Blogging The Bombers

Mr. Sweeny Murti of WFAN and SNY has been kind enough to take the time to answer some questions with us. We appreciate this very much as we know Mr. Murti has a very busy schedule so we thank him for this: You can check out Mr. Murti’s Blog here.

So here it is!

Thank you Mr. Murti, now lets begin.

The women’s softball final was actually a lot of fun.  The US won in their last at-bat because of an error on Japan’s leftfielder.  I was in the middle of an interview with Dot Richardson when she pulled away and said “Wait, I’ll be right back!”  She ran back to the field for some celebrating with her teammates and a photo op and then she actually came back to finish my interview!! 

I haven’t been able to cover any other Olympic Games since then because I started covering baseball the following year and the Summer Games would interrupt our Yankee coverage.

Q: 4. What is your relationship with Mike Francesa and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo of Mike & The Mad Dog? They seem to be a little rude to you when you’re on the show with them.

A: Ya know, so many people say that to me…and honestly, I know the discussions get very heated sometimes, but I’ve known those guys since I was an intern 17 years ago.  They have been very good to me over the years and I don’t think that’s changed.  It’s never personal and I always get along with them well off the air no matter what type of arguments we’ve had on the air.  They’re both guys I’ve asked for advice at various points of my career and am glad they’ve been in my corner all this time.

They yell at me from time to time when we disagree about moves the Yankees are making, but I think they respect my information and my opinions or else they wouldn’t put me on the program as often as they do.

I think it’s great that so many people are listening to that show, because there is no doubt that’s when I get the most response from people in public, after one of those shouting matches.  But the one thing I always remember and I think other people should too…it’s not called “The Sweeny Murti Show.”  It’s called the “Mike & The Mad Dog Show.”   

Q: 5. What is your honest opinion of Fenway Park and the Boston fans?

A: I went to Fenway Park for the first time in 1998 as a fan and sat in the stands and I loved being in that historic place.  Working there is difficult though because the working spaces are cramped.  They’ve made some improvements to the press box upstairs in recent years and that’s helped, but the clubhouse area is still hard to maneuver.  There’s just so many media members for Yankee-Red Sox series that its hard to move around and get to the people you need to talk to. 

I know these are not the kinds of things anybody really cares about.  They don’t like hearing the media complain about any aspect of the job, and I understand that completely.  The only things I try to worry about are the things involved directly with how I do my job, and although everybody tries to their best, it’s just a difficult environment sometimes because of the older facilities and the larger groups of media.

Boston fans…well they root for their team just as hard as Yankee fans root for theirs.  If baseball fans were not this passionate, I probably wouldn’t have the job I have now.

Q: 6. Growing up a Phillies fan, who was your favorite player and why?

A: I went through phases with my favorites.  So many of the 1980 Phillies were my favorites at one time or another—Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa, Garry Maddox, Manny Trillo.  I guess it just depended on who I watched play the night before or who’s baseball card I just got.  I remember Juan Samuel was a guy loved to watch play when he first came up a few years later.  He was a lot like Alfonso Soriano, though not as much power. 

Those were fun teams to watch…they made the playoffs every year but lost in the playoffs to the Reds in ’76 and the Dodgers in ’77 and ’78, so they never got to square off with the Yankees.  The Royals knocked off the Yanks in 1980 when the Phillies finally got there. 

Q: 7. Do you think the Yankees will rebound this year from another slow start and make the playoffs? If you think they will make the playoffs, how far will they go?

A: I don’t know about making the playoffs yet…it’s just too early to tell, but it’s also too early to write them off.  I think they’ll start playing better when A-Rod and Posada get back, but obviously they have to pitch better.  I knew Hughes and Kennedy would struggle a bit, but I didn’t think it would have been this severe.  That definitely hurts going forward, but Wang is off to a great start, Mussina has pitched well in the early going, and Pettitte gives you pretty much what you expect each year.  Right now I think they fall a bit short of 90 wins and I can’t say with any certainty that will be good enough to make the playoffs.  But I wrote them off last year and in 2005, so let’s not make that mistake again!

Q: 8. Lastly, how do you think the reigning NL MVP Jimmy Rollins and your Phillies will do this year?

Thank You Mr. Murti!

YANKEES
Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Duncan 1B
Matsui DH
Cabrera CF
Cano 2B
Ensberg 3B
Molina C
Wang RHP

Notes: Sorry about the late post again but I was busy, again.

Update, 7:44p.m.: Matsui has extended his hitting streak to 16 games, quite impressive.