With the door seemingly closed on the George Steinbrenner Era, it seems appropriate for a review of the Tampa shipbuilder’s time at the helm of baseball’s most storied team. George: The Poor Little Rich Boy Who Built The Yankee Empire promises “an exciting and compelling story well told,” and by and large, it delievers. And this is coming from a guy that would have celebrated in the streets had Al-Qaeda decided to crash a couple of planes into Yankee Stadium in April, in a manner of speaking.

Golenbeck’s well-researched book chronicles Steinbrenner’s days as a spoiled little ass growing up in Cleveland, his antics in the Air Force and as an assistant football coach, and ultimately his forays into sports ownership. Steinbrenner’s dickish ways were first on display as owner of the Cleveland Pipers of the old ABL, but would assume a more prominent stage in 1973, when he would lead a group of investors to buy the New York Yankees from CBS for $10 million, a paltry sum when one considers what the landmark franchise is worth today.

The meat of the book begins here, as Golenbeck chronicles Steinbrenner’s relentless tormenting of players, managers, and front office staff alike. The Billy Martin saga, The Dave Winfield contract, and his two suspensions from Major League Baseball are laid out–by the people that were there–in a way that may shatter your image of the guy that was so lovably parodied on “Seinfeld.” Golenbeck’s subject is nowhere near lovable, and the evidence might blow your mind. Read the rest of this entry »

I didn’t see Brüno, so I didn’t realize that this scene with Pete Rose didn’t make the final cut of the film. Rose is still banned from baseball, but apparently not banned from interactions with people pretending to be gay Austrians–or “faux-mos,”–if you will. I guess the studio released this clip to generate some buzz for the DVD release. Which studio? Great question. You go ahead and check that out and get back to me. –First Cuts.

San Francisco Giants pitcher and Alanis Morrisette lookalike Tim Lincecum was found in possession of marijuana after being pulled over in a routine traffic stop. Hey, there are a lot worse things than pot that you could put in your mouth. Dave Coulier, for instance.

Lincecum was pulled over for doing 74 in a 60-mph zone near the Washington-Oregon border and turned over 3.3 grams of the sticky when the cop on the scene detected the smell of it. But how did he know what pot smells like?

Lincecum, 25, entered a plea of not guilty through his attorney Monday, according to court records obtained by The Associated Press. He is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 22 and faces fines of $622 for the misdemeanor charges, police said.[..]

Giants spokesman Jim Moorehead said the team was “still gathering information and has no comment at this time.”

The San Jose Mercury News also points out that recreational drug use is not punishable under MLB’s current drug policy. I guess to be punished for that in baseball, his name has to be on some anonymous listed and then leaked to the New York Times in the dark corner of some parking garage. And yeah, I guess Lincecum doesn’t really look like Alanis.

The New York Yankees won their 27th World Series last night after beating the Phillies in Game 6 by a score of 7-3. Hideki Matsui decided to show the world that even one of the ugliest Japanese players to ever put on pinstripes can be a “true Yankee.” Matsui hit .615 for the series with three home runs and eight RBIs, including six last night. Oh, and he only played in three games because he was a DH.

“It’s awesome,” Matsui said through a translator. “Unbelievable. I’m surprised myself.”

“I guess it’s hard to make a comparison. When I was in Japan, that was the ultimate goal. Being here, winning the World Series, becoming world champions, that’s what you strive for here.” –Y! Sports.

Phillies slugger Chase Utley and his five series homers were making a case for the MVP award, but his 0-for-3 night certainly quashed his chance of being the second player ever to win the award while playing for the losing team.

So yeah, SportsCenter will be essentially unwatchable for non-Yankee fans over the next 24 hours. But if you’re not a Yankees fan, don’t fret. Because pitchers and catchers report in about six weeks. And no, “pitchers and catchers” was not meant as a gay euphemism, but if you are gay and that last sentence got you excited, then that’s my bad.

If you stuck it out for the duration of the Saints’ win over the Falcons last night, you were probably unsure whether you were watching the NFL or the NCAA Final Four. The last two minutes of that game seemingly took forever, littered by turnovers, a handful of booth reviews, and referee conferences where six seconds were taken off the clock, only to be put back on the clock after the following play.

I couldn’t help but think that MLB commissioner Bud Selig caught win of the multiple delays and thought to himself, This is exactly what we don’t want in baseball. And to be fair, baseball does seem to have more emphasis on flow than its staccatoed gridiron counterpart. Interruptions–and creating a specific avenue for them to happen more frequently–are a bit of a killjoy in baseball, unless there’s a cat on the field or a fight in the stands behind the home team’s dugout. Missed calls here or there, even as they’re magnified during the playoffs, aren’t the end of the world.

Anyone watching football last night realizes that the 15 minutes or so that it took to play out the end of that Monday Night game realizes that the NFL has no such margin for forgiveness. And whether they laid the eleven and a half with the Saints or were just hoping to boost Atlanta’s potential tiebreaker stats for playoff consideration, neither do its fans. And while it was irritating to sit between plays and wonder Dear God, when will this game ever end? at least the effort to get every call right was there. That’s more than we can say about baseball right now.

After Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee was held out from pitching on three days’ rest, he found himself behind the 8-ball in a game that his team had to win to continue the series. Lee answered the call, giving up only two runs over seven innings before loading the bases and getting yanked in the eighth as the Phillies won 8-6 and live to play another day as the World Series returns to Yankee Stadium.

Lee went 3-0 with a 0.54 ERA in his first four starts this postseason, which was the lowest ERA of any pitcher in a single postseason with 30 or more innings. He had allowed just two earned runs in 33 1/3 innings. He had allowed just 20 hits and three walks and had struck out 30. Opponents had hit just .171 against him. –MLB.com

Chase Utley also brought his whoopin’ stick, mashing his fourth and fifth homers of the series, which ties the record that Reggie Jackson set in 1977. Game 6 is Thursday, and the Phillies need to win two straight at Yankee Stadium to prevail. So if you had “Yankees in six,” good job.