Same as the Old Boss

The Observers returned to their "divide and conquer" strategy last week. Frank was in New York, visiting family and monitoring East Coast sports frenzies, while Artie maintained the home office. Their deadline for the Shepherd wouldn't accommodate the Packers' Monday night game, but there were plenty of things to discuss by phone.

Frank: The New York media's emotions have been churning since George Steinbrenner made official what poor health has made true for at least a couple of years: He's no longer the day-to-day boss of the New York Yankees.

Artie: And in the finest American tradition of promoting by merit, he's handed the reins over to his two sons.

Frank: Hal is the quiet bean counter and Hank is the "baseball man." That means Hank will be the gasbag-in-chief, meddling in lineup decisions and howling bloody murder over failures on the field. He was doing it already this past season, but he has a lot to learn. In August he whined about injuries and essentially waved the white flag for 2008, something Daddy never would have done.

Artie: He'll get the hang of the bloviating duties, you betcha. After all, until a couple of years ago the sons weren't the heirs apparent.

Frank: Right, the anointed one was a sonin-law-until he got arrested for drunken driving in early 2007 and George's daughter divorced him.

Artie: Good thing the sons were around.

I'm sure they'll carry on Daddy's rich tradition of overspending for as many players as possible and then blaming the manager and general manager for the ones that stink.

Frank: Of all the commentaries on George in the New York press, I think one in Newsday by Steve Jacobson best described his reign. The headline said Steinbrenner was "a bully with a fat wallet."

Artie: Exactly the way bumpkinville fans outside New York felt about him.

Frank: Another Newsday column, by Wallace Matthews, gave a good description of New Yorkers' feelings: "Steinbrenner was... everything we New Yorkers love and hate about ourselves." Among the adjectives Matthews used: "tough, ruthless and combative... crude, abrasive, politically incorrect and personally insensitive."

Artie: And these are virtues to New Yorkers?

Frank: It's the classic "take it or leave it" attitude that Noo Yawkuhs are supposed to have, even to each other. Like, "Hey! Youse guys wanna mess wid us? Fuggetaboutit."

Artie: Kinda like "what the fock" with a funny accent, ain'a? Steinbrenner came from Cleveland and lived in Tampa, but to the rest of the country he's over-ripe Big Apple New York.

Frank: You got it, buddy. Matthews also

said Steinbrenner "was a closet softy with an emotional side and a deep sense of loyalty to those who had served him well." And the bottom line, Matthews said, is that "he was more committed to winning than any player or any fan."

Artie: Gotta admit it, he sure put his money where his mouth was.

Frank: The sons will do the same-with even more money. The ungodly prices they'll charge at the new Yankee Stadium, and the savings from parting company with Jason Giambi and Carl Pavano, among others, give the Yankees a bottomless pit of dough to throw at free agents.

Artie: Such as Milwaukee's beloved three-month hero, CC Sabathia.

Frank: Yup. They've offered him one year and $40 million more than the Brewers, and the assumption in New York is that they'll go as high as they need to. But they'll also bid on other pitchers like Derek Lowe and even injury-prone A.J. Burnett. And they might join the Manny Ramirez sweepstakes.

Artie: Leaving the Brewers to bid on who? Their own damaged goods, Ben Sheets?

Frank: Looks like it. The Yankees need more pitching than they might have, what with Mike Mussina retiring on the heels of his only 20-win season.

Artie: Another pile of money the Yankees can offer someone else.

Frank: Mussina's departure launched a lively debate on the airwaves here. Namely, should Mussina be a Hall of Famer?

Artie: Let's look at the stats.

Frank: Lifetime record with the Orioles and Yanks of 270-153, which is an outstanding winning percentage of .638. A career ERA of 3.68. Fifty-seven complete games, which is mighty good for the modern era, and more than 2,800 strikeouts.

Artie: Sounds pretty darn good.

Frank: On the other hand, only that one 20-win year. No Cy Young awards, and only twice in the top three in that voting.

The dean of New York sports radio gurus, Mike Francesa, called Mussina "a compiler" rather than a dominant pitcher. He doesn't see Mussina as a Hall of Famer, and I agree.

Artie: As do I. How could anyone in their right mind conjecture Mussina's HOF credentials before you finally elect a guy by the name of Rik Aalbert "Bert" Blyleven, born in Zeist, Netherlands. The Dutchman who won 285 games, which by the way is more games won than 43 other pitchers already in the Hall, not to mention that he's fifth on the all-time list for career strikeouts with 3,701 and ninth on the shutout list at 60. A more-than-respectful career 3.31 ERA accomplished in the ferchacta era of the designated hitter in the American League, in which Bert spent 19 of his 22 compiled seasons.

Frank: How well I know your admiration for Mr. Blyleven, and we'll discuss him and others soon when the latest Hall of Fame ballots come out. But there's another vote that stirs a little debate: Albert Pujols'

victory over Ryan Howard for National League MVP.

Artie: Most "valuable." Yes, without Sir Albert, the Cardinals would've finished 25 games out of first place instead of 11 1/2. The Phillies, with the contributions provided by the young Mr. Howard, made the playoffs followed by World Series victory.

Case closed.

Frank: No doubt that Howard carried the Phillies for stretches, including September. But Pujols' sheer numbers were fabulous; he was close to Howard in homers and RBI while hitting more than 100 points higher and striking out almost 150 fewer times And hey, now each of them has an "undeserved" MVP. Howard beat Pujols out in 2006 when his team didn't make the playoffs, and Pujols groused about it for a while.

Artie: So two wrongs make a right?

Frank: Well, they make 'em even, anyway. And speaking of ballots, the New York media seem ready to vote the Giants and Jets into the Super Bowl-especially after both teams won big games on the road Sunday. The Jets were dominant in handing the Titans their first loss, 34-13. Favre & Co. are 8-3 now and looking pretty strong.

Artie: Mr. Favre completed 25 out of 32 passes for 224 yards, two touchdowns and natch', one interception. A nice day's work.

Frank: As usual, the Gotham tabloids went wa-a-a-y overboard. The Daily News' back page proclaimed Favre "Mr. Perfect,' and Newsday's headline for the game story was, "Who's Perfect Now? Jets!"

Artie: Sounds like those editors can't count to three, as in losses.

Frank: The Giants must have felt ignored. All they did was go to 10-1, returning to the field where they won the last Super Bowl and out-dueled the surprising Cardinals, 37-29. It made for a pleasant day of viewing, first with a brother-in-law who's a Jets fan and then with my brother, a lifelong Giants guy.

Artie: You were lucky to be away from Wisconsin. You didn't have to watch the Badgers struggle to eke out a one-point overtime victory all because Cal Poly became Cal Folly when their kicking specialist duffed three out of five extrapoint attempts.

Frank: We ragged on the Badgers for weeks for scheduling what we thought was a cupcake. Instead, we should have been ragging on them for playing such a tough opponent when the risk was falling to 6-6.

Artie: But they finish at 7-5 and will go to a bowl game-remarkable for a team whose season slid into the gutter following the third game at Fresno State. The Bumper Bowl, anyone? Frank Clines labored almost 20 years in the sports department at the Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and covered the Brewers part-time for most of those years.

Art Kumbalek believes Humphrey Bogart to be America's all-time most valuable player.