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CLEARWATER, Fla. - Decided yesterday to take a break from A-Rod's tired WBC foibles and Gary Sheffield's latest goofy contract miscommunication with the Yankees to pay a visit to old friend Tom (Flash) Gordon across the bay in the Phillies camp.
At least I thought of him as an old friend, but as I approached, Flash had a news flash: New York media, approach at your own risk. You're no friends of his.
"I don't want to hear about you guys missing me," Gordon said. "That's a lot of --- after all the abuse I took from you. You guys wanted Farnsworth? You got him!"
Okaaaay, I thought. This is really going to go well.
I confessed that I wasn't aware of the degree of his contempt for the New York media. For the most part, it appeared he was treated pretty well, primarily because, for the most part, he pitched pretty well. In fact, you could make the case he was far and away the best setup man Mariano Rivera has had in his nine years as Yankee closer. Oh sure, there was that one unfortunate story, never substantiated, about him allegedly throwing up in the bullpen during the 2004 ALCS against the Red Sox.
Otherwise, however, it seemed Gordon pretty much toiled in the sort of anonymity that is endemic to being a setup reliever. So where was all this coming from?
"There was a headline," Gordon said. "'Not so Terrific Tom' and it prompted all kinds of abuse. I've been called everything in this game. I've even heard (N-word) a couple of times, too. Then, after that headline, I was in the city with my kids and this fan comes up to me and says: 'You're worthless!' How would you like to be told that? In front of your kids!
"No player deserves that. But, if nothing else, it made me stronger."
He had a point, I suppose. But rather than feigning innocence (I couldn't swear for sure it wasn't this newspaper) or espousing the age-old newspaperman's defense in these sort of tempests with players ("We don't write the headlines"), I decided to press on with him by changing the direction of the conversation.
"Do you have equally no use for the Yankees?" I asked.
"No way," Gordon replied. "I have nothing but respect for the Yankee organization and all it stands for, and nothing but good memories of everything that happened while I was there. My only regret was we didn't win a world championship. Being a Yankee was something I wanted to live. I wanted to wear the pinstripes and be part of the most historic franchise in baseball and be able to tell my kids about it."
He left, he said, (while seemingly beginning to calm down) not because the media drove him out in favor of Kyle Farnsworth, but because he wanted a chance to close again. As it turned out, the Yankees, after initially saying they weren't prepared to go beyond one year to retain Gordon, told his agent they'd be willing to give him the same $17million three-year deal they were about to offer Farnsworth. But by then the Phillies were already in with Gordon at three years, $18 million to be their closer. For him to stay, the agent told them, the Yankees would have to better that - which they declined to do.
"I'll always be impressed with how that organization operates, seeing how those guys come together the way they do in New York," Gordon said. "When it's time to play, they play hard. That's why I thought it was unfair how the media treated me after we lost (to the Red Sox in the '04 ALCS). It could have been handled differently.
"Yeah, we lost, but for my kids to have to listen to that....I had to carry that with me. There were 24 other guys out there. I don't think it was all me. I gave that team everything I had."
Actually, it is for that reason there are questions - and not just from the media, Flash - as to how much he has left, at age 38, after the enormous work load he was given by Joe Torre in his two years as a Yankee. Phillies GM Pat Gillick has privately admitted he was very reluctant to offer Gordon three years but, after losing Billy Wagner to the Mets, had no choice in the depleted relievers market.
Resuming his feisty stance, Gordon said, if anything, his set-up work load with the Yankees enabled him to prepare himself for being a closer again.
"Working with Mariano, we developed kind of a bond," Gordon said. "I call him all the time and I will continue to call him all during the season. We're brothers. Mostly, I learned that Mariano prepares for 162 ballgames, while I prepared for 130. How he motivates himself contributed in making my decision in going back to closing. I learned from the best of all time."
But does he also realize that the scrutiny is far greater on closers than the setup men whose failures often go overlooked?
"I have to have thick skin," Gordon said. "I know that."
He smiled as he said it and I smiled back.
"Hey, I want to thank you for letting me get all this off my chest," Gordon said. "I needed this."
"Anytime, Flash," I said, "after all, what are friends for?"
Got this from another site.
Im a little surprised by this
At least I thought of him as an old friend, but as I approached, Flash had a news flash: New York media, approach at your own risk. You're no friends of his.
"I don't want to hear about you guys missing me," Gordon said. "That's a lot of --- after all the abuse I took from you. You guys wanted Farnsworth? You got him!"
Okaaaay, I thought. This is really going to go well.
I confessed that I wasn't aware of the degree of his contempt for the New York media. For the most part, it appeared he was treated pretty well, primarily because, for the most part, he pitched pretty well. In fact, you could make the case he was far and away the best setup man Mariano Rivera has had in his nine years as Yankee closer. Oh sure, there was that one unfortunate story, never substantiated, about him allegedly throwing up in the bullpen during the 2004 ALCS against the Red Sox.
Otherwise, however, it seemed Gordon pretty much toiled in the sort of anonymity that is endemic to being a setup reliever. So where was all this coming from?
"There was a headline," Gordon said. "'Not so Terrific Tom' and it prompted all kinds of abuse. I've been called everything in this game. I've even heard (N-word) a couple of times, too. Then, after that headline, I was in the city with my kids and this fan comes up to me and says: 'You're worthless!' How would you like to be told that? In front of your kids!
"No player deserves that. But, if nothing else, it made me stronger."
He had a point, I suppose. But rather than feigning innocence (I couldn't swear for sure it wasn't this newspaper) or espousing the age-old newspaperman's defense in these sort of tempests with players ("We don't write the headlines"), I decided to press on with him by changing the direction of the conversation.
"Do you have equally no use for the Yankees?" I asked.
"No way," Gordon replied. "I have nothing but respect for the Yankee organization and all it stands for, and nothing but good memories of everything that happened while I was there. My only regret was we didn't win a world championship. Being a Yankee was something I wanted to live. I wanted to wear the pinstripes and be part of the most historic franchise in baseball and be able to tell my kids about it."
He left, he said, (while seemingly beginning to calm down) not because the media drove him out in favor of Kyle Farnsworth, but because he wanted a chance to close again. As it turned out, the Yankees, after initially saying they weren't prepared to go beyond one year to retain Gordon, told his agent they'd be willing to give him the same $17million three-year deal they were about to offer Farnsworth. But by then the Phillies were already in with Gordon at three years, $18 million to be their closer. For him to stay, the agent told them, the Yankees would have to better that - which they declined to do.
"I'll always be impressed with how that organization operates, seeing how those guys come together the way they do in New York," Gordon said. "When it's time to play, they play hard. That's why I thought it was unfair how the media treated me after we lost (to the Red Sox in the '04 ALCS). It could have been handled differently.
"Yeah, we lost, but for my kids to have to listen to that....I had to carry that with me. There were 24 other guys out there. I don't think it was all me. I gave that team everything I had."
Actually, it is for that reason there are questions - and not just from the media, Flash - as to how much he has left, at age 38, after the enormous work load he was given by Joe Torre in his two years as a Yankee. Phillies GM Pat Gillick has privately admitted he was very reluctant to offer Gordon three years but, after losing Billy Wagner to the Mets, had no choice in the depleted relievers market.
Resuming his feisty stance, Gordon said, if anything, his set-up work load with the Yankees enabled him to prepare himself for being a closer again.
"Working with Mariano, we developed kind of a bond," Gordon said. "I call him all the time and I will continue to call him all during the season. We're brothers. Mostly, I learned that Mariano prepares for 162 ballgames, while I prepared for 130. How he motivates himself contributed in making my decision in going back to closing. I learned from the best of all time."
But does he also realize that the scrutiny is far greater on closers than the setup men whose failures often go overlooked?
"I have to have thick skin," Gordon said. "I know that."
He smiled as he said it and I smiled back.
"Hey, I want to thank you for letting me get all this off my chest," Gordon said. "I needed this."
"Anytime, Flash," I said, "after all, what are friends for?"
Got this from another site.
Im a little surprised by this
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