Duncan: I Played Like Crap

At least that's what Shelley Duncan said of his own play during Saturday's game:

Acting manager Rob Thomson liked how the young first baseman "battled," but Shelley Duncan boiled down his first start of the season to another word.

"Poop," Duncan said as he fiddled with the tab of a soda can in front of his clubhouse stall after yesterday's 6-3 loss to the Rays.

Duncan ripped a second-inning single to left in his first at-bat, but his afternoon deteriorated quickly. He finished 1-for-4, grounded out with two runners on base to end the eighth and committed a throwing error that led to two unearned runs.

"I feel like I have some work to do," Duncan said. "I felt like poop a little bit. Hopefully, I can put the work in the cage and next time around I can be sharp."

As for his choice of words, Duncan said, "It just means you feel you can do a lot better, you feel you can feel a lot better. You don't feel like your swing at everything was 100 percent. That was me [yesterday]. Poop."

Duncan had better find a poop scooper at first if he wants to challenge Jason Giambi for a recurring role in the infield.

Melky, Shelley Drop AppealWill Miss Two Games

According to the Star Ledger, Melky Cabrera and Shelley Duncan have both dropped their appeals and will sit out the next two games. The penalty for each player has been reduced from the original three game suspension:

Center fielder Melky Cabrera and first baseman Shelley Duncan dropped their appeals of their three-game suspensions for the bench-clearing incident between the Yankees and Rays in spring training. Both players had their suspensions reduced to two games, and Cabrera will serve his tonight and tomorrow, with Duncan serving his Sunday and Monday.

We'll see if this quells any possible confrontation during the Tampa Bay series this weekend.

Melky, Shelley's Appeals Update

From Ed Price of the Star Ledger:

Melky Cabrera's appeal of his three-game suspension will be heard Monday, along with Shelley Duncan.

Both players were suspended for their parts in an April 12 altercation with the Tampa Bay Rays. It started when Shelley Duncan spiked second baseman Akinori Iwamura with a slide, and Cabrera is alleged to have thrown a punch as the benches emptied.

Tampa Bay's Jonny Gomes was suspended two games, and his appeal is set for Friday.

Fans will pray for an eighth inning in which Joba Chamberlain takes the mound against Gomes. He could ask Kevin Youkilis for advice.

Happy Hangover Links

[Rhona Mitra, star of the new horror flick Doomsday, helps spice up a lazy Sunday afternoon]


- The Yankees added lefthanded reliever Billy Traber to the 40-man roster. Traber has pitched very well this spring, striking out five and allowing zero runs in four innings of work. He does not have dominating stuff but shockingly throws strikes and flashes a serviceable breaking ball. Joe Girardi likes what he's seen thus far through Spring Training, though Traber could just as easily become a relief version of last year's Chase Wright emergence.

From LoHud:

This not necessarily mean that Traber will be on the man roster on March 31. But don’t bet against it. He has appeared in five games this spring. His line: 4 3 0 0 0 5. Opponents are hitting .167 against him.

“Very intriguing,” Joe Girardi said.

In Other News . . .

• Joba Chamberlain is not having a great Spring, but don't overreact says Pete Abraham.

• Roger Clemens [and Brian Cashman] helped ease the heartache for a family who lost their son during the tragic events of 9/11.

• Shelley Duncan will appeal his three-game suspension. So will Melky Cabrera.
  
  
• Bill Madden says the young Yankees pitching faces some daunting history.
  
  
• Murray Chass wonders if the AL East is becoming a four team derby?
  

Cabrera, Duncan Suspended 3 Games

Both Melky Cabrera and Shelley Duncan have been suspended three [regular season] games stemming from Wednesday's incident in which Duncan spiked a Tampa Rays player. Jonny Gomes was suspended two games for his weak dance move shove attempt after riding in from rightfield.

Coaching staff, including Joe Girardi were not suspended but fined for what appears to be nothing. Early word from the "brawl" fallout reveals Girardi instructed his players not to go crazy in looking for retribution toward the Rays. It's unclear if the Yankees can or will appeal the suspensions, especially because of the substantial length of time before the season starts.

Gomes vs. Shelley in a battle of semi-pros
If the photo doesn't do it for you, here's the video.

Joe Girardi had that talk with Shelley Duncan about his actions during yesterday's game.

Any suspension arising from the near brawl between the Yankees and Rays would be implemented during the regular season.

In unrelated news, Jorge Posada and Bobby Abreu have given their names to a tri-state whine maker.

Yankees & Rays Brawl

Apparently Shelley Duncan wasn't kidding during his charged comments regarding the recent controversial play in which a Tampa Rays player rammed catcher Francisco Cervelli at homeplate, resulting in a broken risk for the Yankees backstop.

During today's game, Heath Phillips threw a ball up-and-in which grazed Evan Longoria and was immediately tossed. Soon after, Duncan tried to stretch a single into a double, was thrown out, but not before spiking Akinori Iwamura. Duncan was ejected, but not before Jonny Gomes ran in from leftfield and tackled him. Gomes was then ejected.

According to reports, no punches were thrown, but a new AL East rivalry has found its origins. The Yankees have the "Ha Play" with Toronto, the Red Sox Report with Boston and now the Fightin' Rays with Tampa. If Baltimore could just bring back Armando Benitez to plunk Tino Martinez, the Bombers will have every divisional foe covered.

Stick Digs Shelley's Stylo

If you are a young ballplayer and Stick Michael pays you a compliment, you should be pretty excited. Shelley Duncan received such praise from the Yankees uber-scout in today's Bergen Record piece.

An hour before the Yankees' Grapefruit League opener, special adviser Gene Michael leaned against the first base dugout railing and proudly listed the attributes of one of his favorite players.

Shelley Duncan had been on Michael's radar since 2005, when he slugged 34 home runs for Class AA Trenton and showed a passion that was hard to describe in a scouting report.

When the Yankees finally called him up last summer, Duncan hit seven homers in 74 at-bats. "I even thought he should've played more," Michael said.

The article then discussed yesterday's exhibition game against the Phillies:

On his first swing, Duncan rocked a three-run homer off Philadelphia right-hander Adam Eaton. In his next at-bat, Duncan drilled one off the base of the left field fence, and hustled into second with a two-run double, thanks to a unique headfirst slide.

On his first play at first base, Duncan scooped a bad throw from second baseman Chris Woodward -- the first of three sharp moments in the field.

"He's fighting for the everyday first base job," manager Joe Girardi said, though Jason Giambi will be the starter if he's healthy -- a matter of constant concern. As a right-handed power hitter in a left-handed dominant lineup, Duncan could manage 400 at-bats as an outfielder, designated hitter and first baseman, but he never counts on anything.

That's why he tears out of the batter's box on routine grounders, something he displayed in his third at-bat. He was out on a close play, but, "you never know what's going to happen," Duncan said.

"I think he's athletic enough, with big power. He's selective at the plate, he runs well for a first baseman. ... I just get a nice feeling about him," said Michael, who believes Duncan can be "a pretty good defensive player," in the outfield or at first base. "I haven't seen him do anything wrong."

"Shelley's going to give you everything he's got every moment," [manager Joe] Girardi said. "He's shown he can perform at a high level here," which included two hits in four AL Division Series at-bats as a substitute.

The fast start to Duncan's season is nice to look at, but it is the praise of Michael and Girardi - not homeruns in March - which should have Yankee fans excited. Duncan has a lot to prove, particularly defensively at first base, before he can be considered an everyday option for New York. However, it won't be for a lack of drive or confidence.

Rookie Hazing Photos Unleashed

As is customary for major league teams on their final roadtrip of the season, the Yankees dressed up their rookies in embarrassing costumes this afternoon. The motif this year? The Wizard of Oz.

Edwar Ramirez faced a more difficult dilemma: How to shimmy into that little Wicked Witch of the West dress?

He eventually made it, then pulled on his pointy black hat and looked into a mirror. Just for confirmation, he called across the clubhouse to Derek Jeter.

"Jeet! Jeet!" the pitcher said. "Nice?"

Jeter studied the ensemble and smiled.

"Yep," he said. "Bueno."

Joba Chamberlain plays the Cowardly Lion. Phil Hughes is the Tin Man. Upon further review, Shelley Duncan is not a country western singer, but the Scarecrow. Ian Kennedy uncomfortably donned the Dorothy attire. Ross Ohlendorf was a palace guard and Kei Igawa appropriately dressed as one of the flying monkey things.

Here they are:

Duncan Brothers Looking Grim

Chris Duncan and brother Shelley Duncan both play in the major leagues. Both Duncans: 1) are at least 8-foot-2, 2) awkwardly flail tree-trunk-like limbs, and 3) know how to hit fastballs a long way.

Oh yeah, the brothers Duncan are also extremely competitive... with each other. Apparently, the sports hernias which both Chris and Shelley suffer from, can be linked to an unhealthy sibling rivalry.

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Chris Duncan believes the sports hernia that ended his season a few weeks early may have been a result of a heated offseason sibling rivalry in the weight room.

The 26-year-old Duncan said he and brother Shelley, 27, an outfielder with the New York Yankees, usually lift weights and work out together in the offseason. As kids, the sons of Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan constantly battled, and it has carried over to their professional careers.

"This offseason we tried to work out together, and it got so bad we started going to the gym at separate times," Chris Duncan said. "We'd warm up playing basketball and the next thing you know we were going full on.

"We can't do that, we're going to get hurt."

In the weight room, they're forever trying to top one another. Now both brothers have a sports hernia. Shelley Duncan, who also has a bone bruise in his left pelvis, is postponing his operation until the Yankees' season is over.

"I'd go and then he would put another plate on, then I would go and I'd try to slip one on, and the next thing you know we're like blown out," Chris Duncan said. "We can't work out together, it gets too competitive."

No offense, but maybe pops (St. Louis Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan) should take a minute out from teaching Mike Maroth how not to suck, and pry Shelley off the lifeless body of his younger brother. Shelley's version of the bash brothers may result in permanent damage, if not a fatality of Mortal Kombat proportions.

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