The Bronx Insider

Thank You

Mar 17, 2009
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Fellow readers --

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the end of The Bronx Insider.

This blog was started in January of 2008 by me and two friends. By February of 2008, I was the only one left. For the past fourteen months, I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts and insights into the ongoings of the New York Yankees. Blogging has been an outlet that I have loved ever since the blog was started. Over the past few months, the blog gained a strong following; we were on pace to nearly double our monthly visitor record this month.

Why is this the end? Last week, I was contacted by Bob Ruffolo of nyyankeesrumors.com. He asked if I would write for his site -- while hesitant at first, I agreed. I realized that taking on two blogs at once would be impossible, so I had to make a tough decision. The site over there has a strong community brewing, and like Kevin Rozell of the (former) Zells Pinstripe Blog, I decided to choose that.

Running my own site, especially on the vox server, has taken a lot of hard work -- but it's also been a lot of fun for me. The fact that many of my fellow Yankee fans read and comment on the site has been awesome, and I know you guys will continue that over at The Voice of Yankees Universe. Hopefully you will continue following my writing as I enter my college years.

The post/picture/video archives will be left up for eternity, so you can always take advantage of that.

So, THANK YOU so much for reading the site. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have.

-- Jeff

Fantasy Baseball Draft Results

Mar 16, 2009
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Here is my 2009 Fantasy Baseball Team (in my most important league). I had the 11th pick out of 12 teams.

Round 1: Ian Kinsler

Round 2: Ryan Howard

Round 3: Vladimir Guerrero

Round 4: Roy Halladay

Round 5: Garrett Atkins

Round 6: Victor Martinez

Round 7: Jon Lester

Round 8: Francisco Rodriguez

Round 9: Bobby Abreu

Round 10: Carlos Zambrano

Round 11: Andre Ethier

Round 12: Derek Lowe

Round 13: Pat Burrell

Round 14: John Danks

Round 15: Matt Lindstrom

Round 16: Chien-Ming Wang

Round 17: Orlando Cabrera

Round 18: Gil Meche

Round 19: Mike Lowell

Round 20: Ty Wigginton

Round 21: Hiroki Kuroda

Hopefully these players will be the groundwork for a fantasy baseball championship in 2009!

Fantasy Baseball Draft Tonight

Mar 16, 2009
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This year, I am in two fantasy baseball leagues. My first draft is tonight.

This is my fourth straight year doing fantasy baseball at a somewhat competitive level. The last two years, I won a little money (coming in third out of fourteen teams both years), but this year I am hoping to win it all. My teams have generally performed like the Yankees - they have an awesome regular season, but when the playoffs come, they don't seem to hold their own.

I'll keep you guys informed how it goes- the results will be posted later tonight.

Sunday Baseball Notes

Mar 15, 2009
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1) The USA got crushed in the WBC last night, losing 11-1 in seven innings. It was truly a dark day for the American squad, whose chances of advancing to the next round are fading. My favorite reaction? Gerry Fraley of foxsports.com said that, "All that was lacking was American parents behind the dugout, telling their sons that they had tried hard." Journalists, reporters, and experts have all agreed that "this shouldn't happen to the Americans," but I think that people need to start realizing that there is a wealth of baseball talent all across the world. And while the game will always be America's "national past-time," the fact is that there are other teams that are just better.

2) Yankees GM Brian Cashman angrily took issue Thursday with an anecdote about him and Jason Giambi that is contained in a new book about Roger Clemens. The book, The Rocket That Fell to Earth, by Jeff Pearlman, is to be released later this month. The book said that when Giambi went through a slump in the 2002 season, his first with the Yankees, Cashman was heard yelling, "Jason, whatever you were taking in Oakland," get back on it. Cashman's response? "That is completely false." I'm sure it is, Brian.

3) The Marlins finished 84-77 last season and received not one appearance on Fox's 2009 Saturday baseball schedule, which includes three regional games each week. The Braves (72-90) were given eight games. Even Oakland (75-86) and Seattle (61-101) got one apiece. How can this be? The Marlins' low payroll and lack of a national following are among the reasons why they are the only U.S.-based team with a winning 2008 record that did not get a 2009 game on Fox. Toronto (86-76) also got left off. And the Marlins were omitted from ESPN's first-half Sunday night schedule, too. It always seems the Marlins fly under the radar; no one expects them to do well, but come September, they are often fighting for the division.

4) Which team has the best rotation in the N.L. East? Is it the Phillies with Cole Hamels? The Mets with Johan Santana? Nope - I say it's the Braves. With Derek Lowe leading the way, Javier Vasquez taking the number-2 role, and Jair Jurrjens, Kenshin Kawakami, and Tom Glavine rounding out the rotation, the Braves are poised to make a move in 2009 (if they could get some offense). They also have a prospect named Tommy Hanson, who is said to be one of the best pitching prospects out there, second only to David Price.

5) Here are some leaders so far in Spring Training: Craig Monroe has six home runs, Ryan Howard and Joe Mather (St. Louis) each have 13 RBI's, Matt Tulasosopo (Seattle) has 17 hits, Eric Bruntlett, Adam Jones, and Juan Pierre each have six stolen bases, Fausto Carmona has three wins, and Micah Owings has pitched 14.2 innings and struck out 16. The fact that Matt Tulasosopo has the most hits of any player in Spring Training proves that these stats are essentially negligible.

Who's Hot: A.J. Burnett, Cody Ransom, Angel Berroa, Brett Gardner, Brett Tomko

Who's Not: CC Sabathia, Mark Melancon, Nick Swisher

Quote of the Week: "The wedding got over a little early, and I had a plane standing by and I wanted to be here. Maybe I should have stayed longer." -- Team USA manager Davey Johnson, who missed the first few innings of yesterday's game against Puerto Rico because he was attending his stepson's wedding.

Link of the Week: Click here

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Mar 14, 2009
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Here's a classic, from my favorite band of all time:

The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again - Live 8

Derek Jeter's Top 10 Moments

Mar 14, 2009
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Derek Jeter

Stephen at Heartbeat of the Bronx recently listed Derek Jeter's top 10 moments as a Yankee. Here was the list:

10) Jeter collects his 2,000th hit

9) Jeter becomes the Captain

8) Jeter passes Lou Gehrig for the most hits in Yankee Stadium history

7) Jeter's girlfriends; jealousy personified

6) Yankee Stadium farewell speech

5) Jeter dives into the stands

4) Jeter wins the 2000 World Series MVP

3) Jeffrey Maier

2) "Mr. November"

1) The flip

What a career in pinstripes thus far for Mr. Derek Jeter.

Cashman v. Pearlman

Mar 13, 2009
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Ok, so it isn't exactly Cramer v. Stewart. But a new feud has emerged in the sports world.

Jeff Pearlman, author of The Rocket That Fell to Earth (set to be released in the coming weeks), has angered Brian Cashman because of an anecdote in the book.

From the Times (hat tip to SPA):

The book said that when Giambi went through a slump in the 2002 season, his first with the Yankees, Cashman was heard yelling at a television in the Yankees' clubhouse during a game. Citing "one New York player," the book said that Cashman screamed, "Jason, whatever you were taking in Oakland," get back on it.

The book said that Cashman then added, "Please!"

In a telephone interview Thursday night, Cashman said that the anecdote described in the book never happened.

"That is completely false," Cashman said.

Pearlman acknowledged that he never called Cashman to confirm or deny this story; rather, he referenced a Yankee player that he has "100 percent confidence" in.

I like Pearlman; I actually met him at a writers conference last year (I am also friends with him on Facebook). I just hope that his source is really good, or else he will have tarnished his journalistic credibility.

Pay as a percentage of team value

Mar 13, 2009
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While digging through my closet, I found an interesting article written by Peter J. Schwartz in a 2008 issue of Sports Money. In the article, Schwartz looks at historical player salaries in comparison to the overall value of the team. Here were some of the players listed:

1930: Babe Ruth's salary - $80,000

Yankees Team Value: $2.5 million

Ruth made 3.2% of the team's total value.

1949: Joe DiMaggio's salary - $100,000

Yankees Team Value: $5 million

DiMaggio made 2.0% of the team's total value.

1980: Nolan Ryan's salary - $1.125 million

Astros Team Value: $13 million

Ryan made 8.7% of the team's total value.

1991: Roger Clemens' salary - $5.38 million

Red Sox Team Value: $136 million

Clemens made 4.0% of the team's total value.

1997: Albert Belle's salary - $11 million

White Sox Team Value: $149 million

Belle made 7.4% of the team's total value.

1999: Kevin Brown's salary - $15 million

Dodgers Team Value: $270 million

Brown made 5.6% of the team's total value.

2001: Alex Rodriguez's salary - $25.2 million

Rangers Team Value: $342 million

Rodriguez made 7.4% of the team's total value.

2008: Alex Rodriguez's salary - $30.5 million

Yankees Team Value: $1.3 billion

Rodriguez made 2.3% of the team's total value.

State of the Bullpen

Mar 12, 2009
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I recently agreed to team up with the writers over at The Voice of the Yankees Universe, which is one of the fastest-growing and most widely read Yankees blogs out there. My first post went up tonight - it's about the state of the bullpen.

The last Yankee to...

Mar 12, 2009
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Win 25 games: Ron Guidry, 1978

Lose 20 games: Mel Stottlemyre, 1966

Pitch 300 innings: Catfish Hunter, 1975

Hit .350: Paul O'Neill, 1994

Slug .700: Mickey Mantle, 1956

Hit 20 triples: Snuffy Stirnweiss, 1945

Hit 50 doubles: Alfonso Soriano, 2002

Steal 50 bases: Rickey Henderson, 1988

Start 40 games: Jack Chesbro, 1906

Throw 20 complete games: Ron Guidry, 1983

Win the Triple Crown: Mickey Mantle, 1956

Kevin Gil said:

[this is good]
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YankeesRumors said:

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Have a safe trip bro, I'll talk to ya when you get back. read more
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It's difficult to say how much PED's affected his career. As you said, there are so many other factors that... read more
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jon cohen said:
Those stats are very skewed. 01-03 were played in the Arlington launching right as he was hitting his prime, while... read more
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Joe said:

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Tough to feeeel sorry for A-rod! read more
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