"Refuse to Lose"

I wasn't planning on posting today, but I was reading through an article on Clemens' most recent side session and read in it Ron Villone was called up from Triple-A today. "So what" you say? Well, there's some meaning to Villone's call up to me and Doug which will shed more light on our background.

I first want to comment on Villone's tenure with the Yankees. He came over to them after the 2005 season in a trade for Ben Julianel, some minor leaguer no one's heard of. Last year Villone was the Yankees' left handed long relief guy who was not the team's LOOGY (Lefty One Out GuY). After Proctor and Farnsworth, he was the 3rd on the team in games (70) which ranked 8th in the AL. His line looked pretty poor last year on paper 5.04 ERA, 80 IP, 72 Ks, 51 BBs, but during the first half of the season Villone was getting it done with a 2.27 ERA, 43.2 IP, 35 Ks, 23 BBs and .201 BAA.

What happened in the second half is similar to what happened to the likes of Paul Quantrill, Tom Gordon, and Jeff Nelson--some examples of guys over 35 who were relief pitchers for the Yankees. Torre overused Villone, tired him out and he became an ineffective reliever. I was looking briefly at Villone's game log from 2006 and it's ridiculous how often Villone was used in August (during one period, 8/11 - 8/18 he was used six times). Then after August, he completely fell apart entering the month with a respectable 3.27 ERA and ending with the season ending 5.04 in a matter of nine relief appearance.

So during the offseason when the Yankees didn't re-sign Villone, then offered him a minor league contract, then didn't put him on the major league roster after spring training--I felt bad for the guy. Afterall, he was one of the team's top relievers, a valuable lefty, who got abused by Torre's bullpen mismanagement.

But that brings me to the whole point of this entry which is entitled "Refuse to Lose" for a reason. That slogan is in quotations for a reason, and that's because it's the slogan of Doug's and my college alma mater, the University of Massachusetts (UMass)--better known as ZooMass (#7 party school in the country baby!!). Ron Villone is an alum of the school having pitched for UMass in the early 1990s. Now, I'm not pushing the school on anyone here, but for anyone who has pride that they went to UMass, it wasn't a school where anything was handed to you--unless you were written up by a RA or handed down a misdemeanor for rioting in Southwest dorms or often times the keg tap at ______ (fill in the blanks) party. I'm talkin' about the hard stuff, like having to graduate and compete with the Ivy Schools who were all pampered up for a job, not getting favors, things like that. UMass is about not giving up, "refusing to lose".

My point is, Villone, played and carried himself in 2006 the way a UMass alum often does. He fought when he pitched, didn't complain and did what was asked of him by Torre. I wish more sports figures had this attitude--in fact I wish more people in general had this attitude in life. For Villone, the outcome wasn't the greatest, but I fully expect him to make the most of his second chance with the Yankees UMass style.