CARLOS RODON HAS BECOME A TRUE YANKEE LEADER

Carlos Rodón’s Yankee story has been nothing short of a redemption tour. When he first landed in the Bronx, the lefty looked like he couldn’t throw a strike if the strike zone was the size of Yankee Stadium. But fast-forward to now, and he’s turned into exactly what the Yankees paid for: an ace with bite on the mound and leadership in the clubhouse.

That transformation makes it fitting that Rodón is the Yankees’ 2025 nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, baseball’s annual honor recognizing players who go above and beyond—both on the field and in the community.

Together with his wife, Ashley, Rodón launched the Rodón Foundation, which supports couples navigating pregnancy complications and infertility. One of their biggest initiatives is the “Willow Grant,” named for their daughter, which provides $10,000 to $20,000 annually to 25 couples still fighting for their dream of starting a family after enduring miscarriages or pregnancy loss.

And it’s not just check-writing philanthropy—Rodón also rolls up his sleeves. Back in June, he volunteered at Bottomless Closet in New York City, an organization that helps women in difficult financial situations prepare to enter the workforce.

The Yankees have a strong track record with this award: Aaron Judge brought it home in 2023, Derek Jeter in 2009, while Ron Guidry and Don Baylor earned the honor back in the mid-80s. Rodón now carries that torch, showing he’s not just a comeback story on the mound—he’s the kind of player Clemente himself would have been proud of.

I have always believed that Rodon would be a stud in the Bronx, and I am thrilled to see that he is having such a great personal season but now getting this nod. It's refreshing.

WHEN THE BYB YANKEE FAMILY SPEAKS

Plenty of reaction to my post BEING A FAN WHEN YOU HAVE NO FAITH over the past 24 hours. I did not expect that. 

I'm fine. I'm not suicidal... I'm frustrated and I've lost the heart for my team right now.  Will BYB end? I've seriously considered it. There's only so many different ways you can write that the Yankees leadership has failed us fans.  You gotta appreciate Suzie Pinstripe's post today titled: YANKEES WIN NEW AWARDS... read it. It's about being a true Yankee fan and her mom's perfect words.  That mindset is beautiful.  

But fandom is really an individual thing and the idea of me writing about frustration for my team every day just seems manic and painful.  What's the point?  I did get some advice from many readers saying "See how the season plays out" and "this space won't be the same if you're gone" and that's fair and nice of everyone. I mean, I'll always be a "fan", I just wouldn't be presenting my heart's true feelings for my team every day.  

I did have one reader on Facebook write "It's OK to go away."  Trust me, you don't hurt my feelings with your 200 friends, pal.  You don't stick around in cyberspace since September 2010 if you weren't relevant.  Bleeding Yankee Blue is still here cause we have alot to say and we don't hold back... you still have those 200 friends. Have fun with that.  

But look, ultimately it comes down to the Yankees, right? We're all annoyed, frustrated, happy, concerned, hopeful... insert the word here.  I've always had the approach that it it's how I feel that moment and write about it. That is where I am and have been for months. the Yankees front office and leadership is awful.  They lie to the fans; they don't make true significant changes and a lot needs to change but won't.  We've all been fooled once again.  

And so yea, my problem is I feel this way every day when it comes to my team... that's just me.  But look, I am thankful for the notes and comments and rally cry to keep Bleeding Yankee Blue going.  I haven't truly decided yet.  We will see.  

In the meantime, I wanted to share this heartfelt fan's email.  His name is Rob, and he is a Yankee fan true and true and wrote this to me. I asked him to share it with our audience and he said sure... so here it is.  Thanks Rob

Hey Folks:

I'm not saying you're wrong about Marcus Stroman, but I am saying you might be.

Free agency has upset old notions of team loyalty, and the age of social media magnifies a lot of stuff. Like the NBA or a fight, there's a lot of hype on social media that should be taken with a grain of salt. One could even say that Stroman's brashness will help him in Da' Bronx. (It did wonders for Reggie Jackson, who never loved the Yankees but loved being the straw...)

I might remind you that some very significant Yankees in their day used to lambaste the team. Roger Clemens hated the Yankees–until he came to love them. Ditto Wade Boggs, Johnny Damon, Graig Nettles, and David Cone to name a few others.

There are, of course, players who came to town that hated it and did better elsewhere: Kevin Brown, Ed Whitson, Kyle Farnsworth, Sonny Gray, A. J. Burnett, Carl Pavano, Rick Cerone, Don Baylor. Jacoby Ellsbury never really fit in either and I sincerely wonder about Carlos Rodon.

But agents, GMs, and money talk these days. Jordan Montgomery prefers to stay in Texas, but do you think he'd love the Yankees again if they made him an offer that he & Scott Boras couldn't refuse?

For the record, I've never been a huge fan of Stroman, but if you ask me if I think he'll be better than Rodon or Schmidt, yeah, I do. I also think Cashman has worn out his welcome.

But if Hal's money was mine, I'd make that can't-refuse-offer to Montgomery. That's WAY better than dumping out the minors for Dylan Cease.


Cheers,
Rob


P.S. My MA residency notwithstanding, I've been a Yankees fan since the days of Mickey Mantle.

Sometimes you need an outside perspective to make you understand where we've been and where we need to go. Everything Rob said came back to me like a rush. He's right. He's right in many examples. Let's hope stuff like this can reset my mind and refresh me as we are walking into spring training. Great letter, Rob.... we appreciate you here at BYB.


Happy Sunday everyone. Make today great. Keep truckin'.

--Robert Casey
Bleeding Yankee Blue Chief
Twitter: @bleednyankeeblu

YANKEES DUMP OTTAVINO TO THE RED SOX

And now it's pretty positive that Adam Ottavino is the best damn reliver the Red Sox have. No question actually. Yup... it's rare, but it does happen. The Yankees and the Sox have made trades before.

In 2014, it was Red Sox receiving Kelly Johnson and the Yankees getting Stephen Drew and cash.

In 1994 the Red Sox got money in the Scott Bankhead deal. 

In 1986, the Red Sox got DH Don Baylor and the Yankees got DH Mike Easler.

And it happened several times before that. all the way back to Babe Ruth.  So yeah... it doesn't happen a lot, but it does happen.  

But the biggest concern I and several others have is that we hope that Ottavino doesn't suddenly become a superstar and this trade screws us down the road. I guess you have to roll the dice on it.

Anyway... NJ.com writes:

"Ottavino was 2-3 with a 5.89 ERA in 24 appearances with the Yankees in 2020. He was stellar for most of the 2019 season, his first in a three-year, $27 million deal, but had a rough September and terrible postseason.

With most of Ottavino’s salary off the books, Cashman will be able to add one or two more significant pieces and stay under this year’s $210 million luxury-tax threshold."

So there you have it... Ottavino... GONZO. And life moves on.

DON BAYLOR IS DEAD

Sometimes you just assume certain people will live forever.  For me, that was Don Baylor.

I was saddened today to learn of Baylor's passing.  He was one of the good ones when it came to him on the Yankees and in baseball in general. Everyone liked him. I always liked him.  Today, Don Baylor is dead.

The New York Daily News writes this:

"Strong, tough, honest, kind.

Don Baylor, who finally surrendered Monday to the bone cancer that came back to plague him in 2014, 11 years after he was first diagnosed with it, was the rare combination of all those attributes. There wasn’t a stronger man in all of baseball in the 45 years he graced the game as a premier slugger, manager and respected batting coach. Nor was there a tougher competitor, or a more honest and kinder person with the media.

Baylor’s death came a day after longtime Phillies All-Star catcher Darren Daulton also succumbed from a long battle with brain cancer."

It's true. Another pro passed away. That's right, Darren Daulton... 'Dutch'. A tough Phillies player and another piece of my childhood gone.  Crazy.

My favorite quote about Baylor though, comes from Stick Michael who said this of Don:

“This was back in the ‘70s when I was with the Yankees and Donny was with the Orioles. I was playing second base instead of shortstop when the ball was hit to (Graig) Nettles at third, who bobbled it, prompting a late throw to me. Here was Baylor barreling down on me and he slid right through me! I turned around he was about three feet past the bag but the umpire called him safe. So I took after him and tagged him out, only to have Donny grab my arm like a vice. He later said he thought I was coming after him to fight him, but I never felt a grip so strong.”

Everything I always heard about Baylor was he was strong as nails, but the nicest guy you'd ever meet.

It's a bad day all together.  It's pouring in the Northeast, my workday stunk on ice, and a great baseball player and New York Yankee has died.

Rest in Peace old friend.  Thanks for being part of my childhood.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: BILLY SAMPLE

I love and respect the grind.  I know it's hard to make it to the major leagues and stay there and I admire many of the great ball players past, present and future for being able to make it and stay along as long as they have and will.  When I was growing up, there were many guys that played the game with the same club for a long time.  There were others, that as a Yankee fan, you wanted on your club, be it because of their talent, scrappiness, toughness, whatever it was.  One of those guys that I always admired was Billy Sample. 

Now, full disclosure; Once my first son was born, I made it a mission of mine to send out baseball cards to players present and past to get their autographs. The goal was to give each of my kids a binder full of baseball card autographs when they were old enough to enjoy it and understand the game. It was something I did as a kid, and something I hoped to pass onto them. One of those players was Billy Sample, and for a short time, we wrote letters back and forth to each other.  He answered my questions openly. He was, and is, a great, honest man and we became "friends"... in my head.  Now, years later, we met up again, this time because of a movie he put together called Reunion 108.

I recently wrote A SAMPLE OF BILLY SAMPLE. I wanted to share my recent connection with the BYB audience, an audience that didn't exist when I started my baseball card collection for my children. Now, these days, it nice to tell the stories to our audience, and so, when I asked Billy to do an interview with us, he agreed, and I was thrilled.

So here it is. A great interview with a smart baseball mind, a former pro baseball player, a movie maker and my friend, Mr. Billy Sample. Enjoy this ladies and gentlemen... I sure did:

BYB: Mr. Sample, you played 1 season with the Yankees, 1985. Tell the audience about playing for Billy Martin.

Billy Sample: In my opinion and that of others, Billy was a tremendous tactician, and he played an aggressive, small ball type of game.  Not that he shunned the three run homer, but he would force pressure on the defense by maximizing the smaller parts of the offense.

BYB: What teammates were you close with on that '85 Yankees team and why?

(In Photo: Don Baylor)

Billy Sample: By nature I am not a close, "makes friends" type of person.  I dressed on the side of the room with Andre Robertson, Don Baylor and Ken Griffey Sr., so I probably conversed more with them during the day than most.  

Ken Sr., had a fifteen year old son, who turned out to be a pretty good ballplayer too.

BYB: Yogi Berra was also your manager for 16 games in 1985. What was he like in a setting like that?

Billy Sample: Yogi was and is a super respected person.  Similar to what the public sees, he has a very easy demeanor with an understated humor.

BYB: I followed your career before the Yankees, when you were with the Rangers.  Tell me about your experience in baseball back then in Texas. What is your fondest memory of playing there?

Billy Sample: From Texas, I just remember the heat, oppressive temperatures. It was hard to maintain weight and energy. I believe one year we had forty-three consecutive days of over a hundred degrees.  The newer stadium, with its better infrastructure can shield the players better than the minor league stadium that the team inherited after its move from Washington

BYB: Growing up, who did you idolize in baseball and why?

Billy Sample: I didn't have any baseball idols growing up.  My models were people of whom I had interacted; like teachers, Cub scout leaders, coaches, etc.  I did admire the quiet dignity of Roy White. 

When I was traded to the Yankees, while Roy was in some front office capacity, I called him to my locker one day as he was walking through the clubhouse and told him. He didn't believe me... ha ha.

BYB: You shared a great nugget about Don Zimmer recently and we printed it on Bleeding Yankee Blue. Any other stories you want to share about the great Mr. Zimmer?

Billy Sample: Rangers' management had decided to replace Don Zimmer mid-way through the 1982 season, but as this was happening, Amon Carter, one of the minority owners of the club, died unexpectedly.  Owner Eddie Chiles didn't want the firing of Don to overshadow the homage paid to recently departed part owner, so he asked the manager to stay on through the weekend, even though he had been unofficially fired. Let's just say that press conference after the weekend was priceless.

Post by Reunion 108.

BYB: We recently chatted about the movie "Reunion 108" you put together.  Tell me about it, I'm sure the BYB audience would love to hear about it.

Billy Sample: I wrote a script. It's an edgy, satirical, R-rated comedy with a baseball clubhouse backdrop.  I submitted it to the Hoboken Film Festival and it took top honors in it's category and then I decided to produce it.  The jury is still out on that decision, but it's what I wanted, and now I have the task of getting it into as many theaters as possible and educate the audiences while eliciting quite a few laughs.

BYB: Is making movies something that you always had in the back of your mind, even when you were a major league ballplayer?

Billy Sample: No, not at all. I thought about journalism from time to time, but never thought about a movie during my playing days.  I doubt if making a movie even entered my mine before the last five years or so.

BYB: Billy, who was the 1 pitcher that you hated to face the most and why?

Billy Sample: I had trouble with a number of pitchers; Shane Rawley, Dave Stieb, Neal Heaton, Paul Splittorff, Jack Morris, Sammy Stewart. How did I stay in the league? Ha ha.  However, the late Tom Underwood and I both knew that I had trouble with him.   Once I got a cheap infield hit off of him in Baltimore. He with the Orioles and me with the Yankees. We both nodded because that's the only hit I remember getting off of him.  Officially I was 2 for 21 off of him.

BYB: Finally... anything you want to say to Bleeding Yankee Blue?

Billy Sample: Continued success with Bleeding Yankee Blue.

Thank you Mr. Sample, and all the best to you sir.  I would like to help promote Reunion 108 right now ladies and gentlemen.  Billy Sample is on Facebook.

I suggest you reach out to him.  Tell him you want to help him promote his film.  It's takes alot of courage and confidence to step out into a brand new field after baseball, but Mr. Sample is doing it, and I tip my cap.

I truly appreciate Mr. Sample taking the time.  And Billy, if you need anything, you reach out to us at BYB. You are now, officially, part of the Bleeding Yankee Blue family.

You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!

BUONA PASQUA!

Okay, it's a few weeks early for that. But when Yankee fans hear "Pasqua", of course they think of Dan Pasqua. There was a special feel for the Yankees of the 1980’s – where the hits and home runs were more valuable than the fastball and strikeout. I feel a personal attachment to some of the names of that time, and Pasqua was no exception. He came out of the Yankee farm system as a young power-hitting phenom, and he made strong early impressions.

In his first major league game, manager Billy Martin put him in the lineup in the sixth spot. Clearly, he had confidence that this 23-year-old could hit for power. He rounded out the heart of the lineup that read Don Mattingly, Dave Winfield, Don Baylor, and Dan Pasqua. He did not betray his manager’s confidence. In the 5th inning of the game, he drove a ball deep into the right field seats for his first major league hit and home run. He ended up playing 60 games that season, with 166 plate appearances and 9 home runs.

He ended up playing two more seasons with the Yankees. In his time here, he played in 275 games and hit 42 homers in 860 plate appearances – about one home run per 20 plate appearances. He had a batting average of .251 and OPS of .805, which is impressive even by today’s standards. His play in the corner outfields and first base yielded only four errors in his three seasons on the Yankees’ roster.

It was a sad day on November 12, 1987, when I picked up the paper and read that the Yankees traded him, along with pitcher Steve Rosenberg and catcher Mark Salas, to the White Sox for Scott Nielsen and Richard Dotson. By that point, the Yankees realized that poor pitching did not yield much success over 162 games, so they traded some power for some pitching. It is too bad that they did not get much pitching. Dotson, who was past his prime, had a combined 5.13 ERA over 2 seasons with the Yankees. Nielsen’s career 5.49 ERA tells you what you need to know about him.

Pasqua went on to play seven seasons with the Chicago White Sox, before calling it quits early in the 1994 season. He went on to start his own construction company, and later reconnected with the White Sox for various projects (read HERE).  To those of us who remember him in pinstripes, he is a beloved member of the Hall of Bad 80’s Yankees Trades, where he keeps company with Doug Drabek, Jose Rijo, Al Leiter, and many others.

He was a great player, with good power and a good glove, and a guy we all missed as a Yankee.

Also, you can read a very OLD BYB post about Pasqua here... check out: WHY I ROOT FOR THE ITALIANS from June of 2011.

--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row

You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: ROY SMALLEY

I'm a sucker for helping others. I appreciate when people take a moment, organize and get help to people in need.  That's why I have written about Yankees like Paul O'Neill, promoting his Right Field Charities, David & Erin Robertson's High Socks for Hope, Ty Hensley, a young Yankee prospect with an important cause... suicide prevention (HERE) and now, something special again. It’s called Pitch In for Baseball, a foundation run by former New York Yankee shortstop Roy Smalley. When I read about Roy's cause to help get all kinds of donations to victims of Hurricane Sandy, I just needed to pick his brain and find out exactly what he wanted to accomplish. It turns out his foundation raised over $150,000 worth of baseball equipment for those kids in the New York and New Jersey areas affected by that storm, a huge accomplishment.  I’m happy to say I was moved and I’m a big fan of Roy Smalley’s now… you should be too.  Here it is, Bleeding Yankee Blue’s interview with Roy Smalley. Enjoy this, I did…

BYB: Mr. Smalley, tell me about Pitch In for Baseball. What is your mission and tell us also about your latest crusade to help the victims of Hurricane?

Roy Smalley: Our mission, to put it simply is to put baseball equipment in the hands of kids who want to play ball but don’t have the resources to do so.  We source new and gently used baseball and softball equipment and distribute it to youth baseball organizations and communities in need.  We accomplish this through equipment and cash donations from individuals and organizations everywhere.  Our recipients include underprivileged and under served communities and those affected by natural disasters.  For example, we have donated equipment to RBI Programs (Reviving Baseball in the Inner City) across the country, to school districts impacted by budget cuts and to Park and Recreation departments in under served areas.  We have re-supplied baseball equipment as part of disaster relief to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Ike, tornadoes that decimated Joplin, Mo and Henryville, In, and the Tsunami that hit Japan.  Our current project is our largest and most challenging in our eight-year history.  We will re-supply equipment to over 5,000 kids in New Jersey and New York who lost everything in Hurricane Sandy.  This effort has already begun with deliveries to Island Park, Rockaway, East Rockaway and Bayonne to name a few.  We have received requests recently from Jersey City and Staten Island as well.  It is a huge effort for us and will ultimately require substantially more in the way of equipment and financial contributions from generous donors out there who would like to help.  We see the happiness on the faces of the kids and the relief on their parents faces knowing that their kids are returning to some sense of normalcy—their baseball season—when normal has seemed impossibly far away.  We know what we and our supporters are doing is very important.

BYB:  Truth be told, I loved it when you were with the Yankees. As a kid who wanted to one day play shortstop for the Yankees myself, I appreciated you there in that position in 1982. Tell me how different it was playing in the Bronx compared to Minnesota with the Twins?

Roy Smalley: Playing shortstop in New York was a phenomenal experience.  The biggest difference between playing for the Yankees and the Twins was the intensity and notoriety that comes from playing for the Yankees.  Everything about the Yankees is hyper-intensity, the fans, the media. It was different compared to Minnesota.

BYB: As an athlete, did you always want to play baseball? If so, did your dad playing have everything to do with that?

(In Photo: Roy Smalley, 1953)
Roy Smalley:  I played all sports growing up, but I started on a mission to play major league baseball when I was 5 years old.  Idolizing my dad had a lot to do with that early on, but he never pushed me into it.  It became clear to me by high school that baseball was the sport in which I had the best chance to have an athletic career.

BYB: As a kid, who did you idolize in baseball besides your dad?

(In Photo: Gene Mauch)
Roy Smalley:  My uncle was Gene Mauch who was like a second father to me.  I also pretty much idolized all big league players.  I was drawn to shortstops, of course, but I’ve always loved and studied great hitters.  For me, that started with Ted Williams and Stan Musial and went through Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Frank Robinson, Oliva, Yaz, Yogi... you get the idea.

BYB:  What was the best part about playing for Billy Martin?

Roy Smalley: Well, I first played for Billy in 1975. He was my first big league manager.  What a way to break in!  By the time I played for him again with the Yankees, I was a pretty established player so the day to day intensity he drew wasn’t as big a deal to me.  I was able to enjoy a really first rate tactical manager.

BYB: While on the Yankees, who was your favorite teammate, or, who did you like hanging with, training with, etc?

(In Photo: Don Baylor)
Roy Smalley:  I liked all the guys on those Yankee teams. Don Baylor and I got very close as teammates in 83 and 84.

BYB: Describe a teammate like Don Mattingly in the clubhouse.

Roy Smalley: When I was there, Don was just establishing himself as the great player he was going to become.  He was quiet and unassuming and just went about his business of refining his considerable skill.  His leadership abilities came out much more after I had been traded in 1984.

BYB: Which guy on the Yankees right now are you a "fan" of,  not just because of his playing ability, but also because they are a wonderful role model and why?

Roy Smalley: I am a huge fan of Derek Jeter.  The professionalism and talent with which he has played the game since his first season with the Yankees is example for players and fans everywhere.  When the Yankees came here to Minnesota after Derek had gotten his 3,000th hit, I made a point of visiting him in the locker room and told him that as a former shortstop and on behalf of shortstops everywhere, we are proud of what he has done and how he has gone about doing it.  That was less about 3,000 hits and everything about the example he is on the field (and off, too).

BYB:  Back to your cause with Pitch In for Baseball... What can you tell the Victims of Sandy still struggling through this cold winter.

Roy Smalley:  We, at PIFB, are just happy to bring some sense of normalcy to their families by way of their kids being able to play ball this year when they thought they wouldn’t. We’d also like to let them know that even after they are not front page news anymore, there are many people out there thinking about them and about how we all can help in some small way.

BYB: Final question. Have you ever seen Bleeding Yankee Blue? It's our website for Yankee fans. What do you think?

Roy Smalley: Congratulations on your website.  I like it very much--very extensive and complete.  Quite impressive.  If I may, I would ask your followers to visit our website, as well, and get involved with us helping kids play ball.  We can be found at pitchinforbaseball.org  Thanks so much for your interest in us.  Who knows, with the help of  Yankee fans, we may be supplying equipment to the next Derek Jeter or Don Mattingly.

He's right! Mr. Smalley, What a pleasure to help promote PIFB and if you readers would like to donate, again, be sure to go to pitchinforbaseball.org and do what you can. You can also text "Give Gloves" to 80088 to make a $10 donation.

I applaud Roy Smalley and thank him for taking to time.  I also want to thank Doug Drotman who is always great getting us quality interviews with former New York Yankees, we appreciate you Doug!

 Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.