小報的報導果然精采多了 重點：氣得七竅生煙的Hank Steinbrenner發的火幾乎可以燒掉幾條橋 1. 你應該要瞭解，當Hank Steinbrenner這個身份其實不太好當，他老爸把洋基過往的榮 耀交託到他的手上，但是看看洋基的戰蹟卻在五成上下打滾。而長期以來像擦鞋童一 樣，身份是來陪打的球隊－位於他家鄉Tampa Bay的光芒隊，卻意外的爬到了美聯東區 的首位。 2. 這令他難堪，使他感到挫折感，而且徹底地讓他惱怒。結果，讓這位大老闆的兒子最近 開始學起他誇張老爸過去的樣，脫口猛力批擊球隊的不是。雖然他怒火抨擊的主力是對 準了拿到大筆鈔票表現卻不佳的球員，但是隱藏在他批評底下直接對準的目標卻是球隊 的總經理Brian Cashman。 (註：去年Hank曾提到想和Cashman續約，但Cashman表示等到季後再說，已經有謠傳他可能 會去國民或費城人隊。) 3. 這是週三當我到Tampa和他問候時，這位新的"重砲Hank"想要對我說的是: "你覺得那 些光芒球員怎麼樣?" 他說: "光芒隊現在在這裡已經寫下美好的棒球故事，雖然他們一 場比賽只吸引到16,000名觀眾在吸引球迷上還是很糟。但是他們卻打得比洋基隊好太多 了。我瞭解這個球季到了某個時候我們的戰蹟就會開始提昇，但是現在除了王建民、 Rivera、Jeter、松井秀喜、Damon和Mussina，其他那些人在我多給他一些時間去恢復 狀況，結果還是對我們一點幫助都沒有 (Fxxk 消音)。" 4. "讓我感到困擾的是，這些完全為我和我弟弟工作的傢伙，他們賺的錢全都比我們倆兄 弟還多。這就是讓我感到最為抓狂的地方。但是我還是相信他們的狀況會甦醒過來， 我們就是等等看今年後續的發展會怎麼樣。假如他們狀況沒有回復過來那就是必須作 些改變的時候了。我就會清理掉這五年來所犯的錯誤，讓球隊呈現它應該發展的樣子 。" (註: www.waswatching.com真是寶。他給這段話的註解是，從2003年來的錯誤是什麼? Tony Womack? Jeff Weaver? Miguel Cairo? Esteban Loaiza? Enrique Wilson? Kevin Brown? Wil Nieves? Randy Johnson? Bubba Crosby? Jaret Wright? Doug Mientkiewicz? Javier Vazquez? 這些錯誤不是都已經清掉了嗎? 那再來要清掉的錯 誤是Kei Igawa? Carl Pavano? Jason Giambi?) 4. 他是沒有說出更多有關於他曾經不太情願地想要反駁Cashman的想法，因為Cashman總經 理對年輕的球員－Phil Hughes和Ian Kennedy－的信賴，使得洋基隊去年冬天退出了 Johan Santana的交易案。Hank也沒有談到想把Joba Chamberlain拉到先發輪值裡的想 法。我想現在每一個人都早已非常清楚他對這些議題的想法是什麼。但是明天晚上 Santana卻要穿上大都會制服在今年地鐵系列戰首場在洋基球場登板先發，這會不會再 度點燃Hank心中挫敗的怒火呢? 5. Hank強調: "絕對不會，現在大都會隊也沒有打得很好，雖然我相信隨著球賽增加他們 可以打出好的戰蹟的。我不會把這個系列賽看成對兩隊相當關鍵的賽事，而是認為現在 這時候我們就必須開始贏球，而不僅僅是對上大都會隊而已。的確現在我們球隊的狀況 不是100%，我們少掉了A-Rod和Posada兩支大棒子，但是同時其他的球員就應該挺身而 出幫助球隊拉抬戰蹟。我們的牛棚已經很優秀，而嚇死人的! Rivera則展現出他棒球生 涯中最佳的狀況，目前先發投手的狀況也還不賴，有著表現相當傑出的王建民。但是假 如你一場比賽只能夠得一兩分而已，這麼傑出的投手表現都會變得不夠好。" 6. 不知為何，我有一種感覺最近幾場Andy Pettitte無法安然度過第四局已經引起Hank特 別的關注。如果Pettitte的情況持續這樣下去，可能會成為下一個引發Hank怒氣的引爆 點。還記得嗎，去年12月在Nashville冬天會議的前夕，Pettitte宣佈了他要回到洋基 隊，這也進一步促使Cashman不想去追尋Santana的交易。雖然他們都沒有明言，但這樣 的推論是顯而易見的: 1千6百萬，他們給Pettitte的是王牌投手的薪資，在球隊薪水總 額已經負擔不起付出更多的薪資去找另外一位投手。 7. Hank表示: "我不知道Pettitte發生了什麼事。我認為他仍然有他的自信 － 他甚至還 提到明年還想回來繼續投球。現在，我真的很關心整支球隊的狀況。" 8. 我設法去告訴他球季現在還早，去年這個時候洋基隊打得比現在還糟了很多，這番話 似乎有點減緩了他的怒氣。他表示: "現在美聯球隊除了紅襪和天使兩支強隊還是打得 很好以外，目前的戰蹟可以說是上下錯亂了。光芒隊如何呢? 他們是真的打得不錯，他 們有很多好的年輕球員，但是還是有一些球隊每年的戰蹟都好不到那去，我不認為這些 球隊有能力一直贏下去。光芒隊是已經非常好了，但是他們的球場是蓋在海灣錯誤的那 　　一邊。讓人去那裡看球變成是件痛苦的事。" 9. 這可能是為什麼直到週三晚上Hank Steinbrenner都沒有去看洋基－光芒系列戰的原因， 但其他的原因會是什麼呢? Steaming Hank Steinbrenner lights fire while threatening to burn some bridges Bill Madden Thursday, May 15th 2008, 9:21 AM You have to understand, it's not easy being Hank Steinbrenner, entrusted with restoring his dad's Yankees to their past glory, looking at the standings and seeing them wallowing around .500 while, of all people, those longstanding baseball doormats, his hometown Tampa Bay Rays, are in first place. It's embarrassing. It's frustrating, and, well, it's downright annoying. And, so, the Son of Boss is lashing out all over the place these days, much the way his bombastic father used to do, but while the brunt of his anger is vented at his underperforming moneyed players, his veiled criticism appears directly aimed at the general manager, Brian Cashman. This is what the new "Hammerin' Hank" had to say to me Wednesday when I reached him in Tampa with the greeting: "How 'bout those Rays!": "They're a great story down here right now," he said, "although it's terrible that they're only drawing only 16,000 a game. They're playing a lot better than us, that's for sure. I know we're gonna come on at some point in this season, but right now, other than (Chien-Ming) Wang, (Mariano) Rivera, (Derek) Jeter, (Hideki) Matsui, (Johnny) Damon and (Mike) Mussina, after I got on him a little, we're not doing jack (bleep). "What bothers me is that these guys are all working for me and my brother and they're all making more money than we are. That's what makes me mad. But while I'm confident they'll come around, we'll just have to wait and see what happens this year. And if they don't come around then changes will have to be made. I've just got to clean up the mistakes of the last five years and make us what we should be." He didn't say anything more about having reluctantly deferred to Cashman on walking away from the Johan Santana deal last winter because of the GM's faith in the young kids, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. Or about wanting Joba Chamberlain in the starting rotation. I think, by now, everyone pretty much knows how he feels about those issues. But with Santana slated to pitch at Yankee Stadium tomorrow night - in a Mets uniform - in the opener of the first Subway Series of the season, does that figure to rekindle his lingering frustration? "No," insisted Hank. "The Mets aren't doing that well, either, although I believe they, too, will get it going. I don't look at this series as critical for either team, other than to say we need to start winning games, period, not just against the Mets. Right now, we're not 100%. We're missing A-Rod and we're missing Posada and those are two big bats, but at the same time, these other guys need to start picking us up. Our bullpen has been excellent. Heck, Rivera's having the best year of his life so far and the starting pitching's been okay, with Wang being outstanding. But it's no good if you're scoring 1-2 runs a game." Somehow, I got the feeling that Andy Pettitte's inability to get past the fourth inning of late has got Hank particularly concerned and that, if it continues, this could be his next boiling-over point. Remember, it was Pettitte declaring he wanted to come back on the eve of the winter meetings in Nashville last December that was used by Cashman as the impetus for not pursuing the Santana deal. Although unstated, the inference was clear: At $16 million, Pettitte would serve as the Yankees' ace and there wasn't room in the payroll for another starter earning even more. "I don't know what's wrong with Pettitte," Hank said. "I think he still has his confidence - he's even talked about coming back next year. Right now, I'm really concerned about the whole team." I tried to tell him that it's still very early and that the Yankees were in a lot worse shape this time last year. That seemed to assuage him somewhat. "It is a topsy-turvy American League right now, with the exception of the Red Sox and the Angels," he said. "The Rays? They're for real. They've got a lot of good young kids. There always seems to be teams coming out of nowhere every year. I don't think they're ready to win it all, though and it's been terrific for Tampa Bay, although they built that ballpark (Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg) on the wrong side of the bay. It's a pain in the butt going over there." Which is probably why, until Wednesday night, Hank Steinbrenner hadn't been attending the Yankees-Rays series. What other reason could there be? [email protected] --

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