He is charged with killing a woman in Broward County Florida.

FORT LAUDERDALE - Jim Leyritz, the former Major League Baseball player known as “The King,” was arrested and charged with DUI manslaughter Friday morning following an accident that killed another driver, police said.

Leyritz, 44, was traveling north-bound on Southwest Seventh Avenue when he passed a red light and crashed with another car around 3:30 a.m., said Fort Lauderdale police spokeswoman Kathy Collins.

The accident happened at the intersection of Southwest Second Street and Seventh Avenue. A 30-year-old woman traveling west-bound on Second Street was ejected from her car, Collins said.

She was pronounced dead at Broward General Medical Center.

Leyritz was charged with manslaughter and DUI property damage after an investigation, Collins said.

Leyritz played with the New York Yankees in the ’90s, earning his nickname after htting the last home run in Game 4 of the 1999 World Series.

If found guilty and sent to jail, it will be a shame will Leyritz’s famous homer gets bloted out by one foolish night of excess

He did two tours with the Casey Stengel Yankees starting in 1949. Casey never had a set rotation or lineup. Rather he was always moving pitchers around, if not from the starting rotation to the bullpen, or the Yankees to Kansas City, Stengel liked to match certain pitchers against certain AL teams. Pitchers Whitey Ford, Allie Reynolds, Vic Raschi and Eddie Lopat seeing usually the AL’s best other than NY. Guys like Byrne, Don Larsen, Art Ditmar and others facing the 2nd division. Still Tommy was a vital cog of 3 World Championship teams, appeared in 4 post seasons, won 85 games, and swung a pretty good bat for a pitcher. As seen by his lifetime Batting average of .238, .350 OBP and 8 career homeruns. RIP.

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (AP) — Tommy Byrne, who fulfilled a boyhood dream by pitching for the New York Yankees and won a game during the 1955 World Series, has died. He was 87.Byrne, who served two terms as Wake Forest mayor, died Thursday, his son John said Saturday. Tommy Byrne had congestive heart failure and was in declining health the last six weeks. He was surrounded by his family and priest when he died, his son added.

It took the former Yankee, Met, Brave and Cardinal manager two weeks to find work again.

LOS ANGELES - Joe Torre grew up in Brooklyn rooting against the Dodgers. Now, a half-century after they moved west, he’s their manager. Torre was hired by Los Angeles to succeed Grady Little on Thursday, taking the job two weeks after walking away from the New York Yankees.

The winningest manager in postseason history, Torre moved from one storied franchise to another, agreeing to a three-year, $13 million contract. He becomes the Dodgers’ eighth manager since they left his hometown, where he rooted for the rival New York Giants.

The 67-year-old Torre will be introduced at a news conference Monday at Dodger Stadium. Little resigned Tuesday after completing two seasons of a three-year deal.

Torre joins the Dodgers for their 50th anniversary season in Los Angeles, hoping to spur October success.

Favored to win the NL West this year, the Dodgers finished fourth. They have only one playoff victory since winning the 1988 World Series under Tom Lasorda.

Torre guided the Yankees to four World Series championships from 1996-2000, and they made the playoffs in all 12 years he managed them. New York lost to Cleveland last month, eliminated in the first round for the third straight year.

The Dodgers are hoping Torre can bring success to Los Angeles. Contrary to popular opinion, managers aren’t miracle workers. Some teams and managers have gotten lucky, the team I grew up a fan of did almost 40 years ago. That’s the exception not the rule.

The Dodgers don’t have the talent IMHO to be a serious contender. Torre will retire before the Dodgers win another World Series.

I also suspect the Yankees are due for a correction. Joe Girardi(Don’t get me wrong, I liked Girardi when he managed the Marlins) isn’t likely to meet the same fate as the Yankees of the mid 60’s and Johnny Keane met, but when all is said and done Don Mattingly may not regret being passed over say three years.

Update- Corrected post to say Torre also managed the Braves.

He played shortstop entirely for the New York Yankees from 1941-1956. During that time Rizzuto won an MVP award, played in five All-Star games and was a vital part of nine World Series teams. In between all of this, Phil Rizzuto spent three years(43-45) serving in the military during WWII.

After his playing career was over, Phil was an announcer for the Yankees for many years. Having grown up in New York, I remember Rizutto very well even if I was and still am a New York Met fan. I’d sometimes watch Yankee games on WPIX Channel 11 till my family moved to Florida in 1976. The Scooter died today in New Jersey. RIP.

NEW YORK - Phil Rizzuto, the Hall of Fame shortstop during the Yankees’ dynasty years and beloved by a generation of fans for exclaiming “Holy cow!” as a broadcaster, died Tuesday. He was 89.His death was confirmed by the Yankees. Rizzuto had been in declining health for several years and was living at a nursing home in West Orange, N.J.

Rizzuto, known as “The Scooter,” was the oldest living Hall of Famer. He played for the Yankees throughout the 1940s and ’50s, won seven World Series titles and played in five All-star games.

Rizzuto was a flashy, diminutive player who could always be counted on for a perfect bunt, a nice slide or a diving catch in a lineup better known for its cornerstone sluggers. He played for 13 seasons alongside the likes of Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle.

He stood just 5-foot-6 but was equipped with a productive bat, sure hands and quick feet that earned him his nickname. A leadoff man, Rizzuto was a superb bunter, used to good advantage by the Yankee teams that won 11 pennants and nine World Series between 1941 and 1956.

Rizzuto tried out with the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants when he was 16, but because of his size was dismissed by Dodgers manager Casey Stengel, who told him to “Go get a shoeshine box.” He went on to become one of Stengel’s most dependable players.

A Rizzuto bunt, a steal and a DiMaggio hit made up the scoring trademark of the Yankees’ golden era, and he played errorless ball in 21 consecutive World Series games. DiMaggio said the shortstop “held the team together.”

Rizzuto came to the Yankees in 1941 and batted .307 as a rookie, and his career was interrupted by a stint in the Navy during World War II. He returned in 1946 and four years later became the American League MVP. He batted .324 that season with a slugging percentage of .439 and 200 hits, second most in the league. He also went 58 games without an error, making 288 straight plays.

He led all AL shortstops in double plays three times and had a career batting average of .273 with at least a .930 fielding percentage. He played in five All-Star games.

After the Yankees released him in 1956, Rizzuto began a second career as a broadcaster, one for which he became at least equally well known.

In his decades on the radio and TV, Rizzuto’s favorite phrase was “Holy cow!” It became so common, the team presented him with a cow wearing a halo when they held a day in his honor in 1985. The cow knocked Rizzuto over and, of course, he shouted, “Holy cow!”

“That thing really hurt,” he said. “That big thing stepped right on my shoe and pushed me backwards, like a karate move.”

Yankee fans also loved his unusual commentary. In an age of broadcasters who spout statistics and repeat the obvious, Rizzuto delighted in talking about things like his fear of lightning, the style of an umpire’s shoes or even the prospect of outfielder Dave Winfield as a candidate for president.

He liked to acknowledge birthdays and anniversaries, read notes from fans, praised the baked delicacies at his favorite restaurant and send messages to old cronies. And if he missed a play, he would scribble “ww” in his scorecard box score. That, he said, meant “wasn’t watching.”

Despite his qualifications, Rizzuto was passed over for the Hall of Fame 15 times by the writers and 11 times by the old-timers committee. Finally, a persuasive speech by Ted Williams pushed Rizzuto into Cooperstown in 1994.

Williams, a member of the committee, argued that Rizzuto was the man who made the difference between the Yankees and his Red Sox. He was fond of saying, “If we’d had Rizzuto in Boston, we’d have won all those pennants instead of New York.”

As in his playing days, Rizzuto was overshadowed by the headliners, teammates like DiMaggio, Mantle, Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra. All of them reached the Hall of Fame before he did.

“I never thought I deserved to be in the Hall of Fame,” Rizzuto would say. “The Hall of Fame is for the big guys, pitchers with 100 mph fastballs and hitters who sock homers and drive in a lot of runs. That’s the way it always has been and the way it should be.”

Old-timers still talk about his suicide squeeze in the ninth inning during the 1951 pennant race to score DiMaggio, beating Cleveland 2-1 and putting the Yankees in first place for the rest of the season.

Rizzuto remembers Aug. 25, 1956, as a day he thought was the “end of the world,” the day Stengel released him to make room for clutch-hitting Enos Slaughter in the pennant drive.

*****

Rizzuto is survived by his wife, the former Cora Anne Esselborn, whom he married in 1943; daughters Cindy Rizzuto, Patricia Rizzuto and Penny Rizzuto Yetto; son Phil Rizzuto Jr.; and two granddaughters.

Setting aside the question of whether the The Rocket is worth the paycheck he is going to receive or whether his signing will really help the Yankees out in the standings, let’s look at the biggest gripe about his contract: his special schedule.

I have heard numerous commentators on ESPN Radio (and elsewhere) talk about how awful it is that Roger Clemens is getting special treatment by not having to be with the Yankees full time.

Hmm, let’s see: an especially gifted athlete is treated differently by society than “normal” people because of his immense talent. Where have I heard this before? The irony here is that probably every major-leaguer has received special treatment in their lives (in school or elsewhere) because of their gifts. Certainly pro athletes get all kinds of benefits that non-athletes do not get. Now Clemens who is more gifted than even your top-tier major leaguers gets special privileges within than subset of society. How is this a surprise to anyone? Is this really a deviation from the norms of professional sports?

And Clemen’s special treatment will only be a problem is Clemens’ pitches poorly and the Yankees lose. If he does well, his schedule will be a non-issue for the his teammates. Again: this is how sports always works: if you win (especially if you win for us) accommodations are made. If you lose (or you have insufficient talent), well that’s a another story.

Technorati Tags: Roger Clemens, the Yankees, The Rocket

The most amusing description of The Rocket’s announcement of his return from Steinbrenner’s box was by Dan Patrick: “he looked like a third world dictator” announcing how he was there to save everyone.

Hilarious.

He was the right fielder and one a key player on the championship Yankee teams of the 1950’s. From AP-

Hank Bauer, the tough ex-Marine who set a World Series record with a 17-game hitting streak for the Yankees and later managed the Baltimore Orioles to the 1966 title, died Friday. He was 84.

Bauer died in the Kansas City area, where he made his home, Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo said.

During 14 seasons in the major leagues, a career that spanned from 1948-61, Bauer became a three-time All-Star outfielder, helping the Yankees win seven World Series titles and nine AL pennants. He spent his first 12 seasons with the Yankees and his final two with the Kansas City Athletics.

In his final Series appearance, he hit .323 with four homers and eight RBIs as the Yankees beat the Milwaukee Braves in seven games in 1958.

Bauer managed the Kansas City A’s to ninth-place finishes in 1961 and 1962, then took over as manager of the Orioles in 1964.

In 1966, he managed the Orioles to a 97-63 record and a World Series sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Bauer left the Orioles during the 1968 season, and his final managing job was with the Oakland A’s the following year.

Bauer’s time in the Marine Corps was at least as distinguished as his time in baseball.

Bauer enlisted in the Marines shortly after Pearl Harbor and saw action in a number of battles in the Pacific, including Okinawa and Guadalcanal, according to Hall of Fame archives. He earned two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts.

Bauer was wounded at Okinawa, hit in the left thigh by shrapnel in his 53rd day on the island.

“We went in with 64 and six of us came out,” Bauer said.

Bauer’s service record came under fire from an ill-informed politician

In the 1950’s, a Congressman published a list of athletes that received ’soft duty’ during World War II. Hank Bauer, the Yankee Rightfielder, was on the list (Bauer was a very talented ballplayer).

Only one problem: Bauer, a Marine, took part in the invasion of four islands - New Georgia, Emirau, Okinawa and Guam. He took shrapnel in the back of his leg which could never be removed.

When his error was pointed out, the Congressman (I wish I had his name) said, “I didn’t mean Hank Bauer, I meant Hank Sauer.” Sauer was a Chicago Cubs outfielder.

Unfortunately, Sauer had also seen combat.

Talk about dumb Congressman. Note- This  story was  published in Bill James’ Historical Abstract.

Another former Baltimore Oriole, Steve Barber, died this week. Barber was on the mound and Bauer managing in a famous 1967 game.

Facing Detroit in the first game of a doubleheader at old Memorial Stadium, Barber took a no-hit bid and a 1-0 lead into the ninth inning despite severe bouts of wildness.

Barber walked the first two batters in the ninth, then retired the next two hitters. But he threw a wild pitch that let the tying run score and, after yet another walk, was pulled from the game.

Stu Miller relieved, and the Tigers scored the go-ahead run on an error. The Tigers wound up winning 2-1 despite getting no hits. Barber’s line that afternoon: 8 2-3 innings, 10 walks, two hit batters, a wild pitch and a throwing error.

Barber and Bauer both gave baseball fans many memories. RIP.

Cross posted to- OTB Sports