BYB EXCLUSIVE: SQUEEGEE GETS REAL

Back in September, BYB gave you a great interview with Luigi Squeggee, it was a BYB EXCLUSIVE about his book Clubhouse Confidential. Luigi was part of the New York Yankees historic championship run and beyond as a clubhouse attendant, from 1998 to 2005. We thought it would be fun to talk with him about 1 particular story that stuck with me. No, it doesn’t have to do with Derek Jeter or Roger Clemens. It had to do with Tanyon Sturtze, a relief pitcher for the Yankees around the time Squeegee was with the team. In his BYB interview, Squeegee told us this about Tanyon:

Squeegee: The most humiliating thing was get thrown into a garbage can by Tanyon Sturtze! He was in a bad mood at the time but later apologized and we became good friends.

I wanted him to expand on that, and he was nice enough to do so:

Squeegee: "It was September of 2004 and the last home stand at the old Yankee Stadium before the playoffs. The team was heading for a road trip for three days. Tradition is what the Yankees live by so to keep tradition going, rookie dress-up day was in effect. This is fun because the rookies don’t know that we, the clubbies, take their clothes from their lockers during the game and replace it with costumes. There were four rookies that year and Rob Cucuzza had ordered an extra costume for Tanyon Sturtze, but Tanyon wasn’t a rookie. It was Rob and the player’s playing a prank on him. He had no idea about it. Tanyon had pitched in this game and gave up some runs he was intense. I knew this was a bad idea that was going to take a turn for the worst. After the game, I collected the hats from the players to place in the hat box, when I hear Tanyon say 'Are you kidding me?! I’m not wearing that!' Rob Cucuzza, ARod, and Giambi are laughing now. I was on the other end of the clubhouse getting a hat from Dioner Navarro while he’s dressed up in a Hooter’s outfit. We were laughing at the costume. He asked me how he looked and my response was 'no comment.'

As I walked back with the hats to the hat box I was still laughing. Sturtze walking the same way and heard me and said 'What the fuck are you laughing at?' He grabbed me and threw me into the garbage can behind the pillar in the clubhouse. I held onto his shirt and we were eye to eye when I think he realized he snapped, so he let go. I felt weird at the moment, it was awkward but he apologized. Later down the road, we were in Boston at a club where we became friends."

Nice, they squashed the beef.

I was also interested in Squeegee's love for David Cone. The reason is because I’ve heard from several people just how great Coney was as a person and teammate. Don’t forget, I asked Jack Curry in our exclusive with him (Read EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: JACK CURRY) and Curry said this of David Cone:

Jack Curry: "Cone was so approachable that his willingness to talk to players ended up helping his teammates. Since Cone was willing to deal with reporters and was very good at it, other players were allowed to avoid interviews."

Squeegee also likes Cone and said this in our first interview with him:

Squeegee: "My idol was David Cone because I also pitch and he symbolized the greatness of the sport to me. He was technically at the top of his game, and yet he had the friendliest personality and was always relaxed and willing to talk. When I warmed him up during his 1999 perfect game it was a real honor."

So I had to do it. I asked Squeegee to compare Coney to Alex Rodriguez. Was that fair? No, but this is what he told me:

Squeegee: “David Cone is my idol, favorite player, and a great leader in the clubhouse for the team. Win or lose he sat at his locker and answered questions from the media about his teammates. He had the charisma to smooth tension or media frenzy for his teammates. He was creative on and off the mound. To me that had created chemistry amongst everyone in the clubhouse, created “UNITY”. On the other hand, ARod divided the clubhouse, being there when ARod was a Yankee was interesting. He tried hard to fit in with the gang and to me, that was the biggest mistake he made. He went as far as having a personal assistant just for himself when there were nine clubbies. He wanted to be different and stand-out, attention is what he craved. David Cone would play catch during batting practice with me and converse with the clubbies. ARod wouldn’t even acknowledge we were in his presence. I respected the old school players.”

Yes, that was expected, but to be honest, it hits home more when you hear it from a guy like Squeegee, someone who's with these guys all the time. Anyway, I found that interesting.

Finally, and this is a Bleeding Yankee Blue Exclusive because Squeegee hasn’t talked about it publicly...It turns out that MLB Network has a new show and coincidentally it's titled “Clubhouse Confidential.” That's the same title as Squeegee’s book. Seriously MLB, you couldn't think creatively on your own? You had to steal a title from a guy trying to make a few bucks on his own? I found it to be shameful and I asked Luigi to tell me what he thought about it. This is what he said:

Squeegee: “I am a little upset with MLB network because the title of my book is Clubhouse Confidential and their show uses the same name. When you Google the name of the show the logo appears to be the same, as well. I was watching Game 6 of the World Series and a commercial came on then my phone rang. A friend, Mr. Oates, starts the phone call off by saying 'Go to the bathroom and splash water on your face.' I was confused and so I asked what he was talking about. Oates answered saying 'They have a show called Clubhouse Confidential now; if I didn’t see the commercial, I would’ve thought it was your show Luigi!'

I guess my book has made an impact on the game of baseball, not just the Yankees and I have to thank everyone who has supported the journey!”

You have to give Squeegee huge props. He’s never shied away from talking with Bleeding Yankee Blue and we consider him part of the BYB Family. Over the past few weeks we talked and really wanted to give the BYB readers something new and fun. We hope we satisfied you. By the way, buy Clubhouse Confidential. It’s a terrific read! Thanks again Squeegee.

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