Another Off Season

So what happens when we pack up our lockers, look at the floor during the last interview, and then go home? That's what this blog is for. I'm sure there are lots of baseball fans who can't get enough of the game during the season, so in the off season they must feel like a junkie going practically cold turkey. I figured I'm good for a few hits, so here you'll follow me throughout the off season as I rehab, attend charity functions like fan fest, ingratiate myself with Vanessa and the girls, and prepare for 2008. It won't be as exciting as one of my no-hitters, but maybe this will help hold you over until spring training.

Let me start with a bombshell: I've accepted my contractual option to play in New York for another year. I've opted. After a miserable season, both personally and as a team, I felt like there was some unfinished business. I only threw two pitches all year, so that proves the personal professional misery. And even though I didn't spend much time in the clubhouse after my injury, I've played on enough losing teams to know what it's like to play for next season when it's only 40 games into this season. So I'm coming back for 2008 and can hopefully help restore some swagger (and victories).

I'll admit, it wasn't an easy decision. If I had opted out, my contract stated the team would pay me a $3 million buyout. Now that would have been the easiest $3 million I ever made. "Here, Jimmy, do nothing and we'll pay you more than the GDP of Haiti." My family's set financially. I think I've earned close to $150 million over the last 19 years. To me, three million dollars is tip money for the bathroom attendant at my local country club. But I don't golf. And besides, $3 million is a whole lot of money to be giving to somebody who hands you a paper towel.

So there was a little bit of guilt built into accepting their buyout. In fact, at one point they sweetened their offer to $7 million. Seven million dollars to walk away and bother my wife for the remainder of our marriage. I know the team was trying to respectfully cut me loose. It's been a great thirteen years in NY. Three championships is something I'll always be proud of. But 2007, with my season-ending injury and misfortune plaguing us in the standings... I had to come back.

There's more. If I'm going to be really honest with you, I might as well start in my first post. My marriage might not be able to withstand another year of my not playing. At least right now. I've been a very lucky man. Marrying Vanessa, us having twin daughters 15 years ago - it's all been an incredible run. Vanessa would tell you the incredible run stopped the moment I fell to the ground last April clutching my elbow, the tendon-snapping still ringing in my ears. From that moment until my opting back in tonight, I've been a burden to her, a weight... I've been the man I'll be when I retire. Vanessa doesn't like that man very much. He's needy and forgetful and selfish. He's not a great husband and a barely satisfactory father. He's a man used to living 6+ months of the year with other men just like him, only some are louder, some are younger, and some can hit a baseball 475 feet. In other words, if I didn't play on one field in 2008, I'd be playing another as soon as the lawyers agreed on who got custody of the toilet seat covers.

I should also state team management is upset with me. Why do you think they sweetened their buyout offer? Because they thought I'd take it. They wanted me to take it. I'd be lying if I said my agent and I hadn't pretty much given every indication that we would. Jack Perry, my agent, even went so far as to tell them we had a deal. Only I never said that and I never signed off. I couldn't. The game is still a part of me. I still need to compete. I need the camaraderie of 24 other guys and 49,000 of the best fans in the world cheering me on. Maybe that's why Vanessa isn't looking very forward to retirement. Even though she's my biggest fan, she can only scream as loud as one.

It was a real scene, actually, when I faxed in my contract, checking the Jimmy Scott Opts To Play In 2008 box. Jack was furious, telling me I undermined his professionalism. I understand Rick Churches, or should I say, new manager Rick Churches, threw a fit when he found out his number 5 starter can only throw spitballs out of his mouth. The front office is now $9 million over budget, so nobody up there was happy. And Vanessa, well, even though I knew she wanted me to keep playing, she was was a little peeved that I made the decision without her. Did I mention I was a forgetful and selfish husband?

Bottom line - I'm not done. I know I have a lot of work ahead of me. I know I have a lot of front office and team goodwill to repair. And I now know the end of my career is near. If I don't learn to accept this, the end of my marriage could also be near.

So check back often and wish me luck this off season. I'm going to need it.