample, he declined. He knew he was guilty. Now, Lawton wants to atone for his mistake and show the baseball world that he can still be an All-Star outfielder. He never has been a home run hitter, but he's a .267 career hitter with a lifetime .368 on-base percentage. He can run, he can play defense and he has always been considered a model teammate. Kohler says several teams have contacted Lawton about playing for them in 2006. "It's a blessing to me to have just played one day in the major leagues," Lawton said. "But I'm not ready to give it up yet. I know I have a few years left. But if teams don't feel the same way I do, I can't change that. "What I really don't want is to be remembered just for what I did last year." �- Bob Nightengale covers the major leagues for USA TODAY Sports Weekly. You can e-mail him at: bnightengale@usatoday.com.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Playing for the Yankees leads to drug abuse. Got it.

[Guest MFS62]

Edgy DC wrote: Playing for the Yankees leads to drug abuse. Got it.

Y'mean Giambi spent all those years in Oakland getting ready to be a Yankee some day?

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

[url=http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20051222&content_id=1286333&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb]Astounding tale of Barry Lyons[/url].

This isn't a distortion. It truly is astounding. Some good Randy Myers material in there also.

[Guest MFS62]

Wow!
Its great to hear that Barry is getting back on his feet and that MLB/BAT is helping him do it.

But why did Marty Noble have to use on word, "notorious"?
He got his start at Newsday. I wonder which tabloid he was referring to?
That one word spoiled an otherwise good piece.

Later

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

(Gotham baseball) Readers deserve to know what an embarrassing hack Marty Noble has become.(/Gotham baseball)

[Guest Edgy DC]

If I recall correctly, that Newsday backpage headline read "The Lyons Roars." A salvage-worthy moment, but a drown-worthy pun.

[Guest Edgy DC]

The Italian entry in the World Baseball Classic is looking as Metly as any of the other squads --- US, Puerto Rico, Dominican.

Matt Galante has been hired to manage the team, and John Franco is his pitching coach.

[Guest Bret Sabermetric]

According to this http://www.baseball-reference.com/a/alfoned01.shtml
the Mets paid 21 Million dollars for 8 seasons of good Alfonzo (.800+ OPS) and the Giants have paid almost that much (18 Mil) for three seasons of bad Alfonzo (below .730 OPS), yet some people are still upset the Mets let him go when they did.

This goes near the top of my checklist of "How to tell if you're more interested in the Mets winning or on some totally insane nostalgia-driven ego-trip having nothing to with winning baseball: Question one--Does the Mets' choice to let Alfonzo go after 2002 make you now feel

A) Deeply angry
B) Betrayed
C) Regretful
D) Nothing
E) Deliriously Happy"

Question 2:
"Did the Mets' choice to let Alfonzo go after 2002 make you feel at that time:

A) Deeply angry
B) Betrayed
C) Regretful
D) Nothing
E) Deliriously Happy"

Give yourself 5 points for every A answer, 4 for a B etc.

[Guest smg58]

D to the first question and A to the second. The Giants gave Alfonzo what I thought he was worth at the time. His 2002 season was better than people realize -- he had a .391 OBP, his OPS was within 10 points of Rolen and Chavez, and he had something like a .330 BA with RISP, so the people who complained about his RBI total should have blamed the rest of the Mets' lineup, which for reasons I still can't explain was kept intact. I would never have picked up Alomar's option at Alfonzo's expense, and would have sent Fonzie back to second. In hindsight it wouldn't have worked out; I don't think he'd have slumped at the start of 03, but otherwise the decline would have been the same. Then again, Alfonzo wouldn't have given that infield position any less production than the Mets have gotten from it the past three seasons, so the Mets haven't benefited from it any more than they've been hurt by it.