Old foes Brian Cashman and Theo Epstein catch up in Connecticut
By 'Duk | Big League Stew – Wed, Feb 1, 2012 7:50 AM EST
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/
old-foes-brian-cashman-theo-epstein-catch-connecticut-125059856.html
老對頭終於可以坐下來談交易了！
一篇蠻有趣的報導。兩人也回顧了當年為了爭奪 Jose Contreras
的趣事：紅襪把整個旅館房間都包下來，迫使洋基的人員住到
對街，Theo還和Contreras喝到早上四點多。但最後人還是被
洋基搶走了──誰能拒絕多1000萬美金的誘惑？幾年後Theo
遇上Contreras，忍不住問他到底是怎樣？Contreras回說：
我不知道啦！
紅襪簽席林姐前，Theo的助理總經理吃了席林嫂的料理中毒，
把旅館房間吐得滿地都是，Theo只好把吐過的地方都用20塊美金
鋪好.... 簽定席林後，他發現席林桌上擺著一本書：
Negotiating For Dummies....
Editors note: The following post is a midwinter dispatch from Dylan
Stableford of Yahoo! News
FAIRFIELD, Conn. — "I never wanted to be the general manager of the New York
Yankees," Brian Cashman said. "I still don't."
You would think he was joking, but he said it twice.
Cashman and Theo Epstein, his former Red Sox rival-cum-Cubs president, took
part in a wide-ranging, surprisingly candid discussion with ESPN's Steve
Berthiaume on the campus of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut
on Tuesday.
Theo and Cash, as they call each other now, have not seen Moneyball.
"We live it," Epstein said.
But they have enough stories for a sequel.
Cashman recounted his contentious relationship with George Steinbrenner. "We
had some legendary fights," Cashman recalled, calling the late Yankees owner
"intense" and "the boss of all bosses."
"Forget the game, every inning was Armageddon," Cashman said. "It was very
tough to operate like that in a game of chance like baseball."
The Yankees GMs that had preceded him— including Bob Watson and Bob Quinn —
were worried about their health. And he understood why: "The jubilation from
the winning was, 'Thank God we didn't lose.'"
The most striking example of that dynamic came during the 2000 Subway Series
against the Mets, when Steinbrenner was concerned that the Yankees'
television contract with MSG hinged on the outcome. "It felt like if we lost,
we'd lose the city," Cashman said. "The entire corporate business plan was on
the line."
At one point during a Q+A with the audience, a brash youngster asked Cashman
bluntly, "Do you feel comfortable with A.J. Burnett in the starting rotation?"
"You sound like George," Cashman quipped.
Losing was not tolerated off the field, either — especially when it came to
free agents coveted by Epstein, like, say, Jose Contreras.
In 2002, Boston's Latin American scout was the first to arrive at a
Nicaraguan hotel where Contreras — who had defected from the Cuban national
team