Welcome to the professional website and personal weblog of Jeremy Del Rio. Whether you're a client, friend, or curious onlooker, please don't stay a spectator. Engage the conversation. Your contributions matter here.
« Wednesday Weekly Webcast | Home | Gangs of New York »
Wednesday’s Sporting Stew
By Jeremy | October 31, 2007
+ But for (grown) kids (like me) whose sports affair with Donnie Baseball began in 1982, Girardi's hiring at Don Mattingly's (and Joe Torre's) expense is bittersweet.
EVERYTHING about Don Mattingly was always perfect. The swing, so beautiful it once made Ted Williams gasp. The elegant way he played first base. The dignified way he played with pain, the relentless way he took extra batting practice, and the natural way he would adopt young players and show them how to be professional. ... The only thing missing, from the very start of that career to the very end, was timing. That was always pretty lousy, if you want to know the truth. He arrived too late to watch the Bronx burn, left too soon to see it rise, returned too late to take a drink of champagne in a championship clubhouse.+ Like Torre before him, Mattingly exits with grace and dignity in tact.
“I like it there, I've always liked it there. They treated me great, the fans treated me great. I enjoyed it. It's exciting there. I don't feel any ill-will toward anybody. I've been treated fairly and I'm happy with all that.And:
Mattingly praised the organization's selection of Girardi and said he was leaving because it wouldn't have been fair to Girardi if he remained as bench coach, even though GM Brian Cashman extended that offer to him. “There's going to be a streak this year where you lose a few games in a row and then [people] start talking," Mattingly said. “It's just not right."And, most telling of all:
“If the Yankees are playing Boston, trust me, I'm rooting for the Yankees.''+ Contrast A-Rod's public display of tasteless self-affection. Even A-rod apologists like me can't defend his classless mishandling of his contract options. + To all my Los Angeles sports fan friends: Props to the Dodgers' second city for hiring Yankee greats Joe Torre and (possibly) Mr. Baseball Mattingly himself to resurrect a limp and lackluster franchise to its Brooklyn legacy. I may have to stop rooting against LALA Dodgers, or at least embrace some kind of tolerance for the foreseeable future. + As for the start of the Knicks' season, NBA Commissioner David Stern summed up sentiments best of all.
“They're not a model of intelligent management.''
Topics: a-rod, don mattingly, joe girardi, joe torre, knicks, random, sports, yankees | 1 Comment »
October 31st, 2007 at 5:25 pm
your la friends truly appreciate that.