Slide Gate

At least Joe Girardi has made this Spring Training interesting. I really could care less about Spring games except for seeing how healthy a starting pitcher looks. I must admit though, when I heard the brawl started I was on the net trying to find video of the slide(I only found pictures so if have the video please let me know).

I love the fire of Joe Girardi, every year all Yankee fans hated that the Yankees just let other teams hit Jeter, hit A-rod etc etc. and Torre would just turn the other cheek. I mean one year Pedro was pitching for the Red Sox first inning Alfonso Soriano leads off pitch one hits him on the wrist taken out of the game, Pitch two strikes Jeter in the wrist also and he is taken out of the game. I will give you one guess how many Red Sox were hit that day……..NONE. Torre was a great manager, but that is a perfect example of how lax he was with that type of stuff.

I think Girardi comes out looking bad to the media and to other teams in this. He was quoted as saying there was nothing wrong with Duncan’s slide and that he loves clean, hard baseball plays and that is what that was. UMMMM no Joe the play at home plate the other day was clean, hard baseball and within the rules. Do I think it is overboard to hit a catcher like that in a Spring Game…that is up for debate, but you can not debate it is within the rules to do it. That is one of those unwritten rules (i.e. do not bunt for a base hit when a guy has a no-hitter in the 6th or later) that some teams have and some teams do not. A player coming in spikes high and striking a guy in the upper leg, groin area is a dirty play….there is no debate about that.

I do love that the Yankees will not back down this year, but Girardi should have just said the famous Roger Clemens line that he mis-remembered the entire play. I mean if Rocket can say it on Capital Hill can’t Joe use it to Newsday.com? I can not believe I am looking forward to Rays vs. Yankees 18 times this year.