NEW YORK – Last month, David Wells didn’t think he put much outlandish material in his autobiography.
The New York Yankees left-hander was fined $100,000 by the team this week for the book, which general manager Brian Cashman said “did tarnish the Yankee image” with its revelations of drinking, drug use and disparaging talk.
In an interview conducted in mid-February with Publisher’s Weekly, Wells said there was material he kept out of the book.
“I was advised by my lawyers not to do too much or it could come back to haunt me. So there’s just a nibble,” Wells said.
The interview, which appears in the March 17 edition, was released Wednesday by William Morrow, the publisher of “Perfect I’m Not! Boomer on Beer, Brawls, Backaches and Baseball.”
Alomar: White Sox will take drug tests after all
PHOENIX – The plan by the Chicago White Sox to refuse to take a mandatory drug test was simply a misunderstanding, according to Sandy Alomar Jr.
Sixteen members of the team were ready to refuse a test Tuesday so they could be counted as testing positive for steroids. Their idea was to send a message that more extensive monitoring is needed.
The players ultimately decided to take the test after consulting with Gene Orza, the No. 2 official of the players’ association.
“That’s a misunderstanding,” Alomar said Wednesday after the White Sox played the Oakland Athletics to a 6-6 tie. “Everybody’s taking the test. It’s not an issue right now.”
YES, Cablevision reach deal in cable war
NEW YORK – The YES Network and Cablevision reached an interim deal Wednesday, resolving a year-old dispute that threatened to wipe out another season of New York Yankees’ telecasts for 3 million viewers.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the agreement at Gracie Mansion. It followed two weeks of meetings between sides that had refused to sit in the same room for months.
“It’s a great thing for Yankees’ fans, and it’s really great for my wife,” said Yankees coach Don Zimmer, who lives in a Westchester area serviced by Cablevision. “She was just sick that she couldn’t watch our games last year. She’ll be thrilled, because now she can see me every night.”
Details for consumers were still being worked out. “We ask you to be patient on details,” Cablevision Systems Corp. chairman Jim Dolan said.
Baker gets pinch hitter he needed a few months ago
MESA, Ariz. – Dusty Baker sure could have used a player like Lenny Harris on the San Francisco Giants last year.
Instead of having the most prolific pinch hitter in baseball history, Baker was left with players who couldn’t manage a single pinch hit in the postseason.
Now Baker has Harris on his team with the Chicago Cubs.
“Pinch hitting can mean the difference of four or five games in a season,” Baker said Wednesday. “That’s huge. Lenny Harris is a big-time pinch hitter and would have helped any team.”
Twins reach preliminary agreement with Rogers
MINNEAPOLIS -Kenny Rogers and the Minnesota Twins reached a preliminary agreement Wednesday on a $2 million, one-year contract.
The deal, which contains about $500,000 in performance incentives, is contingent on Rogers passing a physical.
Pirates’ pitcher Reyes hit in head by line drive
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Pittsburgh pitcher Dennys Reyes was taken to a hospital Wednesday after being hit on the top of his head by a liner off the bat of Tampa Bay’s Aubrey Huff.
Reyes was struck above the forehead with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning of a split-squad game between the Pirates and Devil Rays. The left-hander sat on the mound for about five minutes.
while trainers examined him and then left sitting up on a cart.
The pitcher was taken to Bayfront Medical Center for precautionary measures and further testing, the Pirates said.
The team said Reyes was “stable, conscious and coherent” when he left the stadium.
diate comment.
“If he passes, we’ll go from there,” Ryan said.
Minnesota is facing the absence of left-hander Eric Milton, an All-Star in 2001 who’s been a key piece of the Twins’ rotation since 1998. Milton had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee last week that revealed torn and loose cartilage and inflammation that resembled arthritis. Milton is expected to miss four-to-six months.
The Twins were confident Johan Santana could fill the spot, as he did last season when Milton, Brad Radke and Joe Mays missed a total of more than six months to injuries. But Santana, 8-6 with a 2.99 ERA last year, is more valuable in the bullpen as a long or short left-handed reliever.
“We know Santana can start,” manager Ron Gardenhire said after Wednesday’s game. “He’s going to be a starter in this league. But this strengthens this baseball team.
“You take every advantage you can when you have a good shot.”
Gardenhire was quite pleased by the move.
“If you’re going to fill a hole,” Gardenhire said, “this is a full plug. He’s a proven, veteran left-handed starter in this league.”
Rogers went 13-8 with a 3.85 ERA for Texas last season and has a record of 145-106 over his 15-year career with an ERA of 4.20. He pitched a perfect game in 1994 for the Rangers and was an All-Star in 1995.
Rogers began his career with Texas in 1989, also pitching for the Yankees, Oakland and the Mets before rejoining the Rangers as a free agent before the 2000 season.
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by one, Tom Goodwin struck out against Troy Percival leading off the ninth.
Twice in the final game, the Giants desperately needed a timely hit to prolong a rally. With runners on second and third and two outs in the sixth inning, Goodwin struck out as a pinch hitter.
Then, trailing by three in the ninth, San Francisco had runners on first and second with one out. Pinch-hitter Tsuyoshi Shinjo struck out and Kenny Lofton flied out, ending the Series.
“As a pinch hitter, you’re either 0-for-1 or 1-for-1. That’s it – either zero or one thousand,” Goodwin said. “It just happened that we had a bad month of pinch hitting.”
Pinch hitting is an art form. Players watch the game for hours – sometimes on an exercise bike, sometimes in the dugout, sometimes in the batting cage – waiting for their one chance.
But there’s no easy way to warm up for Percival’s 98 mph fastball or Mariano Rivera’s wicked cutter.
“It’s just a mental thing for me,” Harris said. “You need to be prepared. I don’t care how many push-ups you do or how long you ride the bike. It’s good to be loose but it’s more important to be mentally into it.”
Harris is someone worth listening too on this topic. His 173 pinch hits are the most in baseball history. He has also walked 66 times in 648 at-bats and struck out only 70.
He’s gotten better with age and the 38-year-old is almost solely a pinch hitter these days. Of his 197 at-bats last year, 72 came as a pinch hitter and many others came when he stayed in the game afterward.
“It’s the toughest job in baseball, because you’re usually facing the toughest closers or some nasty left-hander,” Cubs hitting coach Gary Matthews said. “You don’t have the opportunity like other players to have four at-bats and regroup. You get one chance and that’s it.
“Lenny’s done a great job at it. Anytime you have the tag of ‘best of all-time,’ that’s pretty good.
Harris led the majors with 22 pinch hits last season and has a .301 average in those situations the past four seasons, with 84 of his 206 hits coming as a pinch-hitter.
“I’ve kind of made a name for myself doing this,” he said. “I became the best of all-time.”
Instead of swinging for the fences, Harris just tries to make contact and get the ball into a hole. He homers once every 96 at-bats as a regular hitter compared to once every 216 when he pinch hits.
Harris’ experience plays a big part in his success. He anticipates situations innings in advance so he’s always ready when called upon.
“Starting about the fifth inning, I’m thinking about when we might make a double switch or pinch hit for the pitcher,” Harris said. “I run through all the scenarios like a manager so I’ll be prepared when I go in.”
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39,400 subscribers last year.
YES is owned by YankeeNets, which owns the Yankees, the New Jersey Nets and the New Jersey Devils. The network, in addition to airing the Yankees and the Nets, also broadcasts Seton Hall basketball.
The YES Network went on the air last April. Cablevision owns Madison Square Garden, the MSG Network, and the New York Knicks and Rangers; before YES debuted, the Yankees appeared on MSG.
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