EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: JACK CURRY

I've had my share of being star struck in my lifetime. meeting Joe Torre after the 1996 win was in my mind, one of the top 5 moments ever. But there are others. Being able to interview Jack Curry, someone whom I've admired for a while now is up there as well. The whole YES gang is terrific; Along with Curry, Bob Lorenz, Kimberly Jones, David Cone, Ken Singleton, Michael Kay, Paul O'Neill and John Flaherty do it better than any other sports people out there.

Jack Curry is tops in that group and of course, that passion he has stems all the way back to childhood. You remember when you were a kid, we all tried to make a newspaper, writing about sports or news, or whatever, handwriting it and then drawing pictures in boxes on several pages, then secured it with staples. Well, Jack probably did that too, but then followed through and became an actual sports news guy and now a top sports analyst. He's a huge success and had a drive for that success. Luckily for me, I got to interview one of my idols and Bleeding Yankee Blue is bringing it to you, as an Exclusive. So enjoy it...here's Jack Curry.
BYB: Growing up, were you always a sports fan and more specifically a baseball fan and is this the career path you dreamed of?

Jack Curry: I liked every sport as a kid and played whatever was in season, but baseball was, by far, my favorite sport. I played it in high school and attended one practice at Fordham University before I gave up on playing. It just seemed like it would be too time-consuming to be a backup outfielder (if that). But I still play in the New York-Boston media games at Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park and I still get pretty excited about a game of Wiffle ball.

When I was 12, I started a newspaper at my elementary school. I was fortunate to have a teacher who understood my passion for writing and for sports and he helped me produce these little newspapers. I loved the idea of reporting and writing on things that were happening around the school so, in some ways, I kind of knew what I wanted to do with my life by the time I was in the seventh grade.

BYB: You were with the New York Times as their national baseball correspondent. Tell us how that came about?

Jack Curry: During college, I worked for The Jersey Journal for three summers. About a year after I graduated from Fordham, I was hired by The New York Times. I started at the bottom. I had to prove to them that I deserved a chance to write. Eventually, I began covering some college sports and then I became the New Jersey Nets' beat writer for one season. I took over the Yankees' beat in the middle of the 1991 season and stayed on that position through the 1997 season. From 1998 until 2009, I was a National Baseball Writer at The Times. I loved my years at The Times. I got to cover the Yankees during their dynastic period and got to travel to places like Cuba, Japan, Venezuela, Colombia and Puerto Rico to cover baseball.

BYB: I hope you realize that since you came to YES there is a much different energy. You and Lorenz are appointment television because of your complete analysis. How did that develop and is it because of your passion of the game?

Jack Curry: It's nice of you to compliment us on the energy you see. Bob Lorenz is as selfless as anyone I've ever worked with. He wants the people around him to do well and he works to make that happen. I think the reason we provide thorough analysis is because we study the games and the story lines and work with Jared Boshnack, our producer and another team player, to present this information to the viewer. All three of us have a passion for the game and for our jobs.

BYB: We wrote JACK CURRY: NEW YORK BAD ASS because we felt as though you needed "Props". What was your reaction the first time you saw it?

Jack Curry: When I saw the "Bad Ass" headline on your blog, I laughed. Not sure how many times I've been called a bad ass in my life, but I can assure you that I wouldn't need more than five fingers to recount those times.

BYB: What advice can you give young people that have a dream in becoming a baseball analyst like you?

Jack Curry: If you want to become a baseball analyst or a sports writer, the path to those positions is like the path to any other job. You have to work at it. It sounds like a cliche, but it's true. If you want to be a sports writer and you're not even working for your college newspaper, you're already adversely impacting you future. My advice to someone who wants to get into the news media business, whether it's TV or newspapers, is to try and focus in on what type of job you'd like to have. Once you answer that question, you need to do everything you can to get an internship in that field and network with other professionals. Make yourself stand out. Companies will make room for someone who shows he is exceptional at what he does.

BYB: If you had to name 1 player on the Yankees that was most impressive, approachable and kind, who would it be and why?

Jack Curry: In more than 20 years of covering the Yankees, I've developed a working relationship with a lot of different players. If I had to pick one player who was always a pleasure to deal with, it would be David Cone. Interestingly enough, we're now colleagues at YES. If David's baseball career hadn't worked out, he talked about how he wanted to be a sports writer. What I liked about David was that he gave thoughtful answers and didn't act as if every interview needed to be conducted as if there was a 30-second play clock over his head. They were conversations, not interviews. He didn't dismiss questions or issues. He embraced them. Cone was so approachable that his willingness to talk to players ended up helping his teammates. Since Cone was willing to deal with reporters and was very good at it, other players were allowed to avoid interviews.

BYB: My son wants to know, is what you do the best job in the world?

Jack Curry: Tell your son it's a very cool job, but Derek Jeter has a cooler job. Seriously, I love being an analyst at YES. I get to talk about baseball. Your son is right. Very cool.

BYB: Do you ever read Bleeding Yankee Blue? If so, what do you think?

Jack Curry: Ever since your called me a "Bad Ass," I've been checking out Bleeding Yankee Blue. Keep up the solid work.

Jack, I can't thank you enough for doing this interview with us. You are truly great at what you do and you bring sports analysis to another level because like I've said, you actually know what you're talking about and you never talk down to the fans. You deserve everything good that comes your way. The best to you!

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EXCLUSIVE: CLUBHOUSE CONFIDENTIAL

Luis "Squeegee" Castillo was a Yankee Clubhouse kid during one of the most important times in recent Yankees history. From 1998 to 2005 he was a bat boy and clubhouse attendance and witnessed first hand, 3 World Championships and a trip to the playoffs every single season. Derek Jeter gave Luis the nickname "Squeegee" because of his rail thin appearance.



When I first heard about Clubhouse Confidential, I got nervous. I was concerned that my New York Yankees were about to be tainted and young kids who picked their idols in that Yankee clubhouse were about to be disappointed. I was wrong, this book is smart and while Luis was on the inside, he didn't disturb the clubhouse perception. You walk away with a few great nuggets and you never lose that love for your team and players. These are different nuggets than the other interviews you saw with Squeegee, so enjoy it. With that, I bring you, Squeegee.

BYB: What made you decide to write this book?

Squeegee: I wrote CLUBHOUSE CONFIDENTIAL because I wanted to let Yankees fans know what happens behind the scenes, how much fun the players have off the field, what conflicts they run into, and how they cope with the stress of being Major League Baseball stars.

BYB: Former Yankee, Jim Bouton wrote Ball Four and it was considered extremely controversial at the time because it revealed a lot of the secrets of the Yankees Clubhouse and tarnished Yankee Greats. Why did you feel that it was OK to write this book?

Squeegee: As Mr. Bouton said "These guys have voluntarily gone into a business where people know that everything that they do or say is subject to being written about. They act as if they're surprised when somebody tells what they do." My book about the Yankees is filled with new information about the superstars, and people have a right to know. I also enjoyed telling the stories, just as people always enjoy listening to me talk about my eight years working for the greatest team in baseball history.

BYB: Who were the big party animals on the team during the championship years you were there and what did they do that was so outrageous?

Squeegee: Almost every one on the team liked to party, but probably Jason Giambi and Chuck Knoblauch enjoyed it more than others. Once Jason invited me to a party that didn't break up until 5 AM the day before an afternoon game. How he woke up to go to work is a mystery to me.

And Chuck always seemed to be having a good time, even in the clubhouse.

BYB: You did you admire the most and why?

Squeegee: My idol was David Cone because I also pitch and he symbolized the greatness of the sport to me. He was technically at the top of his game, and yet he had the friendliest personality and was always relaxed and willing to talk. When I warmed him up during his 1999 perfect game it was a real honor.

BYB: Explain how the Matsui "Ho's" speech came about?

Squeegee: At the end of the team meetings, Mr. T (Joe Torre) asked what we were going to do. He usually directed this question at Posada. But on this occasion he turned to Matsui and asked. Matusi said, "Let's kick ass. Pop champagne. And get some ho's."

BYB: Did you get a ring? If not, why?

Squeegee: I did not get a World Series ring and I was disappointed because I had done as much work, or more, than another clubhouse attendants who did get one. I have fond memories of working with the guys and wish I had a memento to remind me of the good time we had together.

BYB: Have you heard from some of the players since the book was released? If so, who and what did they say to you?

Squeegee: I hear from lots of players and keep in contact with some of my best friends, including Homer Bush, Jorge Posada, Ruben Sierra, Ramiro Mendoza, and others. They say things like, "Hey, what are you doing tonight? Wanna hang out together?" It's great having friends like that. Chuck Knoblauch contacted me recently and said, "What's up, my main man? Can't wait to read the book!"

BYB: Have you partied with some of the Yankees?

Squeegee: I have partied with almost all the Yankees on the teams from 1998-2005, including Derek Jeter, who is always well-behaved in public.

BYB: I am a huge Joe Torre fan. Describe his demeanor in the clubhouse?

Squeegee: It's funny that you ask about Mister T's demeanor since he never smiled and always looked grumpy. I always thought he was in a bad mood. But really he was all business. That's just the way he worked.

He used to start the day off by going on the treadmill before batting practice. He would have a newspaper tucked under his arm. He also used to smoke cigars in his office all the time.

BYB: What was the most humiliating thing a player did to you?

Squeegee: The most humiliating thing was get thrown into a garbage can by Tanyon Sturtze! He was in a bad mood at the time but later apologized and we became good friends.

BYB: Do you read Bleeding Yankee Blue?

Squeegee: Yes, I'm a big fan of Bleeding Yankee Blue and read it all the time. Keep up the good work!

Squeegee, you're awesome for talking with us and much thanks for Stephen Lee at St. Martin's Press for helping coordinate this interview.

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WHY I NEED TO MEET SUZYN WALDMAN

It’s a selfish conquest, but important to me none the less. Yes, it’s true, when I finally complete my mission, I’ll get laughed at, picked on and mocked but I don’t care what anyone says… I have the need to meet Suzyn Waldman. Why? Because believe it or not, she is part of Yankees history.

Waldman has been with the Yankees in the booth with John Sterling since 2005 and to be honest, I never thought much of it. But one thing you need to say about Suzyn Waldman, she’s a staple in the Yankee family and has been for years. She’s been doing sports broadcasting for 20 years, and without her around Yankee Stadium, we may never have ever seen Yogi Berra again. What? Wait… you don’t know what I’m talking about? Let me explain.

Yogi Berra, no doubt was one of the greatest Yankees ever, numerous championships and a Hall of Famer. After Yogi Berra and George Steinbrenner had their falling out in 1985 when Yogi was fired as the Yankees Manager, Yogi was pissed because it wasn’t Steinbrenner himself but the GM who gave Berra the message. Berra swore he’d never step foot in Yankee Stadium again, and didn’t for a long long time.

As the story goes, in 1999, Suzyn Waldman was able to get both George and Yogi together for a "sit down". Some real Tony Soprano stuff. The "sit down" was a huge success and Yogi came back on a huge day at Yankee Stadium honoring Yogi. They did it right, Don Larsen threw out the first pitch to Yogi and in Yankee style; David Cone followed that day pitching his perfect game. Bottom line, that chain of events would have never happened without Suzyn Waldman.

Now, you know my feeling about John Sterling and Suzyn together in the both. It’s manageable in my mind but I’ve never loved the duo. Yes, by now, the 2 of them in the booth is a good team, and many of us grow accustomed to them being there, but, let’s not gloss over it. The moment Roger Clemens was in "George’s box" was the day I said loudly, “I have to meet Suzyn Waldman.” No one in any other lifetime could be that excited about Roger Clemens coming back to the Yankees, including Roger Clemens… except of course for Suzyn Waldman. Yes, her excitement was ridiculous, but it was the passion I loved.

Look, she may not be the greatest color commentator in sports, you may not like her, but you need to respect her. Suzyn Waldman has opened doors and mended friendships that no one even knows about. Do you think it would be easy for our favorite Yankees chick Kimberly Jones to just get a job with the Yankees? Suzyn Waldman’s presence before Kim certainly helped. That’s no slap against Kim Jones, she feels the love and she's incredible at what she does. My point is, Suzyn Waldman is a veteran woman in broadcasting and because of her acceptance, more people opened their eyes, more gave other women a chance. You have to love that.

So yes, it’s true, in a sport driven by men; one woman broke through to take a stand and do her job to the best of her ability and helped with a little Yankee history along the way.

Again, you may not care for her style, you may not love her in the booth, but there is no doubt, you need to respect the job she does because… bottom line… no one does it like Suzyn… Goodness gracious… no one.

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WHY DELLIN BETANCES IS A YANKEE BRIGHT SPOT

Everyone loves a homegrown player. There's something about the Jeters and Marianos of the world that just endear themselves to their adoring fans. Well for Yankees fans, at least part of it is the feeling of being able to watch them come through in the clutch, say "SEE! SEE! We don't pay for all our good players!" and smile smugly in the face of your Mets fan friend (Who is most likely imaginary, I mean, a Mets fan? Come on.) More generally, it's knowing that the young man has never known another team and that he journeyed all the way from the Rk leagues to make the big leagues.



There's no denying it, homegrown players are the closest to the fans' hearts. But how often do you get a chance to look at a player and say that he's literally playing right at home?Dellin Betances took one huge step towards becoming that guy, the hometown hero, last Thursday when he made his AAA debut. It was no easy task facing the IL 1st place Durham Bulls, and early on it looked like Betances would fold under the pressure. However, he settled down to put together a phenomenal start. As is usual with young pitchers, the numbers don't tell the whole story. Nevertheless, here they are: 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 8 K, 0 BB



Two numbers immediately jump out from that line. The 8 strikeouts and 0 walks. Dellin has had command issues all year long. For a while I suspected he needed to pitch to contact a bit more, but apparently I know nothing. In Dellin's last 3 starts, he's struck out a whopping 20 while walking only 2. Obviously a K/BB ratio of 10 isn't something you'd expect to last, not even with Mariano Rivera, but such a marked improvement over the rest of his season is a huge accomplishment, regardless of longevity. I always say his potential is somewhere between AJ Burnett and Felix Hernandez, but he's making a case for me to move that floor up a good bit.



After those two numbers, you probably noticed that he just managed to put together a quality start. However, as I said, the numbers don't tell the story at all, so here's a quick recap of his outing:



Betances immediately went on cruise control, retiring the side 1-2-3 in his first ever work in AAA. I think he got a bit too comfortable up there because come the 2nd inning he couldn't miss a bat. Dellin allowed 3 hits, scoring 2 runs for the Bulls before escaping further danger. The 3rd inning didn't start off much better, as a he yielded his 3rd run of the game on a Tim Beckham lead off home run. After getting the 1st out of the inning, he gave up a 1 out double to put himself in danger again. I'll be perfectly honest, I started making excuses like "Well, his stuff looks good, it's his first AAA start, Durham's a great team..." Dellin would have none of my BS.Betances quickly struck out 2010 IL MVP Dan Johnson and Russ Canzler to strand Stephen Vogt in scoring position. He would not allow another hit until a 2 out Canzler single in the 6th inning. At one point he retired 7 straight, a streak which would've been extended to 10 if not for Luis Nuñez's fielding error in the 4th.



Dellin got into a mini jam in the 6th, allowing back to back 2 out singles, one of which nailed him in the leg, but he got Daniel Mayora to strike out swinging to end his impressive AAA debut.



What I saw from the 3rd inning on was honestly one of the most impressive performances I've ever seen from a minor league pitcher. Nobody could touch him. His 95-96 fastball was popping Montero's glove, his biting curve ball was making hitters look foolish, and he even appeared to flash the occasional change-up. It was hard to get a detailed view of his pitches because of the absolutely awful lone camera angle displayed throughout the entire broadcast, but it didn't take much to see that after he gave up that early 3rd run, he was in control.



If Dellin can repeat Thursday's performance every 5 days for the rest of the season, I see no reason he won't be a front runner to land a spot in the rotation for 2012. Some scouting reports say he's still a bit of a thrower rather than a pitcher, similar to what Joba Chamberlain was initially like. However his declining walk totals and increasingly economic pitching tell me that he's really starting to harness his potential. With such rapid improvement, we may be getting our very own hometown hero soon. And unlike David Cone, he can't ditch his hometown team and go to the Yankees, he's already here!



On an interesting side note, Andrew Brackman relieved Betances in the 7th inning. Much to my surprise, he looked very, very good. His outing was spoiled by a 2 run homer in the 8th inning, but for the most part he looked completely in control. His season numbers still sit at an unspectacular, to say the least, 6.83, 2-6.

(In Photo: Andrew Brackman)

However, since being moved from long relief to short relief, Brackman's found much more success. In his last 10 games he has not had a decision, but has maintained a 4.13 ERA and perhaps most importantly held batters to a measly .152 average. Those numbers are even better excluding some long relief appearances, such as when he walked 9 batters in 3.1 innings on July 29th. Since the beginning of August, his ERA is 2.89. Look for a more in depth analysis in a retrospective Killer Bs update article coming later this week.







--Grant Cederquist, BYB Staff Writer

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WHY THESE ARE THE BEST YANKEE COMMERCIALS EVER

It was a great time in Yankeeland. The late 90's were electric and everything in my life was about the Yanks. I just had to do it, I had to search YouTube for 2 of my favorite commercials from around that time, and put them on Bleeding Yankee Blue. So, do me a favor... share this post with all your Yankee pals. Both commercials bring back such great memories. Thank you Adidas...











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WHY THE BOMBERS STILL GOT IT

(In Photo: Ron Guidry)
After Opening Day, Old Timer's day is probably the best day at Yankee Stadium during the baseball year. It gives the fans a chance to see some of their favorite Yankee players comeback and play a friendly game with the rest of the old timers. They also saw the Bombers beat the Clippers 2-0 in two and a half innings of entertaining baseball.
(In Photo: Joe Pepitone, Mike Torrez)
Ron Guidry, aka "Louisiana Lightning", started the game for the Bombers. He allowed the first two to reach. But, Rick "Goose" Gossage came to the rescue and made Lee Mazzilli to hit a shallow fly ball into center field, caught by Bernie Williams, and Joe Pepitone grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
(Photo: David Wells, David Cone, Darryl Strawberry)
David "Boomer" Wells started the bottom half of the first on the mound for the Clippers as he faced "Mick the Quick", Mickey Rivers. After throwing one behind Mickey, he forced him to ground to third. You can read our interview with Mr. Rivers titled: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: MICKEY RIVERS.

Then, Boomer faced Bernie Williams--who received another nice ovation from the crowd--drilled a double in the left center field gap for the first hit for the Bombers.

Wells' good friend David Cone relieved him and gave up a big two run homer which reached about the seventh row in the first deck of the right field seats. The crowd went crazy, and rightfully so. It brought back some great memories, and I even got a couple of chills down my spine when he hit that blast.

Final Score: Bombers-2 Clippers-0 in the 65th annual Old Timers Day Game.
(Photo: Ron Antonelli/NY Daily News)
It was certainly an entertaining game to watch. It was great to see Bernie Williams, Joe Torre, and Lou Piniella--who grounded out in his at bat against Jeff Nelson--back, along with all of the other Old Timers who played in this game, and were apart of the on field ceremonies.



--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer




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