YES, the Yankees and Murdoch—A Look Into the Future

Newscorp is closing in on a deal to purchase up to 49% of the YES Network—NY Times story.

After all those years of pure Yankees partisanship disguised as evenhanded sports news, it’s a relief that a trusted and historically non-partisan, fact-based entity such as Newscorp is buying into YES. Now, with the skillsets of Rupert Murdoch in installing qualified and reputable people to deliver fair and balanced dissemination of information, YES can become something other than the Yankees infomercial it’s been for its entire existence. Let’s look into the crystal ball of what to expect.

—

Say YES in the Morning with Meredith and John—6  to 10 AM

Meredith Marakovits and John Sterling bring you all the morning sports news with your coffee (and possibly a small shot of bourbon). Join Meredith and John as long as John is able to get up in the morning and clear the bleariness out of his head and eyes.

The audience wins. The….audience…..WWWWIIIIIINNNNNNSSSS!!!!!

The Emperor’s Lair with Jason Zillo—10 AM-11 AM

If you’re wondering what it’s like to be the gatekeeper to the Yankees Universe, wonder no more. Jason Zillo takes you on a tour of the Yankees from the all-seeing, all-knowing, guardian of the brand. From Derek Jeter’s lavish Tampa home to Alex Rodriguez’s star-studded dating history (he can give you a free baseball with his number on it), Zillo grants you, the audience, an audience.*

*Like the evil, all-powerful Anthony from the “It’s a Good Life” episode of the Twilight Zone, this is contingent on you only thinking good thoughts about the Yankees. He is the gatekeeper, after all.

Hank Steinbrenner Bloviates—11 AM-12 PM

With smoke coming out his his ears, nose, mouth and eyes—some of it cigarette related, some not; as well as imparting of baseball knowledge and irrational demands reminiscent of his late father emanating from his behind amid more smoke, Hank Steinbrenner asks, no, demands that you watch. And don’t change that channel.

The Daily National Anthem with Haley Swindal—12 PM-1 PM

You’re a patriot, aren’t you? Well, then you must enjoy Haley Swindal singing multiple renditions of The Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America, followed by stories about the adventures she’s experienced traveling around the world…singing The Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America. It’s a travel show unlike any you’ve ever seen!!

Mike’s On Simulcast—the Mike Francesa Show on WFAN 1 PM-6:30 PM (6 PM in-season)

A better Yankees apologist not officially working for YES you’ll never find. Francesa doesn’t bother with the inconveniences of journalism by deciding to interview or question the likes of Yankees GM Brian Cashman or manager Joe Girardi, he interacts with them providing insight and advice on players from Brandon Inge to Nate McLouth.

Of course Hiroki Kuroda’s going to take a 1-year deal to return to the Yankees!!! Of course he is!!! He prefers the West Coast? But don’t you wanna be a YANKEE?!?!

Watch Francesa drink endless buckets of Diet Coke, rant against the Mets with a faux passion diabolically disguised by raving, incomprehensible lunacy; see him cut Rex Ryan and the Jets down to size better than liposuction and stomach stapling; listen as he makes a difference (because it affected him) with LIPA.

And don’t you ever forget that Darrelle Revis committed pass interference on the doctor when he had knee surgery too.

—

During the baseball season

Yankees Pregame with Bob Lorenz, Nancy Newman and “analysts”—6 PM-7PM

If you’re looking for validation as to why the Yankees are the greatest thing ever-ever and will never lose but will only run out of innings, the search is over. The team of experts will provide you with a Machiavellian justification to explain away any lingering doubts that the Yankees might not actually be the only team to win a World Series in baseball history.

From April to late October (guaranteed)—Yankees Baseball 7 PM-10 PM

Yankees baseball from start to finish with zero objectivity and intelligent baseball wisdom delivered by the endless stream of broadcasters Michael Kay, Ken Singleton, David Cone, John Flaherty, Al Leiter, Mel Allen, Phil Rizzuto, Suzyn Waldman, Dwight Gooden, Mel Hall, Frank Messer, Denver Wieland, Kyle Hanratty, Dugan McPhasenot, Bell Corling, Deafness Matriculation and the rest of the crew!!

The Yankees Post-Game Show with Bob Lorenz

Detailed analysis of each game from how the opposing team wilted at the mere sight of the pinstripes and the all-encompassing nature of the Yankees aura, or explanations why the Yankees should have won and, in fact, did win even if they lost in that inconvenient “reality” of a completed game.

—

During the off-season

The Kay Factor—8 PM-9 PM

If you enjoy Michael Kay on CenterStage, you’ll certainly enjoy him in an edgier version of the previous incarnations of his show. Resplendent in leather, Kay will take the Mets to the woodshed; he’ll jab his finger in your face; he’ll threaten to punch Phil Mushnick!! With guests such as Joel Sherman, Dick Morris, Karl Rove, and Richard Gere(?), join Michael for a hard-hitting hour of sports news that’s sure to whet your appetite for chicken parm!

Curry—9 PM-10 PM

Don’t you dare question Jack Curry’s journalistic credibility. He’ll get the story from the PR department of the same organization for which he works and then throw a tantrum if ESPN reports it as well. Prepare to be Re-Tweeted and called a clown for an hour each weeknight if you’re not onboard the unstoppable Curry train!! It’s like Sean Hannity, only with less rationality and more self-indulgent tantrums.

Cash—10 PM-11 PM

Brian Cashman’s entire world is opened up for all to see. From the “obvious process” that goes into any and all decisions, to the “Big Hairy Monsters,” to the pitching development, to the trades, he’ll take you from Carl Pavano to Pedro Feliciano, from Joe Torre to Joe Girardi, from the Joba Rules to his exhilarating nightlife.

Prepare to be stalked with internal baseball knowledge (among other things) from a guy who works hard and plays hard!

The Randy Levine Revue—11 PM-Midnight

One part Dr. Phil, one part Oprah, one part Jim Henson, and one part Frank Caliendo, Randy Levine informs and entertains! With such guests as Rudy Giuliani, a puppet version of Torre in which Randy retorts in a different way each to night to Torre telling him to “Shut the bleep up!”, along with singing and dancing, Randy’s as talented as he is versatile.

—

If you thought the YES Network was the go-to place before with George Steinbrenner’s looming presence, you have no idea what’s coming. Prepare for the reckoning with Fox News and the YES Network joined together. You’ve always compared them. Now they are one. It had to happen. And finally, it is.

We all win.

Share|

//

Mike Francesa and Brian Cashman Share a Bowl of Lollipops

Mike Francesa had Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman as a guest yesterday on WFAN in New York and simulcast on YES and rather than conducting an evenhanded interview designed to ask legitimate questions as to why the team failed in its mandate of World Series or bust, it morphed into Francesa taking part in organizational meetings to plot the course for the 2013 club.

You can hear the interview here.

This was diametrically opposed to the antagonistic interviews Francesa has with the Mets’ GM Sandy Alderson (and in which he backs down immediately because he’s intimidated by Alderson) as to the state of the Mets. If the idea is that the Mets aren’t in the Yankees stratosphere, so they don’t get the same treatment, that also applies when the Yankees don’t achieve their designated preseason goal of winning a World Series.

If the Mets aren’t in the Yankees class and the comparison between the two organizations is the implied absurdity that Francesa and others suggest it is, then the playing field and reaction to the two teams should be different as well. When Francesa had his poorly acted, preplanned meltdown about the Mets, there was no logic; no reason; no viable explanation as to what he wanted them to do. By contrast, the expectations for the Yankees are the World Series. Period. This make it reasonable that such a reaction would ensue when they fall short.

If a person standing on the street was screaming in the manner Francesa did during that Mets lunacy, they would be arrested and shoved into a mental health facility for observation. Francesa does it on the radio and it’s a “passionate” display to “call out” the Mets organization.

What about the Yankees? When the Mets faltered in 2007-2008, Francesa ad nauseam stated that the team had to “break up the core.”

Do the Yankees have to break up the core? Is there any hard hitting honesty regarding Francesa’s preferred team? Or is he under the delusion that he’s an advisor to the GM and his suggestions and statements are taken seriously by Cashman that they should bring back Ichiro Suzuki; that it’s obvious that Raul Ibanez, Andy Pettitte, and Hiroki Kuroda will be back on 1-year deals? That there are no serious and uncomfortable questions to be asked of the Yankees GM?

During his Mets rant, Francesa tore into the Mets top pitching prospects Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler while knowing absolutely nothing about them. On the opposite end, when discussing the crown jewels of the Yankees farm system, specifically Manny Banuelos, he let Cashman saunter by without one word in opposition as to why the Yankees’ young pitchers have failed so consistently when they were propped up as the “future.”

Cashman’s flat-out insinuated that Banuelos’s Tommy John surgery was no big deal because of the “98% success rate” of the procedure. This left wide open the next question that should’ve been asked by an evenhanded analyst of why the Yankees pitchers, who were nurtured so stiflingly, have gotten hurt or not been very good time and again.

But Francesa didn’t ask about Banuelos. He didn’t question the pitching analysis or program, nor did he ask why, since Banuelos was hurt in May, they waited so long to make the decision for him to have surgery. The difference between the Mets and the Yankees pitching prospects is that the Mets pitching prospects are being allowed to pitch and develop, but the Yankees prospects such as Banuelos and Dellin Betances have provided nothing apart from hope and hype and yielding poor results and injury.

Where’s the screaming about that?

It’s highly likely that Francesa was unprepared to ask the question regarding Banuelos because he had no idea when the pitcher got hurt or the circumstances surrounding the surgery, which is an even bigger problem for the main voice on New York sports talk radio.

He asked about Michael Pineda—lollipop question without wondering what happened and why.

Banuelos and Betances—lollipop.

Alex Rodriguez—lollipop.

Jose Campos was mentioned and Francesa, after spending the entire spring talking about he was the “key” to the Pineda deal after Pineda got hurt, said nothing about him either. Again, he probably had no idea that Campos was hurt; nor an idea as to who or what he is, but that goes back to other issues of pure ignorance and arrogance.

Lollipop.

This interview could just as easily have been conducted in a think-tank style fashion on YES with Michael Kay, Meredith Marakovits, and Bob Lorenz lobbing softballs at the GM. The glaring difference is that Francesa is supposed to provide information rather than being a Yankees sycophant, while the YES people are there to promote the Yankees. This is another example of why Francesa needs a partner that is not a Yankees’ shill. Had Chris Russo been there, he would’ve functioned as an effective counterbalance/devil’s advocate/intentional agitator asking why the Yankees lost embarrassingly and demanded an answer. But that’s gone. Instead, we receive this: biased unreporting from a Yankees fan. If you want that, you can just listen to Michael Kay, watch YES, or go sit in a New York City bar. Or not pay any attention at all and come to your own conclusions because listening to a “state of the Yankees” such as this is a waste of time.

And being that waste of time is where Francesa is headed. Fast.

Share|

//