Category Archives: New York Yankees

Texas Rangers ALCS Champions! No Tea Party here folks!

Posted on October 23, 2010 | Leave a comment
Texas Rangers (baseball)

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Josh Hamilton was named MVP of the American League Championship Series as his Texas Rangers whooped the New York Yankees into submission yesterday and grabbed the AL Pennant for the first time in their long history.  When he was asked about the award you couldn’t help but be impressed.  Here’s what he had to say: 

“I love my teammates. I love them so much. Any of these guys could have gotten this award. I’m happy to have them. At the same time ,  I don’t want to talk about myself, I want to talk about them!  WE are the reason we’re here. The chemistry on the team is something like I’ve never known anywhere.  All the guys love each other and we support each other.”

Texas Rangers on winning the ALCS

Manager Ron Washington said basically the same thing, acknowledging this was the best group of players he’s ever worked with.   The Texas Rangers chemistry among each other seems to be contagious.   Most would agree that the players on any team have to get along with each other, maybe not “like” each other but for sure they have to get along.  Sometimes that promotes a winning team and sometimes not, but for sure these guys seem to really and truly “like” each other.  This  is evident in all the clubhouse interviews, on the field rapport, and articles written throughout this year.   I don’t know very much about the Texas Rangers, but I have to be honest here,  you can’t help but like these guys,  each and every one of them!  

Josh Hamilton, MVP

I decided not to write about all the great plays and statistics from this series.  They were impressive and you can read all about them in the “Related Articles” below.   But if you read my earlier blog about the Yankees and their tea party mentality, you gotta love these guys.   This is the first time in their history they’ve won a Pennant and it does my heart good to see a bunch of guys whooping and hollering and jumping around like they really, really appreciate being here.  Whatta series and what an accomplishment!   Great win for the Texas Rangers.  They deserve it!

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Ho Hum……Yankees Won. Care for a cup of tea?

Posted on October 10, 2010 | Leave a comment

Phil Hughes pitched seven shutout innings, Marcus Thames and Nick Swisher homered and the Yankees beat the Twins 6-1 Saturday night to complete yet another three-game sweep of Minnesota and return to the AL championship series.    Once again,  New York Yankees 6 and Minnesota Twins-1.   Take a look at this video and you’ll see the reason behind the Header’s obvious sarcasm:  (Be patient, it takes a minute to load)

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=12795971

Yankees Advance to ALCS

 I watched it live as it happened and thought how utterly bizarre ~ the players are walking off the field, chatting to each other, an occasional smile and wave to the crowd.  In the first few scenes some of the managers are immediately walking down the steps to the clubhouse.   I envision white tablecloths set out with tea and crumpets being served.  Okay, so I think the Yankees are spoiled.   Or maybe they’ve just won so many times they expect to win again.  No big deal.   Well, you know what?   This is a big deal!  Four more wins and they’ve won the Pennant.  And another four wins they win the World Series!  Ye Gods man!  This is serious business!    I searched for some photos of individual players and found the same thing.  Might as well been wearing their Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes and bowing to the crowds.   I’m

Jeter the Gentleman

pretty darn sure of one thing though.   If the tables were turned and this were the Minnesota Twins with a 6-1 win over the Yankees, or over anyone as far as that goes, at the end of the game, when that last out was made,   there would have been 25 Twins out on that field acting like a bunch of 10 year olds and caps would have been flying all over the place.  And I would have been cheering right along with them.   It’s not that I’m unhappy the Yankees won.  It’s just that a little enthusiasm would have been nice, you know?   Kinda of like it might have been a surprise to them too and then trying to engage the crowd into their little celebration would have been really, really nice!

Okay, I’ll be honest, there’s another way you can look at this.  Could it be those dang Yankees were so sure they were going to win, it didn’t even cross their minds they should look and act like complete fools to pretend they were ecstatic about

Here we go again!

something they knew was going to happen anyway.  And could it be this is the way “professionals” are supposed to act?   I’m just saying,  no one’s had more experience at being winners than the New York Yankees.  Perhaps that’s the way it’s supposed to be.   Tea and crumpets anyone?

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Vote’s in! Derek Jeter Rocks!

Posted on September 26, 2010 | Leave a comment

You can always count on Yankee fans to come to the rescue of their Team Captain, but I was surprised at the number of baseball fans in general, not just Yankee fans, who agree with Jeter’s current acting performance as being not only an accepted practice in baseball, but generally gamesmanship at its best.   I received twice as many emails and comments on this post than I have in all the others combined, and the response was overwhelmingly in favor of an Emmy for Derek!   Just goes to show I might have an opinion, but it doesn’t  mean it’s a popular opinion!   And that’s okay folks.  I’ve always said, if  it’s written, it’s real and boy did you write!

Here’s some of the opinions expressed on the subject.  This response was from “thetickr.com” sports blog and most closely represents your opinions here at GFBB!

  1. getswirled answered: I (hate) the Yankees, but that kind of stuff makes baseball beautiful.
  2. kingsandratini liked this
  3. bobbyfreshcuts answered: smart baseball!
  4. sherwooddesigns answered: If the average fan knew (shoot) about the game other than the Yankees, they’d realize this is just baseball. Stop perpetuating the media bias!
  5. bobble-head answered: It’s Derek Jeter, of COURSE it’s brilliant baseball. Anybody else, and they’re rotten scum. Sarcasm aside…it was really lame.
  6. thatcupcake liked this
  7. dccat reblogged this from scenes-from-my-hood and added: Gross. Just gross.
  8. stpillow answered: Smart Baseball.
  9. sarahinthe617 answered: UGH hate the yankees so much – and wouldn’t have expected this from jeter, who i thought at least was classy. integrity deteriorating. BOOO.
  10. carablanca reblogged this from thetickr
  11. carablanca liked this
  12. reallynic reblogged this from scenes-from-my-hood and added: I wanted to bring…my accountability and ethics class last night. But I didn’t.
  13. reallynic liked this
  14. danielleashby answered: Hate is a strong word, but I strongly, STRONGLY dislike the Yankees and always have.
  15. messily liked this
  16. texnessa answered: good for him. he still cant hold a candle to cristiano ronaldo for theatrics
  17. anawfulbeautifullife liked this
  18. betterthanihopedfor answered: Boo for fake injuries.
  19. 1happyst reblogged this from kimbaland and added: Getting hit in the bat when you don’t swing should be a HBP anyway. I never understood why it wasn’t. You throw a…
  20. kimbaland reblogged this from scenes-from-my-hood and added: fake injuries when playing soccer, too. Guess I was taking after my love, DJ.
  21. justcheckingin liked this
  22. qlam answered: Smart baseball. You take every advantage that’s given to you. That goes for life too.
  23. littlelaur liked this
  24. malb liked this
  25. scenes-from-my-hood reblogged this from sbnation and added:  HuffPo.com this is derek jeter faking having been hit by a pitch when in fact it only hit the bat. jeter later admitted…
  26. mlhartwell answered: its actually a form of normative cheating. similar to stealing signs in baseball or intentionally fouling in basketball. its all about the W.
  27. thegreg answered: The guy is the captain in one of the most heated division races of the past decade. Do everything you can to win. Blame the umpire. Not Jeter
  28. alancassinelli answered: how is it any worse than flopping in basketball or soccer? its part of the game now
  29. acecapade liked this
  30. stphn answered: If aj pierzinaksdkdadkkiii or arod did this, y’all would call it out for what it is
  31. acecapade answered: Smart baseball. They won.
  32. sbnation reblogged this from thetickr
  33. nickmendez answered: It’s ridiculous to call this anything other than gamesmanship. Just like when a catcher frames a strike.    “GFBB Note:  Really?”      WE PLAY TO WIN THE GAME.  
  34. alexseder answered: Smart baseball.
  35. thetickr posted this

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Derek Jeter – Emmy Award for Best Actor?……Absolutely!

Posted on September 24, 2010 | 12 comments
Derek Jeter

Image via Wikipedia

Take a look at this video.  Be patient.  It takes a minute to load.  I had a devil of a time finding a copy that was not locked out with a “security violation”, but once again WordPress to the rescue.  Anyhow this goes in line with my last two posts , “Hit by a Pitch” – well, not really, but you’ll see what I mean. 

Click link below to view  vdeo:

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=12117903&topic_id=8879976&c_id=mlb   

Geez,  I kinda liked Derek Jeter.  He’s like the last of the old time heroes.  I always thought it was because he was still single and could get away with indiscretions because he wasn’t hurting his sweet little wife who sat patiently at home waiting for him, because he didn’t have a wife.    But now this puts a bit of a different swing on things don’t you think?  I mean I’m sure a lot of  Yankee fans will think this is great, probably even funny, but this pathetic lie of an acting job probably cost the Rays the game.  Hero?  I don’t think so.  As far as I’m concerned Derek Jeter has dropped a notch,  a lot of notches, probably to the bottom of the belt, in my mind. 

This brings the Hall of Fame to mind once again.  So they don’t want gamblers and substance abusers in the HOF, but will they draw the line when it comes to a big fake?  I didn’t realize it had happened before.  Derek was a hero in my mind and I didn’t really look very hard to prove him otherwise.  See the “Related Articles” below. 

Hey, it’s okay!  We have a few heroes on the horizon.  Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner come to mind,  because I’m a Giants fan probably, but I’m sure you have others on your team you would nominate.  I’d like to hear about them.  It would make for a great blog sometime in the winter while I’m having to sit through one of those goddawful Monday night football games. 

Good grief!   I thought I’d seen it all folks.  But this one really takes the cake!  Is Jeter so stupid he didn’t realize there’s such a thing as “replays” and better yet, “replays in slow motion”?   I guess when you’re making those kind of bucks all bets are off and you do whatever you have to do to get that win.  Ethics, honesty and morality?  We’ll have to look to our young heroes and cross our hearts, hope to die, stick a needle …… and say a prayer once in awhile.   They’re sure gonna need it. 

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Best Players in Past 58 Years ……. A Mathematical Study!

Posted on August 12, 2010 | 6 comments

I came upon an interesting study a few months ago.  It was written by Don Davis, Mathematics Professor at Lehigh University, Bethleham, PA.   There’s a lot of criteria used in determining different aspects of this study, but for the most part the players names are all recognizable and only a few to make the list are surprises.   The following table lists the top five All Star Teams, using 4 pitchers per team.    It also lists the overall rating percentage by player.   Take a look:

Pos’n First team Second team Third team Fourth team Fifth team
P1 Roger Clemens, 266.2 Tom Seaver, 166.9 Bob Gibson, 129.2 Jim Palmer, 106.4 Johan Santana, 85.4
P2 Greg Maddux, 203.9 Warren Spahn, 160.5 Robin Roberts, 128.3 Gaylord Perry, 96.1 Tom Glavine, 84.8
P3 Randy Johnson, 202.4 Bob Feller, 143.7 Sandy Koufax, 126.0 Phil Niekro, 96.1 Curt Schilling, 80.7
P4 Pedro Martinez, 185.7 Steve Carlton, 140.7 Juan Marichal, 109.5 Fergie Jenkins, 91.7 Bob Lemon, 79.9
C Johnny Bench, 115.5 Yogi Berra, 97.2 Mike Piazza, 82.2 Ivan Rodriguez, 77.7 Gary Carter, 75.5
1B Albert Pujols, 145.4 Jeff Bagwell, 103.2 Eddie Murray, 95.2 Willie McCovey, 92.1 Harmon Killebrew, 86.4
2B Joe Morgan, 140.3 Rod Carew, 94.5 Ryne Sandberg, 92.4 Jackie Robinson, 82.4 Roberto Alomar, 81.1
3B Mike Schmidt, 173.2 George Brett, 119.2 Eddie Mathews, 111.7 Wade Boggs, 108.0 Brooks Robinson, 88.4
SS Alex Rodriguez, 145.4 Cal Ripken, 113.6 Robin Yount, 93.0 Ernie Banks, 90.7 Derek Jeter, 81.6
OF1 Barry Bonds, 270.7 Stan Musial, 205.2 Frank Robinson, 145.3 Ken Griffey, 114.2 Tony Gwynn, 100.3
OF2 Willie Mays, 226.8 Mickey Mantle, 198.3 Rickey Henderson, 141.5 Al Kaline, 110.1 Pete Rose, 99.7
OF3 Ted Williams, 213.4 Hank Aaron, 195.6 Carl Yazstremski, 127.5 Reggie Jackson, 108.9 Roberto Clemente, 99.3
DH Frank Thomas, 115.0 Edgar Martinez, 64.4 Paul Molitor, 62.4 David Ortiz, 43.4  

Are you kidding me?  Can you even begin to imagine a game with all of these guys on the same team?  What was particularly interesting to me is  that mathematically Roger Clemens is the highest rated pitcher and Barry Bonds is the highest rated batter.   These  ratings are through the 2009 season,  and personalities and private lives are not taken into account.   This is just  using good old fashioned baseball statistics.  

I found the study intriguing and spent a lot of time viewing the criteria used in coming up with the lists.  Rather than go into all the particulars here, you can view the study yourself @ Lehigh University   http://www.lehigh.edu/~dmd1/baseball.html  

 This information is being used with the permission of Professor Davis.

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Posted in A1 Baseball, General, Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals

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All stars and Steinbrenner….who cares?

Posted on July 15, 2010 | 4 comments
   
  It’s always been a puzzle to me how they can pick the All Stars halfway through the season when they’re still bringing up the kids from the minors and switching around players between positions and teams.  There’s a lot of players who probably deserve to be All Stars but since voting starts somewhere around February, March, April, there’s no way they’ll be able to make the team.  The problem is that each team has to front an All Star no matter what and that seems a bit patronizing.   Some of the teams are so far in the cellar they have no prayer of getting out and nothing’s going to help them.   The voting’s complicated and the system involves the fans, managers and players with a final player selected from, all things, the internet!  I guess when you take into account the high powered moneyed teams like the Yankees it’s probably one of the safeguards they decided on, to mandate one player from each team.  It seems kinda nuts since some teams don’t have even one player who can legitimately be considered an “All Star”, but like I mentioned above,  they’ve decided over the years this is the most fair way of deciding.  I guess with the moneyed teams if you didn’t do this, you could end up with the American League fielding nothing but Yankees and Red Sox on their roster against the National League.  So be it. 
One of the highlights this year for me was the interchange in the last couple  innings  between the pitcher and batter where the duel was on.  One power pitch followed by one foul ball, back and forth.  At one point, the pitcher obviously gave it everything, the batter swung mightily and missed, but came around with a big grin on his face, obviously acquiescing to the pitcher.  The pitcher responded with a chuckle and big smile, obviously enjoying the exchange.  It was something to see and the camera caught it beautifully.  Rarely do you see this in league play.  It made me smile too and in the end the batter struck out, which was appropriate.   The pitcher and batter, worthy opponents.  So that was the highlight of the game for me.  That and the fact the National League finally won,  and now gets home field advantage in October.
“The only bad thing about winning the pennant is that you have to manage the All-Star Game the next year. I’d rather go fishing for three days.” –
My knowledge of George Steinbrenner is personified in a shirt I bought for my brother-in-law, Tom, a few years ago.  The shirt had a lot of graphics, but the gist of it was “New York Yankees…..Best Team Money can Buy”.    Tom hates the Yankees!  Almost everyone I know hates the Yankees.  Or they love the Yankees.  There’s really no in-between.  But I’m in-between.  I love the idea of winning all the time.   My dad hated the Yankees!  Back in the late 50’s when the Yankees were winning all the time, dad thought they ought to give someone else a chance to win.  That logic has always escaped me.  Good grief!   Shouldn’t the best team win?  In the case of the Yankees, they’ve paid mightily for the “best” team.  A few years back there was a player,  Dave Winfield, who refused to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee, no matter how much money he’d made playing for them.  He was, instead, inducted as a San Diego Padre.  There were a lot of rumors and press involved in this, but I’ve always admired his decision, based on a principle.  But because of Steinbrenner, they’ve got the money.  How many sports stadiums have been built without public financing?  Yankee Stadium was.  How many stadiums can be sold out when the home team’s losing?  Yankee Stadium was. Let’s give credit where it’s due and one thing for sure,  George Steinbrenner deserves credit for bringing the New Yankees back from a really dry spell.  He loved his Yankees and he loved to win, and he did win.  The game of baseball is better for it.

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Back to New York, Yankee Stadium & the Mariners …..

Posted on July 7, 2010 | Leave a comment

Whew!   Finally getting back to finishing my June 29 blog.   It was Day 4 of our baseball tour, Mariners vs. Yankees.   I took time to post the stats and final score after the schlocking  the Mariners gave the Yankees, much to the thrill of our Pacific Northwest and Canadian fans onboard, but  fell asleep at 2:30 AM…….so here it is again, continued…..

Sitting in the Yankee Dugout!

 

Just wanted to take a minute to comment on the New Yankee Stadium.   Naturally, I’d expect it to be the best and the greatest since the Yankee organization has the money to do all these things.   But I can’t tell you how great it is to sit your bum on a ballpark seat that’s actually “comfortable”!  Who knew?    They were leather (seemed like it) padded seats with wriggle room to cross your legs.   It’s state of the art in every way.  Our seats were next to the Mariner bullpen and we spent a good deal of time watching Cliff Lee warm up.  This was great stuff whether a Yankee or Mariner fan!

This was a night game so we had the day to run around New York City, all by ourselves on the subway.  Whatta hoot!  We found our

Roxy's Reuben & Potato Salad

 

way to 42nd and Broadway street and were able to interact with some great street performers.  After getting some much needed help from one of NYPD’s finest, really, we ended up in the heaven of heavens, “Roxy’s Delicatessen” @ 46th and Broadway.  Our waiter was “Jess” and

Jess @ Roxy's Deli

 

he was the  ultimate New York City greeter!  Great service and sense of humor.   In downtown New York City.  Who knew?   

  Back at Yankee Stadium we had taken a tour of the park and

"We Remember" Plaque

 

one of the highlights was the “Gallery of Plaques” that included baseball history of course but also a plaque commemorating September 11th.   It was appropriate.  I remember cheering for the Yankees in 2001, just because, and this brought it all back to me.   New York and Yankee Stadium were one of my favorite parts of the trip.  That’s why I wanted to spend a little more time on this blog.  Fans either love or hate the Yankees, there’s rarely an in-between.   But the stadium as usual was packed!  Of course, we were thrilled to see the Mariners who are having a really lousy season, step up to the plate and sock it to em, but down deep I’ll always have a special place reserved for those dang Yankees.   Probably goes back to my Mickey Mantle  high school locker days (see my very first post).   All in all,  Tuesday, June 29, 2010, was a really great day!

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Whew! 7 Days of Baseball and 10 Different States…..

Posted on July 3, 2010 | 2 comments

Who wouldn’t love this?   Never mind the early mornings, late nights, blisters, junk food and sunburns!   Looking back who’ll remember any of this stuff?   What I’ll remember is getting to sleep on the bus (our reward for getting up on time and actually making it to the bus) and those great movies (Corner Gas?  Who Knew?) and great food and the comraderie of great baseball fans gathered together for the experience of  baseball, ballparks, and ballpark food.    And that’s exactly what we did!   We could ask Dan anything and if he didn’t have the answer, our driver, Mark, did.  A pool of knowledge from these two!   And the best part was sharing their baseball experiences  with us.  The time flew by and now I’m safely home just in time to cheer my home team out of a 7 game losing streak ~ sure glad I could help!    There’s something very special about baseball fans.  When you’re sitting in a stadium with 40,000 fans cheering and clapping for whichever team, there’s a common bond that says it really doesn’t matter, just for today, what’s wrong with the economy.  And just for today I’ll let BP worry about that oil mess and I’ll let someone else solve the world problems because today I’m watching grown men throw baseballs around a field shaped like a diamond, hopefully hitting  more baseballs and scoring runs, just because they can.  Well, I can’t explain it, but there’s something very special about baseball fans!  

We’ve waited all winter, withstood snow and cold
Thru free agent signings for millions in gold.
“Play ball”, “Batter up”, the umpire will yell,
Peanuts and crackerjaks the vendors will sell.
Like Bogey has said with panache and glitz,
“A hot dog at the ballpark beats roast beef at the Ritz!”
Baseball: ‘Ode to Opening Day by Mark H. Young ©

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Posted in A1 Baseball, General, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners

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Day 4. Seattle Mariners vs. New York Yankees!

Posted on June 29, 2010 | Leave a comment

Tuesday.  6/29/2010.   Tour of Yankee Stadium, Subway trip to 42nd Street, Broadway and Roxy’s Delicatessen!  And of course Mariners vs Yankees game!    I’ll blog on all this later  ~ traffic delays just got us to the hotel and it’s now 2:15AM!  There’s lots to write about, but not enough time since we’re leaving 9AM for Boston.   But notice today’s box scores below.  Great game and some very happy Mariner Fans in our group, not to mention we were shown on ESPN News after a Mariner home run landed in the middle of us!   Next time we’ll be sure and bring a mitt along!

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