by Paul Semendinger October 24, 2021 *** The decisions has been made. Aaron Boone is back as the manager. In yesterday’s links, we shared an article (and we have many other times) that said that this was the right call. It might be. Whether it is or not will be determined over time. Rather than writing a post looking for all that might be wrong with the 2022 Yankees, I decided to take the time to look for what should be good. Not surprising, I found a lot. Here, then, is a

By Paul Semendinger, September 28, 2020 *** As a member of the IBWAA, I have the privilege each year of voting for the various post-season awards. On these pages, over time, I’ll share the players I chose for these awards. For the American League MVP, it was really a two person race: Jose Abreu or D.J. LeMahieu. I don’t think a person would be wrong if he or she picked either player, they were both great. Who the better player was is a real toss-up. D.J. LeMahieu led Americ

Last week I wrote an article that stated that as a new voting member of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA), I wanted to put great thought into my votes. I want the IBWAA awards to be treated with the same (or even more) respect than the awards presented by other worthy organizations (BBWAA, Sporting News, etc.) The only way for this to occur, I reasoned, was for all of the writers to put great thought into their decisions. With that as my charge, I

Mickey Mantle’s legacy has faded in the more than half a century since he played his last game. With each passing year, fewer fans who saw him play are still around, so we know him only by his numbers, the stories about him and some video. Aging boomer cultural figures like Larry David or Billy Crystal refer to him in their work occasionally. Jane Leavy’s excellent 2011 biography of Mantle portrayed him as a complex man who was never quite comfortable with his stardom and who

Last week I wrote an article that stated that as a new voting member of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA), I wanted to put great thought into my votes. I want the IBWAA awards to be treated with the same (or even more) respect than the awards presented by other worthy organizations (BBWAA, Sporting News, etc.) The only way for this to occur, I reasoned, was for all of the writers to put great thought into their decisions. With that as my charge, I

This week we asked: Who was your Yankees MVP this year? And our writers responded: Lincoln Mitchell – I wish I could offer a more interesting or controversial answer, but my Yankees MVP this year is DJ LeMahieu. In addition to leading the team in WAR, LeMahieu did everything that was asked of him this year. He settled into the leadoff role very smoothly, hit for surprising power, was an extraordinary clutch hitter and played 30 or more games at three different infield positio