Good morning!
Former Yankees catcher Jorge Posada joined baseball writers Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman this week on their podcast “The Show” and criticized Yankees management for being impersonal. Red Sox fans who suffered through the late ‘90s and early aughts watching the Yankees crush Boston’s hopes of ending its World Series drought remember Posada, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Bernie Williams as the backbone of the Yankees dynasty that won four World Series from 1996 to 2000.
The well’s been dry since 2009 — Posada’s last with the team — and the Big Apple beat writers are frustrated by a front office that’s become complacent since George Steinbrenner died in 2010. The complacency appears to have affected manager Aaron Boone, who looks good in a Yankees uniform but doesn’t want to rock the boat.
“The team needs someone standing next to Aaron Boone who cares about the shield, the brand,” said Sherman. “Would you be willing to do that?”
“I could,” answered Posada, “but I don’t think they want me there. I don’t feel welcome when I go there.”
Posada’s honesty earned him a pithy headline on the back page of the NY Post: POSADA NON GRATA.
Mike Francesa also hammered the Yankees on his own Bet Rivers podcast, but said the fault lies with the fans. “Until they stop putting 40,000 in there on an August afternoon, stop buying red, white, yellow, orange and turquoise Yankee hats, stop buying jerseys with names on the back — shame on you — nothing’s going to change.”
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The UMass field hockey team is on the precipice of making national news — more national news considering goalie Rosie Mrazova has twice appeared on SportsCenter’s Top Ten plays.
If UMass beat James Madison at Gladchuk Field yesterday, the Minutewomen will have finished 9-0 in the MAC and 17-1 overall. Their next game is Thursday at 11:30 a.m. in the Mid-American Conference semifinals, and the conference final is a week from today in Oxford, Ohio.
The road to the NCAA tourney has gone through Miami-Ohio’s campus for eight consecutive years, but coach Barb Weinberg’s team wants to bring the tournament to Amherst in 2027. They got the short end of the stick last season, losing the MAC championship to Miami in double overtime and getting deprived of an at-large bid by the Ratings Percentage Index.
The NCAA tournament selection show is Nov. 8 at the odd time of 10:30 p.m. on NCAA.com. A four-team play-in will reduce the field to 16 and the top four seeds will host regional mini-tourneys. The winners will advance to the Final Four at Trager Stadium on Nov. 20 and 22 in Louisville, which is Weinberg’s hometown.
Weinberg’s never had a losing season at UMass, but being one of the university’s most successful coaches hasn’t helped her bank account. State payroll records show she made about $158,000 and assistants Holly Turbid and Simon van de Loo earned about $60,000. According to The Boston Globe, “Weinberg’s salary crossed the six-figure mark only after UMass had to adjust wages to comply with the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act.”
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The number of games left for YOUmass to reach six wins and earn a bowl bid has dwindled to a precious few after the Minutemen were trounced at UConn last week, 35-16. It was your typical UMass barn burner. UConn scored on a blocked punt, tight end Reece Atkins flat out dropped a 2-point conversion pass, Pop Watson was sacked five times and the Minutemen were flagged 10 times for 100 yards.
UMass needs to win two of its last four games. Losers of four straight and sitting at 4-4 overall, they’ve fallen from No. 95 in ESPN’s Power Index to No. 124. Fret not, there are plenty of MAC brethren down there with them, starting with Wednesday’s opponent, No. 131 Ball State. The Cardinals have won two straight games, beating Bowling Green and Sacramento State by a combined 66-48. They are 2-2 in the MAC and 3-5 overall and like UMass, they are desperate to reach six wins. The early line favors UMass by 5 1/2 points.
On Veterans Day, the Minutemen will travel to Toledo and play the No. 79 Rockets. Toledo (3-1; 6-2) has beaten UMass seven times with nary a blemish. A week later on Nov. 18, UMass will host No. 135 Akron (0-4; 1-7), and on Thanksgiving weekend they’ll play at No. 130 Bowling Green (2-2; 2-6).
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A baseball fan’s Bill of Rights will include World Series afternoon games. Every World Series game was scheduled to start after 8 p.m. Baseball, the summer game, ended weeks ago.
Hard to believe, but the last time a World Series game was played outdoors in the afternoon was Oct. 14, 1984; Detroit versus San Diego at Tiger Stadium. There was a time when MLB forbade television from scheduling weekend World Series games at night, but a few dollars in the right pockets ended that exception.
The Bill of Rights would also reintroduce doubleheaders. Reporters would be banned from dugouts during games and cameramen would be chased off the field just like any interloper. It’s time to get out those “Kill Your TV” bumper stickers.
SQUIBBERS: Congrats to former UMass football and basketball broadcaster Josh Maurer who after his fourth year of doing Brewers radio got to call a World Series winner. … College football handicapper Paul Stone says the Georgia Bulldogs players like QB Gunner Stockton a lot more than Carson Beck who played there for five years before he transferred to Miami. “They love this guy in the locker room. He’s so different from Beck. Beck had a Maserati and this guy’s driving his grandfather’s hand-me-down pickup.” Indeed, it’s a 1984 Ford F-150 with 300,000 miles on the odometer. … Former UMass wideout Jaquon Gibson has 10 catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns for the Virginia Cavs. … If you ever want to propose during a UMass football game, they’ll put the big moment up on the scoreboard for a mere $399. … Shades of Bill Buckner in WS Game Two happened when David Hamilton’s ground ball snuck past first baseman Jonathan Aranda, which allowed Cooper Pratt to score from third base. … Attorney General Todd Blanche’s father, Rich Blanche, played on the University of Denver hockey team that won the 1969 national title. … Boomer Esiason on MetLife Stadium: “It looks like a giant air conditioner in the middle of a swamp.” …. The Post’s Phil Mushnick on LeBron James practicing his golf swing during the national anthem: “You think he’d do that when the anthem of his communist Chinese financial benefactors and makers of his slave wage-made, grotesquely overpriced signature merchandise is played? Neither do I. He’d show respect.” … During a UMass hockey pregame show, coach Greg Carvel told radio’s Nathan Strauss: “The hardest part of a coach’s job is deciding who doesn’t play. It keeps me up at night. Things happen in practice and I think you’ll never have the guts to do that in a game.” … The Globe’s Conor Ryan used portions of Alex Cora’s interview with Rob Bradford for his “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast. “I honestly feel like we got fired, or I got fired, because we didn’t pitch in the month of April,” said Cora, who was fired on April 25 with the Red Sox 9-17 and losers of six of their last seven games. … Kentucky Derby winners Sovereignty and Golden Tempo will go head-to-head today in the B.C. Classic at Keeneland, first time that’s happened since 1991. The Japanese colt Forever Young is the 2/1 favorite to take the winner’s share of the $7 million purse. …Greenfield handicapper John Dobrydnio is laying the lumber on Burnham Square in this evening’s mile-and-a-half B.C. Turf at Keeneland. Trick or treat? Dobrydnio’s been known for both, especially on Halloween.