Lisa Guerrero: Yankees and Republicans go back to the drawing board

I sailed through the Arizona Biltmore lobby on Wednesday like I owned the joint. Almost everybody there gave me the stink eye. No wonder. The day after Barack Obama was elected president, many Republicans were still hanging around the hotel where John McCain had given his concession speech the night before.

And there I was at the front desk checking in, wearing my Obama ’08 T-shirt.

One particularly indignant lady walked by me and hissed, "McCain should’ve won." I replied, "Scoreboard, baby."

Poor sportsmanship? I think not. Does a Red Sox fan have a problem wearing a David Ortiz jersey into Yankee Stadium? Nope. Now if that Red Sox fan dumped a beer on a Yankees fan sitting in front of him during the game, then that’s poor sportsmanship.

And an unforgivable waste of beer.

But sporting my team’s colors and enjoying Tuesday’s blowout victory are things that any loyal sports fan can relate to. We all love the story of the underdog who goes on to win the championship game. Team Barack, indeed.

My husband and I are in Phoenix to attend the wedding of Scott’s old University of Arizona teammate Kevin Long. Kevin is the hitting coach for the Yankees and came really close to heading to the Dodgers this season with Joe Torre. Instead, he stayed in New York out of loyalty to the team that gave him a shot in the big leagues (in 2007) after toiling in the minors for 18 years, primarily with the Royals organization.

Much like the Republicans, the Yankees also have to reassess their disappointing performance this year and figure out a winning strategy for the future.

For example, there has been some speculation that Manny Ramirez will don pinstripes next season, just in time for the inauguration of the new Yankee Stadium. Obviously, as their hitting coach, no one would be more pleased with that scenario than Kevin but, surprisingly, Manny's not the Dodger who could most improve the Yankees in 2009.

Kevin thinks that New York might make Derek Lowe the priority.

“We need to solidify our starting pitching,” he told me. “We were the only team in baseball last year with less than three starters that threw 100 innings (Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte). We have to address the pitching situation first.”

In terms of Manny, Kevin adds, “He’d be a great fit for the Yankees. We’d love to have him. We have the resources and it’s hard not to think about what the Yankees could do with him in the lineup. You’d have to say that if we shored up our rotation and get Manny, we’d be the front-runner next year.”

By a landslide.

-- Lisa Guerrero

Lisa Guerrero has covered Super Bowls, the NBA Finals and the World Series, along with the Oscars, Emmys and Grammys. As an actress, she has appeared on "Frasier" and "The George Lopez Show" and as Billy Baldwin's long-suffering wife in the film "A Plumm Summer," which she executive-produced.

Comments

[Prestigious 7]

Lisa,

I love a woman who understands sportsmanship! I work in South Orange County, a region that voted predominately for McCain and after almost a full day of silence from everyone I was around or passed on Wednesday, November 5th, it was as if there no election the night before at all. Finally I was finally asked how I felt about the election. My reply..."like a winner"! Not sure how that made the person who asked me feel, but if I run across a Yankee fan I'll ask them how they felt about the season for a point of reference!

[Don Mack]

This is a lousy article. I could have written a better one. I don't care about celebrating an election when I'm looking to read about Yankee News. I could care less about Obama. Let's see how he does first before all the celebration. Remember, the media loved George Bush too when he ran. It's not news to me that the Yankees are interested in Dereik Lowe. C.C. Sabathia is their first choice and Lowe and A. J. Burnett are probably their second and third choices.

They will pursue Teireira but probably not be able to obtain him. Then, hopefully, they'll offer Manny Ramirez $100M for 4 years and tell him to either hide the dreadlocks or, preferably, cut them off. For $100M I think it's worth it to cut them.

If Mussina doesn't return, then we definitely need to sign 2 FA pitchers. Just say NO to Andy Pettitte. He's done. So perhaps we'll have a rotation of Wang, Burnett, Joba, Lowe and Aceves with Hughes and Kennedy waiting in the wings.

Two sleepers the Yankees ought to pursue are Freddy Garcia and Rocco Baldelli. There, that's what a Yankee News article ought to look like.

[WC]

Wow! Looks like the blogger Don Mack has more inside information than the Yankees coaching staff, Lisa. He's also apparently one of the George Bush-type Republicans. When you're in over your head (see Peter Principle) just keep on spending and let somebody else worry about the debt. Doesn't seem to be working for the Yankees these days, eiither, even with George S's deep pockets.

[Don Mack]

WC (Fields?) wrote: "He's also apparently one of the George Bush-type Republicans.
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FYI, I never voted for George Bush. NIce try, though. I voted for Al Gore, John Kerry and this year wrote in Hillary Clinton. Also, FYI, the Yankees didn't spend much in the FA market last season; they depended on the likes of Hughes, Kennedy and Joba to get them through and it didn't work. That's why they're spending this offseason.

Sounds to me like you're just trying to be a goody-goody with Lisa. Flattery will get you nowhere. Instead, do your due diligence: read everything you can on the Yankees and watch ESPN News. Then perhaps you'll see where I'm coming from.

[sean]

Note to Don Mack...Move back to New York if all you care about is "Yankee News". Lisa G. writes for the LOS ANGELES Times. Those of us that care about the Dodgers may find it interesting that the Yanks may end up with both Manny and Lowe (by the way, since you're such a baseball expert, you might want to spell Derek's name right). Next time you want to get your "Yankee News" fix, ya' might want to check out a little thing called the New York Post. Have a nice day and better luck next year. (Guess you're still bitter about Kerry, too, huh?)