The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Stanton situation similar to A-Rod’s
A New Haven institution, Sally’s Apizza, was sold this week. We offer the new owners congratulations and wish them the best of luck in their new endeavor. Just one minor request. Please, for the love of Sally, don’t screw up the pizza.
⏩ Giancarlo Stanton’s impending trade to the Yankees sounds a lot like an episode we’ve seen before in the Bronx, with many of the same lead characters.
It wasn’t that long ago when the Rangers were desperate to unload the massive contract of their reigning AL MVP. The Yankees needed a replacement for Aaron Boone, who’d wrecked his knee. Derek Jeter on a loaded team that had narrowly missed winning the World Series. Alex Rodriguez, then 28, wound up in pinstripes despite playing the same position, shortstop, as the team’s superstar, Jeter.
This time around it’s the Marlins, operated by new CEO Derek Jeter, that are desperate to unload the massive contract of the reigning NL MVP. The Yankees just got Aaron Boone back as manager of a loaded team the narrowly missed reaching the World Series. Stanton, 28, is expected to soon be in pinstripes despite playing the same position, right field, as the team’s superstar, Aaron Judge.
As a great Yankee once said: it’s déjà vu all over again.
⏩ The Yankees problem now is how to handle a crammed outfield. Expect Stanton to spend most of the season at DH with an outfield of Judge in right, Aaron Hicks in center and Brett Gardner in left. On days when Gary Sanchez needs a break from catching, he’ll DH with Stanton going to the outfield alongside Judge and Hicks/Gardner in center.
Clint Frazier’s days in the organization could be numbered, as he could fetch a much-needed pitcher via trade. Jacoby Ellsbury? He’s about to become the highest-paid pinch runner in the majors.
⏩ There’s no truth to the rumor the Yankees will install a second Jeter plaque in Monument Park for his contributions as a Marlins executive.
⏩ Or, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News tweeted, “Derek Jeter still clutch for the Yankees. Mr. December.”
⏩ Could there be a football game brewing between Yale and Georgia? Not Georgia State, Georgia Southern or the Georgia Clown and Barber College. We’re talking about the current SEC champs.
A new CPTV short film documents the old rivalry between the programs in the late 1920s and early 30s. Yale, still a national power in 1929, trekked down South to play the first game ever held at Georgia’s Sanford Stadium. As a way to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the iconic stadium, the documentary suggests a rematch for 2029, similar to Yale scheduling Army in 2014 for the 100th birthday celebration of the Yale Bowl.
Don’t hold your breath. Not yet, anyway. A Yale athletics spokesman said there’s been no discussion with Georgia about reviving the battle of Bulldogs. It’s an intriguing idea, though. Not from a competitive standpoint, of course, but for the historical significance and pure fun.
⏩ The Chiefs suspended Marcus Peters for Sunday’s game because he picked up a penalty flag and chucked it into the stands during last weekend’s loss to the Jets. We understand the decision. But on behalf of all football fans who spend each Sunday seething in their Barcaloungers over the proliferation of penalties called in the NFL these days, thank you, Mr. Peters. I only wish he’d first used it as a hankie.
⏩ As football continues to see lower ratings and more controversy, baseball continues its popularity resurgence. In the wake of a second straight spellbinding World Series, the hot stove is providing wonderfully compelling storylines through the offseason.
⏩ LeBron James is playing his 15th (!) NBA season. The exclamation point is because it seems like yesterday he was still in high school. And because he’s still only 32. There’s a lot of mileage on those young knees. But he’s still as great as ever.
⏩ Floyd Little was forced to cancel his visit to New Haven earlier this week when his wife became ill. The New Haven native and football Hall of Famer was scheduled to speak at Thursday’s New Haven Gridiron Club banquet. Little’s wife is expected to recover soon and he told committee members he’d like to return next year.
⏩ Another New Haven star was also forced to change plans this week. Former world light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson, trying to revive his career, suffered an undisclosed injury during training camp and canceled a fight scheduled for Saturday night in Florida.
⏩ Two more reasons to like George Springer, the New Britain boy still in the midst of his World Series MVP tour.
He told Bleacher Report he made a beer funnel out of the World Series trophy. We’re not sure exactly how one pulls that off without supplemental tubing. But, come on, if you’re in possession of a major sports trophy you can’t NOT use it to chug some form of alcohol. If I had the Stanley Cup for a night, I’d walk around the party holding it like a brandy snifter.
Also, Springer says he refuses to attach himself to his cell phone.
"That's how I am," he told Bleacher Report. "I'm an old-school guy. I'm one of the only guys now when I walk out of the door, I say goodbye to my fiancée and I won't talk to her until I get home. It's how we are. It's an old-school relationship. It's not behind a phone screen."
Amen.