Yankees baseball blog

Igawa will stay, play

Kei Igawa was the only one who truly believed he wasn't awful Friday night against the Tigers when he cemented the fact that he is the biggest waste of $46 million in a Yankee history. At least they are collecting insurance on the $40 million endowment they dropped on Carl "American Idle" Pavano.

Of course, manager Joe Girardi found something positive to say because it's not Girardi's style to criticize players to the media. However, as bad as Igawa was - and he was putrid - the lefty remains in play to start Wednesday against the Rays in St. Petersburg. "I don't have news that someone else is going to start," Girardi said when asked yesterday about Igawa working Wednesday. "That's our plan. Continue

Life's a pitch for kids, cash and Yankees

Johan Santana had another quality start on Sunday for the Mets. The two young guys who were untouchable over the winter on the Yankees, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, are off the team's active roster right now after giving up about one run per inning.

It is very early, but you would not want to be Brian Cashman on the final year of his contract with Hank Steinbrenner reading the box scores over your shoulder. Despite all the solid moves Cashman has made over the years involving position players, he has done nothing to convince anybody that he knows much about starting pitching. Continue

With Phil Hughes out, Darrell Rasner steps in

Darrell Rasner doesn't have the phenom quality of Phil Hughes, and he didn't take Ian Kennedy's fast track to the major leagues.

But when the righthander takes the mound Sunday, Rasner will try to do something that neither of the more heralded young starters has done this season - post a win. And from what Yankees pitching coach Dave Eiland knows of Rasner, he thinks he has a chance to pile up more than a few victories in the Bronx. Continue

Darrell Rasner rises as replacement

With Phil Hughes on the shelf for the next two months, Darrell Rasner will have an opportunity to stake his claim to a spot in the Yankees' starting rotation. Rasner's first shot comes Sunday, as the 26-year-old righty will stand in for Hughes against the Mariners at the Stadium.

"Anytime that you have a chance to play, even if it's one game, it's an opportunity," Joe Girardi said. "You have a chance to show people what you can do." Rasner started six games for the Yankees last season, going 1-3 with a 4.01 ERA before a comebacker broke his right index finger in a game against the Mets on May 19. Continue

Rivera hits milestone with save #450

Lost in the concern over Jorge Posada's injury Sunday was the fact that Mariano Rivera recorded the 450th save of his career. Even Rivera said he did not know he had hit that milestone until someone told him yesterday. Rivera is not much for self-promotion, saying: "I don't like to talk about myself."

Manager Joe Girardi, on the other hand, had no trouble discussing Rivera's accomplishment. "It's awfully big," Girardi said. "He didn't close his first year in the big leagues. He's just so consistent. Mo's one of those guys who, what he does, doesn't really faze you. You see how good he's been and you're never really surprised by any accomplishment that he reaches." Continue

Phil of confidence

Next to nothing about Phil Hughes says 21. His cool demeanor belies that he is barely old enough to buy an alcoholic beverage, or that many of his peers are still in college. He handles the demands of media and fans with ease. And he is savvy enough to know that four starts do not a season make. So Hughes is not panicking over his slow start.

He is 0-3 with an 8.82 ERA going into his start tonight against the White Sox. But when asked what he thinks when he sees those numbers, Hughes didn't get defensive or snap at the question. "It's early," Hughes said. "If we're in August, and it's like that, I should be worried. I probably wouldn't be here [if that was the case], but I should be worried." Continue

Farnsworth appealing

Yankees reliever Kyle Farnsworth was suspended three games and fined an undisclosed amount yesterday for throwing a pitch behind Manny Ramirez's head Thursday - an action that Major League Baseball said was intentional. He is appealing the suspension, but the Yankees do not know when it will be heard. "I was shocked, completely shocked," manager Joe Girardi said. "I don't understand it and I disagree with it." Continue

Fans cheer Kyle for brushback

Kyle Farnsworth tried to take care of the Yankees' Manny problem last night by buzzing a first-pitch fastball behind the head of the Yankee Killer in the top of the seventh.You may not like the method, but this is one message that had to be sent. This was old-school baseball in a new-school world.

And it was the only victory for the Yankees in their disturbing 7-5 loss to the Red Sox last night as Manny Ramirez hit two more titanic home runs off his favorite batting practice pitcher Mike Mussina. Continue

As Chien-Ming Wang falters, LaTroy Hawkins flies wearing No. 22

This is what happens when pitchers face the same team five days apart in April: Early familiarity breeds chaos. How else to explain the stark contrast between last Friday night - when Chien-Ming Wang and his Red Sox counterpart, rookie Clay Buchholz, locked up in a nifty pitching duel at Fenway Park - and Wednesday night, when neither made it past the fifth inning? Consider them victims of this nutty schedule that has these two ancient rivals facing off in home-and-home April series with just two games in between. Continue

Andy Pettitte's rough start opens door for questions

In April or October, Andy Pettitte has always been the pitcher the Yankees could count on most to stop or prevent a losing streak. As he took the mound Saturday he owned a remarkable 70-33 record as a Yankee in his starts following a loss, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, so you figured that on toughness alone he was a lock to put the young Rays in their place before they start getting any ideas.

When he failed to do that, losing 6-3 instead, Pettitte opened the door to the sort of speculation that has surrounded him since his nightmarish winter of answering for his admitted use of human growth hormone. Continue

Kyle Farnsworth and LaTroy Hawkins are bad and worse

The only relief that LaTroy Hawkins and Kyle Farnsworth offered the fans in the Yankees' 13-4 loss to Tampa Bay Friday night was when they walked off the mound. After the duo combined for a dreadful seven-run eighth inning, the remaining fans among the 49,255 at the Stadium showered them with a mix of sarcastic applause and boos when the painful frame was finally over.

Hawkins lasted two-thirds of an inning, giving up six hits and six runs (all earned). Farnsworth got the final out of the eighth, but not before giving up two hits that included a three-run upper-deck homer by Carlos Peña - Farnsworth returned for mop-up duty in the ninth with the Yanks trailing by nine runs. Continue

Final home opener at Yankee Stadium postponed until Tuesday

Everybody on hand at Yankee Stadium Monday was ready to soak in the history of the old ballpark's final Opening Day. Instead, they just got soaked. Light rain washed away the Yankees' season opener, much to the chagrin of the fans who sat through a delay of more than an hour before being sent home. The game will be made up Tuesday at 7:05, as the Bombers and Blue Jays will try to start up the season-long celebration for the old ballpark. Continue

Confident Wang will start opener for Yankees

A hamstring injury prevented Chien-Ming Wang from traveling with the team to New York for Opening Day last year. Today he'll have the honor of taking the mound against the Blue Jays on a historic day for the Yankees. It will be the last opener at 85-year-old Yankee Stadium and the beginning of the post-Joe Torre Era with Joe Girardi. If the day's events didn't already hold enough significance for Wang, it also happens to be his 28th birthday.

"To be the Opening Day starter is the best birthday gift I could have," Wang said through an interpreter yesterday. Wang won 19 games for the second straight season in 2007, compiling a 3.70 ERA in 30 starts. He has the most victories of any major-league pitcher in the past two years. Continue

Scouts say Yankees should have traded for Johan Santana

So the wheel officially begins to spin now on Brian Cashman's grand gamble to ride the Yankees' young pitching in 2008 and beyond. And premature as it may be, there is no avoiding the question that will be asked countless times this season: Was the GM right or wrong in convincing Hank Steinbrenner to pass on Johan Santana?

Over the last week I posed that question to six major league scouts and executives who saw the Yankees multiple times this spring, and for what it's worth, here is the consensus opinion: The Yankees could well win multiple championships over the next 10 or so years, thanks largely to a pitching staff built around young guns Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy. But this year? Forget it. It's more likely their streak of 13 straight playoff seasons will come to a crashing halt. Continue

Yankees healthy heading into season

When the Yankees reported to camp nearly seven weeks ago, Joe Girardi said the first and foremost goal of the spring was to stay healthy and get in game shape. With the season set to start Monday, the Bombers managed to accomplish that goal for the most part, as they wrapped up their spring last night at Dolphin Stadium.

Andy Pettitte, whose back spasms forced him to miss the final two weeks, and Jeff Karstens, who suffered a strained groin on the final day in Tampa, were the only two injured players of note. Pettitte's stint on the disabled list will be a short one, as he is penciled in to start Saturday against the Rays, while Karstens will miss at least a month Continue

Young guns confident they'll make Yankees' offseason gamble pay off

Mike Mussina has found the fountain of youth, and it resides in the picturesque lake that can be seen on the wall next to his locker.

"Lake Mussina," as it has come to be known, is the centerpiece of a corner of the Yankees' home clubhouse at Legends Field. Mussina's locker has been in this spot since he became a Yankee seven years ago, but it wasn't until he was flanked by Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes this spring that the plain, gray wall took on some character. Continue

Nettles hopeful after prostate cancer diagnosis

Former Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles recently was diagnosed with prostate cancer, shortly after younger brother Jim was found to have the same disease.

"They told me we got it early, and it's curable and treatable," Nettles said. "So I've got to think positive. But it's a pretty good scare." After Jim Nettles, 61, was diagnosed with prostate cancer and was told it can run in the family, Graig, 63, went for a checkup - and learned that he, too, has the disease. Continue

Chien-Ming Wang to start Opening Day

Chien-Ming Wang is getting a second chance to go first. Having missed out on his opportunity to start the season opener last year because of a hamstring injury, Wang officially was tabbed as the Yankees' Opening Day starter on Friday.

"I'm very happy and very excited," Wang said. "It's my first time on Opening Day, so for me, it's very big." The final opener in the 85-year history of Yankee Stadium will take place on March 31 against Roy Halladay and the Blue Jays. That also happens to be Wang's 28th birthday. Continue

Yankees honored to play Va. Tech

As the Yankees visited the Virginia Tech campus memorial site dedicated to the 32 people who were killed in last year's campus shootings, a young woman approached Derek Jeter and asked if she could take a picture with him.

Her name was Marcy Crevonis, and her fiancé, Michael Pohle, was one of the victims of last April 16. One of 32 stones at the memorial had Pohle's name on it, a No. 2 Jeter T-shirt placed directly next to it. Jeter posed for the photo and signed the T-shirt Crevonis wore, one which featured a photo of Pohle and the date "4-16-07" on the back. Continue

Joe Girardi fined, Shelley Duncan & Melky Cabrera suspended 3 games

There were more twists in the brewing feud between the Yankees and Rays Friday as Shelley Duncan and Melky Cabrera were slapped with three-game suspensions, Yankee manager Joe Girardi was hit with a fine but no ban and Tampa Bay skipper Joe Maddon said the Yankees weren't punished enough.

And it might not be over, either. Duncan, who sparked a melee Wednesday when his spikes-high slide into Aki Iwamura drew blood, is slated to play today at Legends Field when the Yankees face - you guessed it - the Rays once again, even though Girardi had the chance to send Duncan to the Yanks' split-squad game in Lakeland against the Tigers. Continue

Tempers flare in Yanks-Rays matchup

One day after Yankees manager Joe Girardi insisted his club would not retaliate for a violent home-plate collision in Saturday's game against the Rays, both clubs spilled onto the field at Progress Energy Park in a bench-clearing incident Wednesday.

After Yankees starter Heath Phillips was ejected in the first inning for grazing Rays third baseman Evan Longoria with an up-and-in fastball, the Yankees' Shelley Duncan cleared the benches by sliding hard into Rays second baseman Aki Iwamura in the bottom of the second. Continue

Moose in loop

Mike Mussina doesn't need his high IQ to understand Joe Girardi could have put him in a competition to earn a spot in the Yankees New York Yankees ' rotation, based on him being 39 and coming off an 11-10 season that included a bloated 5.15 ERA.

"I know a lot of people out there have other ideas," Mussina said after throwing two innings in an intrasquad game at Legends Field yesterday. "I appreciate Joe giving me the opportunity to do what I am doing. He could have turned to another plan. But I am not going to say no matter what happens I am in the rotation." Girardi refuses to harp on last year, when the manager said Mussina was the victim of one bad month. Continue

Andy Pettitte apologizes to Yankees, fans over HGH use

Andy Pettitte has not spoken to Roger Clemens since giving a sworn statement which implicated his good friend in the use of human growth hormone. "I think it's put a strain on our friendship," Pettitte said in an eagerly awaited news conference Monday at the New York Yankees' spring training complex. Pettitte apologized to the Yankees, Houston Astros and his fans for the "embarrassment" he caused them by taking HGH.

Pettitte arrived at spring training earlier in the day and threw a bullpen session at the minor league complex. Later, he met reporters for about an hour. "I never want a young person to do what I did," Pettitte said. "I'm sorry for the mistakes I have made." Pettitte sat alone at a podium, taking dozens of questions. He often paused to collect his thoughts and several times patiently asked reporters "did I answer your question?" It had been about a month since he had spoken to Clemens, Pettitte said. "I can't even describe how uncomfortable a situation" this has been. Continue

Yankee brass feel duped after giving Andy Pettitte $16 million

Monday, the man in whom the Yankees placed all their eggs in one basket last December, arrives in camp carrying far more baggage than anyone anticipated and, because of this, Hank Steinbrenner and the rest of the high command can only hope and pray Andy Pettitte isn't in fact a basket case.

While Pettitte might be acclaimed as "St. Andy" by the blathering bureaucrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for what they feel was the forthrightness in the sworn testimony he gave them regarding his involvement with human growth hormone, I can assure you he is now regarded as something else by Yankee officials. How about disingenuous for starters? Or duplicitous? Continue

Roger Clemens could be facing criminal investigation next

Roger Clemens seemed stunned by the barrage of hostile questions from lawmakers during Wednesday's congressional inquiry, but when the former Yankee ace emerged from the hearing after a five-hour grilling, he looked like the Rocket of old - a fierce competitor hailed as the greatest pitcher of his generation.

But if Clemens thought Wednesday's hearing marked the end of the questions and allegations about his now scandal-stained career, he couldn't be more wrong: the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing may just be the beginning of a long and difficult legal battle for Clemens that could culminate in the 354-game winner facing criminal charges. Continue

Waiting it out

Andy Pettitte's involvement in the Mitchell Report and the congressional hearings that pitted Roger Clemens Roger Clemens against Brian McNamee yesterday have extracted such a toll on the pitcher that he asked for and has been granted permission to show up later for spring training than other pitchers.

"I talked to Andy (Tuesday night) and he will be here Monday," GM Brian Cashman said yesterday in the first base dugout at Legends Field. "In terms of where he is physically and mentally, I would rather not make a prediction. He has certainly been through a lot this winter." Continue

Wang: Yankees not interested in long-term deal

Chien-Ming Wang wanted to sign a long-term contract with the Yankees this offseason, as Robinson Cano did, but the Yankees weren't interested, Wang said yesterday. Wang said of signing a multiyear deal: "I want to."

Newsday first reported in December that Wang's camp was interested in a long-term contract, but yesterday marked Wang's first words on the matter. The Yankees didn't share the desire to sign Wang long-term, even though the righthander has won 38 games in the past two seasons. General manager Brian Cashman did not return a phone call, but told Newsday recently, "Not at this time," when asked about possibly signing Wang long-term. Continue

Youth & nail

When Alex Rodriguez opted out of his Yankee contract during the World Series, the Bombers New York Yankees had a chance to rebuild around the young pitching that has prompted premature adulation.

They should have let Rodriguez dance out of The Bronx, thanked Jorge Posada Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera Mariano Rivera for wonderful careers and sent Bobby Abreu away. They will surpass 4 million in attendance this season, the final year at Yankee Stadium. Next season, the new ballpark will be filled with corporate stiffs. So, the Yankees should have taken a shot at 2010 when the pitching Hank Steinbrenner believes is the best in baseball would have had two years experience. Continue

'Idle' chatter

When it comes to Carl Pavano's potential impact with the Yankees New York Yankees , team VP Billy Connors notes both the pitcher's talent and previous excellence. "This guy, he was a hell of a pitcher with Miami. And he's got ability," Connors told The Post yesterday after "The American Idle" showed up at the Yankees' minor-league complex in Tampa as he rehabs from June 5 rotator-cuff surgery. "It's just a matter of him getting out there and [pitching]." Continue

Brian McNamee testified Roger Clemens' wife took HGH

Brian McNamee told congressional investigators Thursday in a sworn deposition that Roger Clemens' wife used human growth hormone, according to a source familiar with McNamee's testimony.

The source said McNamee testified that he injected Debbie Clemens with growth hormone and believed she took the drug to get in shape before she appeared with the pitcher in Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue in 2003. She appeared with her husband in a photograph taken in Central Park in the magazine's Feb. 18, 2003, issue wearing a bikini and holding a bat over her shoulders while Roger Clemens reclined on the ground in his Yankee uniform. Continue

McNamee has physical evidence linking Clemens to steroids

Brian McNamee turned over physical evidence last month to federal investigators that he believes will show Roger Clemens used performance-enhancing drugs, according to McNamee's lawyers. "This is evidence the government has that we believe will corroborate Brian in every significant way," said McNamee lawyer Earl Ward.

McNamee's attorneys would not discuss the details of the evidence, but according to a source close to the former Yankee strength and conditioning coach, McNamee gave the Justice Department's BALCO investigators vials with traces of steroids and growth hormone, as well as blood-stained syringes and gauze pads that may contain the Rocket's DNA. Continue

Andy Pettitte to make pitch to Feds

With a record 35 postseason starts to his name, Andy Pettitte should be accustomed to pressure. Usually his pivotal moments come in October in the Bronx, not on Feb. 4 in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington.

That's where the 35-year-old Yankee pitcher is expected to be Monday, meeting with staff attorneys of the House Oversight Committee to answer questions about performance-enhancing drug use - his own, and that of his friends, including workout partner Roger Clemens. Continue

McNamee's lawyer: Pettitte will contradict Rocket

Andy Pettitte will meet with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Monday, and a lawyer for Brian McNamee is optimistic that Pettitte will back up his former personal trainer's testimony that Roger Clemens used illegal, performance-enhancing drugs.

"We believe that, because Andy has been so forthright and honest in describing his interactions with Brian, he will corroborate Brian, in the sense that [Pettitte] and Clemens discussed HGH," Earl Ward, part of McNamee's legal team, told Newsday late last night, reiterating comments made in an online report. Continue

Andy, Rocket rift widening

Andy Pettitte is said by friends to be upset with Roger Clemens because of Clemens' aggressive defense to the charges leveled against him in the Mitchell Report. Most of all, Pettitte didn't care for Clemens' public airing of his taped phone call with accuser Brian McNamee, which accomplished little.

Among its many unexpected consequences, the Mitchell Report has magnified just how different Clemens and Pettitte are. And with the two men set to share a table at Capitol Hill's Rayburn Hall next month, it's as good a time as any to point out that this supposed mentor-protege's relationship has been overblown by the media - with this space as guilty as anyone else. Continue

Roger Clemens will be deposed under oath before Congressional hearing

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday signaled it is ready to go deep into Roger Clemens' challenges to the Mitchell Report by postponing next Wednesday's hearing on the report until Feb.13. The delay will give the panel more time to coordinate its efforts with the Justice Department's ongoing investigation into steroids and sports and to schedule depositions of witnesses.

Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Chuck Knoblauch will be deposed under oath by the committee before the hearing, according to chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Tom Davis (R-Va.), the ranking Republican. Former Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, a primary source for the report, and former Yankee strength and conditioning coach Brian McNamee, who told former Sen. George Mitchell he had injected performance-enhancing drugs into Clemens, will also be deposed by the committee. Continue

Goose bumped no more

Rich Gossage's tears over his previous exclusion from the Hall of Fame are gone, replaced by Goose bumps. The former Yankee reliever's dream of election into baseball's pantheon became reality yesterday when Gossage learned he had received 86 percent of this year's Hall of Fame vote, easily thrusting him into Cooperstown as the only candidate selected by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Continue

Brian McNamee bitter over taping of call, lawyer says 'this is war'

Brian McNamee comes across as a scared and confused man during Friday's 17-minute conversation with Roger Clemens, deeply worried about his son's poor health and his frayed relationship with his most famous client.

But the fear and the confusion have been replaced with anger and steely resolve, now that he knows the seven-time Cy Young Award winner taped what McNamee's lawyers say was intended to be a man-to-man talk and Monday presented it as evidence that his former personal trainer lied about his steroid use. "What does (Clemens) do, he calls him back with his lawyer in the room and a tape recorder going," McNamee attorney Richard Emery told the Daily News last night. "He wants to play that game, he's going to get buried. I have no compunction about putting him in jail. "This is war." Continue

On '60 Minutes', Roger Clemens says steroid use 'never happened'

Roger Clemens hurled a brushback pitch at Brian McNamee Sunday night, looking into the eyes of Mike Wallace and telling his "60 Minutes" interviewer he never used steroids. "Never happened," Clemens insisted. "Never happened."

If Clemens repeats his denials when he appears before the House Oversight Committee on Jan. 16, a lawyer close to the scandal told the Daily News that the Yankee great would be practically daring the government to open a criminal investigation. Continue

Roger's preemptive strike

Roger Clemens' next attempt to clear his name comes tonight on "60 Minutes." But well before the Mitchell Report accused Clemens of using steroids, the pitcher and his advisers were working on a battle plan to save his reputation.

Clemens knew the report would include scandalous allegations by his pal, Brian McNamee, who told investigators he injected the hurler with steroids and human growth hormone multiple times.Some close to the pitcher advocated a full-out attack even before the report was released on Dec. 13. The idea was to leak news of Clemens' alleged steroid use - and use the opportunity to slam McNamee. Continue

Congress invites Clemens, Pettitte, McNamee

After making a case for himself on "60 Minutes" on Sunday, the next stop for Roger Clemens will be Capitol Hill - and The Rocket won't be the only one going to Washington.

Clemens and Andy Pettitte, along with trainer Brian McNamee and clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, were asked Friday to testify before a congressional committee Jan. 16 in a repeat of the steroid hearings held in March 2005. Clemens and McNamee, or at least their lawyers, already have been engaged in a war of words over McNamee's statement in the Mitchell Report that he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone at different periods from 1998 to 2001. Continue

Roger Clemens tells '60 Minutes' he received lidocaine, B-12 shots

Roger Clemens admits on "60 Minutes" that he received injections of lidocaine and "B-12" - clubhouse code for steroids, according to Jose Canseco's "Juiced" - but denies that his trainer shot him up with steroids or human growth hormone. Clemens was interviewed by Mike Wallace last week for the program, which will air on Sunday following the Titans-Chargers playoff game on CBS.

Clemens was accused in the recently released Mitchell Report on steroid use in Major League Baseball of having been injected with steroids and human growth hormone 16 times from 1998-2001 by his trainer, Brian McNamee. Continue

Taxpayers will fund Yankees' VIP parking, NYC gets less money

The Yankees and hundreds of their VIPs will get free valet parking for the next 40 years, courtesy of New York taxpayers. The startling revelation of yet another subsidy for the richest team in baseball is buried deep in the fine print of a $237 million tax-exempt bond offering that city officials quietly issued the week before Christmas.

The documents say a $70 million state subsidy for parking improvements for the new Yankee Stadium (slated to open next year) has been earmarked for a new 660-car valet parking garage where virtually all the spaces will be reserved for the free, year-round use of the Yankees and their VIPs. Continue

Roger Clemens to still pitch workout talk to Texas high school coaches

Roger Clemens, you have believers in Texas. Even as his career is being tainted by allegations of steroid use, the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association will still have Clemens lecture on "My Vigorous Workout - How I Played So Long." "As of right now he's going to appear," association president Jim Long told the Daily News Monday. "You are innocent until proven guilty. I don't care what the media say."

Clemens' scheduled appearance was called into question after the Mitchell Report accused the hurler of using steroids and human growth hormone, casting a shadow on his achievements and prospects of a Hall of Fame induction. The 45-year-old right-hander strongly denied ever using performance-enhancing drugs. He is set to meet with reporters and appear on "60 Minutes" Sunday. Continue

2007 was bad year for Yankees

Two of the stars from championship teams were fingered as drug cheats in the Mitchell Report, along with several teammates. An iconic manager, perhaps the greatest in team history, was forced out with a bungled lowball contract. The brawny designated hitter tacitly admitted past steroid use.

Those are only a few of the pockmarks of 2007, one of the most tumultuous years in the Yankees' storied history. A calendar year that also saw the deaths of four cogs in past World Series victories, including Hall of Fame shortstop and team broadcaster Phil Rizzuto, is sure to take its place in pinstriped annals far from the glory years of Murderer's Row, of Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio and Mantle. Continue

Yankees to Cano: You can't play ball

The Yankees ordered Robinson Cano to stop playing for his Dominican winter team because he had exceeded the agreed upon six games he was approved to play, the team and the second baseman's agent confirmed yesterday.

The Yankees and Cano had agreed that he could play a half-dozen games for Orientales Estrellas "to test some things physically," including a balky calf, Yankees GM Brian Cashman said. Nevertheless, Cano had played nine regular-season games and one playoff game before the Yankees put a halt to his winter season. "He was only supposed to play six games and that was it," Cashman said. "And, like everything else, if you are not paying attention, you will have players push the envelope. All of a sudden, I took a peek and he was at 10 games." Continue

Jim Leyritz busted in fatal DUI

Yankees hero Jim Leyritz blew a red light and killed a young mother in a car wreck while stinking drunk on birthday booze, Florida police said Friday. The retired major leaguer balked at breath and blood tests for alcohol - even after being told that the other driver, 30-year-old Fredia Ann Veitch, was dead, Fort Lauderdale cops said. Veitch, who has a 13-year-old and a 5-year-old, was returning to her Plantation, Fla., home after working a late shift as a bartender at a steakhouse. Continue

Roger Clemens wants to blame everyone else except him

We get the Floyd Landis defense now from Roger Clemens, which means putting everybody else on trial. Maybe it will work out better for Clemens than it did for Landis. Maybe Clemens will still make it to Cooperstown, make all the money you can make as a Hall of Famer, because there is no positive drug test on him the way there was on Landis. At least not one that we know about.

You remember how Landis tried to do it after he tested positive. First he said he had been drinking Jack Daniel's. After he ran that up the flagpole and nobody saluted, he blamed the tests and the testers and the testing system and the French lab that analyzed his samples and the World Anti-Doping Agency and everybody except Marion Jones. Continue

Roger Clemens' lawyer launching probe

Roger Clemens' lawyer says he is launching his own investigation into the allegations in the Mitchell Report that the Rocket used steroids and human growth hormone and Clemens plans to take questions from the press after his scheduled "60 Minutes" interview airs Jan. 6.

But one question Clemens or his lawyer, Rusty Hardin, haven't answered is why Clemens refused to talk to Mitchell when the former Senator asked to meet with him to discuss the claims against the pitcher made by his personal trainer, Brian McNamee. "On Roger's behalf, we are investigating the allegations about him contained in the Mitchell report," Hardin said Wednesday in a statement, released after he revealed to the New York Times his plan for his own inquiry. Continue

Luxury lax

They are still by far paying more in luxury tax than any other franchise in major league baseball, but at least the Yankees can appreciate the fact their bill continues to decrease.

According to figures obtained by the Associated Press, the Yanks owe $23.88 million to the commissioner's office in luxury tax for 2007, marking the second straight year their tax bill has dropped. The only other team facing a tax bill is the Red Sox, who owe $6.06 million - but it's obviously a tax well incurred, as Boston continues to revel in a second World Series championship in four seasons. Continue

Roger Clemens' web video is first step in sad steroid PR plan

So Roger Clemens has taken his case to the people via the path of least resistance, with a two-minute video that he posted on his Web site. He does his best to win your sympathy, describing the hurt his family has endured from the Mitchell Report, before turning the whole thing into a video Christmas card, giving thanks at this special time of year for the blessings in his life.

The shocker is that he didn't manage to work in a reminder to pray for the troops in Iraq. Too cynical? Sorry, but Clemens is going to have to do more than invoke the Christmas spirit to convince me he's a victim of some grand plot on the part of his former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, to destroy his reputation with the steroids allegations in the Mitchell Report. Continue

Roger Clemens releases video to deny steroid allegations

Roger Clemens is taking his denials to the masses. Clemens, who has adamantly denied using steroids or human growth hormone in his long, illustrious baseball career, released a video on YouTube.com and his foundation's Web site while announcing he will grant his first interview on the accusations made by his longtime personal trainer that he injected the former Yankee ace with steroids and HGH over a four-year period.

Clemens said he will break his media silence by talking to Mike Wallace on CBS' 60 Minutes on January 8. On Clemens' video, which lasts almost two minutes, the former Yankees and Astros pitcher thanks his family and fans while also issuing another strong denial. "I want to say thanks to my family, my friends, people in the community here at home and really the fans around the country," Clemens said. "I've been getting comforting emails and phone calls to my foundation from thousands of people, and that means a lot to me. Continue

Curt Schilling: If Roger Clemens cheated, then he should lose hardware

If Roger Clemens cannot refute the drug allegations in the Mitchell Report, then he should give back every Cy Young Award he won since he allegedly started using steroids and human growth hormone, Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling wrote on his blog on Wednesday.

"Roger has denied every allegation brought to the table, so as a fan my thought is that Roger will find a way in short order to organize a legal team to guarantee a retraction of the allegations made, a public apology is made, and his name is completely cleared," Schilling wrote in a 3,676-word opinion piece on the Mitchell Report on www.38pitches.com. Continue

If Clemens is innocent, he should tell Congress

There's only one way for Roger Clemens to clear his name, one exit strategy that will get him the "benefit of the doubt" for which he yearns. Clemens needs to go in front of Congress next month and repeat, under oath, the exact words his agent Randy Hendricks released yesterday under the seven-time Cy Young Award winner's name. Otherwise, he's toast.

Is this fair? Nope, but we're not here today to rail against the many hypocrisies to have surfaced from the Mitchell Report. Well, maybe we'll do that a little bit, further down in the column. Right now, this is about reality. About Clemens throwing a Hail Mary pass to salvage his rapidly deteriorating reputation in the court of public opinion. Continue

Mo: Andy was right to admit HGH use

Mariano Rivera believes other players who used performance-enhancing drugs should follow Andy Pettitte's lead and admit it. "The best thing to do is bring it out, start new and put and end to this thing," Rivera said yesterday, when the Yankees officially announced his three-year, $45 million contract. Rivera, a close friend of Pettitte, was happy that the left-hander admitted this past weekend to using HGH for two days in 2002 in order to heal a barking elbow and return from the disabled list to help the Yankees. Continue

Exec support

Two days after his name surfaced in the Mitchell Report, Andy Pettitte yesterday admitted he used human growth hormone to bounce back from elbow trouble five years ago - and Hank Steinbrenner applauded Pettitte's admission. "He is still going to pitch for the Yankees next year and I support his decision to come forward, that's a good thing," the Yankees senior VP said. "Nothing has changed as far as him pitching for the Yankees."

When the Mitchell Report came out Thursday, Brian McNamee, a former personal trainer for Roger Clemens and Pettitte, said he injected Pettitte with HGH in 2002.Yesterday, Pettitte confirmed that, via a statement released to The Post from his agent, Randy Hendricks."In 2002 I was injured,'' the statement said. "I had heard that human growth hormone could promote faster healing for my elbow. I felt an obligation to get back to my team as soon as possible. For this reason, and only this reason, for two days I tried human growth hormone.  Continue

Andy Pettitte apologizes in statement, admits to using HGH in 2002

Roger Clemens may have denied all accusations leveled against him in the explosive Mitchell Report, but Andy Pettitte took another approach Saturday, admitting that he used human growth hormone. In a statement issued by his agent, Randy Hendricks, Pettitte acknowledged using HGH in 2002 to help him recover from an elbow injury, although he said his usage was limited to two days during a stint on the disabled list.

"I had heard that human growth hormone could promote faster healing for my elbow. I felt an obligation to get back to my team as soon as possible," Pettitte said. "For this reason, and only this reason, for two days I tried human growth hormone. Though it was not against baseball rules, I was not comfortable with what I was doing, so I stopped. Continue

Roger Clemens' bid for Cooperstown likely will end with strikeout

Today, I feel a little like that kid standing outside the Chicago courthouse in 1920 imploring Shoeless Joe Jackson to say it ain't so.

Even though reports of the Chicago White Sox fixing the 1919 World Series had been rampant for months, nobody wanted to believe Shoeless Joe, one of the half-dozen greatest players of the time, was guilty of being part of the conspiracy. Nevertheless, even after Jackson and his seven other accused White Sox conspirators were acquitted by the grand jury after prosecution evidence mysteriously disappeared, then-commissioner Kenesaw Landis kicked them all out of baseball for life, rendering Shoeless Joe ineligible for the Hall of Fame to this day.

Now, here were are nearly 100 years later, paraphrasing "Say it ain't so, Roger," after revelations in the Mitchell Report citing Roger Clemens as perhaps the most egregious steroids user this side of Barry Bonds. Mind you, they are the allegations of one man - Clemens' longtime personal trainer, Brian McNamee - and they come from a report that is based largely on the testimony of only two people and can hardly be characterized as "thorough." But they are there in lurid detail, so we can no longer look at Clemens and his considerable accomplishments - as a seven-time Cy Young winner and author of 354 victories - in the same way. Continue

Yankees' Clemens, Pettitte among players in Mitchell steroid report

Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte, two of the most celebrated pitchers in Yankee history, were supplied and injected with steroids and human growth hormone by a former team trainer, according to the explosive and widely anticipated steroid report released by former Sen. George Mitchell on Thursday.

Brian McNamee, a former Yankee strength trainer who had worked with Clemens in Toronto and joined the seven-time Cy Young winner shortly after Clemens arrived in the Bronx in 1999, described in detail the drug use of his two most famous clients. According to the report, when Clemens was with the Blue Jays, he asked McNamee to supply and inject him with Winstrol. McNamee knew the substance was Winstrol because the vials Clemens gave him were labeled, according to the report. Each incident took place in Clemens' apartment at the SkyDome. Continue

Yanks won't quit on Brian Bruney

The Yankees are expected to extend contract offers to all four of their arbitration-eligible players by today's non-tender deadline. Chien-Ming Wang, Robinson Cano, Wilson Betemit and Brian Bruney are each eligible for arbitration this year for the first time, although it is unlikely that the Yankees will actually make it to a hearing against any of the four.

There has been speculation that Bruney, who was erratic coming out of the bullpen last season, might be non-tendered, but a source with knowledge of the Yankees' plans said that the reliever will be brought back to compete for a spot in the bullpen. Given the alternatives on the market, Bruney remains a low-cost option for the Bombers. Continue

Kid row

Hank Steinbrenner admits he wanted Johan Santana and said the door to a deal is never nailed shut. Nevertheless, Steinbrenner predicted with Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy, the Yankees have the foundation of a nuclear staff.

"I would have liked to have Santana," Steinbrenner said yesterday, 48 hours after the Yankees informed the Twins they were pulling out of discussions for the two-time Cy Young award winner who will be 29 in March. "There were a lot of factors to consider but we got three good kids, and we have a lot of good pitching talent in the minors as well. We are going to be a pitching power." Continue

Jorge Posada feels end for Andy Pettitte

Jorge Posada is hoping to see Johan Santana in a Yankees uniform next season, but the two-time Cy Young winner isn't the only lefthander on Posada's mind this winter. Andy Pettitte still hasn't made his decision on whether to pitch in 2008 or retire, and according to Posada, right now the smart money is on the latter option. "He's got a tough decision to make," Posada said. "He said if he doesn't play with the Yankees, he's not going to play at all. Right now, he's leaning toward retirement."

Posada believes it will be another month or more before the Yankees learn of the southpaw's fate. The catcher said that Pettitte's decision has nothing to do with the makeup of the team or last season's disappointing first-round playoff exit. Pettitte wrestled with the idea of retiring last winter to spend more time with his family, but the Yankees lured him back to the Bronx with a $16 million offer - the same one that is currently on the table. Continue

Phil Hughes wouldn't trade Yankee life

For the past three years, Phil Hughes has been widely considered to be the future of the Yankees' organization. Time and again, Brian Cashman would receive calls from other general managers, each trying to pry away the Yankees' top pitching prospect. Each time, Cashman would tell them Hughes was not available.

That has apparently changed now that two-time Cy Young winner Johan Santana is being shopped by the Twins. While Hughes hasn't talked to Cashman recently, he does have a message for the Bombers GM: He wants to stay with the Yankees. Continue

Roger Clemens may actually be retiring this time

Roger Clemens is headed back to Houston. For now, anyway. Clemens plans to begin his personal-services contract with the Astros as a consultant, the first sign that the Rocket is finally ready to retire, just four years after he first announced his intention to do so. "He's moving toward retirement and leaving open the possibility of playing," agent Randy Hendricks told the Associated Press. "As Roger has stated several times, he's failed at retirement repeatedly."

Hendricks sent Astros owner Drayton McLane an e-mail informing him of Clemens' decision. In an e-mail to the Daily News, Hendricks said Clemens will make his final decision about retirement by late May. Continue

Jorge Posada denies rift with Joe Girardi

Upset over several recent published reports suggesting there is a rift in his relationship with new Yankee manager Joe Girardi, free agent Jorge Posada directed his agents to put out a statement yesterday in which Posada said he learned a great deal from Girardi when the two were Yankee teammates from 1996-99.

"Girardi was my mentor and he always taught me the value of having a great work ethic and how it was most important to maintain the position year after year," said Posada, who has been silent publicly since the Yanks' season ended. As for the idea that Girardi's hiring might impact Posada's chances of re-signing with the Yankees, the catcher said his first choice is to return. Continue

On his honor

When Joe Girardi is introduced as Joe Torre's replacement today at Yankee Stadium, he can be comforted by the fact that if Andy Pettitte isn't with Girardi next summer, there's no chance the left-hander will be pitching against his former battery mate.

Talking to Houston television station KRIV at a charity golf event Tuesday, Pettitte explained he would pitch in The Bronx next year or not at all. Considering Alex Rodriguez opted out of his contract Sunday night without giving the Yankees a chance to present him with an offer that would have raised his annual average salary from $25.2 million, and the real possibility that Jorge Posada will leave via free agency, Girardi needed some good news. And that's exactly what Pettitte's declaration was. Continue

Passed-over Don Mattingly 'extremely disappointed'

In the end, Don Mattingly wasn't the favorite after all. The Yankees yesterday chose Joe Girardi as their next manager, surprising many industry sources who believed that Mattingly would win out and take the reins of the team for which he once starred.

Instead of moving into Joe Torre's old office at Yankee Stadium, Mattingly turned in his pinstripes, informing the Yankees yesterday that he would not accept a coaching position under Girardi, thereby bringing his second tenure in the Bronx to an end. However, another career avenue could just be opening up. Continue