WEBVTT - The 2009 Yankees: Return of the Kings 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:04.240 Welcome to Special Teams, a production of My Heart Radio 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:23.239 Greetings and Welcome Inside Special Teams with Jason Smith and 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:26.600 Mike Harmon, a podcast it looks back at individual seasons 0:00:26.640 --> 0:00:29.639 for sports teams that are so incredibly memorable. We have 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:33.280 to commemorate them, whether it's because they won, because they lost, 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:36.320 somewhere in between. They were fun, They had a lot 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:38.560 of streakers running on the court, whatever it was, gotta 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:42.000 have a streaker two or colossally bad, Smith, because we 0:00:42.040 --> 0:00:45.640 will laugh at or with fan bases as well. We're 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:48.880 gonna look back at the two thousand and nine season 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:53.840 for the New York Yankees. This was their most recent championship, 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:57.920 and my goodness, was this full of twists and turns 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:00.520 from the beginning. I don't know that any team has 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:03.800 won a championship that's gone through as much off season 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:07.760 red tape and controversy as the Yankees have had coming 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:10.200 into this year, well going into that year. It's almost 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:13.479 like the taking off of tabloid TV on a whole 0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:17.000 other level, right, So it only fit that the Yankees 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:20.360 and the back pages of the Fish Wrap would have 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:24.120 a story seemingly every day of great magnitude, and we 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:27.600 watch it all the way through to right as the 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:31.959 Yankees celebrated the departure of Mookie Bets from the Red 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:35.720 Sox roster. Right, all of those things that we see 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:39.840 time and again. But yeah, this was a season unlike 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:42.880 they'd seen in a long, long time. It was a 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:44.800 long way to get to beating the Phillies in the 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:47.720 World Series. And here's to give you an idea of 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:50.280 what the Yankees went through to start the season. First 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:53.320 of all, they were opening the new Yankee Stadium. All right, 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:56.040 the old stadium was done. Here's a new Yankee Stadium 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:59.040 with the jet stream and all the balls are flying out, 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:01.400 a new Yankee state to um. I remember, the prices 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:03.520 of the seats was the big deal when New Yankee 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:05.880 Stadium opened. It was wait a minute, this seat in 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:09.440 New Yankee Stadium. If you corroborated to the old Yankee Stadium, 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:12.720 the seat for this game is two more. I mean, 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:15.040 that was what the prices were for New Yankee Stading. 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:18.200 The corollary absolutely huge. Way you shrink the stadium a 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:20.800 little bit, and let's face it, you gotta pay for 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:23.840 that construction in New York somehow. Hey, the stadium didn't 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:26.160 go up for nothing, you know, and no matter what 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:29.079 you're doing on the TV network side and whatever other 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:32.360 sweet deals you might have made with the construction companies. 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:36.440 See I wanted to make you laugh. There no getting 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:39.920 in some nefarious The potential is there, and I'm not 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:43.160 accusing anybody of anything. I'm just saying people do each 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:46.200 other favors. You want to build something on six square blocks, 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:50.120 you gotta come talk to me, allegedly. So the facts 0:02:50.160 --> 0:02:53.440 of the matter is you've got a recoupsive costs and 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:56.920 that's the way it goes. Personal seat licenses, all of 0:02:56.919 --> 0:03:01.320 those kind of things, sweet prices and consent, you gotta 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:03.760 you gotta pay the piper. And to get a seat 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:06.800 in a new stadium on any of the major cities. 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:09.160 Right we're ready to launch a new one here in 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:12.040 Los Angeles. You could only have so many Taylor Swift 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:15.120 lover fests. Eventually you gotta lay some sports in there, 0:03:15.280 --> 0:03:17.040 and the sports people they've got to pay for some 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:19.919 of this. So while the Yankees are waiting to open 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:22.720 the new stadium, there was a big passing of control. 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:26.600 Is George Steinbrenner stepped down as the main decision maker 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:29.120 for the team on November twenty the year before his 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:31.840 son's Hank and how would run the team. This is 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.880 a seismic move because this is a guy who micro 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:39.120 managed every aspect of the Yankee franchise, sometimes to the 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:42.800 franchises detriment before they got all those great players in. 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:47.440 But Steinbrenner was it. He was the back page guy. 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:51.480 He was Jerry just Straw who stirred the drink, but 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:54.360 even more so than Jerry Jones, because every day George 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:57.760 Steinbrenner gave you something. It was sometimes outlandish, it was 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:01.040 sometimes pointed, but he always gave you something. And look 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:04.160 in ill health. You know, he passed away um about 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:06.800 a year or so later, but he went from being 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:09.320 a larger than life figure too. Now his sons are 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:12.360 running the team. Wow, and he traded Castanza for some 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:17.560 fermented Yeah, no, I that's just huge, right. We talked 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:21.839 about larger than life figures in the inner sporting world. 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:25.320 You know, we commemorated and more in the loss of 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:29.920 Kobe Bryant tragically, you know, in that helicopter crash, and 0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:34.000 that's abrupt. But then you have giants like a George 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:36.120 Steinbrenner who had been part of the game and had 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:39.520 been so instrumental to the growth of the game and 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:43.120 what he did buying the Yankees and creating a network 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:45.320 and all of this changing the way business was done, 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:49.960 and be with all the headlines that he controlled and 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:53.440 made sure New York was always a number one and 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:58.680 the a block of every breakdown, every highlights show ever 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:01.719 to come because your kid, you know, when I was 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:03.960 a kid, the Mets stunk, then they got good in 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:05.920 the mid eighties when the Yankees stunk, and that's when 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:09.080 Steinbrenner really started taking over because if the team wasn't good, 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:11.400 at least he was gonna make headlines. And that's what 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:13.520 he did, and it was every day. It was boy, 0:05:13.560 --> 0:05:15.680 everybody knew all the players, and you knew George. You 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:17.800 didn't know who the hell own the Mets. Nobody knew, 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:21.119 nobody cared, but you knew George Steinbrenner. I was gonna 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:23.320 make a joke about who's still owning the Mets and 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:27.240 will own the Mets and chaos that's associated we know, 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:29.440 don't anybody. I don't think anybody needs to know that. 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:31.240 It doesn't I don't think anybody does know, but I 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:33.240 don't think anybody needs to know that either well, I 0:05:33.240 --> 0:05:35.400 mean that might hit their Google machine and see who 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:37.920 owns it today. Could be Bobby Benia for all we know. 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:42.880 But that just that that switch is just seismic, just 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:48.520 because when we look at our major sports landscapes, there's 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:52.280 from an ownership perspective, a lot of anonymous, faceless guys 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:56.320 and and women to that matter, I mean across sports 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:59.600 that that don't cut through, that aren't making noise, that 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:03.120 aren't even when we talk about the commissioner and who 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:05.320 is you know, their brains, japs, who are the leaders 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:07.400 like you mighty know two or three of them. In 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:10.760 baseball you still have Jerry Ryan Storff with the White Sox. 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:14.320 But even then he's one of one of thirty. I mean, 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:16.880 there's a lot of other guys. If you tried to, 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:19.360 you know, play the game, I mean, you're really good 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:23.080 at state capitals. We tried to play that game with 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:27.960 sports ownership groups or principles, it would be a very 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:31.320 difficult game to play. The capital of Washington is Olympia. 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:36.839 Uh So, while this is going on, Brian Cashman makes 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:39.520 big changes to this Yankee team because they were coming 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:43.320 off missing the playoffs for the first time. Since nineteen 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:47.200 Think about that for a second. Obviously, ninety four there 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:52.760 was no season the Yankees. Yankees made the playoffs every 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:58.360 year from through till two thousand and seven. Every year 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:00.359 there We didn't win the World Series every year, but 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:02.800 they were in the playoffs every year. Two thousand and 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:06.479 eight they still won eighty nine games. Didn't matter. Wasn't 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:08.640 good enough. So what do the Yankees do in the 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:14.640 off season? They part ways with Jason Giambi, Carl Pavano, 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:19.120 Bobby A. Bray, you, Von Rodriguez, Mike Mussina retired. You 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:22.119 also lose the Jason Giambi and the and the golden thong. 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:25.760 So there is that. No, it was his brother that 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:29.119 had the golden No, was it a Jeremy No, Jeremy 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:31.400 Johny didn't have anything. It was Jason Johnbi had the 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:34.480 golden thong. Jeremy Giambi he was, he was in He 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:37.320 was in Moneyball for five minutes. Jeremy he was he 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:39.840 was a little, a little out there sometimes. So that 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:44.000 shed ninety million dollars in salary for the Yankees. And yeah, 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:47.480 but how many people remember that Ivan Rodriguez's not many, 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:50.680 but it would look, Hey, it happened, but it did happen, 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:53.640 Like the golden thong happened, and whether you want admitted 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:55.680 or not, it happened. I think you used to wear 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:59.600 a golden thong and that brings back back. Oh wow, really, 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:01.600 that's something for our show at night. Hang on, let 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:04.680 me write that down, right down. Let's celebrate all of it. 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:07.720 So that sheds ninety million dollars in salary. What are 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:10.560 the Yankees do? They bring in Nick Swisher, nice trade 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:14.280 White Sox in the year before extra base hits sixt 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:18.040 RBI did only hit two nineteen, but came up with 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:20.440 some big hits and still some power. They bring in 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:24.480 a J. Burnett, who was for most of his career disappointing, 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:27.200 but for this one moment in time hit it pretty 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:29.240 good with the Yankees this year. Seemed to find the 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:32.800 right group to hang out with. That that season, Mark 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:36.680 two Share comes in and becomes a Yankee right away, 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:39.320 a big addition. And they go out and spend a 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:42.760 lot of money to get C. C. Sabathia, who was 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:48.320 the free agent prize acquisition. He goes seven years, hundred 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:51.400 and sixty one million dollars. That Yankees told out a 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.400 lot of money. They gave eighty two million dollars to A. J. Burnett, 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:58.040 they gave to Share eight and one eighty, So shedding 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:00.640 all that salary said, Yep, we're gonna gift to Share 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:02.800 a bunch of money. We're gonna give it to A J. Burnett. 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:04.840 We're gonna give to Cec Sabathia. It's kind of funny 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:07.480 when you look at to Share, the thought that he'd 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:10.520 already been through three teams before he showed up in 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:13.319 New York. A guy at that caliber, with that level 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:18.240 of production the year before, thirty three home runs, one 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:21.240 with a three or eight batting average, and CC Sabathia 0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:23.520 getting all that money, he must have passed a lot 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:26.400 of health inspections because the way he was brutalized by 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:28.880 the Milwaukee Brewers, I thought his arm was gonna fall. 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:31.160 I remember seeing that contract going. The end of that 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:34.480 contract is going to be so incredibly brewted. Remember remember 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:38.280 when that was how the two thousand eight season just 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:41.080 every other day it seemed like we've gone back in 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:44.840 time to where guys were pitching fifty seven times in 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:48.000 a season with CC. Who's pitching for the Brewers today? 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:53.040 Sabathia fday Sabathia. It's like, wait, he pitched Monday, It's 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:56.719 Wednesday morning. What the hell? He he started him on 0:09:56.800 --> 0:09:59.480 eight hours rest. It's gonna be great. He goes eleven 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:03.160 and two for the Brewers, has a fantastic season, goes 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:05.480 into the postseason, whatever. But it was just one of 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:08.320 those when the Yankees signed him, is really, what do 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:10.880 you expect? To your point, what do you expect the 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:14.439 podcast three years, how heavy he's gonna be, the injuries, 0:10:14.480 --> 0:10:16.880 and it wasn't a great last three years, but it 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:19.600 wasn't nearly as bad as we thought it was going 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:21.320 to be. At the end, well, and the tail was 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:23.800 quite long, right, I mean, he just finally hangs him 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:27.480 up after the season. So this is where the Yankees are. 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:30.120 They're feeling pretty good. They remake the team, and then 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:36.319 just before spring training, Alex Rodriguez admitted to using steroids 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:39.319 while playing for the Rangers back in two thousand one 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:42.840 to two thousand and three. He admits this, it's a 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:46.480 huge story. And then a rod gets hurt, so he 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:49.680 misses most of spring training the early part of the 0:10:49.720 --> 0:10:53.040 season with a hip injury, and now the Yankees have 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:57.320 to answer for Alex Rodriguez admitting to steroid usage, not 0:10:57.400 --> 0:11:00.240 with the team, but way before they got him. Doesn't matter. 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:04.120 A Rod Yankee steroids. This is what they're dealing with 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:06.200 going into the season. Kind of a big deal. You 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:08.840 make a bunch of additions and looking to rebuild off 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:12.560 of a non playoff year, and this is a Rod. 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:16.040 Still you're trying to He's not embraced as a Yankee 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:19.160 at this point, right, it's still Derek Jeter, all the 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:23.760 rest of your high priced free agent acquisitions and the 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:27.200 guys that were home spun home grown, and you still 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:30.000 have a Rod. And now you've got this admission, and 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:32.160 he misses the first month and a half of the season. 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:37.520 So it adds to just enough for the tabloidal nature 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:40.439 of the newspapers and reporting as well. I mean, this 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:44.360 is back when Jeter versus a Rod was everybody loves Jeter, 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:47.880 everybody hates a Rod. You know, A Rod's image was bad, 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.840 and now the the steroid thing tarnished it even more. 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:54.240 And how are the Yankees gonna survive with Alex Rodriguez. 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:56.080 Look at this is around the time when we started 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:58.679 finding out the names of the big players who involved 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:00.880 with stories. Mandy Ramirez was there as well, and it 0:12:00.960 --> 0:12:03.160 was just a gut punch after gut punch. It was 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:06.120 following the Mitchell Report. But here's a Rod who people 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:09.480 couldn't stand anyway, and now here he is, Oh steroid, 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:12.000 you're ape d guy, that's why you're so good. It 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:16.080 was everybody hates Alex, everybody loved Jeter even more, which 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:18.600 a lot to do with this popularity increase at this time. 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:23.360 But I didn't see, even though the Yankees thrived on controversy, 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:25.560 how are they going to survive this? How are they 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:27.920 gonna because a Rod's gonna come back and play, They're 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:30.120 paying him a lot of money. There was no way 0:12:30.120 --> 0:12:31.360 they were getting out of it. There was no way 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:33.280 they were trading him. He was gonna come back and 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:35.720 play eventually. How are they going to get out of this? 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:38.160 Like like Batman? Like every like every time when I 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:40.920 watch Batman as a kid, And there would be they 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:44.439 would cut the episode into two and hanger was, here's 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:47.440 Batman and Robin and there in some kind of cylinder 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:49.839 that's gonna pull their molecules apartner all, they're never getting 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:51.400 out of this one. Then they get out of it 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:53.320 like that's kind of how I felt about a Rod? 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:55.559 How are how is a Rod? And the Yankees gonna 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:57.600 get out of this one? I mean they did, but 0:12:57.720 --> 0:12:59.280 I didn't see it at that time. I got to 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:01.439 help by the fact we mentioned all of the off 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:05.680 season acquisitions with very hefty price tags with him. So 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:08.320 by this point his contract, he was just a guy 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:12.000 in terms of the dollars and cents, and you could 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:15.720 slink away a little bit. The team playing well and 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:20.040 having the run that they did certainly helped. And showing 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:22.720 back up onto the field and hitting a home run 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:25.160 in your first at bat probably not a bad way to, 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:28.199 you know, re engage your audience once you come back 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:30.240 from that hip injury. Well, you still had great players 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:32.440 around the team, not only who they signed. Remember this 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:35.560 is still Robinson Canoe playing second base. You know, this 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:37.920 is Johnny Damon in the outfit when the Johnny Damon 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:41.080 contract was still pretty good for them. You know, look, 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:44.480 they had a pretty talented team. Melky Cabrera was a 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:48.360 big contributor here, had DECKI mit Sue at designated hit. 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:53.040 It's not like missing Alex Rodriguez suddenly met boy they 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:55.599 have a gaping hole. It's just how do you navigate this. 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:59.160 How does Joe Girardi navigate this looking for a championship 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:03.360 when you have Alex Rodriguez hanging over the team. And 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:07.160 not only that, you had Joe Tori's book The Yankee 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.520 Years come out right before the season started, which caused 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:15.319 a lot of controversy because he called out Alex Rodriguez 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:19.440 and Brian Cashman in his book, saying that Brian Cashman 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:23.000 betrayed him in contract negotiations, said that the Yankee players 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:26.840 called a rod a fraud, and so many Yankees were upset. 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:29.680 They felt, oh, Joe Tore breached the confidence of the 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:31.760 locker room by writing this tell all book. And Joe 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:34.000 Tori said, no, I didn't. But it didn't matter. No, 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:35.920 it's good that he helps out a major League baseball 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:38.920 Now wait less tell a book on Major League Baseball 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:41.960 comes out. That's sausages made. But I kept three of 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:46.880 the trash cans for the Houston Astros. But this was 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:49.360 surprising because you didn't think Joe too. I was surprised 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:52.560 because I didn't think Joe Tory would do something like this. 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:54.680 This was not a Joe Tory thing to say, here's 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:57.560 a book, I'm gonna make money a lifetime baseball guy. 0:14:57.880 --> 0:15:00.880 This isn't a front office dude who came of the 0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:04.840 you know, accountants a lot at some company because he 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:07.360 was good at analytics, got hired in. This was a 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:09.360 guy who was an m v P. This was a 0:15:09.400 --> 0:15:14.400 guy who was thrice World Series winning manager. All of 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:18.400 these things and he releases this book. It just flies 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:23.920 in the face of everything about the clubhouse code and 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:29.200 and everything else. But you know what, everybody, uh, everybody's 0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:31.600 got a price, right, didn't That what Ted Dibiacy taught 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:34.960 us all those years ago on our Saturday Morning WWF. 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:37.280 Soa Joe already has got the briefcase out? Is that 0:15:37.280 --> 0:15:42.360 what he is? Is he? No? Well, that's the question. 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:45.960 Is he the guy getting the money from Virgil? Am 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:51.560 I giving the money to this? Well, let's see Virgil 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:54.800 held up Virgil's Brian Cashman. Okay, because he gave out 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:57.200 the I was gonna wonder whoever the publisher was of 0:15:57.360 --> 0:16:01.360 this book, would they be virginal in this scenario? How 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:03.280 did the Yankees go on from here? How did they 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:05.040 go on to win a hundred and three games? How 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:07.280 did they go on to finish first? And how did 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:12.080 Alex Rodriguez complete the most unlikely character turn we have 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:15.440 seen in sports and quite sometime. Keep it right here. 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:17.760 All the drama is ahead. We haven't even gotten to 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:20.040 the season yet. Now yet for the Yankees, I mean, 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:21.960 this is a year that you know, the Cowboys open 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:25.360 Jerry World. In two thousand and nine, your guy Mark 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:27.560 Burley pitched a perfect game, one of my favorite, because 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:29.800 he could always pitch a game and under two hours. 0:16:30.120 --> 0:16:33.360 You had plans that night, you had no problems. Those 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:36.600 games were going fast. But the biggest thing in two 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:38.600 thousand and nine is we just give you one nice 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:40.960 thing to get ready for the rest of the podcast. 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:42.760 We do what we do. We look back at the 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:47.840 year that was in two thousand nine, we saw Bellatour 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:55.200 one have followed. Yeah, I think they're up to now 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:58.600 Bellatore five thousand, because there's belletor like every three days 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:01.360 seems like that. I think that's where we're creeping up 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:04.440 on two fifty years pretty fast. That was Belt one 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:08.120 all the way back in Hollywood, Florida at the Seminal 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:13.240 Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. It was so popular they 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:16.480 taped it the day before, cut it down and aired 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:19.560 it the next night. On television. Oh that that that's 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:22.200 how big Bellator one was. It was an exclusive television 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:26.240 agreement with ESPN. Deportez. Why do you gotta roll your tongue? 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:28.320 You can't just say he's Panda Portis because it made 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:31.920 it sound better. Okay, you're like a local news anchor. 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:34.600 Why not? Right? Okay? I just wonder why you're doing 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:39.760 it Los Angeles. So all that more coming up right 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:41.520 here as we look back at the two thousand and 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:45.639 nine New York Yankee season and all the while twists 0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:06.760 continuing on here. The two thousand nine Yankees, the last 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:10.160 championship team for the Yankees. How did things start out 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:14.480 for them? This was Joe girardi second season. The pressure 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:17.159 was on him because the Yankees didn't make the playoffs 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:20.280 in two thousand and eight and this was it for him. 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:23.639 If they didn't win this year, it would have been boy. 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:28.040 We made the playoffs every year since, right the Yankees 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:30.119 the first time they didn't make it. Well, obviously we 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:35.399 had the no season, but every year in the playoffs, 0:18:36.040 --> 0:18:38.640 and the first year for Girardi they don't make it. 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:42.040 They started out pretty rocky. It's not like this Yankee 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:45.720 team was dominant from the beginning. I wonder how much 0:18:45.760 --> 0:18:48.320 more rocky or things needed to get to, like if 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:51.000 they got to the All Star Break still underachieving, if 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:53.080 Girardi would have even been around, because you know, we 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:56.320 talked about it. They spent so much money trying to 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:58.520 get this team ready. They got rid of so much 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:00.440 salary from the year before and brought in so many 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:02.720 new players. I know that he would have gotten more 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:04.720 than the All Star Break to get things going. No, 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:08.239 really curious because in April, aygo twelve and ten and 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:10.800 then they lose six of their first eight May games 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:14.920 and George Steinbrenner earlier in his life the Billy Martineers, 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:17.159 Joe Girardi has gone. He might be back by the 0:19:17.280 --> 0:19:19.080 end of the year. And the way the revolving door 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:23.960 work twice exactly. But the potential certainly was on out 0:19:24.000 --> 0:19:28.359 there for it, and the curiosity was already held held firm, 0:19:28.440 --> 0:19:31.760 waiting for things to gel. Perhaps you know, a little 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:35.320 calmer heads of with all those new additions and the 0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:38.960 high priced add ons that you've got that maybe you 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:42.520 needed it to marinate a little longer before you you 0:19:42.640 --> 0:19:45.760 got hit your stride. But that's a good thing. It 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:49.000 did but even into the All Star break, not exactly 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:52.840 running on all cylinders and causing the wow factor at 0:19:52.880 --> 0:19:55.280 least for a moment. And I remember the articles being written. 0:19:55.359 --> 0:20:00.200 It's like, is the day of paying big salaries and 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:05.400 you know, trying to be Goliath. Are they over? This 0:20:05.640 --> 0:20:09.840 was a turning point in the season for them because 0:20:10.119 --> 0:20:13.200 at this point Alex Rodriguez is set to come back 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:18.800 after being injured, after answering questions about performance and answering drugs, 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:21.119 and it was I remember Yankee fans, my dad, all 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:23.119 Yanks going all the last thing we need now is 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:25.400 a Rod coming back. Last week is a Rod coming back. 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:28.960 Turns out what they needed was a Rod coming back, 0:20:29.000 --> 0:20:33.000 because this, more so than any other season, turned out 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:36.200 to be Alex Rodriguez is dark side of the mood. 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:38.960 It was his. He had other seasons with better stats 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:40.920 fifty home runs, hundred and fifty r b i s, 0:20:41.240 --> 0:20:45.280 but this was his season where the Yankees needed him. 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:48.440 He not only came in and gave you a great year, 0:20:48.680 --> 0:20:50.680 but as you're gonna hear about later on, I mean, 0:20:50.680 --> 0:20:53.679 he was this close to being World Series MVP. Without 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:56.200 a Rod, this team doesn't do it. He comes back 0:20:56.200 --> 0:20:58.920 in May hits a three run homer on the first 0:20:58.960 --> 0:21:01.880 pitch of the season. The Yankees have three walk off 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:06.040 wins against Minnesota and they start getting things together a 0:21:06.040 --> 0:21:08.880 little bit. Look, the only way a Rod was gonna 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:12.000 get past the pe d allegations, which were a huge bombshell. 0:21:12.040 --> 0:21:14.359 It was, oh my god, a Rod PDS. This was 0:21:14.400 --> 0:21:16.320 back when it was oh my god, Manny Ramirez and 0:21:16.560 --> 0:21:18.760 a Rod. Here's all the great sluggers of the past 0:21:18.760 --> 0:21:21.119 ten years. To see, we're hoping we're not gonna hear 0:21:21.160 --> 0:21:23.480 their names, and then boom, here's a bombshell with Manny. 0:21:23.480 --> 0:21:26.080 And then boom, it's Alex Rodriguez and it's a Rod. 0:21:26.080 --> 0:21:28.720 And and look, everybody wanted to go crazy on him 0:21:28.720 --> 0:21:31.280 because people didn't like him. And now it was always 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:33.639 a Yankee. Now I can hate him even more. He 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:36.040 was very polarizing, and it was now but you were 0:21:36.080 --> 0:21:38.439 always a great player, and now you needed help, and 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:41.399 now it's all a Rod, a Rod, And he really 0:21:41.440 --> 0:21:43.280 flipped the script. But that's the thing with a Rod, 0:21:43.359 --> 0:21:46.080 and the handwringing was there was no body change right 0:21:46.080 --> 0:21:50.400