Here is the entire Chass column from this morning. You have to read pretty deep...about 2/3 of the way in ... to find his throwaway line about how the AP reporter got the interview.
This is hardly the issue some of you are making it out to be.
On Baseball
Interpreting Steinbrennerisms as Losses Weigh on Job Security
By MURRAY CHASS
The Yankees have a funny way of coming back against the Boston Red Sox. Instead of mounting a long winning streak, they lose games. Maybe the Yankees think they can fool the Red Sox and lull them into a false sense of security.
If that is their idea, I am here to suggest that they quickly go to Plan B. Brian Cashman, for one, would appreciate it.
Cashman is the Yankees’ general manager, the Yankees’ embattled general manager. George Steinbrenner, his boss, talked the other day about Cashman being on “a big hook.†It wasn’t entirely clear what Steinbrenner meant, but as a 35-year veteran of listening to and interpreting Steinbrennerisms, I think he meant that Cashman’s neck is in a big noose and it could get tighter with each loss.
Because Cashman wasn’t wearing a turtleneck sweater at 85-degree Yankee Stadium yesterday, he may have found the fibers a little more prickly after the 3-1 loss to the geographically challenged Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Cashman, unfortunately, had seen that game before, only a few days earlier.
On Tuesday night, after the Yankees had beaten the Red Sox 24 hours earlier, they had a chance to begin making a serious dent in Boston’s hefty lead over them. But Mike Mussina failed to do the job he is paid more than $11 million to do. Four batters into the first inning, the Yankees were losing, 3-0, because of a three-run homer by Manny RamÃrez, and they never recovered.
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Mussina is the Yankees’ No. 2 or No. 1 starting pitcher, depending on one’s view of him and Chien-Ming Wang. Mussina gets the nod on seniority, Wang on productivity. But that was Mussina’s poor effort to derail the Red Sox’ express train, and yesterday was Wang’s.
This time, the Yankees were behind, 3-0, five batters into the first inning. Gary Matthews Jr. tripled home two runs and scored on a Casey Kotchman single. The Yankees never recovered.
“It makes it appear like we have to do a lot of hard work,†Manager Joe Torre said of early 3-0 deficits. “Normally with our type of offense, it shouldn’t be a problem. Giving up three runs shouldn’t be a problem. We just haven’t been able to consistently put points on the board. It shows up more when the other team scores two or three somewhere along the line.â€
The latest loss, their third in the last four games, dropped the Yankees a season-high 11 ½ games from first place in the American League East after the Red Sox beat Texas, 7-4, last night.
The loss did not make Cashman’s job any more secure. Despite the reverse route the Yankees have curiously chosen to take to first place, though, Cashman will probably not be evicted from his office on the loge level of the stadium.
Firing him would be a punitive move, punishing Cashman for the mistakes he made as this team’s architect. It’s highly unlikely that a new general manager could fix the problems that created Steinbrenner’s displeasure.
At another time, Cashman would probably have been fired already. The list of his predecessors under Steinbrenner, including Bill Bergesch, Cedric Tallis, Murray Cook and Harding Peterson, attests to that.
But this is another time and another Steinbrenner. This is not the same Steinbrenner who wielded a quick and heavy ax in the 1970s and ’80s. That Steinbrenner would not only have fired Cashman by now, but he would also have booted Torre out of the dugout.
Gene Michael and Don Mattingly would be in Cashman’s and Torre’s positions. They, not the current incumbents, would feel the wrath of Steinbrenner. But the lamentable reality is that wrath no longer exists, at least publicly.
The words that come forth infrequently from Steinbrenner these days are almost always filtered through the news releases of the ubiquitous public relations man Howard Rubenstein. The other day, however, an Associated Press reporter, describing herself to Steinbrenner’s secretary as an old friend, got on the call list and wound up with a rare interview. Good for her.
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That’s where Cashman’s big hook, a k a big noose, came from. But the feeling around the stadium is that Cashman’s job is not in jeopardy, that Steinbrenner’s hook remarks were more of a wake-up call for Cashman, Torre and the underachieving players.
The problem is that Steinbrenner had already sounded several wake-up calls this season. The objects of the calls have heard them, but they have been unable to respond. Torre was reduced yesterday to complaining about the final pitch of the game; Bobby Abreu took it for strike three even though Torre said it was in the opposite batter’s box.
What about the first 26 outs, he was asked.
“I’m not saying he cost us the game,†Torre said of the home-plate umpire, Jeff Nelson. “The next pitch he may have popped up. I’m not saying it would have been a base hit. I’m just saying I’d like to have that 27th out.â€
And Steinbrenner wants more wins.
Asked about the lack of effect of the owner’s comments, Torre said: “He’s passionate about what he does. He owns this ball club. He’s very proud of it. We certainly haven’t lived up to what we need to live up to. We certainly haven’t played up to our expectations, and we’re all accountable for that.â€
