Perfect Game

Expansion of Instant Replay in MLB?

2010-06-04T14:32:00.006-05:00

Less than 24 hours after the historic blown call by Jim Joyce, the Tigers and Indians were set to play the final game in their series with Joyce behind the plate. The fans, Armando Galarraga, and Jim Joyce showed a lot of class. Galarraga brought out the lineup card to Joyce and they shook hands. Joyce clearly was distraught over the terrible call he made and showed a lot by admitting his mistake. I cannot get over how much class Galarraga has shown throughout this whole ordeal and I really respect him now. I think everyone is going to remember him as the pitcher who threw a 28-out perfect game.

I agree with Bud Seilig's decision to not overturn the call. It would've altered baseball. I mean, it would suddenly make it seem OK to start overturning calls in crucial situations such as in the World Series, etc. That would not be OK, in my opinion. It happened, it was unfortunate, but nothing should be done to change the situation and Galarraga was obviously OK with how things played out (I mean as much as anyone could be).

The blown call has led to increased discussion for the expansion of instant replay in baseball. A huge step was made when it was allowed for umpires to go to instant replay for disputed homerun calls. So far, it has worked and does not take much time out of the game. Plus, how often do they have to go and look at replay? It doesn't seem like it happens that often. Some traditionalist baseball fans are opposed to instant replay, but I think it should be implemented into the game, but it should not overtake the integrity of the umpires and the calls they make. I think there should be a human element in the game, and umpires' mistakes are part of the game, no matter how heartbreaking they can be for a team. However, I think that the instant replay should occur only on the basepaths -- nothing with strikes/balls. I think that managers should be given 1 or 2 challenges per game and the decision to challenge should be acted on quickly. Obviously it's stupid if the managers use up their challenges on calls that don't alter the game, so I think they should be used sparingly. The manager would challenge a call, the umpires would go check it out on the TVs, and allow the call on the field to stand if they were correct, or change it if it wasn't. Simple as that. Hah. I would compare the implementation of technology in baseball to that of tennis. Tennis has a huge human element, with the chair umpire and linesmen making calls on whether or not balls are out. They obviously can make mistakes, with the balls being hit as hard as they are. I mean, players are serving at 130 mph and they have to make sure that the ball was in. In the grand slam events (except the French Open where they can see where the ball was hit because of the clay) they have allowed the players to have 3 challenges, so if they do not agree with a call, they can challenge and see if they were correct, then either win the point or replay it. So we will have to keep an eye out on what happens in the future for baseball. If we have the technology, we should use it, while not completely altering the game.

Anyway, enough of that. What's the state of the Yankees been like? Recently they were going through a tough stretch of games. They played a 2-game series against the Red Sox then another 2-game series against the Rays. They split the series against the Red Sox then got swept by the Rays. Actually, they had been on a tough stretch from May 7-May 28, facing the Red Sox, Tigers, Twins, Red Sox, Rays, Mets, & Twins. They won the first series against the Red Sox, lost the series to the Tigers, and won both series against the Twins, and lost the series to the Mets. Now they are going through an easier part of their schedule. They won 3 out of 4 against Cleveland and are just coming off of a sweep of the O's. Now they face the Jays, which will actually be pretty tough considering the Jays are still hanging around in the AL East (the AL East is the only division, except the NL West, that can boast of having 4 out of 5 teams being over .500) Even still, the Rockies are 3 games over .500. The Jays and Red Sox are each 7 games over .500, the Yankees 14 games, and the Rays 18 games. The Jays have good pitching and they can hit homeruns, that's for sure. Then the Yankees face the O's again, who just fired their manager Dave Trembley. They then face the lowly Astros.

ARod has been heating up with the weather. He's been hitting more homeruns and is up to 8 on the year. Robbie Cano has been unbelievable this season and is riding a 2010 major league best 17 game hitting streak. He has 12 homeruns on the season and is battling with Morneau for the best batting avg in the league. The Yankees' lineup is finally back to what it was at the beginning of the year, minus Nick Johnson. Curtis is back and has a hit in every single game since he's been back. Posada is back too, but has not caught yet. Nick Swisher has been hitting well since he's been back. LET'S GO YANKS!

History Will Not Be Made

2010-06-02T20:02:00.011-05:00

I was going to write a blog post about the Yankees, but in light of recent events I am going to put that off for a bit. I want to talk about the umpires in the MLB right now. I don't know if they're just blowing more calls, going on more power trips, or whatever this season but lately they have been awful. First, Joe West goes out and calls the Red Sox & Yankees pathetic and embarrassing and a "disgrace to baseball." Yeah, a couple of the best teams are truly embarrassing for the sport because they play 4 hour games. THAT'S THE BEAUTY OF BASEBALL. There isn't a time limit. You go out and play the game without clocks. I would understand him saying that the pace of the game needs to be picked up a bit and players should not take as long. But the fact that he calls out two teams was uncalled for. Even if he said "For example, the Yankees and Red Sox play long games that could be played quicker than they are" or something like that, I would not have been as mad.

Anyway, I won't get into that. Then, he goes and ejects Guillen & Buehrle after they got mad after two balks were called on Buehrle. On the first balk, Guillen goes out to talk to Joe West about what exactly he saw and to make sure Buehrle didn't go apeshit on West. He keeps talking, then gets tossed. Then West calls another balk on Buehrle. Buehrle throws his glove down in disgusts and gets tossed immediately! Guillen said West wants to control the game. He sure is completing that goal.
And now, tonight, Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers was pitching a perfect game. It was the 9th inning. He was 1 out away from making history, as well as throwing the THIRD perfect game of the young 2010 season. The 1st out of the 9th was made on a spectacular catch by Austin Jackson, and you could just feel it. This was going to be a perfect game. But then, Jason Donald grounds out to Miguel Cabrera and Galarraga rushes to the bag, catches the ball, and touches the base. He's out. But no, Jim Joyce throws his arms out to his side to indicate he's safe. I was in shock. Everyone in the stadium was in shock. Jason Donald was in shock. The perfect game was gone. Just like that. If it was a Yankees pitcher throwing a perfect game, I would've gone ballistic. Now, I'm not lumping Joyce in with the likes of Joe West. He didn't go crazy ejecting people out of the game for silly reasons. But, it's just another indication of the umpires making more and more blown calls (or so it seems). In this instance, the blown call is HUGE. It altered history. I know that seems dramatic and an overexaggeration, but it's not. Tigers fans are going to remember this. Baseball fans are going to remember this. Galarraga was incredibly classy after the game talking to the media. I would not have had the same reaction as him, so I give him props for remaining so calm and taking everything in stride. Jim Leyland also held his cool as well. I've always been a fan of Leyland, and this goes to show that he knows just what he's doing out there. I get that umpires want to get calls right, and if Donald had been safe, and Joyce had gotten the call right, I don't think people would be AS mad. I would still be mad because I think in that instance, on such a close play even if Donald had gotten there before Galarraga, you should still call it out. The guy was 1 out away from a perfect game. It was a close play, a half step close kind of play, and that call should not have been made. Joyce blew it. I am sure he feels awful, but you should not be making that kind of call on that kind of play in that sort of situation. Even seeing it from different angles, it's still hard to believe he thought the Donald was safe. He clearly was not. I know those kinds of plays are made quickly, but man! It's over with now, and nothing can be done to change what happened. The Tigers still won the game. Galarraga didn't make history tonight. Instead, history was ripped away from him in a split second.

The Growing DL

2010-05-13T18:24:00.004-05:00

It's only about a month or so away from summer -- when the season really starts to heat up. So far, the Yankees have been doing well with a 22-12 record, 2 games behind the first place Rays and the best team in baseball. However, this record indicates how well the Yankees are doing with a sudden bunch of injuries hitting the team. Chan Ho Park has been out for weeks, and may return Sunday. Curtis Granderson went down with a groin injury and will be out for at least a month -- he has not done any activity yet, so we will see if he will be returning the first week or so of June. Jorge Posada was out for a few games with a calf injury. Thankfully, Cervelli has been a GREAT back-up catcher - he's definitely one of my favorite Yankees now that Matsui is an Angel. He has great energy and emotion. He's great defensively and has gotten a lot of key hits! Mariano Rivera hadn't pitched since April 30 until he came into last night's game that originally was going to be a save until the Yankees scored 6 runs in the top of the 9th inning. (I have no problem with Mo getting some extra rest and we haven't needed him that much). Nick Swisher was out of today's game with sore biceps. ARod had -- I think a leg injury? Andy Pettite's last start was skipped because of inflammation around the elbow, but should return on Saturday to pitch. Alfredo Aceves is on the DL with a back issue. Nick Johnson is on the DL with an arm issue. Cano missed a game after being hit by Josh Beckett. We've had Winn/Thames platooning in left field since Curtis Granderson has been out. Winn is at least a veteran with some speed, but he isn't the greatest offensively. Thames is very good at left-handed pitching, but not the greatest defensively. Golson, Nova, Sanchez, Miranda, & Russo have all been called up to fill missing spots in the bullpen and lineup. So yep, the injury bug has hit the Yankees hard and they should be fortunate to have such a good record.

Hughes has been great for the Yankees and looks like an ace ... in the 5th spot in the rotation! Vazquez appeared to get over his pitching woes last time out -- going 7 innings while only giving up 2 runs. Pettite has been doing great until his injury. The offense, however, has struggled the last few games. They need to snap out of this rut as they go on to face a tough schedule. They play the Twins (22-12) at home tomorrow, the Red Sox (18-17) a 2-game series, then the Rays (24-10) a 2-game series. Then they go on the road to face the Mets (18-16) and the Twins again. They end the month at home with a 4-game series against Cleveland (13-19).

The upcoming homestand and roadtrip will show how much character this Yankees team has, especially without Park, Johnson, Granderson, and Aceves and the addition of a mixture of Triple-A callups and bench players. Let's hope for the best! Go Yanks!

Baseball's Back!

2010-04-18T19:36:00.002-05:00

Baseball's back and we're already 11 games into the season!! Only 6 more months until playoffs start :) Which hopefully the Yankees will be in! So far, they look very good at the season's start. Usually the Yankees have slow starts, but so far so good. They have also had one of the hardest schedules to start the season in the MLB. So far they have played only top teams -- Red Sox on the road (won the series 2-1), Rays on the road (won the series 2-1 & Rays are tied with them for AL East lead), Angels at home (won series 2-1), and they just swept the Rangers at home. They have scored 69 runs and given up 44 (most notable runs given up: 7-9 loss to Sox, 3-9 loss to Rays, and 5-7 loss to Angels). The starting pitching has been great (especially CC & Pettite [hello, 1.35 era] ) minus Javier Vazquez, but hey he's only their 4th starter. Hughes had a good start against the Angels. He gave up 5 walks, which obviously you want to see less of, but they came on 3-2 counts, so he just needs to learn how to put hitters away when he has the opportunity. He also had 6 strikeouts and was worked up to over 100 pitches. The bullpen was a little shaky at first, but Joba has been doing well, Mo is Mo, Park has shown glimpses of good pitching but is on the DL with a hamstring injury and the Yankees are being cautious. Robertson has been good as well. Boone Logan was called up to replace Park, but we have yet to see him.

This start by the Yankees has been great. Let's hope they can keep it up with the rest of their tough schedule this month. They travel to Oakland (who lost to the O's today...the now 2-1in O's...but they also have a 9-5 record), then onto Los Angeles to face the Angels. It will be interesting to see how they face up against the Angels again. They never play well on the road against them and the Angels are coming off a sweep as well. The Yankees finally get to play an easy team in the Orioles.

Random Observations/Notes:

-Way cool that Jeter/Cano became the first teammates in Yankees history to both have a 10-game hitting streak.
-Jeter's looked great defensively this year and already has 3 homeruns!
-Cano has been great as well. At one point he was hitting .400. He's been getting hits with runners in scoring position in the 5-hole, just what the Yankees fans want.
-Tex finally hit his 1st homer of the year. Although his batting avg is hideous, his defense has been great, saving a potential no-hitter for CC and saved Pettite from having a disastrous inning that could've potentially determined the game. His offense will come around, we all know that after last year.
-Gardner has been great so far this year. Hitting in the lead-off spot today after Jeter was out with a headcold, he went 2 for 3 with a BB. He's also 7 for 8 in steals.

Basically everything is clicking right now and sending the Yankees to a hot start and the AL East Lead. Keep it up, Yanks!

Opening Night/Day 2010

2010-03-31T18:28:00.003-05:00

So the Yankees, as the 2009 world champions, have the honor of being one of the teams featured for Opening Night. Of course they're facing the Red Sox. How could they not? Luckily I have had other sports teams to turn my attention to (football, college basketball, & hockey) during the offseason, but now baseball is back in 4 days!!! I am so excited for the season to start and for the Yankees to defend their title. Expect more updates in May (I get out of school May 7, go to Pittsburgh the 13th or somewhere around there and will be back the 17th or so).

Let's go yankees!!

YOUR 2009 WORLD CHAMPIONS...THE NEW YORK YANKEES!

2009-11-08T18:11:00.002-06:00

Yes, the Yankees won the World Series for the 27th time on November 5th! I couldn't be more happy. However, work has been piling up so I don't have time to do an in-depth update about the series. Expect one over Thanksgiving break though.

Way to suck offense

2009-10-28T21:52:00.002-05:00

Dear Yankees,

Cliff Lee is not THAT good. Not shutout-complete game-in-the-world-series good. (Well, I assume complete game, it's not over yet). He is not as magnificent as the loser duo of McCarver & Buck are salivating over. Wow, he made two nonchalant plays, that's great. I'm sure no pitcher has done that before. Your weak hacks at him were more than disappointing. Your standing there and seeing 3 pitches didn't help either. Suffice it to say, the 50,000+ fans at the stadium tonight probably want their money back. CC did a phenomenal job despite a shaky start. He gave up 2 runs. TWO! And you couldn't even get a runner to 3rd. If you don't break out tomorrow, you're going to have a bunch of angry fans. So please note that you should WORK THE COUNT, ADVANCE RUNNERS WHEN THEY'RE ON BASE, and in general DON'T SUCK. You can't count on the pitcher ALL the time, like the ALCS. CC isn't going to be downright unhittable every game he pitches. Oh and Phil Hughes, please stop sucking, thanks!

Sincerely,
a very upset fan

WORLD SERIES 2009

2009-10-26T11:38:00.002-05:00

The Yankees are baaaaack! Back in the World Series, that is. First time since 2003. I am beyond excited for this team. Surprisingly I was very calm in last night's game -- pissed at first that the Yankees forgot how to hit with RISP, but happy once they took the lead. My stomach wasn't in knots like it was in other games. Maybe it's because I've been lacking sleep all weekend. Anyway, what a great series! For once the Yankees beat the Angels. CC got the MVP award. I thought ARod deserved it, but whatever they were both amazing in the series.

Up next is the defending World Champ Phillies. Their fans are really annoying, it's going to be tough listening to the crowd in game 3, 4 & maybe 5. The teams are also both similar -- power hitting, good pitching, hitter-friendly parks. It will be another good series though. I'm so ready for it to start tomorrow (only because I have a psych exam tonight and the Wild game is on national tv). Let's do this Yanks!

Playoffs? Check. AL East? Check

2009-10-01T18:03:00.002-05:00

I guess the Yankees decided to take my letter seriously :) Everything I asked of them, they did! Including Joba having a great start against the Red Sox. We just won't remember the fact that he sucked last night against the Royals of all teams. In one game the Yankees a) got 100 wins b) clinched the AL East c) tied up the season series against the Red Sox. BTW, the Red Sox are the only team to win the first eight games of a season series and lose the series. HAHHH. I was happy they swept the Red Sox because then I got to see them celebrate on tv :) On ESPN, nevertheless. And the Red Sox are now reeling going into the postseason - they have lost six straight matching their season high. And sucks for them that they clinched a playoff spot because the Rangers lost. (Ok the Yanks clinched because the Rangers lost but they at least won their game that night).

So the final series of the season is against the Rays. The only thing the Yanks are concerned with is a) having CC win 20 games (ok it's not necessary but it would be really nice) b) making sure Robertson is ok to pitch in the postseason and at least for me c) making their record even more gaudy :) OH and d) figuring out who the heck they're gonna play in the ALDS. The Twins, sadly, only split the series against Detroit :( So now they have to sweep the Royals and hope the Tigers get swept by the Chisox. The Twins ARE playing the Royals, but they're also facing Greinke who they lost to just a week ago. GOOO TWINS!

The Postseason begins on Oct 7th for the Yanks (assuming they choose the first series, which they prob will so they can skip Joba's start). CC is taking the mound for the important first game of the series which will be in the Bronx. LET'S GO YANKEES!!!!

A Letter to the Team

2009-09-22T15:46:00.003-05:00

Dear New York Yankees,

Please clinch your playoff spot. It's no fun losing two of three to the Orioles and two of three to the Mariners. Oh, and it really sucks to keep losing in Anaheim. Please find a way to win because there's a pretty good possibility that you will have to play the Angels in the playoffs. Or maybe us Yankee fans will have to root for the team we never want to root for. Ever. Getting homefield advantage throughout the playoffs would really just be the whipped cream on top of the sundae. Not the cherry, no. The whipped cream is more important. Don't you guys want to celebrate?! There will be no champagne if you keep sucking. Losing the series to the Angels will suck. Losing to Boston will suck as well. So please remember that it's pretty crucial to get hits with runners in scoring position. Oh and Joba? Yeah sorry you freaking SUCK. What the hell happened to the pitcher after the all-star break? Or shall I say the few games after the break? Sergio Mitre, you suck, too. Gaudin, you're ok. Burnett, please please please pitch well in the playoffs. Bruney, you suck, too. And so do you Albaladejo. So now that that's all out, let's get to the end of the season. Let's clinch a playoff spot, win the division, get homefield advantage and celebrate. Pitch well, hit well, and it'll all be ok.

Love,
a disgruntled Yankee fan

P.S. I really really really dislike the Angels. So please beat them.

2,722

2009-09-13T11:13:00.005-05:00

Thought I'd send out a quick update congratulating Derek Jeter on passing Lou Gehrig on the Yankees all-time hits list with his 2,722 hit. It gave me goosebumps seeing the ball roll past the 1st baseman and Jeter reaching safely on 1st. It's a great time to be a Yankees fan, and an honor to see such a great player and person breaking these records cleanly. Jeter is one of those all-time Yankee greats and it's been amazing seeing him play all these years. While everyone else got to see Gehrig play, we get to see Jeter play.

Today the Yankees hope to spare themselves embarrassment by avoiding a sweep by the lowly Orioles. CC takes the mound and will surely pitch better than Burnett and hopefully our offense decides to show up. The Yanks have a 7.5 lead in the division, but lead the Angels by only 5 games in the race for the best record and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. Tomorrow the Yankees play one game against the Angels that was rained out and then play 2 games against Toronto.

Keep the wins coming!!

August drags on

2009-08-20T14:29:00.003-05:00

I've been failing at everything online lately, including this blog. To be honest, I haven't really been paying close attention to the Yankees since the Boston series. Good thing I decided to update my blog right now instead of getting the mail since it just started downpouring. Anyway...it's not like the Yankees have been playing poorly which would clearly indicate my lack of interest, I guess I've just been preoccupied with college coming up so soon...like next week. The Yankees swept the Red Sox (Boston Massacre '09 - 4-game sweep in NY, Boston Massacre '06 - 5-game sweep in NY) which was faaaabulous! The epic 15-inning game and the come-from-behind win that Sunday were my favorite games of the series. Yanks went on to win 2 of 3 from the Jays, 3 of 4 from the Mariners, and 2 of 3 from the A's. In between there was a 2-game losing streak, the first this month. Oh yeah, and forgot to mention the Yankees are ahead by 7 games (6.5 if the Sox win tonight).

Yanks start a 3-game series at Fenway on Fri night. Pettite vs. Penny, Burnett vs. Tazawa, and Sabathia vs. Beckett. The last game should be a really good one, which I hope the Yankees win! I guess this series will have me really interested in baseball again, especially since 2 games are on TV. Expect a better update next time?

On another note, Torrii Hunter commented on his blog about how he thinks the West is better than the East now. I don't think that's necessarily true for the AL West. I mean, maybe the East is better just slightly. The Yankees have the best record in baseball (76-45) and they have good pitching, good offense, and depth. I'll admit I don't really follow the Angels (mostly cuz i really dislike them) but from what I've heard, they really don't have great pitching, it is their offense that wins them games. The Yankees offense wins them games, too, but they've also won a lot of close games. Plus the AL West only has 4 teams, not 5. The A's are the only team who has a below .500 record and even then the Mariners are only 4 games above .500. The Red Sox and Tampa are both above .500. So I think it's pretty even between the AL West and East teams, but I thinkt he Rays are better than the Mariners. That's just my 2 cents. I won't go into the NL West and East because I don't really follow them, but I do know the NL West has some good pitching.

Red Sox - Yankees: Round 3

2009-08-06T13:59:00.004-05:00

0-8

8 games where the Red Sox have stripped the Yankees of their pride. It's not acceptable for any team to be 0-8 against a division rival. The Yanks weren't great when they played them in April. They still weren't great in May. But they were better in June and still lost. But now they are one of the hottest teams in baseball (probably besides the Angels & Dodgers) with the 2nd-best record in baseball. There is no excuse now to lose to the Red Sox in the Bronx.

Clearly I jinxed the Yankees in my last post (yes, I'm one of those superstitious sports fans) by gushing over how good they were. Ok, so they took 2 of 3 from the Rays. That's very good. But then they lost 3 in a row to the CHISOX! C'mon! I know they're a good team (and have been beating up on the Angels who the Yanks can't beat to save their lives), but man they played HORRIBLY! Sloppy defense, no offense, bad pitching. Luckily I was out of town without TV or internet (except on my phone to check the final scores) so I didn't have to suffer through that series. Funny thing is, when I was driving back to Minnesota from Pennsylvania, our GPS system took us a different way through Chicago. We went through the city (and AWFUL traffic on a Sunday) and I got to see U.S. Cellular Field where the Yanks were playing. Since then, however, they have won 3 in a row (saving themselves from embarassment by winning 1 game in the 4-game series against the chisox). They've got the momentum and they know how to pitch and hit at Yankee Stadium.

Peter Abraham, the Yankees beatwriter, has a good breakdown of the two teams and who is stronger at what positions (including the managers): Read it Here

I'm predicting (& I usually never predict) that the Yankees will split the series.

Joba vs. Smoltz - Joba. He's been great lately and Smoltz has not, sporting a 7 ERA. And they're in the Bronx.

Sabathia vs. Buchholz - Sabathia. He hasn't been brilliant lately, but he's gotten the job done.

Burnett vs. Beckett -Beckett. Burnett has been good, but he's sucked against the Red Sox. In fact, it was after he turned in a total sucky outing against the Sux that he turned it around. But Beckett's too damn good. Damn him, I really dislike him.

Pettite vs. Lester - Lester. Pettite's pitched well as of late, but once again Lester is too damn good. And he is usually great against the Yankees. This is the one matchup I'm not sure of - the Yanks could potentially win this game if they can get some hits off of Lester and if Pettite pitches like he did last game (outdueling the Doc). It would be wonderful if the Yanks could take 3 of 4.

Let's do this Yanks!

Let the Good Times Roll...

2009-07-28T14:25:00.003-05:00

All I have to say is....

I'm lovin' the Yanks right now!!!!!!

Record Since the All-Star break: 10-1
Record Overall: 61-38 (2nd best in majors)

Total team effort ... great starting pitching, timely offense, and a SOLID bullpen.

Only worries? Coke, Hughes, and Mo can't pitch everyday for us. Mitre isn't gonna cut it for us as the #5 starter the rest of the season (true, he has done his job, but he has been giving up wayyy too many hits & allowing teams an opportunity to get back into the game). And worst news of all? Gardner is going to be out AT LEAST a month (he says) because of a broken finger. No speed on the basepaths now or range in the outfield.

That being said....BRING IT ON!

Upcoming matchups:

7/27-7/29: Yankees @ Rays
7/30-8/2: Yankees @ Chisox
8/4-8/5: Yankees @ Jays
8/6-8/9: Red Sox @ Yankees

Yanks gotta play the Red Sox TWO times next month! 4-game series in the Bronx (AFTER a 9-game road trip and they don't even get a day off to travel) and a 3-game series at Fenway.

And the 2nd half begins

2009-07-18T15:19:00.003-05:00

Derek Jeter's Throw
To all the people who think Jeter's declining, doesn't have a great range, or whatever, WATCH THAT! Damn, that was a magnificient throw.

The Yanks have started the All-Star Break off right by taking its first 2 games against the Central-leading Tigers. Yes, they have finally beat a 1st place team! and Nick Swisher made a smart play on the basepaths! Maybe they read my blog ;) If they continue to follow the goals I set for them, Joba should probably pitch well tomorrow :) Of course he's facing Edwin Jackson. But the Yankees have faced 2 good pitchers (French & Verlander) so far this series. They came from behind last night. Trailing 3-2 in the 7th inning, the Yankees rallied to take a 5-3 lead on a Teixeira homer. It was launched into the upper deck in right field - a no-doubter on a 98-mph fastball on a 3-1 count. Hughes came in the 7th inning, relieving Burnett who battled through 6 innings (5 bb?! EEK!), and went 2 innings, striking out 6. Mo closed it out.

Today, CC Sabathia was far from sharp (what's with him failing in day games?!) but once again our starting pitcher battled through 2 shaky first innings and lasted 7 innings, giving up 5 hits and 0 runs. While CC wasn't his sharpest, he gave everyone what they wanted - a pitcher's duel. Facing Verlander, the Yanks only managed 3 hits through 6 innings against him (2 were hits by Jeter) until ARod came through in the 7th and launched one - barely - over the right field wall. Verlander looked at ARod sarcastically, not able to believe that what looked to be a flyball, turned out to be a homerun. But hey, maybe he shouldn't have given up a single & double to Cano & Swisher which led to an infield single by Melky. That put his team out of the game, and Melky's single proved to be very important, when Thames barely got one out of the park in the 8th inning. Mo came in for his 2nd save in as many days.

I missed the homerun derby, though I heard it wasn't as great as the one at Yankee stadium - well what could top Hamilton's performance?! I watched the All-star game though and was happy to see the Yanks contribute! Jeter got hit by a pitch (grrr!), reached on a fielder's choice, and then grounded out in his last at-bat (robbed by pujols). He did get 2 runs for the AL. Tex went 0-for-3...he reached on an error by Pujols and in his last-at bat was robbed of a hit by Pujols. Man, he really didn't like the Yanks lol. Papelbon got the win, even though he so didn't deserve it (damn you baseball stats!) because Crawford saved his butt by making a spectacular leaping catch to snag a ball that was going out of the park (and would've given the NL the lead). The next batter almost hit one out, too. Mo closed it out for the AL (who was up 4-3) and got his 4th save in an All-star game - a new record. It was pretty cool seeing President Obama throw out the first pitch (even though Pujols saved him from embarrassment by just catching the ball before it dropped in the dirt). And he stayed faithful to his team - the Chisox - by wearing a Sox jacket. And it was really cool hearing him discuss baseball in the booth. It was a lot more fun than listening tot he Fox announcers.

Anyway I wrote a lot more than I expected. Gonna watch the game on TV tomorrow and hope the Yanks win!

All Star Game 2009

2009-07-12T21:02:00.004-05:00

So the All-star break has just begun and the players get a few days off before the 2nd half begins on Thursday (for some teams). The Yankees ended the 1st half of the season by getting swept by the Angels. Yup. The Angels who were without Torii Hunter and Vladimir Guerrero. They had leads in all 3 games and saw all of those leads get swept away. Let's not recount the embarrassment that was this weekend.

New York Yankees' Goals for the 2nd Half of the Season:

1. Actually beat Boston for once. The Yankees CAN compete with the Red Sox and are just as good as them. There's a reason the two teams have flip flopped between 1st and 2nd place and are generally only a few games apart. The Yanks will not go 0-18 against them. Or I really hope not....
2. Beat good teams! Or at least 1st place teams. Of course they've shown they can't even beat terrible teams like the Nationals. They're going to be facing the Rays a lot the rest of the season and will be seeing the Red Sox 8 more times. They also see the White Sox, Tigers, Mariners, Rangers, and the Angels.
3. Nick Swisher needs to stop making dumb plays on the basepaths. You're not Brett Gardner. The same could be said for other players on the team as well.
4. Johnny Damon needs to get back into the swing of things. Jeter's been known to get lead-off singles and it'd be great if Johnny could move him over (whether it's a sacrifice or a base hit).
5. ARod should get his days off. We know what he starts to look like when he doesn't. He should be refreshed after the break, or maybe not if he's gonna party hard with Kate Hudson.
6. Brian Bruney needs to start pitching well. Phil Hughes has taken over his spot as the 8th inning guy, or at least the go-to guy when the Yanks need someone they can trust in a tough spot (if it's not the 9th inning, or the 8th with less than 2 outs).
7. Joba needs to start pitching well, too. His crap starts are just unacceptable. The least he could do is get to the 6th inning. FYI, you have the stuff to be a great starting pitcher, but you choose to nibble around the strike zone and lose guys on 0-2 counts. YOU ARE NOT PITCHING AS WELL AS YOU THINK YOU ARE.
8. While AJ & CC have been great as of late (maybe not CC against the Angels, but I wasn't watching the game, so I wouldn't really know), but the rest of our rotation? Eeek! Step it up guys. Hey, maybe we'll see Sergio Mitre!

Well, that's all I could think of so far. & with that being said, a recap of the 1st half of the season written by Mark Feisand of the Daily News:

* They are 0-8 against the Red Sox.

* Chien-Ming Wang is 1-6 and on the DL for a second time.

* Brian Bruney missed 40 games over two DL stints and hasn’t found his groove since he returned.

* Joba Chamberlain has been erratic every five days.

* Mark Teixeira hit .190 in April and went 95 at-bats without a home run in June/July.

* Alex Rodriguez missed a month after hip surgery.

* His replacement, Cody Ransom, then went on the DL himself, leaving third-base to scrappy minor-leaguer Ramiro Pena and aging 31-year-old Angel Berroa until A-Rod came back.

* Jorge Posada (22 games) and Jose Molina (54 games) have both been on the DL, leaving catching duties to Double-A call-up Francisco Cervelli and journeyman Kevin Cash.

* Robinson Cano went about two weeks without an RBI and hasn’t hit with guys on base all year.

* Xavier Nady played for a week before blowing out his elbow.

* Andy Pettitte’s ERA at Yankee Stadium is almost 6.00.

* Damaso Marte pitched terribly and has been out with a bum shoulder since April.

* Edwar Ramirez and Jose Veras stunk and were sent down/released.

* The Yankees are 51-34 and tied for first place in the American League East.

*****NOTE: This was before the series against the Angels.

With that being said, I'm excited to watch the homerun derby and the all-star game. If only it didn't count. They should really follow the NHL on this one. The team with the better record should get home-field advantage. Whatever. I'm also happy Pedroia isn't going to be the 2nd baseman. It's a bummer he had to leave because of a family emergency though :-\. Oh well, there are still a ton of red sox players on the roster, ughhh. Go AL!

5 more games before the all-star break

2009-07-08T12:41:00.004-05:00

The Yankees took 3 of 4 from the Jays and last night took the opening game in the Twins series. It was the first time the Yanks came to town this season, so I was very excited to see the 2009 Yankees in person! They won the game 10-2 on 16 hits and 7 solid innings from CC Sabathia. He only gave up 1 run, a solo hr, and only 3 hits. It was nice to see him rebound from a poor start his last time out. And I was very happy to see him pitching well, as I was in attendance. As for the offense, they worked the count against Baker and got some hits and drove in runs. While some of the hits in the early going were little bloopers, flares, and broken-bat hits, they got it done, loading the bases a few times. The key to their offense was their 2-out hits with RISP.

Recap of the Scoring:

1st inning: Jeter lead-off single, K Damon, Tex single, ARod popup, RBI Single Matsui, K Swisher.
2nd inning: Cano lead-off single, infield single Gardner, deep sac fly Cervelli, popup Jeter, infield hit Damon, RBI single Tex, K ARod
4th inning: Cervelli lead-off single, walk Jeter, walk Damon, pop-up Tex, deeeeeeeep sac fly ARod, walk Matsui, walk Swisher, groundout Cano.
6th inning: Tex single, walk Arod, walk Swisher, single Cano, triple Gardner, double Cervelli.

All around, it was a team effort. The bottom of the lineup was excellent. I'm bummed Cervelli is being sent down because he had a great game. But now we have Posada and Molina catching, and Molina is one of the best back-up catchers. We'll see Cervelli soon, I'm sure of it :). And we're a very fortunate team to have him in the minors.

I think the highlight of the game was when Arod was robbed of a grand slam. Man, that thing was going out and everyone knew it, too. However, Gomez made a great catch and if he hadn't caught it, it was out because his glove was over the fence. Funny thing is, I said after ARod's first at-bat that he would hit one out that night. If it weren't for Gomez, that would've been true and it would've crushed every Twins fan in the dome because the game would've been 7-1 at that point. And it would've shut up their damn booing, too. At least that didn't matter too much as the offense kept pouring it on and were relentless. It sucked because Matsui almost hit one out, too, but it was caught. Next time, they shouldn't aim for dead center (408 ft).

It sucks that I had to go to the game with all Twins fans. Luckily I was next to a father and son who were Yankee fans. The son was so cute and had a Jeter jersey on, awww!! We both were so bummed about the Arod and Matsui should've-been-homeruns. Plus, there were a lot of Yanks fans in the building. There were definitely some loud cheers when they scored :). Man, those Yankees sure are sell-outs. They have fans everywhere. and man, Jeter is such a sell-out too. I mean appearing in his 10th all-star game? Clearly him getting the most votes in the AL means he's a sell-out and is a terrible shortstop. Scratch that, the whole organization is a sell-out because they know how to spend their money and get the best players and even have great young players in their farm system who are playing in the majors this year and are greatly helping the team out. And those 26 world championships? What a farce! Boo the Yankees for being rich because they know how to build a team and have the best fans in baseball. Hahahah, some people need to learn how to NOT be jealous.

Anyway, it was a great game and my record for games now moves to 4-0!!! Woohooo!!!

4/9/07: 8-2 W (WP: Pavano - Yeah, I know, I can't believe he actually had a quality start and was actually pitching for the Yanks lol)

5/30/08: 6-5 W (WP: Moose)

8/12/08: 9-6 W, 12 innings (WP: Veras - Mo blew his save :( )

7/7/09: 10-2 W (WP: CC Sabathia)

Tonight AJ Burnett faces Glen Perkins. Hopefully AJ will stay hot as well as the offense. Thursday, since CMW is on the DL....AGAIN!, Alfredo Aceves takes his spot. He will face rookie Anthony Swarzak. This is a game I'm not sure the Yanks will win. Aceves has made only 4 career starts, but was great in almost all of them and it was down the stretch, too. However, while I'm only a little worried about how he will pitch, I'm more worried about the offense facing Swarzak, a pitcher t hey've never seen before. We all know how those games go *rolls eyes*. Then they have to face the Angels. Ughhhh. The Angels are a much better team this time around (just like the Twins) but the Yanks always suck against them. I'm hoping that will change and they can take this series and then the series against the Angels before the all-star break. Btw, Congrats to Mo, Jeter, and Tex for making the team!

500, 501, 502, 503...

2009-07-04T13:33:00.003-05:00

Happy 4th of July!

*Today is the 70th anniversary of the great Lou Gehrig's speech. "Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth" - one of the most famous lines. The Yankees honored him by wearing "4ALS" patches, a #4 on 1st base, and reciting lines from his speech. They also donated $25,000 to the ALS Association of Greater NY.
*The Yankees had lost 3 in a row and 5 of their last 7 before their win against Atlanta in the second game of the series. It was sparked by Joe Girardi arguing with the 1st base umpire after he said Gardner was picked off 1st base (when clearly he was SAFE!). That sparked the Yankees as Cervelli hit his first major league homerun and the rest of the offense woke up. It also sparked them to a 7-game winning streak (a series win against Atlanta, a sweep of the Mets, and a series win against the mariners).

*Sunday night the game was on ESPN, so I was able to see Mo get his 500th save!!!! :) Congrats to him. It was just as awesome seeing him come up to the plate and work a bases loaded, 2 out walk to drive in a run and get his first major league rbi. Thanks, K-Rod.
*CC had a terrible last start (6 runs on 10 hits) against the Mariners. I'm hoping that he rebounds from that and has a great start next game because that's the game I am going to! I'm so freaking excited. Considering I saw Moose pitch the two games I went to last year and Carl Pavano the year before that, it's going to be great seeing one of the Yankees best pitchers this year and one of the newest. The Yankees have to face Scott Baker who struggled with his pitch count last time out, but only gave up a run. Of course, they were facing the Royals. He's 2-0, 1.50 against the Yankees, so I'm hoping they'll work his pitch count and get some runs off of him. I would love to see a series opening win from the Yanks.
*The Yankees pitching has been great and the offense has scored just enough runs to get some wins. It would be nice to see that continue over this 4-game series with the Jays as well as the series against the Twins.

GO YANKS!!!!

Wake Up, Yankees

2009-06-22T14:37:00.005-05:00

While the weather in Minnesota is heating up, the Yankees are going the opposite direction. Over the past 12 games, this team has been very disappointing. Losing two series in a row to the NATIONALS and the MARLINS? Dear god, how embarrassing. Despite the Nationals actually being a very good offensive team, which is probably overshadowed by their terrible record, their pitching and defense is terrible. That's why they've only won 20 games. Sure, one of their starting pitchers pitched a good game and it's good to give credit when it's due, but seriously Yankees? And the 2nd game against the Marlins, they faced a very good pitcher. But they had runners on in the 9th against their bullpen and could've won the game, but they failed. Same with the game last night. Maybe if Brett Tomko hadn't come in and given up those homers, they could've had a better chance. Maybe if they didn't make those errors, they could've been closer.

If the Yankees want to stay in the hunt for 1st place in the division, they need to play better baseball than this. Their starting pitchers have been very good as of late (Burnett the other day? Outdueled, but still did very well). And the Yankees lineup pays them back with a poor effort at the plate and not coming through when they should. The bullpen hasn't been bad either. It's not cool for a lineup to slump all at the same time. Hopefully the Yankees can turn it around against the Braves (who are a team that has hot/cold offense - they lead the majors in runs scored w/ 2 outs and have the best batting avg with the bases loaded). They better turn it around because they've had the opportunity to play crappy NL teams and haven't capitalized like the Red Sox, Jays, or Rays have.

Yankees Take Subway Series Round 1 in Bronx

2009-06-14T15:52:00.004-05:00

Lots to talk about....first off, the Yankees game today:

* NYY- 15 NYM - 0. I was going to go on a big rant about how angry the Yankees were making me this past week and weekend, but today they kind of did everything they were supposed to. They worked the count, got hits, got hits with risp, and for once knocked the opposing pitcher out of the game early. It wasn't our pitcher at 50 pitches in the 3rd inning for once, but the opponents! What a concept. AJ Burnett bounced back from an awful last outing and looked great the first 2 innings. He ran into some trouble in the 3rd, but worked hard and got two batters looking and Jeter caught a hard-hit ball right at him and AJ escaped a bases loaded, no out jam. Jeter was 4-for-4 today and Cervelli got 3 hits of his own. Cano and Matsui homered. The big thing was that Santana, who was previously 3-0 against the Yanks, gave up a career-high nine runs.

*Friday night's game was a memorable one. Down 8-7 in the bottom of the 9th inning, Jeter got a 1-out hit, stole 2nd, Tex walked, and of course ARod came up with 2 outs and risp. On a 3-1 count, he popped out and threw his bat down in frustration. Castillo got under the ball, it fell into his glove.....then out. Castillo fell to the ground and threw to 2nd but it was too late as Tex slid home safe. The Yankees won 9-8 and celebrated yet another walk-off in in an unusual way.

*If we could forget the Boston series ever occurred, that would be GREAT! :)

*CMW is on the hook as he turned in another poor outing this past week. I feel for him, I really do. I'm a huge fan of his, but Yankee fans are impatient and can't stand to see him go out there for 2 innings or less and give up hit after hit. The difference in his last start was that we saw great stuff from him at times and his velocity was up and his sinker was sinking. He hasn't suddenly lost his pitching ability, he just has no confidence out on the mound. I really hope he can turn it around during his next start against the Nationals, or we're going to be seeing more of Phil Hughes.

*The big juicy gossip is the brewing feud between Mets pitcher K-Rod and Yanks pitcher Brian Bruney who is set to rejoin the team on Tuesday. After K-Rod blew the game on Fri, Bruney was happy to see it happen to him. To sum up his quotes, he basically dislikes K-Rod's antics on the mound - how he celebrates like he threw a perfect game every save he makes - basically. While I'm a fan of pitchers celebrating, K-Rod's act IS tiring. You're a closer for crying out loud, you don't need to jump around pumping your fist after facing the bottom 3 of a lineup against a crap team (as one example, lol). I don't expect them to just not show any emotion like Rivera, who just happens to be a class act on the mound, but dont' act like a complete ass celebrating like you just won the lottery - that means you too Papelbon! Anyway, K-Rod responded saying don't go through the media to say things like that and I don't know who you are so I'm not going to even be affected by your comments. Would you like to eat your words, K-Rod? Today before the Yankees game, K-Rod went over to Bruney yelling at him and trying to start a fight. He had to be held back by his teammates while Bruney just stood there as CC and AJ rushed to his defense. If a nobody pitcher's words really didn't affect you, then why did you try to start a fight with him? K-Rod is such an idiot. Here's to hoping he blows more games for the Mets this year and to Bruney setting up even more saves for Mo :) Oh, and I know K-Rod said Bruney should say these kinds of things to his face, but what is he going to do? Walk up to him, tap him on the shoulder, and say "Excuse me? Francisco Rodriguez? I'm Brian Bruney, 8th inning set-up man for the Yankees and I just wanted to let you know that I think you're an embarrassment to MLB and your celebrations on the mound are completely unecessary. Ok, bye!" Get over yourself, K-Rod.

* The MLB 09 draft was this past week. The Yanks top 5 picks were:
-CF Zachary/Slade Heathcott from Texas High School
-Catcher John Murphy from the Pendleton School
-RHP Adam Warren from UNC Chapel Hill
-RHP Caleb Cotham from Vanderbilt
-3B Robert Lyerly from UNC Charlotte
They took a lot of pitchers and stocked up on some left-handed pitchers. They mostly stuck with college players.

The All-Star game selections is on July 5th, so keep voting! I also found a site that is trying to get Swisher into the all-star game this season as a write-in, so check it out. VOTE SWISHER

Who will be #1?

2009-06-09T13:03:00.004-05:00

The 1st place Yankees took both series this past week against the Rangers and the Rays, losing only one game in each series. They now go on to face the Red Sox at Fenway, hoping to finally win a game against them this season. They're 0-5 so far, but they're also a very different team this time around. Apparently it's raining in the Boston area, so we'll see if a game gets in tonight (which I hope it will!). If you want to catch one of the games on t.v. (and don't have YES, NESN, or MLB.tv), wednesday and thursday night's games are being aired on ESPN and MLBnetwork.

Tonight @ 8:10 ET....
A.J. Burnett (4-2, 4.69) faces off against Josh Beckett (6-2, 4.09) - both are coming off one of their best starts of the season.
Tomorrow @ 8:10 ET....
Chien-Ming Wang (0-3, 14.46) hopes to improve from his last start against Tim Wakefield (7-3, 4.50) who has become Boston's new ace this season thanks to early struggles by Beckett
Thursday @ 8:10 ET....
CC Sabathia (5-3, 3.56) takes on the Red Sox for the first time this season and as a new Yankee facing Brad Penny (5-2, 5.85)

It should be a good series as the two top teams in the AL East fight for 1st place in the division early on in the season. Over the past week or so, they've been alternating between 1st and 2nd with the Yankees gaining a full game on them thanks to yesterday's win coming into the series. An interesting fact I learned last night while watching the Yankees game on tv is that the Red Sox, Yankees, Rays, and Blue Jays' pitchers lead the AL in strikeouts. That's pretty crazy and shows you how competitive this division really is. The Red Sox were 1st then the Yankees and I forget if it was the Jays or Rays after them.

Also, don't forget to vote for your favorite players to make it into the All-Star game on July 14th in St. Louis! Jeter and Longoria are in a tight battle for the most votes in the AL, while Tex has overtaken 1st place for 1st base. Go to mlb.com to cast your vote up to 25 times.
Another thing, the MLB draft is starting tonight. If you're interested MLBnetwork and MLB.tv are showing the 1st round of drafts. Anyone who has been following baseball headlines know that Strasburg is expected to be the #1 overall pick and will be playing for the Nationals. The question is, how much money will he get?

Diving/Bellyflopping 101

2009-06-02T15:04:00.005-05:00

Reason #500978 Why Jonathan Papelbon is a Complete Douche

It's also another reason to have that much more respect for a guy like Mariano Rivera. I understand why Papelbon would be angry, but don't be such an idiot. Of course someone like that will never learn. It really stings much worse when you serve up a homerun ball to a back-up catcher...ouch! My favorite quote of the article?

"He knew I was shooting him, and he didn't say a word," Causi said. "A true champion realizes you got to take the good with the bad." Talking about Mariano Rivera blowing a save earlier in the season against the rival Red Sox.

Anyway, enough about the idiots in baseball. Onto the Yankees! They've won 15 of their last 19 games, including taking 3 out of the 4 in Cleveland while battling rain, disgusting insects called midges, and flocks of seagulls. If I was a fan, I would run for cover in fear that the midges would attack me and eat the flesh off of me, and that the seagulls would poop all over me. As someone said on the 161st and River site, Cleveland is a landfill! Yesterday's game was a great one. Joba pitched a career high 8 innings, giving up 4 hits and only 2 runs, while striking out 5. He finally got over his 1st inning problems and was hitting 94-95 in the first inning. By the 7th and 8th innings, he was hitting 97! This is the Joba we all know and love. Because of that showing, he really should go into the bullpen....Hahaha! *Sarcasm*

Other game notes:

-Jeter collected his 2600th hit in yesterday's game. He needs to score one more run to hit 1500. Just amazing, those numbers.
-The Yankees drew a season-high 11 walks from the Cleveland pitchers, including 8 over two innings. They really could've made their pitchers pay and the game could've been a blowout, but they wasted a few opportunities, but made it count in the 7th inning.
-The Yanks set a new MLB record for playing 18 consecutive games without an error! They beat the previous record of 17 games set by the Red Sox in 2006. They are 14-4 in this stretch of errorless games.
-Joba made a webgem play during the 5th inning. The Indians had two runners on with no outs when Shoppach bunted. The ball popped up in between homeplate and 3rd base and Joba charged toward it. Like everyone else, I was expecting it to fall and have the bases be loaded. However, Joba dove and literally was suspended in the air for a few seconds before bellyflopping and somehow catching the ball. Jorge ran towards him, pointing towards second where Garko had strayed a little too far from the bag. Joba made the throw to complete the doubleplay. He followed the play with a fist pump and cheer. Maybe Aubrey Huff should do that the next time he catches a bunt popup."It looked like he was going into a swimming pool," said Andy Pettitte, who led the guffaws from the Yankees' bench. (source: Bryan Hoch, mlb.com)

A link to the amazing play.

The Yankees will hopefully continue with their great pitching, defense, and offense as they return home to face the 1st place Rangers followed by the Rays. Let's go Yanks!!!

10-game homestand; 7-game road trip

2009-05-25T16:39:00.003-05:00

That 10-game homestand was something special with 4 walk-off wins. Saturday afternoon, the Yankees scored 3 runs off of closer Brad Lidge to win 5-4 against the Phillies. ARod hit a game-tying 2 run homerun to right. Cano followed with a single and a stolen base and Melky's done what he has done for 2 other games this season: he won it for the team. In yesterday's game, Melky tied it in the 9th, but they couldn't get anything out of the rest of the inning. In the 10th, they had a great opportunity with runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs, but wasted that and it came back to haunt them. However, today was a great game for the Yankees. ARod went 5-for-5 with 4 rbis (none of his hits were homeruns). Tex was good as well and his average has risen to .273. But the highlight of the day was Phil Hughes' pitching performance. He went 8 innings, striking out 6, and only giving up 3 hits. He's been doing well (except for one performance) since he was called up to replace CMW. CMW is staying in the bullpen, and I think it's a good idea since our young pitchers have been doing well.

The Yanks went 8-2 on their homestand (2 losses to the Phillies) and now they begin a 7-game road trip (3 @ Texas & 4 @ Cleveland). Their offense is looking like it should be with the dangerous Jeter, Damon, Tex, ARod, and Cano all batting in a row. CC is continuing to heat up, Joba and Phil are doing well, Burnett's been struggling a little, and Andy's done pretty well.

We got a scare during Joba's last start when he left the game in the 1st after getting hit on the knee by a line drive. He starts tomorrow though, and hopefully will show no ill effects of the hit. Bruney's still experiencing pain and was put on the 15-day DL again, which sucks for the Yankees. Phil Coke has turned into the 8th-inning man. Nady, Molina, Posada, and Ransom are rehabbing in Tampa. Hopefully we will see Posada back in the lineup soon and he can provide more power to our lineup with his offensive abilities.

Thanks to the 8-2 homestand, the Yankees are in 2nd place in the AL East, 1 game behind the Boston Red Sox and a 1/2 game up on the Jays. Keep it up, Yanks!

Sweeping Their Way Forward

2009-05-19T17:09:00.003-05:00

How about that? A 6-game winning streak, including a 4-game sweep of the Twins. The Yankees are finally above .500. The weekend series proved to everyone that the Yankees are not a stiff, old team. They've gotten players who love to play baseball (Nick Swisher, Teixeira) and a group of young guys who can invigorate the rest of their team with their energy. Would you see a Yankee pitcher a few years ago shoving a pie in a player's face during an interview after a walk-off win? Cervelli, Cabrera, Gardner, and Pena have stepped in during a time of injuries for the Yankees and are really helping out defensively, as well as offensively. It's great to see.

Wang has made a couple of starts down in Scranton. The only concern is his velocity, but the good thing is his sinker is staying down. Bruney should be rejoining the team soon, and I hope Veras or Ramirez is gone after this! They seriously give me heart attacks when they're out on the mound.. Jorgie should be ready in time for the Texas series which is next week, which will be a big boost offensively, too. It's amazing what Cervelli's done in his time here...his first time catching CC and CC throws a complete game shutout.

The homestand continues with the Yankees facing the ever-pesky Orioles. CC tries to get his first win at the stadium tonight and follow up his last game against them (a no-hitter, perhaps? Haha!). Then they end the 10-game homestand with a series against World Champion Phillies. Let's go Yanks!!!

Are the Pieces Falling into Place Yet?

2009-05-16T19:59:00.004-05:00

Where to start? How about with the Yankees' 4-game winning streak? They're just coming off two consecutive walk-off victories - one in the 9th and one in the 11th. Last night, after returning home from my school's musical, I was fortunate enough to be in time to see the 9th inning. Brett Gardner was close to another inside-the-park homerun, but unfortunately he slipped when he was coming off 1st base, yet he still made it into a triple. Tex, slowly coming out of his major slump, got the ball past a diving Twins player to score Gardner. Matsui proceeded to strike out on a pitch he shouldn't have swung at, and Swisher grounded out after a great play by Morneau. ARod showed his continued patience at the plate despite not hitting well at all, and drew his 4th walk of the game. 2 outs and runners on 1st and 2nd, the next batter was going to be very important. Of course it's Robinson Cano, but they decide to intentionally walk him. Melky's up next and the fans are chanting his name. The first pitch he sees, he swings at and it drops in between Span and Gomez, two of the fastest outfielders. It was exhilirating! It's too bad I missed the game, it sounded like a great one. Hughes didn't pitch his greatest, but the bullpen picked him up. Damon got thrown out for arguing balls & strikes (and I can't blame him!!! That ump was AWFUL - after seeing those 2 terrible called strikes on Arod in the 9th). Tex got pissed that Gomez was running inside the 1st baseline twice and Girardi got really mad, too. I like that Girardi sticks up for his players and isn't afraid to go out and get angry.

Once again, after coming home from volunteering, I was able to catch the top of the 11th inning. Aceves did a nice job. Once I realized Mauer & Morneau were up the next inning, I just knew we needed to win. They've been enjoying hitting in the new Yankee stadium. Tex was AWESOME this game! It seems he's finally coming out of his slump - and just in time, too! He went 4-for-4 today with a 3-run hr and the game-tying single in the 8th. He worked a leadoff walk and Arod went up to the plate. I was hoping SO badly that he would win the game, just to show the fans and every other baseball fan that despite all the drama he brings to the clubhouse, he can still play baseball and win a game for his team. It all came true with the smack of the bat on an 0-1 pitch. He smashed it into the left field stands and the crowd went crazy.

Despite the Yankees' four-game winning streak, Tampa Bay and Toronto are still winning their games. Tampa Bay is 2 games behind the Yankees and Toronto is 4.5 games ahead. The Yanks, however, are 2 games behind the Red Sox. Go M's! Tomorrow the Yankees have Burnett on the mound facing Kevin Slowey, a solid pitcher who could be trouble for the Yankees. I don't think my heart or stomach can take another game like the last two! Bring on the offense, great defense, and solid pitching!

Just a few more things I wanna get out before I end this increasingly long post....
There's been talk about the Yankees, their losing ways, and their age. In the Star Tribune on Friday, it was all about how the Yankees just look plain OLD, and this is attributing to their injuries and inconsistencies. While I do agree the core players of the Yankees are aging and this does contribute to some of their injuries, I don't think you can say just because the Yankees aren't as youthful as the Rays or the Twins, it doesn't mean they still can't play baseball at a high level like they have in the past. There are plenty of teams with a lot of players over the age of 30. Jeter will always be the guy you want at the plate with a runner on 2nd and 2 outs with the game on the line. You can almost always count on ARod to be the slugger he always is (NOT ON STEROIDS!). You can count on Jorge to come up in a pinch. Matsui still knows how to slug one in the seats and come up big. And Damon's one of the Yankees' hottest hitters. They're all over 30 years old. They're the guys who are going to be consistent and the ones you lean on when the team's not doing its best. They're veterans at this game and know it better than any of the younger guys. Besides them, the Yankees have guys like the speedy Brett Gardner, the gun of an arm Melky, the electrifying Robinson Cano, and more players in the system. Pena stepped it up while Jeter was out for a few games and when ARod was rehabbing, and even flashed some leather. Brett went 3-for-3 in Friday night's game after stepping in for the ejected Damon. He legged out an inside-the-park homerun and got a leadoff triple in the 9th. He threw a guy out in the Toronto game, keeping the game close. Melky's gotten two walk-offs already this year. Robinson Cano went on an 18-game hitting streak and has improved so much from last year - from patience at the plate to clutch hitting to great defensive plays. Joba has been a solid starter. They do have young guys waiting in AA and AAA like Austin Jackson. For more on the youth within the Yankees this season is a preview for the game tomorrow: Read Here

And while articles have been saying the Yankees can't use injuries as an excuse for poor game performances because teams like the Jays and Red Sox are winning despite their injuries. While I mostly agree with this because I don't like using injuries as excuses, it's kind of hard to win a lot of games when 40% of your core players are on the DL (this was when ARod hadn't returned yet). They've put out lineups this year that look more like their AAA's team lineup. It's tough when you lose your 8th inning set up man. Or one of your starters who's been winning 18 games a season. Or when you lose TWO catchers, your regular, everyday one and your backup one. It's tough when Jeter's out of the lineup, or slugger Matsui. It's tough when your 1st baseman is off to one of his slowest starts ever and is basically an automatic out. It's tough when your 3rd baseman is out and who provides key balance to the lineup. It's hard to say that the Jays and Red Sox have ALL of these problems. And the Yankees players have been out for WEEKS (minus Jeter and Matsui). Having Big Papi in a slump is like losing ARod or having Tex slumping. Dice-K wasn't doing as bad as CMW (heck, noone was!). The one injury I can't argue with is Youk because that's a big blow to the Sox. Pedroia only missed 2 games. As for the Jays, they have injuries to their pitching staff, but their offense is so hot, they don't need to care as much about pitching. It was just a frustrating article to read because the Yankees have/had REALLY tough injuries to deal with. You can't really compare them to the other AL East teams' injuries. But in the end, it's no excuse, it's just a frustrating factor in another frustrating season.

The State of the Yankees

2009-04-27T16:43:00.004-05:00

If the Yankees lose tonight, I'm pretty sure there's going to be a revolt in New York, with everyone demanding Girardi's head on a platter. I'm not even close to that stage yet. While it was embarrassing for the Yankees to get swept this past weekend, there's still a ton of season left. Nobody could predict Mariano giving up a 2-run homerun in the 9th on Friday, nor could they predict that two bad no-call strikes could lead to Burnett imploding, or that Jacoby Ellsbury would steal home with the bases loaded and 2 outs in a tie game. But that's baseball. The good thing? It's only April. If this was happening in August, Yankee fans would be a little worried.

The Negatives:

-The Yankees' rotation's ERA is the AL - 6.26. However, CMW's ERA is 34.50, CC's is 4.81, and Burnett's shot up to 5.47 after Saturday. Andy's is only 2.96 and Joba's is only 3.94. If CC brings that down, you take CMW out of the mix, and Burnett's goes down after the next start, their pitching isn't that terrible. I know a lot of people say "don't exclude CMW, he is part of this team" but seriously? Mechanical issues for a sinker pitcher = gruesome ERA.
-Like last year, the team forgets how to hit with RISP some games. Usually with 2 outs, too.
-Brian Bruney, CMW, ARod, Cody Ransom, and Nady are all on the DL. Brian Bruney was our 8th inning set-up man who was doing very well = MAJOR blow to the team. He should be back in 2 weeks or so. Ransom was playing 3rd base for Arod and his injury appears to be serious. He's very athletic and good defensively, so now we're stuck with Berroa/Pena. Nady means our bench is a player short, but Swisher has stepped up.
-The Yankees forget to hit against rookie pitchers and need to learn to take pitches against them. Also, when a pitcher's struggling, they need to hit them hard, not just get 2 runs out of them and give up.

The Positives:

-The Yankees are 18 games into the season. There's still time for this team to get its act together, get healthy, and play well.
-Robinson Cano is HOT! He has a .373 batting average. Nick Swisher knows how to get on base, even if his batting avg has dropped drastically. (.400 OBS). Jeter still knows how to hit, too. (.299 batting avg, 23 hits, five behind Cano)
-ARod will be back in a few weeks, bringing more offense to this team and better defense at 3rd.
-Tex is a notoriously slow starter, let's give him a little time. Besides, isn't he SO much better at 1st base than Giambi?
-Matsui, after getting fluid drained from his knees, is doing much better at the plate/running the bases.

While it's hard to deal with injuries, this team has absolutely no excuse for not trying to win games. With their lineup, they can score a lot of runs and they need to back up their pitchers who are pitching well (like Andy last night). CC, Burnett, and Joba are not going to pitch horribly every game.

LET'S GO YANKEES!

Winning is fun.

2009-04-22T20:18:00.002-05:00

After being embarrassed on Saturday afternoon, the Yankees have won 3 straight. I watched Saturday's game because I was able to, and after that, I was wishing they hadn't shown it on national tv! But the game was on Sunday, too. So I was happy to see them win. They won 7-3 thanks to a Hip Hip Jorge 2-run hr. It was a controversial one and was reviewed by the umpires. They ruled it a homerun and said there was no fan interference. The TBS announcers couldn't get over it. They kept bringing up how the fans interfered by sticking their glove and hands out, making it impossible for Crowe to catch it. Even if the fans hadn't been there, Crowe might not have been able to catch it and it was obvious it was getting out of the park.

Monday's game against the A's was postponed, meaning CMW's next start against Boston will be skipped. Yesterday the Yankees backed up Andy's solid start by winning 5-3. Today the Yankees played in cold, wet weather - it didn't look pleasant out there. According to the headline on SI.com, CC Sabathia was getting "rocked" by the A's. From what I could tell on Gameday, he got into a few tight spots throughout, but it was when Giraridi kept him in the 7th inning that things fell apart. He was over 100 pitches (which is normal for him, but it was a tight game) and he gave up the lead. However, the Yankees' bullpen was up to the task, throwing 7.1 scoreless innings (that's what we want to see more of this season - especially from Jose Veras - he was outstanding. After a shaky first inning, he was a strike machine afterwards). The Yankees' offense FINALLY came through, after stranding runners on base the previous inning. The Melkman delivered, showing why he should still be on this team. I've always been a Melky fan, but after last season, I was happy to see Brett get the centerfield job. We'll see.

Tomorrow is the Yankees' day off, followed by a three-game series against the division rival Red Sox. Joba, Burnett, and Andy are scheduled to pitch. Lester and Beckett for the Red Sox. The third pitcher is unknown. The last two games will be televised nationally on Fox and ESPN.

Seriously Cleveland?

2009-04-18T16:58:00.002-05:00

If there's going to be one team I'm going to hate this year (besides the Red Sox and the Angels), it's going to be the Cleveland Indians. Without getting into the gritty details of the game that is STILL not over, I'd just like to say the new stadium is kind of ridiculous. There have been a bajillion homeruns at the new stadium (6 total in yesterday's game). Right field seems to be the place to hit them.

The thing that pisses me off about this game is that the Indians still are trying offensively. You'd think a 14-run inning would be enough for them, but no. They keep hitting and hitting and hitting. It's the 5th inning and Eric Wedge has finally decided to take some guys out, well, Grady Sizemore at least.

I can't wait for tomorrow's game when it's Burnett pitching and we're facing Carl Pavano. I would LOVE to kick his ass. The Indians think they're the shit now just because they've gotten a lot of runs in 2 games. They're still the team that started the season 1-7 and are still only going to be 4-8. Oh and right, IT'S ONLY APRIL. They got to face a struggling pitcher in Wang and a guy who made his major league debut.

Burnett, us Yankee fans are begging you, dominate the Indians tomorrow!

And pitching for the New York Yankees...

2009-04-17T18:37:00.002-05:00

You may be asking yourself, did the Yankees call someone up to go to the bullpen? But no, ladies and gentlemen, that is Nick Swisher, first baseman/outfielder and now relief pitcher...for one game at least. Swisher is one crazy mofo. It's true, I disliked him when he was on the A's and the White Sox. But now that he is a Yankee, i have to like him, just a little. After appearing in the last 10 games, Swisher has really started to grow on me. He's the clubhouse's unofficial DJ, which I think the Yankees need. They have the reputation of being stiff, not-gonna-have-fun players. But Swisher can liven the place up. His batting avg has dropped to .371 (oh no!), but he's hit 4 homeruns and has 11 rbi. While many people have been up in arms about Swisher smiling on the mound, I thought it was ok. I mean, he was pitching in a 5-15 game, and he was just having a good time out there. He allowed the first 2 men on base, but then pitched out of the jam, striking out Gabe Kaplar with one of his 70-80 mph pitches. If a first baseman pitching a scoreless inning in a blowout game doesn't put a smile on your face, I don't know what will. The one thing I really dislike about the Rays fans (besides their incessant use of the freakin' cowbell) is that they're not classy fans at all. Most Yankee fans are and you'll even find some classy Red Sox fans (those who know the game well and are loyal to their team -- aka: did not become a fan after '04). The Rays were up 12-3 in the game when they started a "Yankees Suck" chant. Oh, that was very creative. I wonder where they came up with that one. First of all, the Yankees are used to this. Second of all, they, of all people, should not be chanting that when 1) they're blowing out the team and 2) THEY HAVEN'T EVER WON A WORLD SERIES. They can go win 26 world series, then chant that. Or first, why don't they win the actual series against them rather than one game? While I like the actual Rays players (like BJ Upton, Jason Bartlett, Matt Garza), their fans need to shove their cockiness aside after one good season.

Anyway, the Yankees record thus far is 5-4 and they're 3rd in the division behind *gasp* the Jays and O's. WTF? The Jays aren't as surprising as the O's though. The Jays have great pitching (well, even though they lost Burnett) and their offense has been scorching - what they were missing last season. The Red Sox are off to one of their worst starts since 1996 (YAY!) and the Yankees are struggling with stringing more than 2 wins in a row. They should've swept the Royals, but didn't. However, they have won 2 series in a row, and hopefully they'll win the 4-game series against the Indians this weekend. They're 1-1 so far. They lost just an awful home opener yesterday. CC didn't pitch as well as he should have. He gave up 1 run, but only made it through 5 2/3 innings, throwing a ton of pitches (122). Joba pitched pretty well in today's game, but needs to work on limiting how many pitches he throws in the innings. He only made it through 4.2 innings today. Luckily the Yankee bats were eager to hit homeruns and Jeter was able to capitalize on that in the 8th inning.

Andy Pettite and AJ Burnett have been absolutely phenemonal for the Yankees. (1-0, 2.51 - bruney got the win in his 2nd start, thanks to a come-from-behind victory and 2-0, 2.70 respectively). Burnett threw a no-hitter into the 7th against the Rays, gave up 2 runs in the inning, but his teammates backed him up by rallying for the win.

I'm anxious to see the rest of the rotation pick it up, especially Wang. CC had a terrible first game, a muchhh better second game, and a so-so game yesterday. Wang's been just awful, let's not even get into his ERA. And Joba's been pretty good. His teammates let him down after a solid start against the Royals - the bullpen coughed it up. What every Yankee fan has feared about the bullpen is coming true. They were very good at the start, but over the past few games have not been so good. Bruney's been the only one who has been really good. Mo, too, it goes without saying. Jose Veras makes me nervous everytime he goes out there & Marte, too. Phil Coke was solid in spring training, not so much in the regular season. Edwar is okay - he has his good days, and his not-so-good days.

Chien-Ming Wang (0-2, 28.93) vs. Fausto Carmona (0-2, 9.00) tomorrow on Fox at 3:40ET.

It's Baaaaack!

2009-04-05T20:17:00.003-05:00

Baseball season has officially begun tonight. The 2008 World Champion Phillies are facing off against the Atlanta Braves. Right now, the Phils are down 0-4 in the 5th inning.

Friday night and Saturday afternoon the Yankees played their final two exhibition games of the spring against the Chicago Cubs, which many would like to see as the matchup in the World Series. The Yankees christened the new stadium with two wins, outscoring the Cubs 17-5, and hitting seven homeruns. The weather was not very pleasant on Friday night, but at least it held up so they were able to play. After waiting to see the new stadium, I would be upset if they had to cancel the game. The stadium looks similar to the old one, except for that massive screen out in center field. Wow! It's weird to think there's no real history yet at the stadium. Hopefully that will change this season.

Tomorrow, the Yankees begin their season on the road at Camden Yards against a pesky Orioles team. The game will be on ESPN at 4:05 ET. CC Sabathia starts it off against Jeremy Guthrie. GO YANKEES!!

11 days & counting...

2009-03-25T17:18:00.002-05:00

That's right. 11 more days until opening day! I've been waiting for this for many months now. Actually, ever since Sept. 28. The Yankees 2009 season looks promising and the AL East race is going to be very tight. It's no longer a competition between the Yankees and Red Sox, it's a competition between the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays. Everyone's saying that the AL East is the best division in baseball, even with the Blue Jays and Orioles, who can present problems to the top 3 teams in the East.

The Yankees have looked good in spring training. They even won nine in a row and had a win last night against the Red Sox, 7-1. What's most promising though is seeing CC and Burnett fitting in fine and even becoming good friends with Joba Chamberlain. Another thing that's good to see is Jorge Posada throwing out guys like Jacoby Ellsbury. Also, Mo's been pretty good in spring training as well. He's faced 13 hitters and retired 12 as well as throwing 30 strikes/43 pitches. Last night, Burnett and Wakefield put on a show, posting similar lines. Burnett lasted 5.2 innings, gave up 3 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, and struck out 4. Wakefield lasted 5.2 innings as well, gave up 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and 5 strikeouts. It's good to see Burnett doing well, let's just hope he keeps it up in the regular season.

The Yankees begin the season on the road, facing Baltimore, Kansas City, and Tampa Bay. The first games at Baltimore and Kansas City are their home openers. Then on April 16, it's the Yankees Home Opener versus Cleveland. I was upset I wouldn't be able to see the game because I live in MN, and I don't have MLB.tv or the Extra Innings package, but I saw today that MLB Network will be airing it! It's during the afternoon, when I'll be at school and will be just a couple hours after I give my senior speech. But that's what Tivo is for! I can't wait to see the new stadium. Well, here's to counting down the rest of the days until baseball season officially begins.

A-rod, A-Fraud, A-roid, etc.

2009-02-09T17:31:00.005-06:00

Unless you've been living under a rock this past weekend, everyone knows that Alex Rodriguez, 3rd baseman for the New York Yankees, took steroids in 2003. 4 Sources confirmed that Arod had tested positive for testosterone and Primobolan in the random testing in 2003. Somehow it got leaked that Arod was one of 104 players who tested positive for steroids, even though it was supposed to be an anonymous survey. We all see how well that worked out. Everyone's been talking about this now. Various responses include "I always knew he was taking steroids!" or "I don't believe it. Arod never took steroids." Well, it's now been confirmed that he was taking them from 2001 to 2003.

He says, "When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure," Rodriguez said. "I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me, and I needed to perform -- and perform at a high level -- every day." He even apologized, "I'm sorry for that time, I'm sorry to my fans, I'm sorry to my fans in Texas. It wasn't until then that I ever thought about substances of any kind. Since then, I've proved to myself and to everyone that I don't need any of that."

Here are some thoughts...

-First off, I was really disappointed when I heard the news. Arod's always been a big guy and a great player, but I, as well as many others I'm sure, just assumed he was a really hard worker. Well, he still is a hard worker and still has loads of talent, but he also got a little help.
-While some people are rejoicing over this news (mainly Red Sox fans, and other Yankee haters), I think it's silly to rejoice. If Manny Ramirez or Kevin Youkilis or Big Papi had tested positive for steroids, I wouldn't be ecstatic. It's a sad day when a baseball player tests positive for performance-enhancing drugs because it just ruins the sport. It especially sucks when one of baseball's most talented players admits to using steroids.
-What I want to know is why this survey was leaked. The players were assured it would be confidential and nobody would know the results.
-I'm happy Arod admitted that he did use steroids - he saved some of his dignity and satisfied those who were still willing to support him. I, for one, forgive him for using them. I'll never look at him the same way again, but he's a Yankee and I'm a Yankee fan and I want to see him do well - just not on steroids.

Meanwhile, pitchers and catchers report this Friday and the first exhibition game is on February 25. I'm so excited for baseball season, even with all of this drama surrounding Arod!

Random Sports Update

2009-01-25T13:45:00.003-06:00

While baseball players prepare to play in the World Baseball Classic, or start to pack up for Spring Training in Florida or Arizona, many other sports are in full swing.

The Superbowl is next Sunday, wooh! Although my favorite team didn't make it (and should have) because of dumb rules, I'm going to watch the Steelers and Cardinals face off. Unlike most people outside the state of Pennsylvania, I'm going to be rooting for the Steelers. Being in Pittsburgh on a Sunday during football season, I've seen how dedicated the fans are to their team. It's a rarity to see someone who is not wearing some Steelers paraphenalia or black or yellow item of clothing on a Sunday. Plus, with some family members living in Pittsburgh, it's almost a sin not to root for their team, isn't it? ;)

The Australian Open is going into its 2nd week, with some of the quarterfinal match-ups being finalized. (7) Andy Roddick is playing (3) Novak Djokovic. (2) Federer is playing (8) Juan Del Potro, after winning 3 straight sets after being down by 2 sets to none. Ivanovic, Jankovic, and Venus all lost on the women's side early on. And anyone who thinks tennis is boring didn't see the article about the chair fight that broke out between Bosnian and Serbian tennis fans after the Delic/Djokovic match.

No men's college basketball team is going to be undefeated this season. Wake Forest fell to Virginia Tech last week to be the last team to not have a loss. A lot of people thought UNC would be undefeated this year, but they lost to BC. Last night UConn defeated Notre Dame to end their 45-game win streak at home (and most in the nation). UConn has lost once, to then-seeded #8 Georgetown on Dec. 29. Big East play sucks this year because almost everyone in the Big East is in the Top 25. So UConn and the other teams in the Big East are facing a ranked opponent almost every game! Of course it makes for interesting games since all of them are really good. As for the UConn women, they're still #1 at 19-0. They made their case for staying #1 when they faced #2UNC who was 17-0, same as UConn at the time. Then UConn went out and beat them 88-58. They faced Cincy last night and were up 39-7 at halftime, and eventually won 65-34.

So yep that's what's been going on outside of the baseball world recently.

81 days until Yankees Home Opener :)

Big Spending in the Offseason

2009-01-04T14:22:00.004-06:00

You know what I'm sick of hearing about? How baseball should get a salary cap because the Yankees are spending way too much. There was an article in the Star Tribune today (Minnesota newspaper) talking about the salary cap and the Yankees spending $423.5 million on three players. Patrick Reusse, the author of the article says: "And for all this, it wouldn't be a shock if what the Yankees get is another third-place finish in the AL East behind Tampa Bay and Boston. We can all hope that -- and that's what makes baseball so grand:If our favorite club is an also-ran, we have a team to root for just as intently in whoever is playing the Yankees."

I also read a great blog entry talking about the salary cap: Gametime's Blog. Everything they say is true, and Yankee haters may deny the accusations, but they're true. Yes, the Yankees have A LOT of money and they spend A LOT of money. But you're honestly telling me the Tampa Bay Rays or the Minnesota Twins, as examples, would NOT spend any money on big free agents if they had just as much money as the Yankees? Come on! The Tampa Bay Rays have had to rely on their number 1 draft picks to create a team, as well as their farm system. It has certainly paid off for them (see: Last season's World Series), but they've had to have so much patience and many years of being last place in the AL East. That does NOT work for the Yankees (see: last year...Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes). They tried it and it didn't work out for them which is why they went on a shopping spree in the market this season. Yankee fans and Yankee players WANT to win and NEED to win, just like every other team, but Yankee fans' expectations are MUCH greater. If the World Series is not won and the Yankees are not in the playoffs EVERY year, many fans are very upset. Losing is not acceptable for this team, especially when they have the potential to be a great team.

Last year disappointed many fans, but the off-season has brightened many fan's outlooks for next year. They're moving into a new stadium, have new players who look great in pinstripes, and fans know Captain Derek Jeter does not want another inconsistent season like last year. While every anti-Yankee fan is complaining this off-season, every Yankee fan is still in shock that they got three of the biggest free agents this off-season. I for one was shocked that we ended up getting Teixeria, I wasn't really expecting it, especially since we got Nick Swisher, but I'm not complaining. But this off-season, the Yankees organization showed that what they were focusing on was pitching. We lost Mike Mussina, a first time 20-game winner, and don't know if we're getting veteran southpaw Andy Pettite back. But if this team won 89 games last season and scored 789 runs with pitchers like Darrell Rasner and Sidney Ponson, imagine what they'll be like next year with C.C Sabathia, Chien-Ming Wang, AJ Burnett, Joba Chamberlain, and Andy Pettite/Aceves/Kennedy/Hughes. That's assuming they all stay healthy (a very big assumption, but the rotation sure looks a lot better than last year). The offense went to sleep last season, but they've scored 1,000 runs before and with Teixeria in the lineup, they'll definitely get more runs in. A-Rod also had an "off" season last year (35 hrs, 103 rbi). We had injuries to key players (Wang, Joba, Matsui, Posada, Kennedy, Hughes) as well that really ruined the season.

But the main point of this post is to show how irritated I am with this nonsense about a salary cap in baseball and the Yankees single-handedly ruining the economy. The only reason these things are being brought up is because people are jealous. It's as simple as that. Everyone's complaining about the Yankees spending so much, but laugh that they haven't won a world series since 2000. Why should you care then that they're spending so much on new players? Obviously they're just going to get 3rd place in the AL East again because clearly the Red Sox and the Rays are the superior teams in the division. It's not like the Yankees have been dominating every team the last 7 years. If they were, I'd get why people would be so upset with their spending. But the thing is, the Yankees haven't been winning world series year after year, so everyone who isn't a Yankee fan should stop caring about what players they get and how much they spend to get them. Personally I think the AL East will be a very tight 3-team race next year. Obviously spending tons of money isn't going to guarantee you a World Series win, but you have to start off somewhere. My final point: Everyone cares about the Yankees' offseason because they're scared that they just might get #27 next year.

(Note: I'd also like to say that while the Yankees spend so much money, it doesn't mean I approve. Of course I want my favorite team to get the best players out there (and the ones they need to win championships), but the money players make (in almost every sport, but mostly baseball and football) is absurd. However, I don't see how a salary cap will really do much.Like Gametime said in their blog, it will just force players to go to certain teams where they will get their market value, and it won't necessarily mean they enjoy playing for that team. But this is baseball, and I love the Yankees for their passion for the sport and their willingness to do anything it takes to win and make the fans happy. I also respect and appreciate the fans that follow them who truly know, love, and understand the sport.)

Farewell to Yankee Stadium

2008-09-23T19:45:00.002-05:00

Sunday night, September 21, marked the end of an era and the beginning of another. Yankee Stadium finally closed its door on 85 years of wins, losses, world series, and perfect games. The pre-game ceremony was awesome...seeing all of the Yankee legends in the stadium for the last time was great. Yogi Berra is awesome. And it was nice seeing Bernie Williams at the stadium and being acknowledged by the fans...everyone was clapping for a few minutes, at least.

The game itself started out a little rough with Angel Hernandez being a horrible umpire, like usual, and the Orioles actually trying to win. Andy didn't pitch his best, but then again there are rumors of a possible injury, or just plain exhaustation. But the offense got to work, and won the game. JoMo hit the last hr at the stadium, Gardner scored the last run, Giambi the last hit, and Cano the last rbi. It ended perfectly with Jeter getting the last at-bat (for the home team, at least) and Mo coming in for the final 3 outs. It was amazing how many flashes went off when the first pitch was thrown and when Mo threw his first pitch. I got chills when Mo came out!

Afterwards Jeter came up with a speech at the last minute and the team saluted the fans - that was really cool of them. I only watched a little bit at the end of the game, I recorded the rest and still have to see what else happened after the game. All in all, the night was great. I'm looking forward to April 16, 2009 though!

Do the Yankees have a Future?

2008-08-17T20:28:00.002-05:00

Well, the Yankees finally won a series, despite it being against the Royals, but it's a start. Brett Gardner delivered the walk-off hit in the 13th inning on Saturday afternoon, his 2nd of the year. The Yankees bounced back after being down 3-0 in the 1st inning to defeat the Royals 15-6. ARod, Giambi, Nady, and Ransom all hit homeruns, the highlights being ARod's game-tying 3-run homerun and Giambi's grand slam. Moose settled down after the 1st inning and struck out 5 over 6 innings. He got his 16th win of the season! Jeter also went 4-4 in the game, bringing his average very close to .300 (only 3 yankees have an average over .300 - nady, damon, and arod).

The Yanks have a day off tomorrow, but it's also an important day because they will decide whether or not Matsui is ready to possibly join the team on Tuesday. It will be awesome if he can join the team and provide a solid bat in the lineup. As everyone knows, our offense has been lacking recently, minus today's game, and they can't afford to go to sleep over the next few series. Hughes or Pavano will also join the team to possibly pitch against the Orioles. Poor Hughes had a rough start in Scranton tonight, so maybe he won't be ready to join the majors again.

Next Series:
Rasner, RHP (5-9, 5.18) vs. Burnett, RHP (15-9, 4.67) @ 7:07 ET
Pettite, LHP (12-9, 4.30) vs. Purcey, LHP (2-3, 5.93) @ 7:07 ET
Ponson, RHP (7-3, 4.19) vs. Halladay, RHP (14-9, 2.64) @ 7:07 ET

Damn, why does Halladay have to pitch on short rest? And come off a CG against the Red Sox. But Ponson's pitched very well for us his last few starts so hopefully he can keep it up. After the Blue Jays we face the Orioles then the Red Sox.

Current Standings:

AL East

Tampa Bay Rays (74-48)
Boston Red Sox (71-53) 4.0 GB
New York Yankees (66-58) 9.0 GB
Toronto Blue Jays (64-60) 11.0 GB
Baltimore Orioles (60-63) 14.5 GB

Wild Card

Boston Red Sox (71-53)
Chicago White Sox (70-53) 0.5 GB
Minnesota Twins (70-53) 0.5 GB
New York Yankees (66-58) 5.0 GB
Toronto Blue Jays (64-60) 7.0 GB
Texas Rangers (62-62) 9.0 GB

Random News

2008-08-15T16:16:00.003-05:00

-Melky Cabrera was optioned down to Triple-A Scranton today and Brett Gardner and Cody Ransom were called up. Gardner will play CF and Ransom can play all over the infield. Hopefully that means we won't see much of Betemit anymore. I've never liked the guy..he swings at almost everything he sees, occasionally hitting a hr or a double. Plus, he's not that great defensively. Melky better get his act together down in AAA. He's got a great arm out in center field, but it's not worth it having him int he lineup if he's an automatic out. This also will hopefully wake up Cano. Anyone notice that when we went on an 8-game winning streak Cano was getting a hit like every game?
-Sexson was released. He didn't really do much for us. It's too bad, but hey, at least it didn't cost us much.
-First-round draft pick Gerritt Cole decided not to sign with the Yankees and is instead going to UCLA. Fine, waste a perfect opportunity. If I played baseball and the Yankees wanted to sign me before I went to college, I'd totally do that. They're the YANKEES, for crying out loud.
-The new Yankee Stadium is opening on April 16, 2009 against the Indians. I am so excited! That's also my half-birthday. I don't know, thought I'd add that in there.
-Yankees are back home tonight to play against the Royals. I think I'll cry if we don't win at least 2 out of 3 from them. No, I actually WILL cry. The Yankees need to get rolling and tonight would be perfect to start that.
-Dan Giese was placed on the 15-day DL with rotator cuff tendinitis. Why am I not surprised? Players injured so far this year: Matsui, Chamberlain, Damon, Rodriguez, Wang, Posada, Hughes, Kennedy, Bruney ... let me know if I'm forgetting anyone. It gets hard when there's so many on there.

Yankees-Twins Game @ the Metrodome

2008-08-13T10:15:00.002-05:00

I went to my final Yankees game of the season last night. Luckily they came twice to the Metrodome this year, instead of once. I now hold a 3-0 record ;D. I think they won 8-1 or something like that in 2007, my first Yankees game, and then we won 6-5 back in May and then 9-6 last night.

Got there early again and watched batting practice. Some cute little kids shouted Arod's name when he was about to leave and he looked up, smiled, and waved at them. We went back to our seats, way over by left field about a section away from the foul pole.

-Johnny led off the game with a homerun on the 2nd pitch. Every person around us was like "what just happened?". I don't know why he wasn't in the game yesterday - we need him! The game seriously like dragged on. Leads were taken then given away. We put a lot of men on base, but did nothing with RISP. It was frustrating. And Moose pitched a good game, he gave up a lot of hits like his last start, but only came away with giving up 3 runs. He pitched through the 7th, too which was encouraging.
-Like I said, the game dragged on so all of the innings basically blurred into one. It was probably the 5th inning when there were 2 outs with a runner on 2nd I believe. It was 3-3 and Jeter was up at the plate. Suddenly the guys behind me started a "Jeter Sucks" chant..I heard that at the last game I was at..and Jeter silenced them with a run-scoring single up the middle that put us ahead 4-3. I was like "Who sucks now?!". And then I called him Captain clutch and my friend goes "He's not clutch, what are you talking about?". Hah, Sorry elise if you're reading this, but you don't understand. Coming through with 2 outs in the game tied is definitely clutch, that's what he's been all these years. Maybe not as much this year because he's definitely not having his best offensive year, but he's still Captain Clutch.
-Is it wrong if I wanted to slap this dumb old man who was sitting almost in front of me? He was such an ignorant asshole. He rambled on about how Jeter sucks and shouldn't be an all-star and all this other stupid shit. He had no idea what he was talking about. He was like "Now morneau is THE all-star 1st baseman". Um, yes he is quite a good first baseman..it's not like the Yankees ever thought they had one...I disliked him so much for his ignorance.
-OH, and I wanted to literally hit this guy and his wife or whatever behind us. They were the most annoying people ever. By like the 6th or 7th inning they were so drunk. The guy bitched about how Arod sucks. He hit a foul ball right by our seats and the guy was liek "throw it back! i wouldn't want a ball hit by arod! i wouldn't want one by mickey mantle either ! blah blah blah". I seriously wanted to slap him when Moose intentionally walked Morneau with 2 outs and a runner on 3rd. There wre the boos, of course. I understand that, but what I don't understand is why the guy had to call Mussina a pussy about six times then tell the next batter to hit Moose in the throat. That's just fucking sick. If he said like hit him in the balls, I'd be like oh, hah hah, you're funny. But the throat? Wow.
-I was pretty much shocked into silence when Mo blew his first save of the season. You can't really blame him much though, Marte was the one who put them on base in the first place. I forgot for a second they had 2 men on base, so I thought it was just a 1-run game. And Young got lucky, his ball just hooked fair. Then the assholes behind us wouldn't shut up with their incessant screaming and whistling..their yells literally reverberated in my head..OUCH!
-The bullpen held it down for the next few innings. We left after the 10th though because Sarah didn't feel well. We listened on the radio and Arod hit the go-ahead hr in the 12th, Pudge followed with a double, Nady hr, Robbie single then Betemit dp. Edwar got his first save of the season and Veras got the win.

Angels-Yankees Series; Upcoming Games

2008-08-03T19:50:00.002-05:00

After Thursday night's game, I'd say you'd be kidding me if the Yankees could split a series with the Angels, the best team in baseball right now.

-After getting a spanking of 12-6 on Thursday night, I knew Sidney Ponson would be pitching the next night. Just like every other Yankee fan, negative thoughts were swirling in our minds. Instead, Ponson comes out and pitches one of his best games in pinstripes against the best team in baseball. He threw 7 innings of 2-hit, shutout ball. He had a no-hitter going through 5. We couldn't even reward him for his great effort. Our offense was complete shit against Ervin Santana. I knew it was over when Mo came in in a 0-0 game in the 9th. His stats in save opp. compared to non-save opp. are interesting. He gave up one run and that was it.
-Yankees got their revenge yesterday when Mussina came out and pitched 7 innings of 2-hit ball. It was very nice to see him get back on track. He's been our ace, and I'm lovin' it. Can you imagine this team with CMW pitching? We'd have one crap pitcher in Ponson or Rasner. But with IPK knocking on the door, we might only have one now. The Yankees got their offense rolling to a 8-2 win. (Oh& can we say congrats to JoMo for a 3-3 day including his first hr of the year?)
-Today was one of the craziest, best comeback wins of the year. I'm super pissed I missed it. I got to see the awesome first inning when Rasner sucked worse than a Grandma pitching out there. He only gave up 2 runs. But we were down 5-0, then only 5-1 on Pudge's first hr (WTG, bud!! Glad to see he's getting it together). The unpredictable happened when we tied the game up, then got ahead on Nady's 3-run hr to make it 8-5 (part of a 6-rbi day). Of course it all unravels when Edwar Ramirez gives up a grand slam to Texeria. I thought we were done for then, it was the 8th inning after all. Thanks to some costly errors by the Angels and good base-running by Justin Christian, we were able to take the final lead.

Hey, if the Yanks offense didn't suck on Fri night, we could've taken 3 out of 4 from an excellent team. The team to beat. Instead we split it and now face the Rangers.

Upcoming Schedule looks a little like this:

8/4-8/7 @ Texas Rangers.
8/8-8/10 @ LA Angels
8/11-8/13 @ Minnesota Twins (I'm going to one of these games!!!!!!)
8/15-8/17 vs. Kansas City Royals
8/19-8/21 @ Toronto Blue Jays
8/22-8/24 @ Baltimore Orioles
8/26-8/28 vs. Boston Red Sox
8/29-8/31vs. Toronto Blue Jays

Manny Traded; Yankees get Pudge, Nady, Marte

2008-07-31T16:05:00.002-05:00

I'm back from Pittsburgh and so much has been happening since I've gone and now come back.

-Yankees took 2 of 3 from the Red Sox this weekend, an exciting 1-0 win on Fri with Joba outdueling Beckett, striking out 9 in a 7-inning shutout effort.
-Yankees struggled after their loss on Sunday tot he Red Sox, losing the first 2 games of the series to the lowly Orioles. They bounced back yesterday afternoon, however, with Abreu slamming 2 hrs, Nady finally coming through with a few RBIs and runs scored.
-The Yankees received Xavier Nady (Pirates OF) and Damaso Marte (LHP Reliever) for Jeff Karstens, Ross Ohlendorf, Dan McCutchen, and Jose Tabata. A very good deal for the Yankees, minus Jose Tabata who had great potential to be a very good player. Nady has a .330 avg, .383 OBP, and 13 hr. He's a power hitter who can take over left field when Damon is DH'ing. Eventually he can take over Abreu's job in right field since this is his final year in his contract. Marte is a left-handed reliever...yay finally! He's done well and will hopefully fit well into the bullpen.
-Kyle Farnsworth was finally traded for Catcher Ivan (Pudge) Rodriguez. I was surprised, angry, then satisfied with this trade. First off, thank god Farnsworth is gone. OK, he had done surprisingly well this season, but he can't be trusted in big spots, especially down the stretch and potentially the playoffs. I didn't think Pudge was doing well this season, but then again all you hear is how the Tigers suck and gradually started getting better. But he'll be a big offensive upgrade from Molina. He's an everyday catcher, while Molina is back-up. And he's great defensively. I wish him all the luck in his first start as a Yankee tonight @ Yankee stadium.
-Ken Griffey Jr. was traded to the White Sox today. Mmm, interesting.
-Biggest news of all, of course, is that Manny Ramirez was traded to the Dodgers in return for OF Jason Bay of the Pirates. RHP Craig Hansen (Bos), OF Brandon Moss(Bos), INF Andy LaRoche(LA), and RHP Bryan Morris(LA) were sent to the Pirates. Also, the Red Sox will be paying the rest of Manny's contract ($7 million). Manny is in the NL where there is no DH, so he's going to have to play LF. You can tell the Red Sox just wanted to get rid of him, he wasn't trying and was a huge distraction for the Red Sox who got swept (again) by the Angels and almost no-hit, too. Jason Bay has good numbers, not a great avg, but a decent OBP. He's no manny, however, who is historically a Yankee killer. Do you know how different the line up is when a pitcher doesn't have to go from David Ortiz to Manny Ramirez? Bay is being thrust into the spotlight where a team is in the race for the postseason when he's spent his baseball career with the Pirates.

HUUUUUGE series starting tonight for the Yankees. They're playing the Angels who are 10-2 since the break (Yankees 9-3). They just came off a sweep of the Red Sox and have excellent pitching. I hope the Yankees can at least split the series with them. They need to prove themselves agaisnt a great team. 2 out of 3 from the Red Sox is good, 3 out of 4 from the Angels is even better.

Tonight: LHP Andy Pettite (12-7, 3.76) vs. RHP Jon Garland (9-6, 4.30) 7:05 ET
Tomorrow: RHP Sidney Ponson (6-2, 4.59) vs. RHP Ervin Santana (11-5, 3.57) 7:05 ET
Saturday: RHP Mike Mussina (13-7, 3.56) vs. LHP Jered Weaver (9-8, 4.11) 3:55 ET (I hope Moose is back on his game for this match-up, it's the only game I get to watch in this series!)
Sunday: RHP Darrell Rasner (5-8, 4.92) vs. RHP John Lackey (9-2, 2.93) 1:05 ET (Great, the guy who threw an almost no-hitter against the Red Sox)

Yankees Sweep Twins Out of Town for Final Time

2008-07-23T14:54:00.004-05:00

Well, the Yankees did exactly what they needed to do against the Twins, with a few lucky bounces going their way. The Twins made costly errors and when the pitcher made a mistake with a pitch, the Yankees made them pay for it.

-Robbie Cano has been awesome since the start of the second half. If he keeps up this hitting, he can really help the team out down the stretch. The rest of the offense is finally clicking, too, but the bottom of the lineup still worries me. Jose Molina? Melky Cabrera?
-The bullpen has been solid, combining for a 1.60 ERA over the last few weeks. Hey, even Farnsworth has thrown nine consecutive hitless and scoreless innings! Way to go. He gets a gold star.
-The starting pitching has been solid as well, thanks to Moose leading the way. He threw 8 shutout innings today with 7 k's. There's been talk about a possible trade for Jarrod Washburn which doesn't seem like too bad of an idea, but what would we have to give up to get him?

The Yankees have won 10 straight at the Stadium and are 6-0 since the start of the second half. They outscored the Twins 25-7 in the series (13-5 against the A's). Up next is a 3-game series against Boston at Fenway Park. I'm of course nervous for this series. The Yankees offense is finally clicking, but I hope they don't get shut down by the likes of Beckett, Wakefield, and Lester. After traveling to Fenway they'll be back at home to face the Orioles and then the Angels, which will be a very tough series.

7/25-7/27 @ Boston:

RHP Joba Chamberlain (2-3, 2.52) vs. RHP Josh Beckett (9-6, 3.98) 7:05 ET - This will be a very interesting matchup. Joba will be in Boston, with their rowdy fans, pitching as a starter for the first time there. So far he has had trouble keeping his pitch count down and I don't think the Red Sox lineup will be any help. David Ortiz is predicted to return on Friday, which is not good news for the Yankees. Manny, however, might sit out with an injured knee. If the Yankees can get to Josh Beckett and give Joba a lead to work with, there's potential for a win here. The Yankees have not given Joba much run support at all which needs to change and hopefully with two sweeps behind them, they'll have much more confidence offensively.

LHP Andy Pettite (11-7, 3.86) vs. RHP Tim Wakefield (6-7, 3.69) 3:55 ET - If Andy pitched as well as he did last start, the Yankees should be all set. But once again it comes down to the offense. Often Wakefield makes batters look foolish with his knuckleball, Yankees included. If they can work the count against him and make him make the mistake of leaving one up, the Yankees can get something going against him and give Andy some support. Andy's a grinder, let's hope he gets through the intimidating Red Sox lineup.

RHP Sidney Ponson (6-1, 4.37) vs. LHP Jon Lester (8-3, 3.20) 8:05 ET - If my memory serves me correctly (and damn that memory) Jon Lester pitched a complete game shutout against the Yankees in the last series. Sidney Ponson has been notorious for giving up a ton of hits, but escaping with limited damage. I'm most nervous for this game. If he keeps giving up hits, the Red Sox will make him pay. Generally, however, the Yankees have given Ponson a ton of run support. We'll have to see how this game turns out.

Keys to the Series:
-Offense, offense, offense yankees!
-Get to the Red Sox bullpen early - they've lately blown the lead (aka: the angels series). And will be more likely to give up runs rather than the strong starting pitchers the Red Sox have.
-Strong starting pitching will hopefully get the offense going, rather than playing catch-up the entire game.

7/28 - 7/30 vs. Orioles ; Home
7/31 - 8/3 vs. Angels ; Home

Sweep-tastic; Twins-Yankees Series

2008-07-21T13:45:00.002-05:00

Well, couldn't have asked for a better start to the beginning of the second half of the baseball season from the Yankees. A sweep of the A's was very nice. We got great pitching and enough offense to allow us to survive the games. The first game, Moose was amazing. I watched a few highlights on Baseball Tonight and Molina's glove didn't even move when he caught his pitches. Plus, the Yankees were able to score with RISP, what a grand concept! Richie Sexson, the newest Yankee, proved himself against the lefty Smith when he came through with an RBI single with 2 outs. Robbie Cano also hit a 3-run hr, that's what we like to see from him. The second game was a little more crazy. Joba pitched well, but Veras blew that for him and let the game be tied. Mo came in for the 9th inning, in a tie game, and of course gave up the go-ahead run for the A's. However, it was so surprising when, with 2 outs, Wilson Betemit came through in the bottom 9th to tie the game up! It ended in the 12th inning with Molina getting HBP with the bases loaded. The last game featured Andy Pettite and Justin Duchscherer (lowest ERA in MLB). Pettite was solid through all 8 innings he pitched. The announcers were commenting on how he was putting on a clinic show for any young pitchers watching. He was working with a 1-0 lead, after an Arod sac fly, but he allowed the tying run in. But the next inning Giambi came through with his 20th homerun of the season and that proved to be the winning run.

Now the Yankees have to face the Twins. I'm a little nervous because we don't have our best pitchers facing them (aka: ponson and rasner). I hope they pitch well against them and don't allow the Twins to get hits with 2 outs and RISP. Mussina pitches the final game of the series. I also hope our offense decides to show up and be clutch once again when it's needed. The Twins have a surprisingly strong rotation, despite them being so young. The Yankees need to work the counts because many of their pitchers have gone deep into the games they've pitched and they need to get to their weaker bullpen. If the pitchers can hold down the Twins offense, it will give the rest of the team a chance to win it.

Tonight: RHP Sidney Ponson (5-1, 3.96) vs. RHP Nick Blackburn (7-6, 3.65) 6:05 CT
Tomorrow: RHP Darrell Rasner (5-7, 4.97) vs. RHP Kevin Slowey (6-6, 4.36) 6:05 CT
Wednesday: RHP Mike Mussina (12-6, 3.49) vs. LHP Glen Perkins (7-2, 3.84) 12:05 CT

All-Star Game; A Look Ahead

2008-07-16T19:33:00.004-05:00

The final All-star game at Yankee Stadium was last night. The pre-game ceremony was awesome. It was really funny when they called out Papelbon's name and all you could hear were boo's. And then of course a standing ovation for Mariano Rivera - how it should be. Then they had HOFers all stand at their positions and then the All-star starter was called out - really, really cool. They interviewed Yogi Berra during the game and he seems like the coolest dude ever.

The game itself started out well - it was pretty much a pitcher's duel with only a few players getting on base. Then Ervin Santana gave up a solo homer to Matt Holliday. Later, in the 8th inning Papelbon gave up a single, Navarro screwed up a throw to 2nd to try to catch a runner and they made it to 3rd. After that they scored on a sac fly. It was hilarious listening to the Bleacher Creatures shout out "mariano!" and "overrated!" Serves the asshole right. Later, JD Drew hit a game-tying 2 run hr. Out of all of the Red Sox, I am glad it was him who hit it. I know I, as well as all of the other Yankee fans, were very angry when we saw K-Rod in for the 9th. He gave up a lead-off walk then got 1 out and was taken out for Mo :D. Mo was great, as usual. He even got out of a jam in the 10th with runners on 1st and 3rd. The game continued...and continued...and continued. There was one point where the AL had the bases loaded and got 0 runs in. It was so sad. But it finally ended in the 15th when Michael Young hit a walk-off sac fly.

Credit: Lohud Blogs

Overall, the ASG was really great, especially at Yankee Stadium. The game obviously went on way too long. If it ended in the 10th, as it should have giving Mo the win, that would've been fine. Terry Francona did a good job managing (though he got people off the bench early so our entire bullpen and players were pretty depleted by the end of the night) and acted very classy regarding the Yankees. He took ARod and Jeter out in the middle of the innings so the fans could give them an ovation. Jeter got his "Der-ek Je-ter!" chant :). And bringing in Mo for 1 2/3 inning was nice as well :).

The Yankees start the 2nd half on Friday against the Oakland A's. This is, unfortunately, my last day of free MLB.TV :(. Booo. I really hope the Yankees pick it up. They may have ended better than last season's first half with a record of 50-45 but I don't feel like the team is playing with any real purpose or passion for the game. Andy Pettite bluntly put it: "We stink right now for the most part. As a team we've kind of stunk it up lately" Derek Jeter has the best quote as saying the Yankees are consistently inconsistent. It sums up the entire team. The only players who have been consistent for us are Johnny Damon, Arod, Giambi, and Mussina. Damon's out with a shoulder injury (and will hopefully be back next week!!!). Arod hasn't been spectacular but he's been effective, even with the whole Madonna drama. Giambi has been great this year. Mussina has really shone this year. The pitching hasn't been terrible this year. I feel comfortable with Mussina, Pettite, and Joba pitching. The 4 and 5 starters? Er, not so much. Hey Darrell Rasner, you kind of stink lately (minus his last start - he battled through that game). Sidney Ponson, you're not seriously going to be on our team the rest of the year. We need someone to fill those spots.

The offense sucks...pretty much. With our line-up we should be scoring a ton more runs. Nobody really cares though, that's the sad part. Robbie Cano is finally heating up though. Melky's breaking out of his slump..a little bit. Brett Gardner is trying - he's gotten quality at-bats in and they're starting to pay off. Hey even Jose Molina is hitting singles and doubles and recently he's had some long at-bats of 5 or more pitches. But if they're going to get anywhere their offense needs to wake up and get going, along with some more solid pitching.

Upcoming Schedule:
7/18-7/20 vs. Oakland A's ; Home
7/21-7/23 vs. Minnesota Twins ; Home
7/25-7/27 vs. Boston Red Sox ; Away
7/28-7/30 vs. Baltimore Orioles ; Home

Yankees Red Sox Rivalry; Opinion on the ASG

2008-07-07T09:44:00.004-05:00

Last night's game is too good not to write about. It started out very well. Joba was awesome last night, right from the start, you could tell he was focused. It was the first time I'd seen him pitch live, tho not in person unfortunately, so it was sweet to see what he could do. I was impressed, he wasn't just constantly blowing fastballs by everyone, as sweet as that was to see. He ran into trouble during the 5th inning when there were two runners on, and Youkilis scored on a wild pitch by Joba to tie the game (after an ARod homerun to left field). After that, there were 2 outs, with 2 runners on, and Joba got bitchslapped by the umpires when they called a no-swing on Ellsbury. That was fucking bullshit to the max, he swung through the zone, it was so fucking obvious. That pissed me off because it would have ended the inning, instead it loaded the bases and then Pedroia came up and hit a dinky two-run single. If there's any player I can't stand on the Red Sox, it's a three way tie between Pedroia, Manny, and Youkilis. He's such a bitchy little player, I can't stand him. What makes it worse is that he can hit, too.

Anyway, so it was 3-1 at this point and I felt the despair creeping in. It was already the 5th inning and the Yankees were hopelessly flailing at Wakefield's knuckleballs. They had managed 1 hit off of him, an Arod blast off a pitch that was left up. But then in the 6th inning Giradi came out and bitched out the awful home plate umpire, Laz Diaz. It was about damn time, his strike zone was complete BS. He called an awful pitch for a strike on Molina that looked way up and in. Molina just stared at him like he was crazy. Then he called a strike on Gardner that was way out of the zone. IT was awesome seeing Giradi get so close to Laz Diaz and he was so angry, too. Throughout the game the players just glared at the umpire on some of his BS calls. Even yesterday, Moose was so pissed at the other home plate umpire for some of his calls on him. So Giradi obviously got ejected. After he got ejected, Gardner hit the next pitch he saw right up the middle. Jeter singled after that, allowing Gardner to race home and bring the score to within one. Then in the 7th, we got the offense rolling again. Arod hit a leadoff single (it was funny cuz he just reached out to get it and popped it into right field..not something you see too often from him). Then with 1 out, Hip Hip got a hit as well. After that Robbie was up and hit a game-tying triple!!!!!! It was SO AWESOME. There was some debate about Hip Hip touching third base, but he did, tho just barely. It sucked when Melky hit a high chopper back towards second base and Robbie was called out at home with 1 out. It was a pretty bad play there.

So the game ended up tied at 4-4 (Dave Robertson gave up a run in the 7th). Krazy Kyle came out to pitch the 8th and did awesome, I was happy about that. I'll admit I was nervous as hell when he came out in a tie game. He did his job, getting the 3-4-5 hitters out. Then in the 8th inning, Gardner hit a pitch that squirted over 3rd base and TOTALLY BOUNCED IN FAIR TERRITORY, but it was called foul. That was fucking BS as well, it clearly bounced in the line, it looked like it might've hit Lowell's glove, too. It would've been a lead-off single, or maybe even a double. Instead, we failed. In the 9th, Mo came in. I was scared, I'll admit. Mo tends to do worse in tie games, instead of a game he's trying to save. Casey led off with a single, so I was like shit. Crisp hit a sac bunt to advance Casey to second. Then Varitek came in as a pinch-hitter...yea uh right? He sucks. Idk if he was meant to, but he got Casey to third. So now there's a runner on 3rd, with 2 outs. Then Manny comes in, oh boy. He struck out looking on THREE PITCHES. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen. All of Mo's pitches were just placed perfectly. He came in a pitched a perfect 10th, too, after we failed to score in the 9th. Then, bottom 10, Robbie Cano led off with a nice single. Melky sac bunted him to 2nd (he was really close to being safe at 1st, too). Betemit came in to pinch-hit for Molina and failed, swinging at the last pitch. So now, with 2 outs, Brett Gardner comes up. OK, not exactly the guy you'd want in a tie game in extra innings with 2 outs and a runner on 2nd. I had faith though, I like this guy a lot. He showed he is patient at the plate, not swinging at every pitch he sees, or hitting the first pitch. He got robbed of a few hits, and when he did get on base, he stole 2nd (and once 3rd). It was funny because at this point, he had more steals than hits in the Majors. He was facing Papelbon, ugh, right. He was patient though, and fouled off a ton of fastballs. Then in the 8th pitch of the at-bat, he hit a dribbler up the middle. Cora got there just in time. He was on the ground, so he would have had to get up and throw it hard to 1st, which he could've possibly gotten Gardner out, but he is quite speedy. Instead it bounced off Cora's glove and Pedroia couldn't recover it and Gardner, for the second game in a row, delivered the game-winning RBI!!!! I was so happy for him!

The All-Star Teams were announced yesterday. Um, I'm just a slight bit irritated that there are SEVEN Red Sox players on the team. That's a bit much. They have Manny, Pedroia, and Youkilis starting. I don't think Manny is deserving just because of his terrible defense, but of course his offense is good. He has been in a bit of a slump lately. Pedroia did not deserve it over Ian Kinsler. The stats prove it. Just because Pedroia has a high batting avg since June, doesn't mean anything.

Kinsler:
Batting Avg (86 games): .332
OBP: .391
SLG: .545
He has 23 stolen bases, 14 hr, 53 rbis, and 79 runs.

Pedroia:
Batting Avg (89 games): .312
OBP: .355
SLG: .458
He has 9 stolen bases, 9 hr, 41 rbis, and 60 runs.

The stats prove Kinsler is much better at 2nd base. People counter with, well then why did Jeter make it over Young? I'll admit, Jeter's stats aren't as good compared with Young, but can anyone honestly imagine the final ASG at Yankee Stadium without Jeter starting? It's a poor excuse, but it's not like the Yankee players won every single position. They have three guys on the team..THREE. I am hoping Giambi makes it in for the final vote. He's been awesome this season. Tho, unfortunately, Jermaine Dye might make it, or Evan Longoria (haha can't get over that name). I think it was a disgrace that the players voted Varitek into the ASG. He's been downright terrible offensively this season. I saw a stat last night that since May? I believe he's had an avg of .130! I think, if anything, it's for his presence, not his offensive capabilities. Anyway, it should be a good ASG..I've always liked it just because you're able to see the best players in the AL and the NL face off in the same stadium. It's rare to see something like that, which is why I enjoy it. This post is super long, so I'm going to stop blabbing.

Baseball All Around

2008-06-07T16:09:00.005-05:00

Don't doubt the power of the 'stache...

Holy shit. That's all I have to say. When the Yankees offense comes alive, I LOVE IT! Thursday afternoon the Yankees played the Blue Jays. CMW has SUCKED recently, no lie. Something's bothering him because he has not been the same. Melky had a brain fart in center field and the ball bounced off of his glove, allowing a few runs to score. Ick, the score was then 7-2, but the Yankees fought back. Wilson Betemit brought the game to within 1 run after a 2-run blast. Kyle Farnsworthless gave up a run, but settled down and got the next few outs. ARod singled, Matsui brought him home so the game is back to a 1-run deficit. So now Jason Giambi is up at the plate with the tying run on base. There are 2 outs. He's down in the count, 0-2 and he just unleashes the fury tat is the Giambino and crushes a 2-run game winning homerun!! It was the craziest thing EVER! I was jumping around the house for about five minutes after that. One Yankee classic in the books for the 08 season.

Oh, they're not done yet, though. Today's game was frustrating, thrilling, and bound to give a few people heart attacks and drive people to drink the game away. We lost a heartbreaker last night (fuck you, ump giambi did NOT swing at that pitch, you asshole!) to the royals. And I thought we'd lose again today. We were quickly down 5-1, but in the bottom of the 4th we came back to tie it up (arod single, giambi walk, jorge double, robbie single, betemit sac fly, melky single, johnny single). In the bottom of the 5th, Giambi hit a monster homerun to give the Yanks the lead. Things turned ugly in the 7th when Pettitte gave up a run to tie the game, then a grand slam (he was over 100 pitches, but still no excuse. he has given up all of the leads we've given him the last 2 starts). In the bottom of the inning, however, Arod hit an awesome 2-run homerun to make it 8-10. Then the bottom of the 8th, Robbie singled, Betemit struck out swinging, Melky singled, wild pitch, and a Johnny Damon 2-run single tied the game at 10-10. Then the unexpected happened in the 9th inning. Mo gave up a first pitch homerun to DeJesus. Well, that was a big slap in the face. Mo looked so disappointed. But hey, we can't blame him. He's been lights out this entire season. He finished the rest of the inning on only 9 more pitches, 1 of them a ball. So it's the bottom of the 9th, but the Yanks are facing Soria, who killed 'em last night. He had an era of just about 1 and had not blown a save all year (then again, neither did Mo). So Giambi lines out, and shit there goes one of our hopes. Then Hip Hip comes up and just hits a bullet homerun to tie the game! Yeah, freaking AMAZING! So there's hope. Robbie then proceeds to ground out (though nice play by Pena to get him out), and then Betemit walks, Melky singles, and Johnny's up at the plate with 2 outs. Can he do it? He was 5 for 5 (4 singles, 1 double). Then he rips one down right field and into the corner for a ground-rule double but it doesn't matter because THE YANKEES WIN!!!!!!!!!! Another historic win because Johnny is the first Yankee to go 6 for 6 since 1934!!! Fucking amazing, he is. He's been on fire lately as well as Giambi. Just an instant classic and I was so relieved we won!!!!

Think for a Second

2008-06-03T17:12:00.003-05:00

Can you believe it's June already? I can't. It's the worst first day of unofficial summer...ever. It's cold and rainy. Ick. I swear, I've had the best fortune today! Last night I took like an hour-long power nap and stayed up to watch the end of the 3rd/3OT of the Pittsburgh/Detroit game and proceeded to wake up close to 11 this morning. God, I needed the sleep. I've been waking up early a lot, even on the weekends. So there was that. Then my mom suggested we go out to Sati Coffee (a coffeeshop that has the best crepes). We got ready and my mom was taking forever, like usual. We got there around 1 and my mom parked really closely to this big, black Chevy Suburban (with a little scratch on the bumper ;) ) and asked if I could get out OK or she could park somewhere else. I was like don't worry it's fine. We entered and I saw 4 kids sitting at a table with mini Jamba juice smoothies. I was like aw, that's so cute. So we go up to order and I am standing there and look back and the kid's father is there bending over and talking to one of them and I was like wait, his voice is so familiar and he looks really familiar. I then franctically poke my mom and go "MOM! THAT'S KEITH CARNEY!" She knew who it was, thank goodness. I was like FREAKING OUT majorly. and then we sat by them (the kids had their own table and he and his wife had their own table right next to it). I was like "Don't stare, Kelsey. Don't stare" so I start texting Elise and typing as fast as my fingers will go. And when I looked up he nodded and smiled at me. I was like AHHH. Seriously, he is really good looking despite his age. I mean, he's not that old, but for hockey he's getting up there. They were all dressed nicely...I don't know where they were going. But the three little boys were all SO cute. They had nice sweaters on (one had a baby blue argyle sweater with a polo underneath, I just about died. He was my favorite and his hair was parted it was SO cute). They were some good-looking kids! My mom and I stayed awhile, to say the least. Two guys who were sitting at a table started talking to Keith about the hockey game last night. Gah, it was so exciting seeing him there and WAY unexpected! I've had the best fortune of seeing a ton of famous sports stars in the last week or so (Yankees game haha).

Ok well as fun as that was and all (like way cool) back to the original point of my post: I was reading the startrib this morning about this guy who caught the ARod homerun ball last night and threw it back. Personally, I thought he was a complete idiot. But what bothered me the most (and from my experience at the game) is how people view the Yankees. One guy was quoted in the paper as saying "Typical Yankees. You think you can buy everything." Not only is this untrue, but it shows his ignorance of the Yankees today. Yes, back in the wonder years of the 90's the Yankees were "the Evil Empire" buying players right and left and trading like no other. But I think this year they showed they were willing to bring up players from the system and develop them into Yankees. Exhibits A, B, and C: Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy. They took a huge risk this year putting them in the starting rotation (though Joba's first ML start is tonight). They're young and have no major league experience. As for the Yankee's payroll, have you seen the Red Sox? I'll admit, it's amazing how much baseball players are being paid, especially the Yankees. But if we accept that all players are being paid a buttload of money, the Yankees were right in giving ARod, Posada, and Rivera big money in their new contracts. Sure, they're aging and dthey don't know what to expect in a few years (at least for Posada and Rivera and then there's Andy Pettite), but considering how much they mean to the team, it's so worth it. You're telling me any Twins fan would be like "Get rid of Morneau or Mauer" if they were wanting too much money? I'd say...NO. If people want to bitch about the Yankees and how they pay too much to their players and everyone hates them because they win all the time and basically they're "the Yankees" they need to do a little reality check. 1) The Yankees are in 2nd to last place in the AL East with a record below .500 2) The Red Sox are in 2nd place in the AL East. 3) Their payroll is huge, too. 4) Who has won a world series title twice in the past 4 years? 4) Who has not won a World Series title since 2000?

You answer those questions and come back to me on why you dislike the Yankees so much and make sure you check out those Red Sox because honestly people, they're the team to beat. Not the Yankees.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

2008-05-31T15:44:00.004-05:00

Hi, all. It's been a long time. I needed to update because well, I want to procrastinate from studying and I have to write about the Yankees game I went to last night! Ah, it was so exciting. I just love baseball. Your mood can go from complete elation to complete sourness after one pitch.

5:30 - We arrived at the Metrodome on the light rail and were lucky enough to meet some fellow Yankee fans who were optimistic about the game tonight. We got our tickets - Section 117, Row 20. Sarah had to get her Mini Donuts, too.

6:00 ish- We found our seats and immediately moved down to the first row to see the Yankees batting practice/warm-ups. I got to see Arod blast a few out. And Joba was hanging out in right field catching a few balls and even tossing some into the crowd. His one flaw: not giving the balls to Yankee fans! ;) Like um, ME! After they were done with BP, Joba started signing autographs for people and he was literally like right in front of me. It was pretty much.....*sigh* amazing. I was about two seconds away from getting his autograph until he decided he had signed enough.

6:45- Saw Moose come out to warm up. :D Hey, so he had a few rough starts, doesn't mean I can't revel in how awesome he is. Molina even walked past and someone a few rows back shouted out to him and he shook Molina's hand and they talked like they were buddies. It was so cool. Haha. It was amusing watching warm-ups and seeing the Yanks run around in the field. And dayum, can Robbie Cano stretch or what?!

7:15- Game time! Jeter was up at the plate first. Well, he didn't exactly excel last night. But then again all of the games he's played since he was injured haven't stacked up to his offensive potential. Good news was that Bobby drew a walk, stole second, and eventually scored on Matsui's bloop single. The second half of the inning could have gone better. Moose k'd Gomez, but after that things turned sour. The defense forgot how to dive for balls, throw properly, and basically help Mussina out. Though the blame shouldn't be placed solely on the defense. However, Mussina only gave up 2 earned runs out of the 4. Shelley Duncan's overanxious throw caused Jeter to stretch out and catch it, but he was already off of the bag. But, Jeter saved a few runs later that inning when he made a great diving stop and throw to get the force out. It was a relief the inning was over and we were only down 4-1. I told Sarah, "Hopefully it will be just one rocky inning and Mussina will cruise the rest of the way." Boy, was I ever right. Faith is all it takes. 4 consecutive Twins got hits and runs in.

4th inning - I liked this inning. Melky ripped a 2-run single to tie the game. He had a great game as well as Bobby Abreu (TWO triples!), ARod, and Matsui. They were basically our offense for the game. For 5 consecutive innings, we had a lead-off hit. Matsui made a great running catch in foul territory when it looked like Arod and Jeter were not going to catch it. Arod completely robbed a Twin of a hit with a nice jump (Jeter made a similar play with a leaping catch which was awesome). However, some bad baserunning caused the game to be so close and no more runs to score after the 7th.

7th - Mussina lasted 6 innings throwing 109 pitches, 36 of them in the first inning. Pretty impressive. However, Veras came in and I was like why the hell is he in a 2-run game? Of course he proved himself by walking the lead-off batter and lasted 1/3 of an inning. Edwar came in after him (thank god) and got out of the inning unscathed!

8th- When I saw Kyle Farnsworth warming in the bullpen, I was like fuck. He's taking over Joba's job and it was only a 2-run game. I mean, he's been ok this season, but lately he has sucked. Just like that it was a 1-run game with him on the mound. Morneau hit a lead-off hr (after Tim called it). But after that he did ok....thank freaking god. I was abotu to have a heart attack that inning.

9th - Oh, wow. The sight of Mariano Rivera warming in the bullpen was awesome. Seeing one of the greatest closers of all time in person was sweet as hell. Twins fans all over were breaking out their cameras and cell phones to snap a picture of him. The guy in front of us even took a picture and he was wearing a Twins jersey and very pro-Twins and anti-yankees. Earlier in the game, some fans a few rows back started a "Let's go Yankees!" chant and "Yankee Baseball!" It was sweet! Oh, and some dumb fans also shouted "JETER SUCKS!" It must've taken them awhile to think of that one. They wouldn't know clutch if it hit them in the face. Also, there was one asshole who shouted at Mo (while he was warming) "You suck! You're old!" I was like oh, no don't make me go over there and slap your silly ass out of this ballpark. You don't say that to Mariano Rivera. Show the man some respect and grow some balls. Yes, he may be aging, but he still can throw 92 mph and pitch lights out. I wouldn't say he sucks if he has 14 saves in 14 save opportunities this year with an ERA of 0.38. So back to the actual game...there were 2 outs and the Twins decided to pinch hit Monroe (who pinch hit in the other game and delivered). All of the fans got really excited, but Mo had other plans. It was so satisfying to see the Ump signal the strikeout and the game was finally over!

It was a great game. The Yankees could have played better defensively (though they got better by the end) and their baserunning could have improved, A LOT. They pounded out 16 hits and only had 6 runs to show for it. They could have completely blown the game out of the water a few times. But a 1-run game was so exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. Plus, I was lucky to see Mo pitch! After the game was over, we were waiting to leave the Metrodome and I looked over (while the line was slowly moving) and guess who I saw in his motorscooter and all? Harlan Chamberlain. Joba's Dad. At the metrodome. I wasn't as starstruck as I was after seeing Joba, but it was still an amazing sight. He suffers from polio (his whole left side is paralyzed) and he raised Joba as a single dad. He tries to get to every single game he can to see Joba pitch. A few Yankee fans said a few words to him like go yankees and go joba. I told Sarah who it was and we kept glancing over at him and getting excited. He noticed, smiled, and said Hi to us! :) It was an exciting moment.

Alas, the game is over and there is another one starting in 90 minutes. Chien-Ming Wang vs. Boof Bonser. I hope CMW can pitch a good game, as his last few starts haven't been his best. Let's go Yankees!!

Hello..Goodbye

2008-04-15T19:50:00.004-05:00

So I'm sitting here at my laptop, keeping track of the Yankees/Rays game on MLB Gameday and staring blankly at my open math binder full of identities to study, when I realize, I haven't updated my blog in a long time! OK, maybe procrastination pushed me to hit that "New Post" button, but in reality I've been running around like crazy these past few weeks. Ever since returning from Connecticut and getting back to school, life has hit the gas pedal.

I've had lacrosse, tons of homework, and a lot of errands to run which means less time to futz around on my laptop while I run around this crazy state of Minnesota. This post will be very short because I really do need to study for my test tomorrow. Anyway, can you believe that baseball season has started already? And there's already been a series between the Yankees and Red Sox? I can't either. I lovee knowing that if I need a distraction, a baseball game will almost always be on! Along with that comes the Stanley Cup Playoffs where the Wild and Avs have gone to OT in all 3 games they've played so far. Being the dedicated fan I am, I stayed up until past midnight last night to catch little PMB score the winning goal. Of course my dad yelled at me for staying up that late, but honestly? I wouldn't have missed it for the world! I plan on staying up late again tonight. Damn you Mountain time.

It's finally getting warmer and I'd like to put that 30* Saturday behind me, as well as the snow we received in early April. I want sun and beautiful days to remind me of summer!

Well, if I had more interesting stuff to tell you, I would. But I won't be back on until either next week or weekend. Junior retreat is on Thursday and we won't get back till Saturday morning, after which I will either have plans or will be doing my english paper, history research, or formal lab for chemistry. Hope life's been treating you well.

Thoughts from my Trip

2008-03-29T21:30:00.003-05:00

For once, it's not good to be back home. I wish I stayed in Connecticut for much, much longer. Like the rest of my life. Haha. Here are random thoughts/happenings from my 3 days away.

Today it was actually warmer in Minnesota than it was in Connecticut. But it's abnormally cold in Connecticut at this time. Minnesota....well, it's quite a surprising state.
Let's start with Thursday:
-I was nervous that I was going to get sick on the plane, so in turn, I felt sick. I get really bad motion sickness (car rides, plane rides, you name it). But in the end, I was fine once we were up in the air. I even got a little nap in.
-Once we landed, I just knew i was home. It sounds dumb, but it was a gut feeling. My mom and i picked up a white chevy cobalt. It was actually super nice. There were even heated seats. We rocked that car with its Florida license plates.
-We stayed at the Mariott Courtyard in Cromwell. So it was an extremely familiar area.
-That night, I went to see Lorraine (my godmother and one of my mom's friends from when she worked at g.fox, a retail store when she was just out of college). She had a friend over, Gloria and they couldn't get over how much I looked like one of her granddaughters who is 11. They were like "oh, you are SO beautiful!" I had a yummy dinner.
-I had probably the worst time ever trying to fall asleep. I guess you could factor in the events of the day and how I was sleeping in a hotel bed. But honestly, I kept falling asleep and waking up. Then I looked at the clock and it was only 1230 in the morning. I thought I had been sleeping all night. Also, factor in my mom snoring and you have an awful night.

Friday:
-730 AM wake-up call. All righttt! My mom and I went out to Dunkin Donuts (& i totally just typed drunkin donuts, my bad). God it was wonderful to have that again. None of this Caribou bullshit, though it is quite yummy. They seriously make the best hot chocolate (talking about DD now).
-We headed up to Massachusetts. I got to sleep on the way there, woohoo. Oh, and since I'm on the topic of driving..well sort of. Honestly, thank god for CT drivers. I mean, I know there are some assholes on the road, but at least they can fricking drive. I noticed it when we were back in MN again today..but seriously MN drivers SUCK. I swear I heard more horns beeped in CT/MA than I have heard my entire time in MN. Because they don't patiently wait for people to realize the light has turned green, or if they're taking a long time to take a left turn. By the way, this is a positive thing, haha. Oh, and I noticed how many people from different states are in CT and MA. It's weird. I saw tons of license plates from MA, CT, NJ, VT, NH, ME, MD, & PA. If you don't know the state abbreviations, you're dumb.
-It was rainy and sleeting. Disgusting. Also, there was an accident on 91-N, so they completely closed it off. I saw tons of ambulances, police cars, and fire trucks. There was ahuge plume of dark smoke coming off of something, idk what and I saw the fire trucks spraying the fire.
-College visits. Yay! Just to note on that, the campuses were beautiful. Soooooo much better than the Midwest. & you know what I realized once I went back to CT? The people are actually friendlier. Like I know we can come off as snobby, but seriously they are a lot friendlier than Midwesterners.
-As a comparison, I loved seeing New England again. It's so beautiful compared to Minnesota/Wisconsin (the midwest states i have been to). It was a cloudy day, but in Massachusetts where we were driving in a certain part it got really mountainous/hilly..whatever it was, but the clouds sort of covered the trees, but not fully. It was gorgeous. Also, I LOVED SEEING TREES AND HILLS. Ah!! So much better than the flatlands out here. I loved going down the highway and being surrounded by trees. And the roads were familiar and ah! I can't get over it. It was absolutely surreal being back home. 3 years is along time.
-Also, Friday night I got to see ALI!! Omg, it was great to see her again. We met at Bertucci's (um fricking yum!!!). We caught up on the old times and wow, she hasn't changed. I realized how much I missed her when we were talking. When we got back together, I was like we are going to stay the same around each other, no matter what.
-Another terrible night of sleep for me. I don't know why!!!!

Saturday:
-Woke up at 730...again. This time, we met Bethany & Ingrid for breakfast at Bob's Coffee Shop (best place EVER in rocky hill, my hometown). I knew Bethany better than Ingrid, but they both worked with my mom in CT. Bethany got engaged and I got to see her ring. Ingrid is German and she has an accent, it's so cool.
-Sinec I'm talking about Rocky Hill. Wow, there have been some changes. New restaurants and stuff like that. But it's still the same, ya know? I drove by my old house....oh, god. Nostalgia x1000. They changed the color of our shutters and door, but it's still the same. I loved going down my neighborhood. My mom said it looked so old now, but I love it.
-We checked out of our hotel then went to West Farms Mall. Best mall ever. Met Grace & her mom. It was awesome seeing Grace again!!!! We walked around the mall a few times, stopped in some stores. Haha one time, we passed this creepy kid who I swear like growled at us. What a weirdo. I'm glad I got to see my two best friends again.
-My mom and I headed to the airport. We hung out for awhile there since we were a bit early. Um, the Bradley airport is sooo much safer than the Mpls/St. Paul one. At the security check-in, you had to stand in this little thing where it puffed air at you and made sure you didn't have anything on you. Plus, it's a lot nicer, I think. I was eating at McDonald's and there were some Harvard kids sitting next to me. They went to see Cirque du Soleil which was in town (I saw the tents).
-I fell asleep on the plane on the way back listening to my music. My iPod surprisingly lasted both ways...YAY!!! Btw, if you haven't checked it out already, listen to "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hasard. It's from "Once". Beautiful song.

Ok, I realize this is super long, but I don't fucking care, ok? Haha. I missed CT and this was an amazing trip for me, albeit short. I seriously like cried when I was back in MN. I don't want to be here. If i could transport my friends I made here and the MN Wild team back to CT, I would do it in a heartbeat. But this is my "home" now, and I have to accept it. I have for 3 years, but not sincerely. New England is so different. There's so much history. I fit in there. I love it and I'm almost 98% sure I'm going to college back there, even if it is in Red Sox Nation. Because there's a history there nobody can take away from it. Good night all. I'll be at the Wild game tomorrow, having a blast.

Going Away

2008-03-26T15:07:00.004-05:00

Hi all. I'm getting very excited. Tomorrow at 1:00 I will be on a plane headed home. Home? Nope, I'm still in Minnesota. Instead I'll be headed to Connecticut, my original home of 14 years. I'm so excited because I have not been back there since I left in June of '05, quite awhile in my eyes! Of course I'll be visiting colleges up in Massachusetts as well, so it's not all fun and games haha ;). I'll be quite busy and I'm not bringing my laptop, so it's up to Elise to fill me in on all the details of happenings in Minnesota....uhhh...aka: the Wild game! One good thing is that it's supposed to snow here tomorrow, so I'll be leaving all of that behind for slightly warmer weather! I come back on Saturday night, sadly. I'm excited because I know I am at least seeing two of my best friends in Connecticut. It'll be amazing to see how much we've all changed. But I shouldn't be too down in the dumps because there is like a 90% chance I will be going to Sunday's Wild game at Colorado! A perfect way to end Spring Break (which flew by!).

Other happenings in my life don't include much, haha. I've been stuck at home while all of my friends have been away - texting really is a life-saver. The other night, the Wild had a terrible loss to the Oilers (so bad, in fact, that I started watching another show) but it's almost all good now because Elise & I just determined (through texts, of course) that it was all because my popcorn bag ripped while I was trying to open it. Terrible karma, I'll say. Tonight that will hopefully all change when the Wild face the Oilers on their home ice. Last night I had the good fortune of watching the Uconn women's #1 basketball team play #8 Texas who beat the Gophers the other night. They got off to a terrific start. Big East Player of the Year, Maya Moore, was amazing. From what I got to see of the game (they switched around a lot), she scored 4 straight 3-pointers and had an awesome block on one Texas player who had a clear breakaway. The final score ended up being Uconn with 89 and Texas with 55. Maya Moore ended with 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks. But get this, she's only a FRESHMAN. She's going to be quite some player when she's a senior. So, the women head to the Sweet 16!

Anyway, I will catch you all on Sunday...maybe. Feel free to send texts my way while I'm gone.

i want it alllll

2008-03-23T19:24:00.004-05:00

Hello all. I haven't updated at all this week because honestly nothing much has happened. Tuesday and Wednesday I went to lacrosse practice. On Wednesday there was only a handful of girls there. Thursday I headed over to Sarah's with Ashlee and we were SOOOOOOO bored. Hahaha. The rest of the weekend I really did not do much. Fri & Sat night I texted Elise like crazy while watching the Wild games. She informed me that we sent 150 messages last night. It's weird because it doesn't even feel like it. Good thing we both have unlimited messages!!!

Currently, I am watching the Uconn women first round game against Cornell. They're killing them so far which is nice to see :). I want them to make it far because the men got booted out way too early, but at least it's not the only upset of the men's tournament (duke, georgetown..)

BTW, Happy Easter to everyone. I kind of forgot about it until yesterday because it came so early. Maybe due to the fact that there is still SNOW on the ground and it's still only in the 30's! I want SPRING. I want to be outside and stop wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts haha. Damn Minnesota weather...ya mostly hate it!

Well, seeing that this post is the most random and pointless thing ever, I'll leave right now and try to find something to do. Have a good night.

Field Trip.......to Dairyland!

2008-03-17T20:59:00.007-05:00

Sigh! I'm FREAKING EXHAUSTED!!!!! I woke up at 6 AM, which is very earlyyyyyy. My parents and I left at the lovely hour of 7:15 and headed east towards Wisconsin. It was snowing/raining and there wasn't a lot of people on the road. After the llong drive, I realized how much I dislike trucks! They're so annoying especially when they pass you and spray your car with dirty stuff from the road! Well, my parents and I made it there alive, after a good 4 hours of driving, probably more. I was forced to drive the entire way (in my car tho, so i had complete control over the radio). Let me just say, Appleton IS SO FREAKING CONFUSING! The roads are set up so oddly and oh god. I had to parallel park in downtown Appleton, which was not fun. We got some Subway then headed over to Lawrence. Uh there was ONE other person on my tour, so it was my mom, dad, me, a guy from Madison and his mom. It was SO awkward!!!!!! Then it started to snow hard on our tour which sucked and it was cold and my hair was soaking afterwards.

We finally left around 3, but our little direction thing (omg totally blanking on the word) screwed us up so it took us an extra 30 min to find the highway. For the first time, I got pissed at this dumb Wisconsin driver. They were going slow (speed limit was basically 65 mph the entire time) so I went into the left lane and then passed them and went in the right lane, THEN they sped up, went in the left lane, got in front of me AND WENT SLOW! i was like you're the stupidest person ever! Then this other time, this guy was passing me too, then he cut RIGHT in frotn of me (nobody else was around and i mean NOBODY) and splashed water all over my car. My dad was like "what an idiot". Haha my dad & I bonded on this trip,w e made fun of everything. They called one highway..highway "x" then there was highway "xx". We went through the "first city" of wisconsin and the "most friendly wisconsin town" too. I also saw a HORSE & BUGGY cross the HIGHWAY. it was SOOO FUNNY!!! Then we saw a sign for "Chubby's".......a gentlemen's club which looked like a LOG CABIN! Oh boyl, what an eventful trip! P.S NEVER DRIVE ACROSS THE ENTIRETY OF WISCONSIN, IT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOO BORING AND FULL OF FIELDS AND FARMS. Cruise control was my friend<3 I just cruised around 70 mph most of the way back so it was super nice, but wtf there were cops all around with their radar guns..theyre stupid.

In the sports world:

-YANKEES BEAT THE RED SOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They were up 7-0 after 2 innings, and eventually won 8-4.
-WILD WON!!!! They beat the Avs and we're in first for now! It was such an important win!
-Uconn women are #1 seed for NCAA tourney and Uconn men are #4 seed for NCAA tourney as well!

Spring Break

2008-03-15T15:33:00.003-05:00

Finally. It's Spring break, what I've been waiting for for weeks. This last week has been busy to say the least. My school day was filled with me trying to get homework done during my free periods because I had lacrosse practice after school from 530-7. Oh boy. I was sore after the first day, how sad. I struggle so much at lacrosse, but I really do want to learn and get better every day. We had the day off on Friday which was nice, but we have practice next week. Friday I did absolutely nothing in my classes, which although it was awesome, it was boring too. We made ice cream in chemistry, I studied during 2nd period, French we ate food, talked, and watched Notre-Dame de Paris, la comedie musicale, did nothing during 4th period, played games in Math, nothing during 6th&7th, and took my history test 8th period. I found out I was getting an A-, 92% in history! I'm so proud of myself, I think that's my first A in history in awhile, unless I did well last quarter..i forget. I guess that 98% & 94% I got on my last two tests really helped.

Last night was the Swarm game which was really fun. We won, 13-9 and Sean Pollock scored!!! Watching them play made me really want to be good at lacrosse, but obviously it's unrealistic as some of those guys are just so athletic and skilled. I didn't take any pictures, sorry! Today I'm heading over to Sarah's house with Elise and Ashlee, and we're going to hopefully watch the Wild game if Sarah gets HDNet, whatever channel that is! I basically watched all of my Tivos today, but I still need to catch up on One Tree Hill, which I became engrossed in over the summer. Hey, teen dramas are awesome, ok? Speaking of being lazy, I should probably take a shower as well, but spring break is meant for me to relax and not do anything.

View from my old room.

My to-do list for Spring Break:

-Lacrosse practicing.
-Sleeping. A lot.
-Look into volunteering @ Humane Society
-History research topic for my paper.
-Work out.
-Hang out with friends.
-Clean my room....
-Read my pile of books
-College visits.

My pooooooool, that I miss!!

-Go home to Connecticut @ the end of spring break!!! I am SOOO looking forward to it. I have not been back there since I left which was the summer before 9th grade. I'm planning on seeing my best friend, Ali & her mom. I'm also hopefully seeing Michelle, Brittny, & Grace! I'm going to Friendly's & Dunkin Donuts & Bob's Coffee Shop <3 I'm going to see lots of trees and hills and my old house, all which I miss so much. I'm going to remember everything I haven't seen in awhile and remember all of the familiar streets I went on, and maybe go to the malls I miss, Westfarms and Buckland. It's going to be tough to do everything I want in only a few days, especially since one day is dedicated to going up to Massachusetts.

8th gradeee<3>

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUU!!

2008-03-12T20:24:00.003-05:00

I just had to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to MIKKO KOIVU!!!! yay!!!! Go buy as many sweaters as you want, buddy, cuz it's your day! &yes he's special enough for his own post.

Spring is Coming

2008-03-09T10:06:00.003-05:00

I am excited for multiple reasons:

1) Phil Hughes is pitching in the Yankees Spring Training game today against the Twins and it's on TV. If you can't do the math, I get to see Phil Hughes pitch!!!! I think I saw him pitch a few times last year, but it's rare when you're stuck out here in MN. Oh, & I hate the Rays (minus garza and bartlett) because they ALREADY injured one of the Yankees' prospects! 22-year old catcher, Francisco Cerelli, has a fracture in his right wrist and is going to be out 8-10 weeks. Honestly, do the Rays have to play dirty ball already? It's SPRING TRAINING! You don't injure players during spring training ! Carl Crawford already slid in really hard in their game last Wednesday against Houston. Nobody's going to feel sorry for them anymore if they play dirty. I mean, I know they're trying hard and all, but it's just a spring training game. /end rant.
2) The Sharks play the Wild today! OK, technically that's probably really bad for the Wild who are struggling, and the Sharks who are not (8 wins in a row). But I'll get to see, in High-Definition, Devin, Torrey, Matt, and Marc-Edouard! Woohoo! P.S. Happy Birthday Brent Burns!
3) This Friday is SPRING BREAK & THE SWARM GAME!!!! 2 blissful weeks without school and warm(er) weather. We don't even have lacrosse practice on Friday, so Elise and I can get to the Swarm game early and get our free bobble-head. Excellent. Friday will be so much fun. But it still sucks that the Swarm have lost 3 in a row now. Bummer.

Well, that's my exciting news for the day. I bet you all got really excited about what's coming up today and the rest of the week, too. I should probably head out to get my lacrosse equipment because I have a busy day ahead -> 12 PM = Yankees game 3PM=Wild game. In between= english project (4-5 page creative paper).

Hockey games are pretty fun

2008-03-05T19:41:00.006-06:00

Yesterday was quite successful in the fact that Elise and I got about zero studying done for our history test on the 1920s and 1930s, but that's ok because we were preparing ourselves for one of the better Wild games. For full details, check out her blog.

Brent Seabrook being gross.

The game was quite fun, despite the fact that we kinda sucked, but hey, what're ya gonna do? Elise and I spotted Toews and Kane right away on the bench since we were only 9 rows back from the visitor's bench. And boy, Kane does look short. But I like that. Toews was looking quite funny in his full-out cage. James played well and Mikko could've done better. While in the concession line, Elise and I spotted two seniors from our school, one of whom was in my writing sem class last semester. When they finished paying, he said hi to me. Potential awkward situation resolved.

That'd be our boy, Mikko!

One of the more .... disgusting moments during the game was when Elise realized I had something in my hair. I reached up and felt something wet. Yeah, FREAKING GROSS. I was freaking out because I couldn't tell if it was beer or spit. I washed my hair quite thoroughly last night.

& this, just to bug elise.

Fun Days Ahead

2008-03-03T19:01:00.004-06:00

Well, hello all! Procrastination is quite fun, but even better when it's for tomorrow night's homework. OK, really I'm not that much of a nerd, it's only because tomorrow night I am going to the Wild game! So, basically I have zero time to do any work, except Elise and I will be getting a bit of the Great Depression studying in for the history test. Anyway, the game is against the Chicago Blackhawks. I decided to like them only because my friend Elise does. OK, I'm not really a follower like that, but they're a young, likeable team (minus Seabrook and Booby...Khabibulin- I call him that b/c it's hard to type out). Plus, Elise loves Jonathan Toews, a 19 year old ice hockey wonder. And I've taken a liken to Pat Kane, his buddy and fellow 19 year old. He's a bit on the cocky side, but I'll take it. Plus, he's short and likes the Yankees. Can you give me any better reasons to like him? ;)

Oh and I forgot to mention that there was a power outage yesterday and I was in the middle of watching the Wild game! I was so mad. I was bored out of my mind so I was keeping track of the game on my cell and reading by flashlight. They told us the power wouldn't be on until tomorrow, so I showered in the dark while there was still hot water, and a few minutes after I get out, the power is back on! Well, today..my day was quite uneventful. Just another Monday for you. There was a lot of homework and our chemistry presentations are finally winding down - I am so sick of PFC's already! Oh, in English today (Genders in Lit) we did a fun little arts & craft project regarding a passage we were given. Zuhra and I turned ours into a book..Mrs. Polk loved it. It wasn't as artsy as everyone else's, but hey I was born to do other things, ya know?

Anyway I will probably update with pictures tomorrow about the game. I'll leave you with two pictures of Jonathan Toews (1st pic) and Patrick Kane (2nd pic). See ya tomorrow.

Hi!

2008-03-01T17:59:00.003-06:00

Well, this blog is going to be very random. I'll give updates on my life, but most of it will probably be revolved around sports in some way, mostly the Wild & the Yankees, my two top favorite sports teams ;). We'll see how it goes. I need somewhere to rant!

Today was really boring and uneventful. I went to Sports Authority and Dicks to look for lacrosse equipment for the spring. Practice starts in 9 days and I've never played before so I need to start looking for a stick, mouthguard, cleats, protective eyewear, gloves, etc. I used to play field hockey, so I'm used to the mouthguard & cleats. I think now they require you to wear protective eyewear, so this will be new for me. I still miss field hockey a lot. I still have my stick, but it's probably way too small for me now haha. I don't think I have any balls left over, so I can't ever go out and practice.

Next Tuesday I'm going to a Wild game! It's going to be so much fun. It's on a school night, so it's a nice reprieve from my mundane schedule of going home and doing homework. Plus, it's against the Blackhawks, who have as Elise calls them the "wonder duo", Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Two 19-year olds who just happen to be amazing at ice hockey. We have to think of a clever sign to make.

Oh and Spring Training has FINALLY started. It's so exciting!! The Yankees played their first day today and WON, 9-3 against the Phillies. Shelley Duncan had 5 rbis, and ARod already hit a homerun.

Anyway, not much else is going on right now. We'll see how the week goes. Here's a really funny/unfortunate picture I will leave you with of the Yankees during spring training: