I get numerous press releases e-mailed to me every day. Most of them I immediately delete, but this one caught my eye. FOX Sports Radio e-mailed me a transcript of rapper Ja Rule's thoughts on Joe Torre leaving the Yankees.
Why did this catch my eye?
Because it reminded me of a funny bit Dave Chappelle had about Ja Rule and 9-11. Basically, Chappelle makes fun of the fact that MTV put Ja Rule on the phone to talk about 9-11 in the days following the tragedy. Chappelle said, "Who gives a (expletive) what Ja Rule thinks at a time like this? This is ridiculous. I don't want to dance. I'm scared to death. I want some answers that Ja Rule might not have right now. Do you think when bad (stuff) happens to me, I'm in the crib like, 'Oh, my God. This is terrible. Could somebody please ... find Ja Rule, get ahold of this (fine fellow) so I can make sense of all this.'"
I had the same feeling when he's talking about Torre and the Yankees.
In other words, who cares?
Here's the release:
LOS ANGELES, October 23, 2007 – Ja Rule, best-selling rap/hip-hop artist and die-hard New York City sports fan, joined Andrew Siciliano and Krystal Fernandez on FOX Game Time Live recently and discussed the Yankees and General Manager Joe Torre. Below are highlights from the interview….
SICILIANO: “I know you’re from Hollis Queens which would lead one to believe you’re a Met fan, but I have a picture of you wearing a Yankee hat. Which is it?”
JA RULE: “I switched up as I got older. I was a Met fan during the Strawberry/Doc Gooden era, but then as I got older, the Yankees became my team.”
SICILIANO: “What do you think of Joe Torre being pushed out?”
JA RULE: “I think that was kind of sour to push Joe out. You know, the Yankees are spoiled – I call them the Dankees. We’ve had so many great championship teams that we’re spoiled. So, if we don’t win, we’re deemed unsuccessful and that’s kind of a hard thing to swallow for Joe Torre because I mean four championships in twelve seasons – the Red Sox hadn’t won a championship before the one they just won since 1918, you understand – so it’s like, how could you look at this guy and say he’s not a great coach, he hasn’t done great things? I mean he’s had 90 wins every season he’s been the manager. He’s a great coach, and I think they’re making a mistake letting him go.”
SICILIANO: “Who do you want in there now? Do you want an old guy like Don Mattingly? Do you like Tony LaRussa?”
JA RULE: “I like Don. Don is old-school and he’s a true Yankee. He’s a Yankee by blood, so I wouldn’t be mad with Don. I wouldn’t be mad with Joe Girardi either. It depends. I move for Don, though.”
*
Jim Salisbury tells us to reevaluate Terry Francona.
I agree. It's amazing how much smarter Francona looks with true talent in Boston, huh? I've heard managers can be responsible for winning or losing 10 games a year. I don't buy that. I think that's way too high because it always comes down to talent. If you have a terrible bullpen, no matter who you bring in you're probably going to be second guessed and called a moron. If you have a great bullpen, people will say, "Wow, he really uses his bullpen well." I guess it's human nature, but people really only remember the moves that don't work. They rarely remember the moves that do work.
Charlie Manuel used Brett Myers, Tom Gordon and J.C. Romero extensively the final few weeks of the season. Nobody complained. Why? Because they pitched well. If they would have struggled the final weekend of the season, I guarantee everybody would have said, "Manuel obviously overworked them. He didn't use them the right way. He's got to go." Guaranteed. But they finished strong and the Phillies won the NL East. But I never heard anybody credit Manuel for using the bullpen the way he did. But that's the way it is. Just like Francona.
*
Here's a look at the Phillies' home schedule for 2008.
Comments (12)
Francona and Manuel had one thing in common. They both look catatonic on the bench. They don't get easily excited at good or bad developments. I think as Philly fans, we like our coaches to be more outgoing. People make fun of Andy Reid's boring press conferences too, so it is not confined to baseball.
We want to think that our coaches and players are as invested as emotionally as we are. Terry & Charlie do not wear their emotions on their sleeves and I think it hurts their reputations.
Having said that, I still think Charlie makes far too many bad in game decisions and I know he lost more games than he won this season.... but I'm not authority, maybe we need to check with an expert like 50 center :-)
Posted by Josh | October 23, 2007 4:54 PM
Posted on October 23, 2007 16:54
Shows how hip I am... and that my spell checker doesn't like me.
It should have said 50 Cent :-)
Posted by Josh | October 23, 2007 4:56 PM
Posted on October 23, 2007 16:56
Can you imagine this town if Charlie sat Chase Utley on "Chase Utley" shirt day? Or asked for a "mulligan" for last year? It would be worth it to hear Eskin blow out his lungs on the air.
Francona is only as good as his talent. How good would he be looking right now if they lost to Cleveland 4-1? I have friends in Boston who wanted him gone after game 4, now they think he is a genius. My friends in Cleveland want to fire their starting pitchers and Travis Hafner, not their manager. Players handle the game on the fied and managers try to put guys in the right spot...if they done't perform, it's the players 95% of the time. TZ is right on the mark, as usual.
If I want baseball advice from the rap community, I'll ask M.C. Hammer, at least he used to be a batboy for the A's.
BTW, I was chosen in the Cleveland World Series ticket lottery and bought 4 tickets for games one and two...ah, never mind. Now the Phillies and Indians both owe me refunds. I must be bad luck.
Posted by jimmymack | October 23, 2007 5:38 PM
Posted on October 23, 2007 17:38
whats this about the phillies adding Ja Rule to their roster?
Anyway- face it-this year the phillies just reversed their usual pattern which is always start strong then fade!
next year - they will be back to their normal August Swoon!- unless Ja Rule can get ya 20 wins!
Hey jimmymack- wanna buy my Mets playoff tickets for the hat trick?
Mr. Met
Posted by Mr Met | October 23, 2007 9:16 PM
Posted on October 23, 2007 21:16
With each year that passes as a baseball fan (just wrapping up year 36) I'm less convinced that there are adequate criteria for judging a good-to-great baseball manager. If the team has some talent, it's possible to tell if the manager is terrible, but managers need to have a feel for their particular team each year. Some years they work in sync which what they have, some years they don't. Bowa was able to push the Phils to a new level one year, the next year he did nothing but undermine his players with his displays of frustration and attempts at winning games in the 6th inning. Likewise Phil Garner managed the Astros like each game was the last game of the World Series. For a while it worked, then he looked impatient and impulsive. Manual worked all right for this year's Phillies team. Who knows what a new mix in the pitching staff and outfield will bring in 2008? Each of these managers is at least pretty good, but how much better is Francona, who's had a fantastic roster in Boston? How much better is LaRussa, who's been up and down with a number of teams depending on his team's injuries? Beats me.
Posted by frankenslade | October 23, 2007 9:17 PM
Posted on October 23, 2007 21:17
Francona was bad here; he lost the respect of a young team in a few short years. He had to go. So he learned from his mistakes and got better. That doesn't make the job he did here in the past any better.
I love how the media wants to say Francona was fine in Philly because of the job he's doing in Boston. I guess you guys need something to write about.
I got an idea. Let's give Bowa the Yankees job, then if they start winning all the media can say what a great job Bowa did in Philly.
I'm not a big Bowa fan, but he did get more out of the same players than Francona did his first few years here.
As for Manuel, yea you are right, but that's the manager's JOB. To know when someone can be overused. If the pitching blew up he would have been ripped and he should have been...
Posted by PaulW | October 24, 2007 8:53 AM
Posted on October 24, 2007 08:53
"Rock stars. Is there ANYTHING they DON'T know?" - Homer Simpson.
Posted by Louis DeVizia | October 24, 2007 9:43 AM
Posted on October 24, 2007 09:43
Once again, Mr. Met, please have your big oversized head examined. I think you did some damage to it. Your post: "face it-this year the phillies just reversed their usual pattern which is always start strong then fade!" The Phillies pattern has been the exact OPPOSITE. They get off to horrible starts in April then finish strong. Until this year, they have always fallen a game or two short -- not because of a late season fade, but because despite finishing strong they couldn't recover from a bad start. The real question is, will the Mets aging roster and fading talent hold together enough to compete with the Phils in 2008, or will their decline continue?
Posted by realistic observer | October 24, 2007 2:24 PM
Posted on October 24, 2007 14:24
Yeah mr. met!!! Take THAT from the realistic observer!! And ja-rule sounds like everyone else who jumped on the yankees bandwagon AFTER they started winning again. Just like a typical lame fan who jumps ship when the team he or she roots for is losing. How pathetic!!!
Posted by clinton nj | October 24, 2007 11:55 PM
Posted on October 24, 2007 23:55
Dankees?
Posted by Titus Pullo | October 25, 2007 10:13 AM
Posted on October 25, 2007 10:13
Ol' Tito looks better because he's got twice the roster salary and is managing in the American League, which has less strategy to work with due to the D.H.
This sort of "He's so wonderful" retconning is similar to how Ohio residents feel about Bill "The Cheat" Bellichick.
Posted by James | October 25, 2007 12:20 PM
Posted on October 25, 2007 12:20
What Ja's got to say is the final word... undersatand it and dont dispute... Big Ups 2 Brokyln...
p.s. MURDA
Posted by Kitty2Coo | January 13, 2008 6:55 AM
Posted on January 13, 2008 06:55