 |
JOHNNY DAMON Wrestles with rivalry |
On baseball
TAMPA - Leave it to Johnny Damon to offer this suggestion concerning the recent barbs thrown by new Yankees boss Hank Steinbrenner toward the Red Sox.
"Maybe we can have the owners do a pay-per-view wrestling event and take the pressure off the players," Damon said.
Don't laugh, maybe the business venture Steinbrenner was suggesting yesterday that could occur between the Sox and Yankees has to do with pro wrestling. Not buying it? OK, maybe it's something to do with NASCAR, or horse racing, or a soccer team. Who knows? Red Sox vice president Sam Kennedy said that while the Sox and Yankees have a good business relationship, to his knowledge there's no deal in the works between the Sox and Yankees or Sox owner John Henry and Steinbrenner.
"The Yankees ownership and Red Sox ownership have a lot in common and have a lot of common interests," Steinbrenner said yesterday. "God, I hate to scare Red Sox or Yankee fans, but you never know . . . we might end up being partners in the future outside of baseball. We have a lot in common. In baseball and outside of baseball. Even though the rivalry will always be the greatest rivalry in American sports, you can say that the Yankees and Red Sox ownerships are definitely friends. No question."
Say it ain't so. That would be way too cozy - and the anti-Sox venom spewed by the New Boss the last few weeks has been pretty entertaining.
Damon thinks there's nothing wrong with a few playful jabs to spice up a great rivalry that has gotten even more juice since the Red Sox have won two championships in the last four years, and more recently since the vocal Steinbrenner has decided he should take an active interest in the team his dad built.
Steinbrenner had spent most of his adult life around horses, and some Sox fans feel he's now acting like a horse's behind.
"As long as [Steinbrenner's] doing it, and not us," Damon said. "We as players can't open our mouths too much or we'll get a ball in the hip or something."
Steinbrenner certainly has been shooting from the hip, though, although he insists it's all in good fun. And if he keeps talking, admitted human growth hormone-user Andy Pettitte may just fly under the radar.
Maybe that's Steinbrenner's way of taking pressure off his players. Keep talking smack about the Red Sox, then soften it. Start talking again. Maybe anytime the attention shifts to Pettitte, the New Boss will say something else.
About an hour before Pettitte took the mound for his first spring training outing yesterday, Steinbrenner (wearing the usual family blue blazer) emerged from the bowels of Legends Field riding in a golf cart and smoking a cigarette. He got off the cart, put out the butt, and agreed to talk about the latest episode in the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry.
Steinbrenner recently said about Red Sox Nation to the
On Saturday, former Yankees limited partner Henry playfully invited Steinbrenner to be part of Red Sox Nation, offering him a membership card and other Sox stuff.
Steinbrenner appeared amused yesterday, insisting, "Trust me, I'll never be a part of Red Sox Nation," while teasing that he planned to answer Henry's invitation with something of his own. Can't wait.
Steinbrenner did laud Henry for promoting the Red Sox brand.
"John used to be an owner of the Yankees and he's a great guy," Steinbrenner said. "My dad always loved the guy. I love him. [Brother] Hal loves him. And he's done a tremendous job with the Red Sox. My only point was simple, and that is that the Yankees brand is the biggest in the country. And everybody knows that. Obviously it's Yankees Nation. That's not meant as a cut to the Red Sox. In truth, I'm just not saying that to be nice - but John Henry has done an unbelievable job with the Red Sox brand."
In the meantime, Pettitte went about his business. There was talk before the lefthander arrived in camp that he would be behind physically because his hectic offseason didn't allow for much working out. He threw two scoreless innings in New York's 7-7 tie with the Phillies, walking one and striking out one. He allowed an infield single to Pedro Feliz in the second and then picked him off. He seems well on his way to claiming the No. 2 spot in the rotation.
Pettitte has answered every question about his HGH use and hopes that it soon will be behind him. Pettitte has apologized to everyone; he even said he was sorry to Yankees broadcasters Michael Kay and Suzyn Waldman.
Asked specifically about whether admitting to HGH use will be a distraction, Pettitte said, "I've heard a few people say that. I don't know how to answer that. Like I've said, I can't wait for the day where I won't have to answer a whole lot of questions. I think I've told y'all I can't do more than I've done. I've apologized to everyone.
"Like I said, I've got a job to do now. I can't waste any more energy on it. I'm just trying to help this team and help these guys on this team. I don't foresee it being a problem, really. That'll be for everybody's else's opinion. I can tell you there's no way possible that it will be an excuse for me. Because that's no excuse."
Steinbrenner is right when he says the Sox and Yankees have a lot in common, starting with the fact that both might have two young pitchers in their rotations.
"I think they're looking at [Clay] Buchholz and [Jon] Lester a lot like we're looking at [Phil] Hughes and [Ian] Kennedy," Steinbrenner said. "They're going to be counting on them at some point, as we are with our guys.
"It's what it is and always will be. It's a strange and unusual situation. A lot of things in common. Need to stick together on a lot of things but it'll always be a huge rivalry on the field. Even the players respect each other now. I don't see the hatred and the acrimony. I think that's a healthy thing. Respect is a healthy thing. There's Army-Navy, and that's a tremendous rivalry, but there's a mutual respect."
Steinbrenner was asked whether he would send Yankees stuff to Henry in response to the Red Sox Nation invitation.
"He's already got Yankees stuff," Steinbrenner said. "He was a limited partner. He's got the rings."
Keep talking Hank. Please, keep talking.
Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
