DEFENDING RUSSELL MARTIN

I love the BYB readers.  You're not assholes.  You literally take what we say as opinion and express your own. We in turn, give you a thumbs up whether we agree or not. Why? Because, we're not haters here and you get that.  It's a dialog that you won't see anywhere else... we love that.

Today for instance we have a provocative piece by Mike O'Hara that can be considered a slam against Mark Teixeira. (Read  HEY TEX, IT'S NOT YOU, IT'S ME.) If you dig deeper, it's an opinion from Mike on his comparison to the Yankee first basemen he loves... and Mark, in his opinion, doesn't rise.  It's not wrong, it's his opinion.  We had some backlash, but for the most part, you guys respect us because we're not going to go all "social networking on your ass."  In short, thank you for having a difference of opinion but understanding what we're doing here at BYB.

This post wasn't about Tex though, it was about Russell Martin.  The other day he called the signing of Brian McCann and an "expensive mistake." It wasn't that that bothered me, it was that he was acting like a whiny bitch 2 years after he was in pinstripes.  To me personally, it's irrelevant and silly. But, it's a nugget, and so we brought it to you with MY opinion.  Luckily for us, the BYB writers are the smartest around and offered opinions backing Russell. Check it out... and thanks ladies and gentlemen:

"Not sure about this one. Don't see where he did or said anything wrong. Enjoyed his time as a Yankee, was sorry to see him go and now it's too late for anything said that matters. Hoping McCann will live up to the hype as everything he has said and done indicates he will do well with the Yankees." -- Sidney Koss

"I have to agree with Sidney on this one. What Russell said wasn't really all that outrageous, he simply felt that the yankees overplayed McCann. I can never bring myself to root against Russell, or really any player with the kind of hustle and determination he has. This isn't like we're talking about another person who left for more money but couldn't even manage a brisk jog to first base to save his own life." --Alex Colby

"Comment reads odd. He feels it was a mistake for the Yankees to pass on him and it was, given it was a 1 year deal and they flushed his salary on Youk and other flotsam so they could have a black hole behind the plate. His comments on McCann sound jumbled, which makes me think something is being taken out of context." -- Mister D

First off... I wish I legally changed my name to Mister D... but more importantly, here are some terrific comments in defense of Martin.  I had to share them and as far as the out of context part, you'd have to ask Brendan Kuty of the Star ledger about that.  He was there, he got the quotes and he printed it, we just lifted it and credited Kuty. If something's out of place, he would definitely know.

This post was just to remind you all that we have all sides here at BYB.  We love our Yankees, we root for the guys in pinstripes, Mark Teixeira included... but some of the guys aren't the same as the guys we favor... and that's OK too.

Thanks to all the BYB readers for being so great... keep up the awesome dialog... and hey, go buy something at the BYB store and support Bleeding Yankee Blue! Thanks!

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