Seriously, I figured there would be a better chance that the he would say the sky was blue and I'd point out that was just light reflecting through the dirt, the sky is actually black. But Ken Rosenthal and I agree: Andre Dawson deserves to be measured on his era not, the steroid era or the current era (the Shrivel era?) but his era. Andre was a HOF for the era he played in.

He should be voted in. Read Ken's (Can I call you that Ken?) thoughts here.

In this post we looked at the offensive lineup for the Yankees but as the last few years have shown us, there's much more to a whole season for a team. Obviously, there is the pitching and management.  This is where the Yankees have obviously made the most strides.  Sebathia, Burnett, Wang, Chamberlain and ....? Well, that's where it gets interesting. I've already said that it's time for Andy Pettitte to make peace with reality and sign, but if he doesn't? Well, there's still the like of Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. What about Derek Lowe? I'm not talking forever. I think Hughes will be big league ready this year but if he isn't Lowe would be an excellent short term fit. 

The Yankees middle relief is the most interesting of their pitching to me. Last year Girardi seemed to know how to use it to maximum effect but was that a fluke. Was that just a misconception on my part?  Which brings me to the next piece of this puzzle to consider, management. Is Girardi the best guy to lead this team? The truth is I don't know.  I loved Girardi as a player and catcher's often make great managers, but he seems a little high strung for this team. I hope I'm wrong, but to me, he is the second biggest wild card (behind Cano and Jorge).  What kind of job will he do? My guess is that if the Yankees don't get out of the gate fast, we may see a new manager, or at the very least Girardi will feel some real heat from ownership and fans alike. 

On the whole I think this team is the best team the Yankees have had in a few years and

Tommorrow: Why the Yanks should sign Milton Bradley and dump Hideki

I'll admit it, I'm not a Jason Whitlock fan. I think he's obnoxious, and rude (listen to him on the Jim Rome show).  I think he makes everything a race issue. Which begs the question; "Is Jason Whitlock a racist?" I don't know, I hope not. But hang with me here. Have you read his latest article for Foxsports.com? Look at this quote:




Can you imagine if a white reporter wrote that? Brett Favre is the white TO?  What happened to "I don't see a black football player, I just see a football player"? What does their skin color have to do with it? The answer is absolutely nothing. Is Favre just like TO? Yes, he probably is. It appears that he is every bit as much of a cancer as "the player" at WR for the Cowboys. This isn't new. Remember when he was debating retirement 68 seasons ago and he infamously said, "What are they [the Packers] going to do, fire me?"

But this isn't about Brett Favre, or TO. It's about Whitlock and his inconsistency. Ironically, this racially loaded statement came in an article that was about character. When accusations came out against Clemens from a weasel named McNamee Whitlock cried racism. Why else he opined would people be so willing to slay Bonds? It had to be the color of their skin! It had to be because deep down "the man" is still alive and kicking trying to put the black man in his place.

Now, I wonder what Mr. Whitlock would do if someone other than "his friend" made a racial distinction. He could have easily said, "You know there's no difference in character between Favre and TO." I'm just a lowly blogger and I fixed it in about 5 seconds.

 I know racism still exists in America. I've seen it first hand. It's disgusting and gross. The other extreme is just as bad, and this is what I think Whitlock is guilty of more often than not. The problem is in America we have things that one race can say and get away with while another race could not. That, my friends is racism. It was wrong 150 years ago, it was wrong 50 years ago and it's wrong today.

Jason Whitlock needs to apologize for what he's said. I know it was actually his friend and I know that he was just quoting him but if a white reporter said this, Whitlock would be leading the charge to get his reporter's license revoked.   I'm sure that Whitlock would probably bristle at the idea of someone calling him a racist. I'm sure that many of his friends would come to his defense, but hey I'm just applying the standard that Whitlock has set to his own words.

Oh! And I'm not holding my breath about that apology.