It's about time for Hank Steinbrenner to STFU.

[vols kick balls]

Yanks’ Wang expected to be out until September

By BEN WALKER, AP Baseball Writer

NEW YORK (AP)—Yankees ace Chien-Ming Wang is expected to be sidelined until at least September after injuring his foot running the bases, prompting club co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner to chastise the National League for playing without a designated hitter.

An examination in New York on Monday showed Wang partially tore a tendon and sprained his right foot Sunday during the Yankees’ 13-0 interleague win at Houston. He will be on crutches and wear a protective boot for a minimum of six weeks, the latest blow to the team’s banged-up pitching staff.

“My only message is simple. The National League needs to join the 21st century,” Steinbrenner said in Tampa, Fla. “They need to grow up and join the 21st century.

“Am I (mad) about it? Yes,” Steinbrenner added. “I’ve got my pitchers running the bases, and one of them gets hurt. He’s going to be out. I don’t like that, and it’s about time they address it. That was a rule from the 1800s.”

Making a rare appearance on the bases at an NL park, Wang pulled up rounding third and hobbled home on Derek Jeter’s single. Wang doubled over after scoring, pointed toward his right foot and was helped off the field.

“This is always a concern of American League teams when their pitchers have to run the bases and they’re not used to doing it,” Steinbrenner said. “It’s not just us. It’s everybody. It probably should be a concern for National League owners, general managers and managers when their pitchers run the bases. Pitchers have enough to do without having to do that.”

Wang is 8-2 with a 4.07 ERA in 15 starts after winning 19 games each of the last two seasons. The right-hander will join injured Yankees starters Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy on the disabled list.

New York reliever Brian Bruney has a similar injury to Wang’s and it is uncertain when he will return.

Steinbrenner said for now, the Yankees probably will have to look within the organization to find a replacement in the rotation for Wang. Right-hander Dan Giese is one possibility.

Several attractive pitchers, including Cleveland ace C.C. Sabathia, could become available as the July 31 trade deadlines approaches.

The Yankees were off Monday and start a series Tuesday night at home against San Diego. Their win in Houston kept them six games behind first-place Boston in the AL East.

The sinkerballing Wang has been the most consistent Yankees starter over the last couple of years.

Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte remain in the rotation, and Joba Chamberlain recently was converted from relieving to starting. Right-hander Darrell Rasner has been in a slump lately.

Wang was well on his way to helping the Yankees finish a three-game sweep in Houston when he was hurt. He’d pitched five strong innings, and scored during an eight-run burst in the sixth that put New York ahead 11-0.

Wang is 5-0 in seven road starts this season.

“It’s a manager’s worst nightmare when a pitcher’s on a basepath,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said after Sunday’s victory. “It’s unfortunate.”

After the game, Mussina summed up the problem that AL pitchers sometimes face at NL parks.

“We don’t hit, we don’t run the bases,” Mussina said. “You get four or five at-bats a year at most, and if you happen to get on base once or twice, you never know. We run in straight lines most of the time. Turning corners, you just don’t do that.”

Is it just me or is Hank Steinbrenner a moron?

[doozer]

the Boss Jr makes morons seem intelligent by comparison. just because you ride daddy's coattails through life doesn't mean you need to shoot your mouth off every chance you get.

[Vercingetorix]

[UTLCA]

First of all you need to realize Hank is a jackass, No.1.

Second, if you can't run around the bases injury-free then you do not have my sympathy.

Third, losing Wang sucks, alot. And I really hope we don't deal top prospects for a one hit wonder like Sabathia, If we deal for him that only compounds the problem. It looks like it's time for Giese to provide a stopgap for 2 weeks and Kennedy to assume the role he should have in the first place.

[Business]

Tool.

[The Dude]

Wow, Mussina mangages to make baserunning sound like some sort of Olympic event or something.

[Vercingetorix]

Maybe Steinbrenner will start a movement now to end interleague play. I'd certainly like to see that.

[UTLCA]

Big Stein had always hated the interleague. Looks like the next generation feels the same.

I kind of like it.

[OrangeWilly]

I Fn hate the DH...its not real baseball IMO.

Hank is an idiot that has been rich his entire life and has no grasp on reality. If a man cannot run the bases without injuring himself then he shouldn't be on the field in the first place.

One more reason to absolutely despise the yankees.

[UTLCA]

Because he is for the DH in both leagues?

Geez. It's just an opinion.

[Vercingetorix]

Originally Posted by UTLCA

Big Stein had always hated the interleague. Looks like the next generation feels the same.

I kind of like it.

I'm enough of a traditionalist to where interleague play annoys me from that standpoint a little, but my real objection to it is mostly what it's done to the schedule. Carving out 15 interleague games a year means that you end up playing only two series a year against most of the teams in your own league. The Braves only make one trip out to play the West Coast teams a year now; I don't like it. I'd a lot rather see them make two trips to LA, two trips to Wrigley, etc. -- against teams that mean something to me as a NL fan -- than see them play these pointless games against the Rangers, the Mariners, etc.

Not to mention that there's a fairness issue, since you don't play the same schedule that your rivals do. The Mets have to play six games against the Yankees this year and the Marlins six games against the Rays, but the Braves and Phillies each get a series against the Blue Jays. Worse is what it does to the wild card race -- when most of a entire division sucks, as the NL West and AL Central do this year, then teams who play that division in interleague play have an advantage over teams that have to play, say, the AL East. I don't like it.

[Vercingetorix]

Originally Posted by UTLCA

Because he is for the DH in both leagues?

Geez. It's just an opinion.

Steinbrenner Jr has run his mouth in the press enough already about a broad enough range of subjects that I think it's fair to start launching on him. If he were just for the DH in both leagues, that would be one thing, but of course he didn't stop there. When you start spouting off crap like "the NL needs to grow up"; baseball needs to "address this soon"; etc. etc., then you're veering well over into blowhard territory.

[UTLCA]

I just like seeing teams play a differing schedule every year, getting a taste of star players we don't normally see.

You and everyone else who feels differently have a fair point and I understand it. But, I don't think it really has affected any teams to the point of missing the playoffs yet.

[UTLCA]

I wouldn't get too up in arms about something you'd never see unless it was brought to your attention.

I mean I'm a fanatical Yankees fan and this was the first I saw of it.

[vols kick balls]

“My only message is simple. The National League needs to join the 21st century,” Steinbrenner said in Tampa, Fla. “They need to grow up and join the 21st century.

“Am I (mad) about it? Yes,” Steinbrenner added. “I’ve got my pitchers running the bases, and one of them gets hurt. He’s going to be out. I don’t like that, and it’s about time they address it. That was a rule from the 1800s.”

I would just like to point this little bit out about the article. Does he not realize that 98% of the rules in baseball are from the 1800s?

Maybe the AL needs to go back to playing baseball the way it was meant to be played.