Peter Gammons Notes

I think that this snippet, found on Boston Dirt Dogs, is too important to not show other people. Very interesting notes that I found in this are in bold. What follows is Dirt Dogs’ words with my bold facts you should take note of.

“…This is what ESPN’s Peter Gammons allegedly said over dinner earlier this week…from someone who had dinner with PG this week, did hit the circuit yesterday:
“We had a great dinner with Peter Gammons last night. I thought I would share some of his thoughts: Nomar is borderline crazy! He is paranoid to the point where he believes they intentionally doctor the field so he will make errors. Nomar didn’t celebrate after the awesome Game 5 victory over the A’s, in fact, he broke chairs in the clubhouse because he thought they unfairly scored an error on him. Nomar hates A-Rod now for trying to come here. Nomar has the worst double play mechanics of any shortstop.
Selig jammed Lucchino on the Red Sox owners with a $6m price tag. Joe O’Donnell was told by Selig that if he wanted to own the Sox he would have to take Lucchino at $6m/year and Lucchino would not have to answer to anyone. O’Donnell was outraged and hated Lucchino. Lucchino is a bad guy and he personally ruined the A-Rod deal. Varitek will likely bolt Sox for bigger offer. Lowe is very insecure and will settle for more years at lesser money to stay with the Sox. Nixon will be signed. Pedro’s tear in the rotator cuff is over 90% and he truly thinks every outing will be his last. Sox are trying to get Pedro to take an NFL-type contract that is big money, but not guaranteed. If he is healthy, he gets paid, if he blows it out, no money.
The Yanks are in turmoil. Steinbrenner listens to no one and defied Torre, Cashman, and the baseball brain trust on all deals. They wanted: Pettitte (re-signed); Soriano to center; Guerrero in right; Kaz Matsui for 2nd base. Steinbrenner got Lofton and still hasn’t spoken to Bernie — he’s pissed. Yanks have rift between Puerto Rican players and Dominicans. This is a rift throughout baseball, but Yanks had it bad last year, with Mondesi leading the Dominicans and he brought Soriano into his camp. Jeter doesn’t like this team, he misses the O’Neill/Tino Yanks. Jeter can’t believe Pedro and Manny get away with not talking to the media; he thinks it is awful and bad for baseball. Javier Vasquez is bright, competitive and should thrive with Puerto Rican batterymate Posada. Giambi is off the roids and lost 25 lbs — he’s embarrassed.
Francona will be up for the task in the Red Sox clubhouse — very bright and personable. Manny is deathly afraid of being hit by pitch. Kevin Brown is on the roids and may be the most competitive personality in all the game. He will hate NY, but pitch well. Mussina is an intellectual loner. He graduated Suma from Stanford in 3 years and cannot care what anyone thinks of him. Still coaches in hometown in PA in off season.
Jeter has the best baseball IQ he’s ever seen. Mariano Rivera is the best human being in the game. Clemens said Steinbrenner hated Pettitte. Gammons confirmed that Roger’s trainer while on the Sox screwed him with workout regimen that caused recurring groin pulls. New trainer in Toronto changed his career. BoSox fans fell for the Duquette myth that Roger dogged it. Gammons said Clemens has always had the greatest work ethic and training in the game. Likes the Cubs in the NL. Astros will be an interesting team to watch. Red Sox will win the East.
Gammons thinks McCourt is over his head financially in LA. Contreras is suffering from Cuban depression. Castro abuses the family members back in Cuba and it gets to the players, knowing they are paying a price. Look for El Duque to come back to keep Contreras happy with a fellow Cuban who can share his pain.
Needless to say, I loved the evening.”