Yup, another pure baseball blog today. This is my rant of an open letter to Yankee catcher, Russell Martin that will appear on Bronx Baseball Daily tomorrow. Next week I will get back to some other stuff and mention my book again. But until then:

J’accuse Russell Martin

Yes, I am aware that Chris Barca ranted about the Yankee catcher only a month ago on this site, but it’s time for another. Maybe this open letter – in a language he understands – may get the point out, but Russell Martin is becoming something of a black-hole at the backstop position. He needs to let his bat and his glove do the talking, but instead we are getting something of the weirdest season from a Yankee catcher than I can ever think of.

Listen: it was great during the winter when you came out and said you hate the Red Sox. We hate them, too; we get it, although not much of what we say can potentially come back as clubhouse bulletin board material. That you then later backed off the quote made you look more Swiss than Canadian. And yes, it’s great that you tweet in French, that you honored your mother’s family by including the “J.” on the back of your Dodger uniform although none of my friends in Los Angeles knew what it was for. But you’re a Yankee now – and apparently you sort of want to stay one – and we don’t put our names on our backs. Get it?

Want to figure out a new way to impress your mom? How about hitting more consistently? It was nice to see you finally crawl off the Inter-State and get your batting average up over the Mendoza-line finally, but what have you done for us lately? Weakly hit grounders that are tailor-made double plays. You said, “I’m starting to feel dangerous at the plate,” a couple of weeks ago; little did we know at the time that you meant dangerous to Yankee rallies.

When Girardi even tried to bat your predecessor, Jorge Posada, ninth (that’s last here in the American League) it caused a major eruption. The skipper bats you last and you don’t even bat an eyelash although it probably doesn’t matter: even if you did bat one, you’d probably swing and miss.

Perhaps you need a muzzle behind your mask. Seriously, what were you thinking calling out umpire Lars Diaz? Do you honestly think telling the newspapers that the home plate umpire is a dick is going to get your pitcher more strikes? Shut up and play the game, J. Martin; you sound like a whiny six-year old who didn’t get his nap when you tell the world that the umpire wouldn’t let you throw the ball back to the pitcher.

Of course you want to follow in the line of great New York Yankee catchers. Who wouldn’t want to be mentioned in the same sentence as Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, Thurman Munson and Jorge Posada? You see how I left your name out of that sentence? Running your mouth and not even hitting your weight (with what I see as only occasional pop from your bat) is not going to get you that long-term contract you were seeking this winter. You’re going to play yourself out of this town the same way you played your way out of Los Angeles. Last season, you had us all wondering why the Dodgers would non-tender you; now we know why. Maybe you felt safe when we traded Montero; maybe you saw sending Cervelli to AAA as a vote of confidence.

Joe Girardi came out quoted giving you some credit for the starting pitchers turning it around, but unlike him and your mom, I don’t have to find something nice to say. With a big mouthful of a name like Russell Nathan Jeanson Coltrane Martin, Jr. you must think you’re a real New York kind of guy. Why don’t you shut your mouth, start playing or, if I had my druthers, you could be banished to battery-mates with AJ Burnett out in Pittsburgh.