05/15: Interviewing the Yankees Blogosphere: James Varghese, YanksBlog.com
Posted by: Patrick
Our next (and perhaps the final one of this round) interview is with our own James Varghese.
When you aren't doing something related to or depending on the Yankees, what are you up to?
Mostly at work as that is the other major passion in my life right now. It is a nice little cycle – work, gym, Yankees, sleep, repeat.
How long have you been blogging about the Yankees?
Just a little over a season and a half now.
Besides your own, what are your favorite Yankees blogs?
This is probably the hardest question on the list as the amount of quality Yankees blogs out there continues to grow every season. I started out reading and commenting over at Cliff Corcoran’s Big Red Blog and Alex Belth’s Bronx Banter back when he was over at All-Baseball.com. Of course, Larry M’s and SG’s RLYW was and is great and I also remember reading Fabian back when he was over at the Minor Yankee Blog. Honestly, from then on, the blogroll has only continued expanding. It has been a steady diet of WasWatching (I am always amazed at the quality stuff that Steve Lombardi puts out), River Ave. Blues (they went and combined three of my favorite guys into one blog – how convenient) and I'd certainly be remiss if I forgot either Dave and Aziz Nekoukar or the always entertaining Pinstripe Alley. EJ Fagan is a guy I stumbled upon only recently but I love his work on the minor leagues. Between the scouting reports and updates from EJ, Mike A. and Fabian, it’s very easy to keep a close eye on the minors.
In addition, you have a good amount of MSM guys who have blogs now, too, most notably Mr. Pete Abraham but also including Mark F. from the Daily News, Bryan Hoch from MLB.com and Kat O'Brien from Newsday. Somehow, even with all these guys on my list, I still seem to manage to find good Yankee writing out there and last week, I stumbled onto Almost Perfect. Thank God for RSS feed readers and for most of these guys allowing full feeds or else I would be on the internet all day checking these sites.
What are some of your earliest memories of the Yankees?
Don Mattingly embodies most of my early Yankees memories. As an immigrant to the country, Donnie Baseball embodied a lot of what I considered to be the American dream.
Did you grow up rooting for the Yanks? Was your Dad or someone in your family influential in making sure you pulled for the Yankees?
Not really. My dad is more of a soccer and cricket guy though he does enjoy the Knicks (especially back in the day when Patrick Ewing was playing – my dad was a big fan of his). Outside of that, I think it was just a product of my environment. I was just starting to learn baseball, I lived near the Bronx and the rest just fell into place.
Who is your all-time - past or present - favorite Yankee and why?
Mariano Rivera and it’s not even close. I am a huge fan of a lot of Yankees greats but personally, Mariano embodies everything that the Yankees organization should stand for.
Do you admire anyone (doesn't need to be a player) in the Yankee organization?
Outside of Mo, I would say that I admire George most of all. As a finance guy, I am just amazed at the asset deal he made. An $8.7 million JV investment in 1972 has been leveraged and developed into a $1.2 billion dollar powerhouse with 6 World Series titles to claim as their own. Unbelievable.
How often do you make it to the stadium to see a game?
Unfortunately, this happens very rarely. When I do head back to NY, most of my time is spent catching up with family and old friends so the drive into the Bronx often takes a back seat.
Of any retired former Yankee that is not in the Hall of Fame already, who is the one that most deserves to be?
Goose Gossage. It’s a sham that Bruce Sutter got in and that Goose did not and Aaron Gleeman makes the case far more emphatically than I could.
What do you expect from Igawa this season?
At the beginning of the season, I honestly expected that after some weeks of transition, Igawa could end up being a good #5 starter for the Yankees. I still think that he can get there but that he certainly needs development time. I think that the Yankees have some good coaches all the way from the bottom up and with their help, I believe that Igawa will be able to provide the Yankees with a decent return on their investment.
Out of all current Yankee hitters, if you need someone to make something happen, who do you want?
No contest - Doug Mientkiewicz. Seriously though, right now, it would probably Derek Jeter if I just needed a hit or someone on base or Alex Rodriguez if I needed some power.
When you aren't doing something related to or depending on the Yankees, what are you up to?
Mostly at work as that is the other major passion in my life right now. It is a nice little cycle – work, gym, Yankees, sleep, repeat.
How long have you been blogging about the Yankees?
Just a little over a season and a half now.
Besides your own, what are your favorite Yankees blogs?
This is probably the hardest question on the list as the amount of quality Yankees blogs out there continues to grow every season. I started out reading and commenting over at Cliff Corcoran’s Big Red Blog and Alex Belth’s Bronx Banter back when he was over at All-Baseball.com. Of course, Larry M’s and SG’s RLYW was and is great and I also remember reading Fabian back when he was over at the Minor Yankee Blog. Honestly, from then on, the blogroll has only continued expanding. It has been a steady diet of WasWatching (I am always amazed at the quality stuff that Steve Lombardi puts out), River Ave. Blues (they went and combined three of my favorite guys into one blog – how convenient) and I'd certainly be remiss if I forgot either Dave and Aziz Nekoukar or the always entertaining Pinstripe Alley. EJ Fagan is a guy I stumbled upon only recently but I love his work on the minor leagues. Between the scouting reports and updates from EJ, Mike A. and Fabian, it’s very easy to keep a close eye on the minors.
In addition, you have a good amount of MSM guys who have blogs now, too, most notably Mr. Pete Abraham but also including Mark F. from the Daily News, Bryan Hoch from MLB.com and Kat O'Brien from Newsday. Somehow, even with all these guys on my list, I still seem to manage to find good Yankee writing out there and last week, I stumbled onto Almost Perfect. Thank God for RSS feed readers and for most of these guys allowing full feeds or else I would be on the internet all day checking these sites.
What are some of your earliest memories of the Yankees?
Don Mattingly embodies most of my early Yankees memories. As an immigrant to the country, Donnie Baseball embodied a lot of what I considered to be the American dream.
Did you grow up rooting for the Yanks? Was your Dad or someone in your family influential in making sure you pulled for the Yankees?
Not really. My dad is more of a soccer and cricket guy though he does enjoy the Knicks (especially back in the day when Patrick Ewing was playing – my dad was a big fan of his). Outside of that, I think it was just a product of my environment. I was just starting to learn baseball, I lived near the Bronx and the rest just fell into place.
Who is your all-time - past or present - favorite Yankee and why?
Mariano Rivera and it’s not even close. I am a huge fan of a lot of Yankees greats but personally, Mariano embodies everything that the Yankees organization should stand for.
Do you admire anyone (doesn't need to be a player) in the Yankee organization?
Outside of Mo, I would say that I admire George most of all. As a finance guy, I am just amazed at the asset deal he made. An $8.7 million JV investment in 1972 has been leveraged and developed into a $1.2 billion dollar powerhouse with 6 World Series titles to claim as their own. Unbelievable.
How often do you make it to the stadium to see a game?
Unfortunately, this happens very rarely. When I do head back to NY, most of my time is spent catching up with family and old friends so the drive into the Bronx often takes a back seat.
Of any retired former Yankee that is not in the Hall of Fame already, who is the one that most deserves to be?
Goose Gossage. It’s a sham that Bruce Sutter got in and that Goose did not and Aaron Gleeman makes the case far more emphatically than I could.
What do you expect from Igawa this season?
At the beginning of the season, I honestly expected that after some weeks of transition, Igawa could end up being a good #5 starter for the Yankees. I still think that he can get there but that he certainly needs development time. I think that the Yankees have some good coaches all the way from the bottom up and with their help, I believe that Igawa will be able to provide the Yankees with a decent return on their investment.
Out of all current Yankee hitters, if you need someone to make something happen, who do you want?
No contest - Doug Mientkiewicz. Seriously though, right now, it would probably Derek Jeter if I just needed a hit or someone on base or Alex Rodriguez if I needed some power.
Jordan Stankovich wrote: