Submit questions for a Q&A with Mike Vaccaro of the NY Post

[Jim F.]

Mike Vaccaro, a senior sports writer for the New York Post and author of the venerable "Emporers and Idiots..." (Doubleday; NYYF Interview; Amazon) published earlier this month, is going to field questions from the community about the book, about the rivalry, the Yankees, or anything sports related (for instance, he's currently covering the NCAA Tournament for The Post).

So go ahead, ask away. Mike will try to answer as many questions as he can.

-jim

[Tifoso]

Great book, Mike

My question: if you had to pick a team besides the Mets to be a fan of, which would it be and why?

[Kiwiwriter]

Why are baseball writers trying to inflame the trash-talk wars between the Red Sox and the Yankees? The example being the spring training potshots from the Red Sox, and the Yankee refusal to stoop to that level. Can't baseball writers write articles without having to rely on ballplayers to provide inflammatory quotes? What happened to analyzing how the game is played?

[Archer1979]

Do you ever try to differentiate when a player is just blowing off steam as opposed to when he really means what he says.

In some sports, there's a mandatory cooling off period between when the game ends and when the interviews can begin. The comments right afterwards can be very raw and not truly indicative of what a player genuinely feels. Have you ever just chucked the quote away and waited for him to cool down?

[MooseCaLLinTheBronx]

Hi Mike,

With all the controversies and players that have gone through the Bronx in the last ten years or so, how do you think future generations will look upon the Yankees? Will it be with the same aura that we look upon the DiMaggio's and Ruth's or will it be one of admiration but non-existent legacy?

[Xhibit]

Why don't you bother to use facts to write your "articles"?? Don't you realize that as a "journalist" there comes a responsibility and that your words hold greater weight?? Do you think the fact that there is no accountability for the NY media makes them irresponsible with what they write??

[jimmyclark]

I have a theory that the reason why George Steinbrenner is much more successful than the other New York owners (Dolans/Gulf-Western, Wilpon-Doubleday, Hess-Johnson, etc) is that he is the only one that is not from New York and is driven to succeed in this town to get noticed. The other owners act as if winning championships was their birthright and are not as driven. While certainly one can say baseball allows a big market team a better chance, please note 1) the Mets have won 1 championsip in the last 35 years and 2) other sports have had big market teams dominating: the Lakers have won 8 championships in the last 25 years and even in the NFL the Boston/New England franchise has won 3 out of the last 4 Super Bowls and set a consecetive game win streak. Your comments ?

[silverdsl]

Have you ever developed friendships with any of the athletes that you write about? Does that make it hard to write an objective article?

How do you think the internet has influenced what you do for a print publication?

What is an average day for you like when you have a game to cover?

Have you ever been confronted by a player or team representative who didn't like something you wrote? How do you handle that?

-Deborah

[PeteRFNY]

Mike, por favor...

I work with a couple of Red Sox fans, and the thing that amazes me the most about how the fans and the players themselves have been pretty much on the same wavelength as far as all the anti-Yankee, anti-Arod trash talking.

If an alien landed on Earth right now not knowing who won the ALCS, the way the Sox are carrying on, you would think they LOST.

That in mind, have you ever seen such a wierd example of "sore winners" before in your life, or is that (as I suggested) a case of a group that is so used to losing that they don't know how to act when they win???

Petezs

(PS - Is Mushnick as joyless and devoid of a sense of humor in real life as he comes off in the paper? )

[noneckwilliams]

Mike

Has the Yankee FO shown any concern about the age of the outfield and the lack of depth there? They made no moves to improve the OF in the offseason and indeed are arguably in a worse position there than they were in a year ago as Bernie is a year older and Lofton is not there as insurance.

[Soriambi]

Mike,

How long do you feel that the Yankees can win with what seems to be a philosophy of "win now," where they pay out big money to veterans while trading away prospects to acquire other players? Can they stay at the high level that they've played at since around 1994 (and get back to the ultra-high level that they played at from 1996-2000, and to an extent, in 2001 and 2003 when they made the World Series) by signing free agents and trading what prospects they have for players they need, or do you think that more of their stars need to come up through their system and why?

[JDPNYY]

Mike,

Which period of the long Yankee / Red Sox rivalry is more intense - the period during the late 70's or the present period starting in the late 90's?

I'd like to know your feelings on the intensity of the rivalry from the players point of view and from the fans point of view.

Thanks.

John

[Dave Visbeck]

Hello Mr. Vaccaro,

Do you think that the 2,004 victory by the Red Sox will make the rivalry less intense because Red Sox fans don't have anything to be upset about anymore? Do you think that because we now don't have to be depressed over the 86 year long waiting period we’ve all gone through... where, as Red Sox fans, we just wait for the yearly inevitability of something bad that’s going to be happening to us… that we can just let go of our incredible rivalry with the Yankees and just smile and be happy? Or do you think we are now hungry for more? The wine is sweet once again.

[MaximMan121]

Mike,

I'm not sure if you're much of a stathead, but here goes.

The Yankees have consistently outdone their pythag win and loss medians. Other teams seem to stick quite close to these predictions. What seperates the Yankees from the rest of the league, in their ability to baffle statheads (like me) each year?

Will

[Dooley Womack]

Mike,

Which baseball player is the most difficult to interview and why? Also, do you think that Mike Lupica's 4'10" height has any influence on his writings?

Thank you,
Rob

[hugelongtermdeal]

Mike, how did you choose the picture on the cover.

It seems like a strange choice for 2 reasons:
1 - it happened 2 seasons ago
2 - Zimmer has taken public responsibility for the incident (it seems a bit disrespectful to him for you to use it on the cover)

[Otto Velez]

Mike - Is it possible that the Yankees have created a monster with the placed importance on beating Boston? It's in Mo's head. And, it's in A-Rod's head too. Maybe Gordon's as well? Who is next? Giambi? Wright? I don't know. Would the Yankees be better off just playing Boston as if they were the Devil Rays? I think the fear of failure against the Red Sox is making some Yankees, dare I use the word, choke. In some ways, the Yanks now have become the Sox and now NY has this 'must beat Boston' mission. The Sox were once so hell bent on beating NY that they never could beat them. Has the worm now turned?

[Don Mack]

Hi Mike,
When you see Alex Rodriguez up at bat, do you feel he stands further back from the plate than most players? This in turn seems to cause him to be constantly leaning over to hit outside pitches. Do you feel if he stood a bit closer to the plate, he might be able to hit better? I've never seen a player with such great stats over the years look so poorly at the plate since he's become a Yankee. What are your thoughts on this?

[ZYanksRule]

Mike,
What do you think about playing Yanks/Sox 6 times in 10 days? I thought it was rediculous, neither team, especially the Yanks, were ready for games like that so early in the year. Especially since we don't play again until the end of May, what are your thoughts about the scheduling there?

Thanks,
Seth