Roy Halladay

Describes motivation process for creativity with emphasis on intrinsic motivation by Corey K Katir

As sad as it was to see the Angels fail to play “their game” in the ALCS, what happened in 2009 still has to be put in proper perspective. They had a terrific season under trying circumstances, overcoming tragedy and…

The consensus of most baseball people I’ve talked to is that Game 5 of the ALCS could be John Lackey’s last as an Angel, barring an unlikely three-win comeback against the Yankees, of course. As the most appealing pitcher in…

The Yankees have an “Ace,” and the Angels don’t. Really, that’s been the difference in this ALCS so far. The Yankees’ CC Sabathia has dispensed two xerox masterpieces, a pair of dominant eight-inning, low-hit, one-run performances, and the guys who…

According to my blog history, I turned 30 years old five years ago. So that correspondingly means that today marked my hitting 35. When I got the somewhat congratulatory call from a high school best friend this morning, I asked what in the world could possibly be different at 35 than 34, aside from being qualified to run for president. He quickly said that when you hit 35, your back goes out… you become incontinent… so yeah, not great stuff.

Any time life passes an arbitrary number, it becomes second nature to do a self-evaluation and compare where you are against life goals, or where friends, family or famous people were at similar stages. It’s easy for me to look at my own parents, and realize that by 35, my mother had five children, and my dad, two years younger than she, crossed that mark by 33.

By age 35, Steve Jobs had started Apple and been summarily fired, moving on to launching NeXT computer. Larry Pagehad been at Google for 10 years, and was only 3 years away from taking the CEO position. Bill Clinton had been governor of Arkansas for 3 years. John F. Kennedy was entering the U.S. Senate. Barack Obama was elected to Illinois Senate. In the year he turned 35, Jack Dorsey held down CEO positions at both Twitter and Square. Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerbergstill has yet to reach his 28th birthday, and history will tell which direction he will go, atop one of the web’s most powerful companies.

So that’s humbling. Take a small roster of some of the world’s top leaders, put them on the wall as comparisons, and it’s easy to get depressed. That’s made even worse with visits to sporting events, when rookie baseball players could theoretically be your own biological children, and peers your age are seen as being on their career’s last legs. Eric Chavez, the one-time Oakland A’s star and multiple time Gold Glover, is hanging on to a role with the New York Yankees and has consideredretirement. He’s 8 months my junior. Roy Halladay, two time Cy Young Award winner, turns 35 next month.

Sigh.

Even at work, it seems many more of my peers are just as likely to have been born in the late 1980s as the late 1970s. There was a time when I wasconsistently among the youngest in meetings at the office. I remember interviewing candidates to report to me – only to have HR tell me they declined after meeting me in person and learning of my youth. I once got a roster of employees in 2001, organized youngest to oldest, and I was third on the list. That won’t happen now, obviously.

But rather than point to incredible people who have put a dent in the world, it makes just as much sense to take stock of the place one has in the world, and the trajectory on which you have set for yourself, your family and your future. Living in the Silicon Valley is fantastic and invigorating. Being married for just about 9 years now, and having three incredible kids, a nice home in a safe and beautiful neighborhood is great. Being able to quickly reach out to friends and remote family, with or without the latest gadgets, is a plus. Working at an aggressive and innovative company taking on hard challenges is exceptional.

The aforementioned Steve Jobs stated in his famous commencement address at Stanford, “‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

Nobody’s life is a perfect one. No couple goes without argument. No child goes without accidents and disobedience. No job goes without surprises and the occasional annoyance. But achievements and pleasure can be had when one determines what it is that is valuable, and how that can be predictably obtained. The question is not whether one can keep pace with the Jobs and Pages and Zuckerbergs, but if you could look forward to a date in the future of five, ten or twenty years and think that you would be pleased with your future self. Can you look backwards the same and think that your past self would be happy with who you had become, or wistful that you had not challenged yourself and let opportunity go by?

Exceptional people are exceptional because they are the exceptions. Incredible people are incredible because they accomplish things that defy belief. When you think of how you measure up, consider whether it’s your own expectations, or those of the people around you who matter, and did you? 35 isn’t quite the middle of the life mark it once was, when getting to 70 was the target, but it’s a number that says you have some history behind you, and hopefully, much more to go. With each data point, I’ll keep measuring.

More: louisgray.com | RSS | E-mail | Cell: 408 646.2759

1. I wrote this column in todayas Post about how Andy Pettitte is symbolic of a Yankee roster in which many older players are trying to prove they still have plenty of quality ability left.

Whenever I write about Yankees age a which I do think is a significant issue for the team and, by the way, does the front office a there tends to be an angry reaction from a segment of fans. I think it is mainly about wanting to see players such as Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera as forever young, impenetrable even to age.

I am not paid to wear pinstriped-covered glasses. I am offering columns on what I think is important, dramatic, interesting, newsworthy, etc. But what should not be lost when I raise the age-old issue is that I am actually amazed at how well Yankees players have defied logic and sport-wide trends to, in general, offer sturdy work or better in their graying years. Just look at a few stories in the news the past few days and compare and contrast.

Chase Utley had to leave Phillies camp to see a specialist because his chronically problematic knees are keeping him from playing. Philadelphia already was without Ryan Howard, who tore his Achillies at the end of last yearas Division Series and also suffered a setback in camp. Utley is 33, Howard is 32. Jeter is 37, Alex Rodriguez is 36. What if we would have told you three years ago that Philadelphiaas high-priced, accomplished right side of the infield was going to fall apart before the Yankeesa high-priced, accomplished, but older left side of the infield? But that is what has happened.

Rodriguez has managed his many ailments, including to his knee, better than Utley. Look, one hope the Mets have had in recent times is that all the substantial long-term money that the Phillies have invested in older players such as Utley, Howard, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee would turn bad at one time and create an opening a at least against Philadelphia a for the Mets at a time when they hope to be rising. Interestingly, the Red Sox used to say the same about the Yankees, that they believed one day the Yankees would have a critical mass of veteran, expensive players crash. And then Boston officials just kept repeating this, but as an inside joke, because the Yankees players refused to succumb to age.

Also, we saw that Detroitas Miguel Cabrera took a smashed grounder that hit under his right eye causing a small fracture and needing eight stitches to close. Now word was that any third basemen would have been endangered by the speed of the ball hit by Hunter Pence. But there is the reality that Cabrera is trying to transition to third base, a position of reflex and danger. And one worry that Detroit has to have as it makes room at first for Prince Fielder is wearing Cabrera out or hurting him at third and diminishing one of his most important assets: Games played. He will miss a few weeks now.

That is why A-Rod was a marvel. He not only moved over and handled third base well beginning in 2004. But he remained an iron man. In his first three seasons at third, Rodriguez played 471 games, which was 12th most in the majors. Only now in his mid-30s has he begun to have his games played severely diminished.

Also we learned yesterday that Joakim Soria might be facing a second Tommy John surgery. He is just 27, just five years into his career. There have been times during those five years in which the Yankees have tried to acquire Soria with the idea he would be Riveraas set-up man now and his replacement when Rivera retires. Think about this, in his five seasons with Kansas City, which equate to his age-23-to-27 seasons, Soria has appeared in 298 games, covering 315 1-3 innings with a 2.40 ERA. In the same period, which coincides with his age-37-to-41 seasons, Rivera has appeared in more games (322), covering more innings (329 2-3) and with a lower ERA (2.02) a and this does not even count the playoffs.

Now Soria may miss a whole season while Rivera is still providing seasons that look like his prime and is considering retirement not because he canat perform, but because he wants to go out on his own terms.

2. It was revealed this morning that the Rangers have given Derek Holland a five-year contract worth $28.5 million that also contains two option years. Why do we bring this up?

Well, you now know one of the perpetual stories around the Yankees is their vow to get under the $189 million luxury-tax threshold for the 2014 season as a way to financially benefit via the inducements that are part of the new collective bargaining agreement.

If you read me (thank you), then you are aware I have pointed out in previous columns and posts that the Yankees will either have to get pro-active to stay under that level or get used to living without their familiar quantity of stars and depth. I covered much of the issue, including ways to work with contracts, in this column.

But I wanted to highlight Holland, just because he shares a lot in common with Phil Hughes and so, if the Yankees are really as enamored with Hughes as they say they are, it might be worthwhile to consider a long-term contract similar to this since what counts toward the luxury tax is the average annual value of a long-term contract, which for Holland is $5.7 million or at minimum what Hughes would receive for just next year if he has a good 2012.

Hughes is four months older than Holland, but is due to be a free agent after the 2014 season, whereas Holland was not until after the 2015 campaign. That means Hughes would probably cost more long term, but again this is just to show where the Yankees could be proactive. Hughes has a career 4.46 ERA, Holland is at 4.73. They have similarity (Hughesa numbers are listed first) in hits per nine innings (8.54/9.51), strikeouts per nine innings (7.51/7.38), walks per nine innings (3.18/3.15) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.36/2.34).

If not Hughes, then Holland potentially could provide the framework for what the Yankees can do with Ivan Nova. Nova is just three months younger than Holland and is due to be a free agent after the 2016 season.

3. There is no doubt that yesterday was a victory for Mets ownership. They reached a favorable settlement with the trustee trying to recover money from the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme, and they also announced finalization of sales to 12 limited partners, which has allowed them to pay off many of their short-term debt obligations.

But, of course, what is good for Fred and Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz is not necessarily good for Mets fans. It is not like the Wilponas financial plight was completely solved yesterday. It is possible that the Mets are still looking at years and years of limited payrolls and avoidance of star player salaries.

Look the Wilpons might not have much credibility with their fans and it is possible they never will. But we should remember that when George Steinbrenner was suspended by then Commissioner Fay Vincent in 1990, a home crowd at Yankee Stadium stood and cheered the news. That was mostly forgotten in the hagiographies offered upon Steinbrenneras death. He was remembered instead as a great owner for fans because the team had gone on an extended binge of winning, championships and superstar collection.

So there is hope for the Wilpons still to, at the very least, spruce their reputations. But it has to start now with them explaining to the fans why this is good for the loyalists and not just good for ownership. This means providing a roadmap of what ownership believes is possible in terms of spending over the next few years. And this canat just be some more of the blather that has been p.r.-spun by Mets ownership in recent years. The ownership should make clear promises and say it should be held to those promises, and then every three months a Wilpon should hold some kind of press conference to discuss where ownership is in fulfilling those promises.

When it comes to trust in their word and their abilities, Mets ownership is as far down as you could be.

But if I would have told you in August 1990 that George Steinbrenner would die a hero to Yankee fans, you would not have believed that. So here goes Mets ownershipas last best chance to make a go at changing their reputations.

Roy Halladay threw eight strong innings for his first victory in a month and the Philadelphia Phillies held on for an 8-7 win over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday night.

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Cliff Lee beat the Yankees again Monday. The Yankees just arenat good enough.

That was the word from Lee, who is 3-0 against the Yankees in the last two postseasons. The no-nonsense lefty painted a clear picture why he chose the Phillies over the Yankees when the Phillies officially introduced their new Four Aces rotation at their spring training complex, featuring Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.

Asked by the Post why he was sitting here and not at the big tent in Tampa, where the Yankees hold all their spring training press conferences, Lee said, aI felt like this was the best chance to win World Championships, thatas what it is all about.aa

Yes, he likes the City of Brotherly Love, he likes the buzz generated by Citizens Bank Park, his family feels comfortable in Philadelphia, but the bottom line is this: In his mind, the Yankees, who were offering more money, were not in the same World Championship ballpark as the Phillies.

Itas really that simple.

The Yankees have the history, those 27 World Championships, but as far as Lee is concerned, the Phillies are in a better position to deliver titles over the next five years, the length of Leeas $120 million contract.

The worm has turned in a big way.

aObviously, I played here in the past and enjoyed myself here and thought we had a really good team at that time,aa Lee said of his decision and not go to The Bronx or stay in Texas with the Rangers. aSince then theyave made a couple of additions that I think have made the team that much better. I felt like if I ever got an opportunity to come back and be part of whatas going on here, I would take advantage of it, and thatas why.aa

There you have it.

Later in the press conference, Lee reinforced his point saying, aI just honestly stepped back and looked at each team and evaluated. I felt like this is the team thatas going to give me the best chance to win a ring, and hopefully multiple rings. But thatas what the decision was based on.aa

The Yankees are second city to the Phillies now in Leeas mind.

Personal Injury Lawyer Los Angeles – FREE CONSULTATION by Personal Injury Attorney Los Angeles – Legal Defenders, Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyers – Law Offices of Burg and Brock, who have won over $100 million in verdicts and settlements for clients

Page took 2 seconds to load.