Amezaga denies malicious intent
Alfredo Amezaga found himself in the thick of a classic New York brouhaha over the throw that broke All-Star Jorge Posada’s nose Wednesday night.
Thursday’s edition of the New York Daily News barked, “Bad blood spills as Angels deck Jorge, Yanks.”
Said the New York Post: “Angels break Yankees’ streak, Posada’s beak.”
The issue arose because Yankees manager Joe Torre, normally diplomatic, wondered publicly why Amezaga needed to drop down sidearm to turn a double play. Posada slid late and the throw ricocheted off his hand to fracture his nose. “I’m not saying he wanted to hurt him, but I don’t think it was necessary to do that,” Torre said.
Amezaga said he had trouble sleeping Wednesday as he played the throw over and over in his head. He said he saw the replay only once and didn’t want to see it again.
“I’m a little sad right now. I don’t really know how to handle it,” Amezaga said. “If I have a chance to see him, I’ll tell him I’m very sorry. But it’s part of the game.”
Posada didn’t make an issue of it, saying, “All I got from him is, ‘I’m sorry,’ and that’s all I needed.”
The Angels rushed to defend Amezaga.
“It’s unfortunate, but nothing at all Alfredo did could be construed as out of the ordinary. He was just trying to turn a double play,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
David Parrish, the son of former Detroit catcher Lance Parrish, was brought up by the Yankees to be their backup catcher.
Parrish was hitting .233 (10 for 43) with three doubles and five RBI in 15 games with Triple-A Columbus this season. His father is the Tigers’ bullpen coach.
Sternberg buys into Devil Rays
A group headed by New York investor Stuart Sternberg completed its purchase of 48 percent of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Vince Naimoli will continue in his role as the team’s managing general partner, running day-to-day operations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Sternberg plans to play an active role in the organization. Long-term plans call for him to become the managing general partner when Naimoli retires.
“Vince will be here for years,” Sternberg said. “I will be involved a lot.”
Naimoli owns about 15 percent of the team. Limited partners who have no share in how the team is run own the remaining 37 percent.
Around the horn
Umpire Paul Nauert filed a report with Major League Baseball after a bat was thrown in his direction by Montreal’s Terrmel Sledge on Wednesday night. … The Giants activated second baseman Ray Durham from the 15-day disabled list and he was in the starting lineup in the 4-3 loss to Philadelphia, going 1 for 5 in the leadoff spot. … The Blue Jays placed shortstop Chris Woodward on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring. Woodward reaggravated the injury on May 12 after not playing since May 1.