Shane Spencer slugs: Remember him in 1998? (AP) I was out to dinner last night with two old pals who used to be in the baseball business and Shane Spencer came up. I hadn’t thought about Spencer in any great detail since 2004 or so, so it was pleasant to recall 1998, a year in which just about everything ...

Who wants to see a great player struggle? During this offseason, there has been much speculation as to when Mariano Rivera will choose to retire, something he dropped hints about last season. My only preference is that whenever he does it, it’s too soon rather than too late. I don’t want to see Rivera ...

Bernie Williams: Not as good as Kirby Puckett? (AP) I was watching the Hall of Fame announcement show on the MLB Network on Monday–congratulations to a very deserving Barry Larkin–and something Peter Gammons said as an aside in a discussion of Bernie Williams’ suitability for the Hall ...

I had a request on Twitter to say a few words about Andy Carey, the former Yankees third baseman (1952-1960) who passed away in mid-December at the age of 80. Carey played on four Yankees pennant winners, including the 1956 and 1958 championship teams. Carey has always been a hard player for me to get ...

The first winter trade in the history of the New York Yankees came back in December, 1903 when they were still called the Highlanders. Its parameters should be familiar, as they stink vaguely of Ed Whitson/Kenny Rogers/Carl Pavano and other mistakenly acquired hurlers. The Highlanders—I’m going to ...

Earle Combs in Cooperstown I always wonder how many readers actually care about the Yankees past this year, or the last few years, with the cutoff on their interest always moving forward, day by day. I know my traffic reinforces this pattern. If I write about the impact of a minor injury (hence today’s ...

The Hall of Fame announced their next veteran’s committee ballot today, and they have one Yankees great on it, and two others greats who passed through up for election. These are, respectively, pitchers Allie Reynolds, Luis Tiant, and Jim Kaat. Reynolds , of Native American ancestry, was nicknamed ...

The Yankees declined Andrew Brackman’s option today, making him a free agent. While I hate to see any aspiring big-leaguer fail, the decision makes me perversely happy in that it validates what I was saying about the decision to sign the tall pitcher all along. When he was first drafted, I wrote: I ...

Albert Pujols' three home runs on Saturday night put Mr. October back in the news. Games Three and Four of the World Series games could hardly have been any more different. Saturday night’s slugfest, won 16-7 by the Cardinals, featured a record-setting offensive performance by Albert Pujols, ...

Albert Pujols' failure to answer for his part in Thursday's ninth-inning mishap wouldn't have flown in the Bronx. (AP) Even if you don’t have a dog in the hunt, or bear equal apathy (or antipathy) towards both teams, the first two games of this year’s World Series have been gripping ...

Red Sox manager Terry Francona appears to be hitting the road after Boston's epic collapse. (AP) There was a point during Game Three of the 2004 American League Championship Series when the Yankees were handing the Red Sox their collective tuchuses, and all I could think of when the camera cut to ...

It’s about 12 hours later, but I still feel frustrated that the Yankees turned over yesterday’s second game to Scott Proctor. If you were listening to last night’s show on SiriusXM you heard me go on quite a rant about this. Proctor is pretty clearly not a major league pitcher right ...