MEMORANDUM
TO: Hank Steinbrenner
CC: Hal Steinbrenner
DATE: January 10, 2008
RE: Press and official statements
______________________
Dear Hank:
Please refrain from any and all public comments until there is an agreed-to deal in place. At that time, we will host a press conference where we will make all senior Yankee leadership available to the Press. Answering every phone call from every credentialed writer, while noble, is not the way to conduct yourself or represent the views of the entire organization (specifically the "baseball people").
We need to conduct negotiations in a closed door environment. Opening the kimono for all to see reduces leverage and makes us look foolish (at best) and forces us to overpay (at worst). We've gone through great lengths to build and cultivate respect amongst our peers (GMs) and conducting negotiations through the press undermines those well crafted efforts.
I'll call you as soon as we have anything viable to discuss. At that time, as the representative for the General Partner, you will have final say.
Best Regards,
Brian Cashman
General Manager and Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations
Posts
6 comments:
Telling Hank Steinbrenner to shut up is the moral equivalent of ruining Christmas. Please don't let it stop.
Diesel: have you not noticed that I am a born and bred Yanks fan. Not your typical fan, mind you, but still a fan!
Hank's just carrying on in the proud tradition of daddy being a boorish, overloud idiot in interviews. It remains to be seen if the younger will be capable of running the franchise as successfully, but in the meantime you cannot begrudge the man his need to act the fool anytime a reporter is on the phone.
As for your being a "born and bred" Yankees fan, I'll co-opt Richard Dawkins' controversial statement about religion and say any parent who raises a kid to root for the Yankees/Red Sox/Mets/Dodgers is committing child abuse. There, I said it.
Diesel: while I will concur with your comments about Hank, I disagree with the fandom stuff. My dad was raised on the Mantle/Ford Yanks of the 50's and 60's. Me, on the Reggie/Donnie Yanks of the 70's and 80's. Having grown up in NJ, they were my home town team. What should I have done, root for the worst team to be noble? I suffered thru the lean 1980's when the Yanks sucked.
I don't care what team anyone roots for, just be loyal and not a bandwagon jumper. I respect the RSN for their loyalty and ferocity. Respect the fan that respects the game and sticks by his/her team no matter what.
Oh, I'm just yankin' your chain, fella. There's nothing wrong with you being raised a Yankees fan. My kids will probably be Jays/Padres fans, though they will have the option to root for any other team that has a good front office (I will be the sole judge of that). There's nothing wrong with fandom at all, provided that one doesn't use it as an excuse for small-scale terrorism, or pissing me off at bars.
I could spend days rapping about how bad the Yankees were in the 80s and early 90s ... those were some good days.
Diesel, I knew you were playing around. Just defending the undefendable sometimes! and no, I am not one of THOSE Yankee fans, I swear.
My boys are Padres fans 2nd.
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