Pride and the Pressure A Season Inside the New York Yankee Fishbowl

Chapter One HOME OPENER April 11, 2006 Brian Cashman Fiddled with his World Series ring. Twisted it, turned it, slid it off his ring Finger, and put it back on. It was a glorious spring day in New York City, and the Yankees were about ninety minutes from their home opener against Kansas City, which, for millions of fans who live and die with the team, meant renewed hope and anxious expectation. As Cashman stood on the lush grass just wide of the Firstbase line at Yankee Stadium, he intermittently (and subconsciously) toyed with the bauble while discussing, among other things, how badly he wanted to win another. And how immense the challenge would be. And how lucky the Yankees were to have the ones they owned. The diamondencrusted ring was, obviously, gorgeous; it was a talisman that signiFied the triumphant moment men spend their lives toiling to attain. Having been in the Yankees organization since he was an intern in 1986and having been the GM since 1998Cashman had his pick of rings. But he always gravitated toward the one from 2000. "It was the toughest one to get," he said. It was also the twentysixth, and last, the Yankees had earned. Just a few moments earlier, Cashman had shared a moment with Johnny Damon, the newest hired gun in the Yankees' mercenary arsenal. The two joked around and gave each other gentle pats on the back after batting practice, and then Damon went into the clubhouse to prepare for the game. Damon's improbable, clandestine departure from Boston over the winter was the stuff of legend, a latenight coup that enraged Boston fans. Even some Yankees fans had a tough time initially swallowing the move, which once and for all bumped the beloved Bernie Williams out of a position he had owned since 1993. In essence, it was a reallife defection with as much suspense as a Tom Clancy novel. Damon was the Yankees'Red October. So when Cashman was asked whether it would take time for Damon to completely win over Yankee Stadium, the GM paused for four seconds. The answer was one he would rather not acknowledge. "Probably," he Finally responded. "Some people are already on board, some people are diehard Red Sox haters. Roger Clemens took a while for people to adjust [to] when he got here. And I'm sure for some people it took a while for Wade Boggs to adjust to when he got here. So some people are going to embrace it right off the bat. Some people are still going to have some of those memories of the damage that Johnny did against us over the years." Cashman was right on target, judging from the boos Damon received that day. But it was nothing like the nasty reception the Yankee center Fielder would receive when he returned to Boston in early May. Not only was it bizarre that the Yankees had an "idiot" Boston immigrant patrolling center Field, but Cashman's return in 2006 was something that was far less than a certainty. When the Yankees lost to the Angels in Game 5 of the ALDS in October 2005, he cried in the bowels of Angel Stadium. His contract was up, and many baseball observers thought the episode was proof he was mentally and emotionally moving on. (Coincidentally, it was only a few days earlier that Damon had broken down in the Fenway clubhouse, mourning a season and his own potential exodus.) For years, Cashman had uncomfortably wiggled under The Boss' thumb, honored to be in such a lofty position at such a young age but constantly thwarted by the backstabbing and machinations of others in the Yankee Fishbowl. The rogue Tampa faction was especially insidious, since it operated where Steinbrenner, looking feebler everyMorrissey, Michael is the author of 'Pride and the Pressure A Season Inside the New York Yankee Fishbowl', published 2007 under ISBN 9780385520867 and ISBN 0385520867.