Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Yankees Unveil Their Big Number Three Starter

With pomp and circumstance worthy of a world leader, the New York Yankees introduced their new ($155 million) number three starter, Masahiro Tanaka. Even one of the Steinbrenner brood showed up (sorry, we can never tell the difference between TweedleDumb and TeweedleDumber). Tanaka looked a little uncomfortable at the podium being asked the typical bonehead questions (e.g., "How are you going to deal with the bigger American baseball?"), but he generally came off OK. His one interesting comment came in response to a question about his understanding of the Red Sox-Empire rivalry. He said that, even just watching on TV, he could sense the intensity—and looked forward to being part of it. Good answer. Come and get it, big guy.