Quick Thought: Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees open and shut the door on steroid questions in 35 minutes

Tuesday February 17, 2009 7:00 PM By Max J. Dickstein

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By Max J. Dickstein

Alex Rodriguez’s news conference yesterday was not just the tainted slugger’s best chance to come clean about his steroid adventures — a chance he approached with more guile than sincerity. It was also probably the media’s last chance to collectively grill an all-time great player to clarify his place in the sordid steroid era. Further juicing-related queries will likely be deflected with a “no comment” or “I’m here to talk about baseball.” And that will be as as empty as the unenlightening regret A-Rod was selling yesterday.

Yankees and Mets spring training: Weaknesses? Not this year

Thursday February 12, 2009 3:23 PM By Max J. Dickstein

By Max J. Dickstein

For the Mets and Yankees, last year’s 89-73 records — and postseason misses — spurred offseason action to shore up the weaknesses that produced the twin disappointment.

Several acute changes during this winter of discontent could usher in a contented spring, summer and fall.

Yankees

The Bronx Bombers shook the earth beneath Major League Baseball with their $423.5 million free agency outlay to first baseman Mark Teixeira (eight years, $180 million) and starters CC Sabathia (seven years, $161 million) and A.J. Burnett (five years, $82.5 million).

These bold new faces join a club already stocked with franchise cornerstones.

Shortstop Derek Jeter, third baseman Alex Rodriguez and catcher Jorge Posada, on restricted duty with a surgically repaired throwing shoulder, are in their mid-30s, just exiting their considerable primes. Along with the adept glove of Teixeira, they will hold down the infield and juice the offense.

Sabathia and Burnett top off a pitching rotation that already features formidable lefty sinkerballer Chien-Ming Wang and right-handed flamethrower Joba Chamberlain, opening his first season as a full-time starter.

Baseball’s pre-eminent closer, Mariano Rivera (39 saves, 1.40 ERA last season), insures the steady bullpen.

With so many reliable elements in the fold, second-year manager Joe Girardi’s top roster concerns will be the question marks dotting the outfield — with a jumble of starting candidates — and second base, where Robinson Cano regressed badly last year.

Mets

Philadelphia eclipsed the Mets again in the NL East because of last season’s September collapse — the team’s second consecutive choke job.

Signing single-season saves leader Francisco Rodriguez to a three-year, $37 million deal, trading for Seattle reliever J.J. Putz as K-Rod’s eighth-inning man and reconstituting the rest of the bullpen, general manager Omar Minaya provided the antidote.

As has been the case for three seasons — before each of which the Mets were a World Series favorite — the rest of the roster, including a star-filled offense to rival any other big-league team’s, is mostly unchanged.

Ace Johan Santana, arguably the game’s best pitcher, leads a familiar staff that features several 15-win-type starters: re-signed righty Oliver Perez, Mike Pelfrey and John Maine.

Yankees and Mets spring training: Optimism mingles with a few concerns

Thursday February 12, 2009 3:14 PM By Max J. Dickstein

By Ryan Chatelain

Reasons for excitement abound, but so do causes for caution this season for the Mets and Yankees.

3 reasons to be excited about the Yankees:

• Mark Teixeira brings another powerful, consistent bat to the lineup, and don’t overlook last year’s midseason acquisition Xavier Nady, who hit .305 with 25 HRs in 2008.

• CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, who combined to win 35 games last season, could make the rotation the Yankees’ strongest in a decade.

• Fan favorite Joba Chamberlain is in his first full season as a starter. He started 12 games last year with an impressive 2.60 ERA overall.

3 reasons to be concerned about the Yankees:

• Questions about A-Rod’s admitted steroid use may distract the team and result in boos from the stands when the new Yankee Stadium opens April 16.

• Age may catch up with a star or two. Six key players (Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter) will be at least 35 in 2009.

• The AL East is a bear. The Red Sox are tough each year, and there is no reason to believe 2008 pennant winner Tampa Bay will return to the cellar.

3 reasons to be excited about the Mets:

• No more leaky bullpen. Newly acquired Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz are All-Star relievers who should protect leads.

• The heart of the lineup — David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran — is together for a fourth straight season. That familiarity could pay dividends in a tight playoff race.

• The free-agent signing of Freddy Garcia could be one of the steals of the offseason if the two-time All-Star can return to the winning form he hadwith the White Sox in 2005 and ’06, when he went 31-17.

3 reasons to be concerned about the Mets:

• The Mets should have lobbied the Gregorian calendar to have September removed. They might not want to admit it, but you’d better believe the last two seasons’ collapses will weigh on players’ minds if they drop three straight at crunch time.

• He might have belted 38 homers in 2008, but Delgado has a .265 batting average in three seasons as a Met, a sign that his career may be on the downward slope. The Mets cannot afford for their first baseman, who will turn 37 in June, to take another step backward.

• The world champion Phillies remain in the Mets’ division, and Philadelphia’s strong nucleus is back.

Column: Yankees manager Joe Girardi has to make it all work

Thursday February 12, 2009 2:59 PM By Max J. Dickstein

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi, third from right, answers questions as he sits in the dugout at Steinbrenner Field, the spring training baseball home of the Yankees, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009, in Tampa, Fla. The team's pitchers and catchers are scheduled to arrive Friday. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

By Max J. Dickstein

Yankees manager Joe Girardi faced the media’s microphone phalanx for the first time this season in Tampa, Fla., following a staff meeting on Thursday.

One reporter suggested that Girardi, approaching the middle of a three-year, $7.8 million contract to hold perhaps the premier job in American sports, might be fired if the reloaded Yankees miss the postseason for the second straight year.

“I don’t necessarily think about those things,” said Girardi, according to Newsday reporter Ken Davidoff. “But as you stated the question, you’re probably right.”

Girardi probably doesn’t receive enough credit for leading the Yankees to an 89-72 record last year despite major injuries to ace Chien-Ming Wang and inspirational leader Jorge Posada, as well as Phil Hughes and Hideki Matsui. Still, the Yankees’ record left them dragging eight games back in the AL East.

Girardi is a strong tactician whose ego management is improving (he helped convince Alex Rodriguez to come clean about steroid use).

While much is new in the Bronx mix, Girardi need not reinvent himself to make it all work. Soft-spoken and reasonable, he can absorb the pressure and lead from the dugout.

NFL legend Brett Favre retires after one season with the Jets, blaming shoulder trouble

Wednesday February 11, 2009 3:06 PM By Max J. Dickstein

By Max J. Dickstein

Brett Favre wasn’t sure if he wanted to retire or return to the Jets. His ailing throwing arm made up his mind for him.

Blaming a torn tendon in his right shoulder that requires surgery the 39-year-old is not willing to undergo, Favre retired for the second time in 11 months on Wednesday. The decision followed a season that began with 8-3 success and ended bitterly, with no postseason appearance.

“I didn’t think it would be one year and done based on something physical, but that’s the case,” said Favre, who for 16 years was the iconic quarterback of the Green Bay Packers and set numerous NFL records, including 253 straight starts at quarterback. “I’m very thankful and blessed that I withstood so much for so much time.”

Favre’s legendary arm began to fail him during the latter part of last season, he said, when he felt he was not placing his throws where he aimed them. Favre received a cortisone shot in his right arm after a 24-14 loss at San Francisco on Dec. 7, he said, but the problems persisted.

“It’s nothing I would second-guess,” Favre said of retiring. “I don’t think I was nearly as productive as the season went on.”

Conference calls with the Jets’ owner, general manager, coach Rex Ryan, presumptive No. 1 quarterback, Kellen Clemens, and Favre replaced the tearful retirement conference Favre held last spring in Green Bay, Wis., before his New York comeback.

“I think we made him feel that this is a good place for him,” said owner Woody Johnson. “For the first 11 games, it looked pretty good.”

Favre and the Jets said they anticipated no reversals. “We’re not shocked by this,” said GM Mike Tannenbaum, who placed Favre on the reserve/retired list. “He said that he was done playing. We’re taking him at his word on that.”

Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show: 10-year-old Stump, a Sussex Spaniel, wins Best in Show

Tuesday February 10, 2009 3:07 PM By Max J. Dickstein

By Max J. Dickstein

Stump, a Sussex Spaniel who wowed the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show crowd with his cascade of hazel hair and tail-wagging plod, won Best in Show Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

The Houston-based dog turned 10 on Dec. 1, making him the oldest dog to win the annual title by almost exactly two years. (In 1999, the Papillon champion was 8 years, 1 month, 10 days.)

Stump's victory registered high in a long life of highs and lows.

The dog also won Best of Sporting Group in 2004, and Stump already has two sons (Root and Forest) and a daughter (Myrtle). He fell ill in 2005 and retired from competition, spending 19 days under veterinary care on the campus of Texas A&M. Since he recovered from that unidentified illness, Stump (full name: Ch. Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee) has been a house dog in Houston, sharing a bed each night with a former Best in Show (JR, Bijon Frise, 2001) raised by the same Texas/Connecticut team.

Stump, with his tail wagging eternally side to side, earned loud reactions from the adoring crowd as he proceeded to victory Tuesday night. He outshowed a strong field, said Westminster Best in Show judge Sari Brewster Tietjen.

His competitors were: a jet-black standard poodle; a well-mannered Giant Schnauzer; a docile Scottish Deerhound with a bouncing, graceful gait; a tiny herder Pulik hidden under wavy dreadlocks; an adorable Scottish terrier with a flouncy, busy legs; and Brussels griffon with a proud snoot.

But Stump, Tietjen determined in the final minute, was the winner. She said she had no idea how old the winning dog was at the time of judging.

Scott Sommer, Stump's handler, said he was unsure whether to even fly Stump from Texas to New York for showing this year, and only decided last Wednesday.

"If you think about it now," Tietjen said, "he was insane to do this."

But Sommer liked his chances with the aging, 50-pound champion.

"He looked great and it's a rare bred," Sommer said as the top dog, having just won his 51st title, sat mellowly at his feet. "This was just like going for a walk with my pet."

Stump's reign figures to be lower-key than that of the dynamic beagle Uno, who, like Stump, won the first Best in Show for his breed last year. Sommer said extensive travel is out of the question for Stump, adding that Stump had officially retired from competition with this victory.

A spike in popularity is now inevitable for the Sussex Spaniel, but the breed is rare.

"There are not enough of them around to be bred," Sommer said, addressing whether Stump's breed will soon be ubiquitous.Some other notes from closing night at the Westminster:

Sporting group

• No kidding: I wrote this around 9:15 p.m., before Stump was anything more than Best of Breed. "The hazel cascade of the Sussex Spaniel's hair makes it a lovely choice for best of breed, sporting group winner and perhaps best in show."

Toy Group

• The crowd cheers the bashful affenpinscher

• The Italian greyhound has a tensile elegance

• The maltese resembles nothing so much as a cascade of sea foam. This

one's pinched ears gave it a darker, perhaps even evil appearance.

• The affenpinscher looks like a leader. Pomeranian, too, after it scrapes its hind legs backward for the cheering crowd. The chihuahua has a great gait.

• The Brussels griffon wins the toy group. He's a cute little gentleman.

Working Group

• The akita and Alaskan malamute are very similar in their wolfenness.

• This black Russian terrier has a fun spirit.

• The dogue de Bordeaux wins some cheers.

• The German pinscher showed poorly. he looked nervous, shaky and difficult.

• Look at the rippling muscles on this black-and-white, cow-spotted Great Dane.

• Wow. The Neapolitan mastiff, or "mastino," is the most shaggy-skinned mastiff imaginable.

• Whether the samoyed wins or not, his is a charming breed.

• The Siberian husky has a low, slinky, horizontal quality to his movement.

• The Tibetan mastiff has a thick, billowy main.

• Suddenly, I like the poised doberman pinscher to win the working group.

• The Giant Schnauzer wins with black, flaxen hair. Second is the boxer, third malamute and fourth the Tibetan mastiff.

Q&A: Former New York Times columnist Ira Berkow says he'll still cast a Hall of Fame vote for admitted steroid user A-Rod

Tuesday February 10, 2009 10:48 AM By Max J. Dickstein

By Max J. Dickstein

Some baseball minds say that the best players of the Steroid Era should not be denied enshrinement in Cooperstown based on alleged or admitted doping.

That point of view has a strong advocate in Ira Berkow, the author and retired New York Times sports columnist, who casts a Hall of Fame ballot each year. Berkow's latest book, "The Corporal Was a Pitcher: The Courage of Lou Brissie," was published by Triumph Books this month. The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer spoke to amNewYork on Monday afternoon.

What do you think about A-Rod’s admission?

So many players were doing it — pitchers and batters — that in my view, the playing field, to a great extent, was level. If you have [accused user Roger] Clemens pitching to A-Rod, who has the advantage?

So you don’t take a moralistic point of view?

Not in the slightest. I played high school and semipro baseball; I know how hard it is to hit a baseball. Beyond steroids, it takes incredible ability to succeed in the major leagues.

Will you vote for A-Rod when he becomes eligible?

I voted for Mark McGwire. I will vote for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, and I will vote for Alex Rodriguez. Unless we’re wearing blinders, it was part of the culture of baseball for that era.

Is A-Rod already a Hall of Fame-level player?

Is there a question, really? Excluding some critical moments in playoff

series, for 162 games a season and for 14 or 15 years, he has been arguably the premier player in baseball — pitcher or hitter. He and Bonds. I also believe that Pete Rose should be in the Hall because there’s not a shred of evidence that he bet on baseball as a player. His record on the field apparently is pristine.

Column: Westminster show dogs aren’t all show; they're athletes, not just furballs

Thursday February 5, 2009 3:14 PM By Max J. Dickstein

By Max J. Dickstein

Brendan, a 3-year-old purebred Border Collie, is an athlete.

Rehabilitated after a rough start under his previous owner in New York, where he was almost put down for being “people- and dog-vicious” before being rescued last January, Brendan, in more caring hands, became an exemplary champion and a fine extension of his German-born herding pedigree.

“He’s now an athlete, and ready to compete,” said his co-owner and handler, Julie Lacey-Black, who will show Brendan at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Monday. “He’s also a much happier dog because, as you know, healthy people, like healthy dogs, are happier.”

His is a one-year comeback story. A better diet helped Brendan shed the extra 20 pounds he was carrying. Exercise — lake-swimming, forest-running and baseball-fetching at Lacey-Black’s residence in Maine — toned Brendan’s muscles and enriched his lustrous coat.

“This is the first dog I’ve rehabbed and taken to Westminster within a year,” Lacey-Black said. “It speaks for Brendan and it speaks for the quality of his pedigree.”

This elite Border Collie is a determined athlete, much like a basketball player who worked his way back from injury — though this athlete likes to nose the pocket where his owner keeps treats.

Underlining the reality of dog-show-as-sport is the presence this year of sportscaster Mary Carillo as Westminster co-host on USA Network and CNBC.

“They’re not just puff balls,” said Carillo, known for Olympics and tennis coverage, as she surveyed a group of show dogs at a news conference Thursday. “They were designed and bred to do jobs. They really know what they’re doing.”

She pointed to Uno, who last year became the first beagle to become Westminster’s Best in Show. He retired from competition a month later, at age 2.

“You’ve got to get everything you can out of that small window of time. I’ve met a lot of athletes. This dog is remarkably uncynical,” Carillo said.

David Frei, Carillo’s broadcast partner, agreed that show dogs are athletes, but maybe not “professional” athletes.

“They never hold out,” he said. “They never ask to renegotiate. But they are definitely athletes.”

James to Knicks: I’d hold out hope for LeBron, too

Wednesday February 4, 2009 3:56 PM By Max J. Dickstein

By Max J. Dickstein

LeBron James took off his red personalized headphones before the Cavaliers-Knicks game long enough to hold court at a 10-minute press conference.

One reporter asked James if the Knicks’ plan to create cap space for the summer of 2010 — when a fine crop of free agents, perhaps including James, is expected — made sense.

“A lot of teams are getting ready to put themselves in position when 17 months come up,” said James, doing what would have been a fine impression of Knicks president Donnie Walsh. “If I was in that position where I felt like our team was geared toward the future and not the present, then I would try to put myself in a position where at least I had a chance to maybe get a big-market player. But at the same time, you still want to win games.”