2009 World Series Recap

It was a World Series match up I had projected back in March. Although a Yankees fan before anything else, the Philadelphia Phillies have become my unofficial B-team. And so the match did crate some mild conflict for me. The team I have grown up with and rooted for my entire life, verses the team that plays less the fifteen miles from my front door.

So as a Yankee Fan First and Foremost the 2009 World Series did not start off the way I would have drawn it up! New York Yankees Captain, Derek Jeter is my hero, my life mate, my love mate and my soul mate! I have no bigger man crush then the one I have for Derek Jeter. I expect a base hit almost every time Jeter is at the plate. If he doesn’t get a hit, 90 percent of the time he has a great at bat. He will put the ball in play, or he may line out hard to a position player. Derek is seldom one to ever give up an at bat. So when he struck out on three pitches to begin the offensive campaign for the Yanks, I went into panic mode. Fastball, curve ball, slider, and Phillies starter Cliff Lee had made Jeter look like a fool with three rapidly fast pitches.

TOM and I had seen a game in 2008, at the Old Yankees Stadium, where Cliff Lee pitched for the Cleveland Indians against the Yankees. Because I remembered his dominance in that game, and because I keep a scorecard from every game I’ve been to, I went back into the archives and looked up Lee’s stats prior the World Series. On Wednesday May 7th, 2008 Cliff Lee pitched seven innings, allowing no runs, on six hits, while striking out seven. Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, and Hideki Matsui were a combined 1 for 9 with two strikeouts. Lee was better then good in that regular season weeknight ball game, he was dominate! So on the grandest stage of them all (Game 1 of the World Series) I was anticipating an even better outing from Cliff Lee.

I wasn’t wrong.

In total, Lee threw 122 pitches (80 for strikes) in Game One. He pitched all nine innings, allowing just six hits, while striking out ten. He was awarded the MVP of game one by the Dugan & Dugan Sports Bureau. Not only had Game One ended poorly for the Yankees, but now the series was off to an undesirable start.

The side story to game one (if there was one behind Cliff Lee) was Chase Utley’s two solo homeruns. They accounted for all the offense the Phillies would need to be victorious. Philadelphia did add four more runs late in the game. But Lee’s dominance proved to be the overwhelming difference in game one.

Final Score of Game One of the 2009 World Series: Philadelphia 6, New York 1.

Philadelphia takes a 1-0 Series Lead

Game two featured an old Yankee nemesis wearing pinstripes. Relax! Not Pedro Martinez in midnight blue pinstripes. (That kind of visual makes me nauseous!) But rather Pedro Martinez in Phillies red pinstripes. Pedro Martinez did his best Roger Clemens impression this year, and became baseball’s hottest midseason free agent. The Phillies front office, believers in the philosophy “you can never have enough starting pitching”, jumped into the Pedro sweepstakes with both feet. On July 15th, 2009 Pedro Martinez signed a half-year, 1.5 million dollar contract to join the Phillies. Who knew then that Pedro would be back in New York for yet another Post-Season match up with the Yankees. Yet there he was, starting game 2. This time, he was pitching in the World Series, and this time for the Phillies of Philadelphia. At 37 years old, Pedro is now a very different pitcher then Yankee fans may have remembered. Now Pedro is finding new ways to get batters out with a velocity that tops out around 89 miles per hour. Game two of the 2009 World Series featured a new method of operation, but that same old Pedro. Pedro was actually throwing 69 MPH changeups, the results of which were very effective. When all was said and done, Pedro had pitched six very good innings. His mistakes were few, but costly. He allowed two solo homeruns (one to Mark Teixeira and one to Hideki Matsui). But when Pedro left to a serenade of Yankee boos, he was trailing 2-1. The reason Pedro stood to get a World Series loss was the curve ball of A.J. Burnett. Yankees starter, A.J. Burnett was throwing strikes and getting outs, and was just a little bit better then Pedro. As game two came to an end, and the series shifted to Philadelphia, power pitching was once again prevailing in the playoffs. The Dugan & Dugan Sports Bureau named A.J. Burnett the game two MVP.

Final Score of Game Two of the 2009 World Series: New York 3, Philadelphia 1.

Series tied at 1-1.

As game three shifted venues from New York to Philadelphia, I shifted from Philadelphia to New York. I went home for Game 3, watching the game with my uncle G.T. Steltz. The Yankees have never lost a playoff game when I watch from my uncle’s house. Sometimes I wonder which of my superstitions is worse, watching an insane amount of playoff games at my uncle’s house, or refusing to clip my toenails until after the World Series.

In hindsight, games three and four were where the series was ultimately decided.

Game three marked the first night in World Series history that a game had taken place on Halloween. There were plenty of tricks for Philadelphia but no treats when game three had concluded. The Phillies had a 3-0 lead on Andy Pettitte. Cole Hamels looked fantastic. But then, after a very innocent walk to Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez came to the plate. Alex had been having the post season of his life before going 0-8 in the World Series. Alex was due. A-Rod's first ever World Series hit was a shot down the right field line. He pulled the ball with tremendous speed and power. In real time and with the naked eye, it looked as though A-Rod had just missed a homerun. It looked like the ball had hit off the very top of the wall and bounced back into the field of play.

“What a bad break we just caught” I said to my uncle.

I was wrong!

Enter the magic of instant replay. Fox showed replay after replay of the ball hitting a camera that was overhanging the field of play. Had the camera not been there, the ball would have just soared into the front row of seats. The umpires went down under the stands to review the play, and get a quick cup of coffee (according to my uncle). And when the came back, they had overturned the initial call of a double. Alex Rodriguez had just hit his first ever World Series homerun!

3-2 Phillies was the score after four innings.

The fifth inning saw the implosion of Cole Hamels. The Yankees got to Cole for three runs including an RBI base hit by pitcher Andy Pettitte. The mentally exhausted Cole Hamels turned the ball over to manager Charlie Manuel, and for the last time in 2009 Hamels walked off the mound. Last year Cole was a key component in the Phillies winning the World Series, this year he was a key component in their game three loss to the Yankees. Both teams would tack on runs, but the lead never changed and the Yankees held on to win a pivotal game three.

Final Score of Game Three of the 2009 World Series: New York 8, Philadelphia 5.

New York takes a 2-1 series lead.

I returned once again to my uncle G.T.’s home for game four.

“Here I am doing all the leg work for the Yankees” I thought to myself.

Truth be told, I enjoy my uncle’s company during any Yankee game anywhere. Just so happens that playoff games at his place produce the very best results. We also had a decent family gathering for game four at his house. This created a very “bad party” atmosphere!

Yankee starter C.C. Sabathia returned to the mound on just three days rest. His Philadelphia counterpart was Joe Blanton. For the first time in the World Series neither starter looked sharp out of the gate, and after one inning the Yankees had a 2-1 lead. It became evident early that both teams were desperately seeking a victory in this game. The nervous energy I was feeling, was only compounded my by my aunt Gert interrupting my focus from the game. She was asking me personal questions about the weather forecast, and my consumer preferred laundry detergent. The top of the fifth inning saw Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon deliver huge RBI base hits, giving the Yankees a 4-2 lead. Although I took great pleasure in the runs scored, the thought I kept having was:

“Not enough!”

Maybe it was the home crowd, or the uncertainty of the Yankee pitching, but you could sense the momentum shifting in the Phillies favor. Then in the bottom of the 7th inning Chase Utley faced C.C. Sabathia for the seventh time in the series. In his prior six at bats Utley was three for six with a walk and two homeruns.

After his seventh at bat against C.C., the Phillies trailed by just one run.

Chase Utley had belted yet another solo homerun off of Sabathia.
“Utley just really has C.C.’s number” was my cry from the living room floor!

The Phillies were within one run, and the gap between the seventh and Mariano Rivera seemed greater then the Grand Canyon.

Joba Chamberlin relived C.C. in the 8th and struck out the side. But in and among picking up three strikeouts, he gave up a bomb to Phillies third baseman Pedro Feliz.
The game was tied at 4-4. With Philly home field advantage and Brad Lidge warming in the bullpen, it seemed like the series would also be tied at 2-2 in just a matter of minutes.

The top of the 9th started out as disappointing as imaginable for the Yankees. Hideki Matsui quickly popped up to shortstop, and then Derek Jeter struck out. Brad Lidge was getting by with his fastball, and fooling hitters with his slider. Johnny Damon represented the last hope for the Yankees in the 9th. Johnny put together a plate appearance that will go down as one of the greatest of all time. Johnny fouled off two nasty sliders, and two 93 MPH fastballs. Then on the ninth pitch of the at bat, Johnny slapped a soft line drive into left field for a base hit.

The Phillies were quick to over shift their defense, as Mark Teixiera came to the plate.

For anyone not familiar with an over shift- it’s when a manager strategically positions is his infielders to compensate for a pull hitter. In the case of Mark Teixiera, the Phillies put their short stop on the right side of the infield and moved their third baseman to cover second base.

On the very first pitch to Mark Teixiera, Johnny Damon broke from first and stole second base. With third baseman Pedro Feilz out of position, and covering second base, Damon had stolen the base easily. But what happened next was as brilliant on Damon’s part, as it was clumsy on the Phillies part. Damon saw that no one was covering third base. In a split second decision, Damon darted for the open base. Damon found himself safe at third. He had two stolen bases all in one play.

Now, with a runner on third, Brad Lidge had grown leary of throwing his slider. Fearing that a slider in the dirt would skip away from catcher Carlos Ruiz, Lidge went with his fastball. The first fastball he threw to Teixiera hit him square in the back. That brought up the new king of clutch, Alex Rodriguez. All post season long, A-Rod had been delivering big hits in key moments. He didn’t fail in game four either. A-Rod doubled down the right field line, driving in Damon. The game was all but over. Jorge Posada doubled, driving in two more, but Mariano Rivera was already up in the Yankee bullpen. He had a lead, and as Rivera has proved so many times in the World Series, a lead is all that he needs to insure victory. He retired all three Phillies he faced on just eight pitches in the ninth.

Final Score of Game Four of the 2009 World Series: New York 7, Philadelphia 4.

New York takes a 3-1 series lead.

Coming back from being down 3-1 in a series is so insurmountable that it has only happened 11 times in MLB history. So although the Phillies had Cliff Lee going in game five, the Yankees odds to win the series were nearly locked up after game four’s victory. But the Phillies did have their ace in the hole pitching in game five. In typical fashion, Lee dominated the Yankees. He wasn’t as sharp as he was in game one, but he was good enough for a victory. Lee pitched 7 innings giving up five runs (three of his five earned runs came in the 8th). The Philadelphia bullpen managed to find a way to secure the last six outs of the game. Chase Utley’s mighty swing proved once again to be the key to victory. He had two more homeruns in game five, along with four RBI’s. The Phillies finally looked like the defending World Series Champions. They refused to lose the series on there home soil, and they had forced the series to a game six. However they were still down 3-2 in the series, they were headed back to New York, and the best of their starting pitching had just thrown for the final time in 2009.


Final Score of Game Five of the 2009 World Series: Philadelphia 8, New York 6.

New York holds a 3-2 series lead.

I had a feeling all day on Wednesday 11/4/09, that game six would be the final game of the World Series. I was very confident that the Yankees would win. My Philadelphia co-workers were equally confident in the Phillies ability to win. The media’s assessment was 50/50. Mike Francesca of sports radio fame was certain that Yankee starter Andy Pettitte would be awful in game six on three days rest. Fox broadcaster Mark Grace was certain the Yankees would finish it off in game six. With such a mix of opinion, I found my confidence almost odd. But this team was like few I have ever rooted for. From mid July up to the start of November, no team has been as dominate as these Yankees. These were not the 2008 Tampa Rays facing the Philadelphia Phillies. This is why I was almost certain the Yankees would win their 27 title in 96 years on Wednesday night.

Once again, I wasn’t wrong.

In one of the hardest fought, grittiest performances I have ever seen on a pitchers mound, Andy Pettitte pitched 5 and 2/3 innings for the Yankees. He pitched around tough Philly hitters, gave up a decent number of hits and runs, (3 runs on 4 hits) and threw 94 total pitches. But when he turned the ball over to skipper Joe Girardi, the 37-year-old left-hander had left his team with a 7-3 lead, needing only 10 outs for victory.

For as gritty, tough and creative Andy Pettitte was, Pedro Martinez was soft, ill, and lost pitching for Philadelphia. Pedro was slow to pitch, at times looked sick, and was throwing no faster the 85 MHP. From the first inning on, fans could tell that Pedro was not long for the game. He lasted only four innings.

But the real story of game six was the World Series MVP. Hideki Matusi put on a hitting display that will not soon be forgotten in Yankee lure. Matsui hit a two run homerun in the second inning, had a two RBI single in the third inning, and then he topped it off with a two RBI double in the fifth. All told Matsui had accounted for all but one of the Yankee runs in game six. Never before had a player (non-pitcher) who only started three games in the World Series won the MVP award. But Matsui’s efforts in game six put him over the top.

Lost in the shadows of the series was the performance of lefty reliever Damaso Marte. He struck out both Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, before turning the ball over to Mariano Rivera. As "Enter Sandman" played for Mariano Rivera as he entered the game. The Yankees were in need of five outs to win the World Series. A strike out, double and pop up ended the top of the eighth inning. The final inning of 2009 was now under way.

The Yankees went quickly and quietly in the bottom of the eighth inning. The only note was a perfect swing by Derek Jeter driving a ball to right field. A classic Jeter base hit. If Jeter never has another World Series base hit, it was the perfect way for him to leave the fall classic. An inside-out base hit as the all time Post Season hit leader.

In the top of the ninth Rivera once again took his rightful place on top of the mound at Yankee Stadium. On his sixth pitch, and third cutter to Philly pitch hitter Matt Stairs, Mo got his first out of the ninth. Stairs lined up to second baseman Robinson Cano. The 50,315 at the Stadium were going nuts, millions more around the world waiting for the final two outs. On another six pitch at-bat Mo walked catcher Carlos Ruiz. The suspense prolonged just a little while longer. When Jimmy Rollins stepped to the plate, he jumped all over the second cut fastball he saw. He launched it deep to right field, and for a moment I thought the Phillies still had life. But Nick Swisher was quick to rest under the ball for the second out of the inning.

The final batter of 2009 was Shane Victorino, and he would not go quietly into the night. Shane took a strike, swung and missed at a strike, took three balls, and fouled off four strikes. Then on his tenth pitch of a terrific at bat, Shane weakly ground the ball to second baseman Robinson Cano.

Cano, with all the pressure in the world on his left arm, tossed a twenty-foot strike into the glove of first baseman Mark Teixeira. Teixeira had secured the ball in his glove, with his right foot on first base. The Yankees had won the World Series! Teixeira had raised his right arm in victory. Rivera pumped his fist. The infielders all began running in different directions, until they all found their way to the area between third base and the pitchers mound. That is where they found Alex Rodriguez, the single most significant force in the Yankees 2009 season. The celebration began just before midnight. It lasted until well after sunrise.

Final Score of Game Six of the 2009 World Series: New York 7, Philadelphia 3.

New York Wins The 2009 World Series 4-2.

Two days later the Yankees had their World Series victory parade in the Canyon of Heroes in downtown Manhattan.

I was there.

The celebration of 1.5 million Yankee fans in the streets of New York is hard to describe. The madness that took place, as each player was showered with cheers, waves, and confetti was incredible. Every band that played, every float that went by, every human wearing midnight blue, captured the sprit of victory in a way that my words will never do justice to.

As the last float carrying Mariano Rivera went by, the parade was gone. Soon the barricades holding the fans on the sidewalks up and down Broadway were opened. As the masses poured out onto the street, I looked to the north, up Broadway. I could see the last float 100 yards up the street. Suddenly this feeling of downheartedness had entered my life. The parade had literally passed me by. What had really happened was that the 2009 MLB season had come to an end. All that remained was the distant view of a final parade float and six NYPD squad cars. A mess of confetti, ticker tape and newspaper were last pieces of an unforgettable season.

Although the 2009 baseball season is gone, it will never be forgotten. The end of great baseball season was certainly the only thing that saddened me.

The result of the 2009 season is a very fair tradeoff!

In the fantastic words of John Sterling,

Ball Game over…World Series over… Yankees Win ….THEE YANKEES WIN!

Phillie Fanatics, Yankee Fanatics too

The 2009 MLB World Series

I don’t think I have ever dedicated a Sports Blog to my opinions on the hype, focus, and attention that takes place outside the baselines. But here I am devoting a Blog to the Phillies and Yankees, their fans, and the media coverage upon the dawn of the 2009 World Series.

How is it that the Philadelphia Phillies are the defending World Series Champions, and yet they seem to be the team that has nothing to lose, and everything to gain? The Phillies are the one’s defending their title and yet the perception in Philadelphia is that they are underdogs that crave to beat the gold standard in professional sports in order to be justified and legitimized.

Everyday I work out of an office that sits almost exactly half way between the 108.38 miles that separate Yankee Stadium from Citizens Bank Park. I lived for nine months of my life in Center City Philadelphia, and I grew up in New York. So I tend to see both fans prospective and I get an even amount of media coverage from both teams. If I had one word to sum up the growing rivalry between the two World Series contestants, that word would be- brutal. The articles written on the internet have been raunchy, senseless, and poorly expressed. The articles in the news papers have been only slightly better. The talk radio, and television media- out of control! But the fans, in these two rival cities, they have been the most brutal of all!

Even before the ball landed in Shane Victorino’s glove for the last out of the 2009 National League Championship Series, there was a chant gaining huge popularity at Citizens Bank Park. It is a call that infuriates me like no other. It was a battle cry coming from 46,214 Philadelphia fans. The Chant was of course “Yankees Suck”.

It’s such an ignorant mantra!!!

Wikipedia defines the word suck as- a slang term for failure. Surely the word “suck” doesn’t represent the very best of the 2009 World Series! A Professional Sports franchise can’t win 26 World Series Championships in a remarkably rich 96-year history and suck. A team can’t win 103 games in the 2009 regular season and suck. A team can’t make it to the World Series and suck. Period. As a Yankee fan, I would never I cry out “Phillies suck”! Of course they don’t suck! You know who sucks? The Kansas City Royals suck. The Pittsburgh Pirates suck. And yet, those were the calls from ignorant blue-collar Philadelphia fans that had the upper hand last Wednesday night.

But what the fan’s chant really represents is a desire by Philadelphians to bring on the best. “Bring on the Yankees, so we can beat them down in the World Series” is the common thought among Phillies fans. They are simply calling out the most formidable and worthy of opponent, to justify their second Championship in as many years.

After last year’s historic and memorable victory over the Tampa Rays, ending a 26-year drought of Championship-less baseball in Philadelphia, you would think Phillies fans wouldn’t change a thing. Yet the impression I get from most, is that they would trade it all back for a chance to beat the dreaded New York Yankees in this year’s version of the fall Classic. Even as recent as yesterday, Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel said “We have to beat the Yankees...we wouldn’t want to be playing any other team.”

So how do I feel as a Yankees fan? My thoughts were best expressed by Charley Steiner.

Former ESPN announcer and baseball commentator, Charley Steiner called Yankees games on the radio for a very brief period from 2002 until 2005. When asked why he was leaving the Yankees after such a short period, he gave the most eloquent quote about the Yankees I have ever heard. He said, “I want to cover a team whose players and fans react to winning as fun, and not as a relief”. I use that quote at least once a week as a Yankee fan. Charley said it almost five years ago.

Winning in New York is not fun, it is simply a relief. Why?

Because every single team in baseball approaches the Yankees the exact same way. It’s the way the Phillies are coming into this World Series. Weather it is a Spring Training game in March against the Pirates, or game 7 of the World Series, everyone wants their piece of the Yankees, and everyone is the underdog. (And the media takes extreme measures to support these fan feelings.) All baseball fans want to see their team beat down the Yankees more then anything else.

To prove my point, if you compare the Yankees and Phillies position by position, the only clear advantage the Yankees have is at third base. Almost everything else about these two World Series teams is dead even. Truthfully, as an honest Yankees fan, I could see this series going either way. Yet Las Vegas has the Yankees favored by 2 to 1 odds. And Las Vegas sets the ideology for the rest of the world. After all, they control the all mighty dollar.

As a fan this idea that the Yankees are always the best (even when they are not) leaves me only relived when they win, as opposed to excited or happy. Even the Yankee players themselves don’t celebrate like other teams. The Yankees haven’t engaged in a dog pile (a victory celebration of ecstatic euphoric proportions) since the 2003 ALCS. Why? Because they are suppose to celebrate all the time. They win so much that they are supposed to be jaded by it.

And sure the Yankees bring these problems on themselves with all their acquired talent.

The Yankees went out and acquired top players to build their team. A-Rod, Teixeira, CC Sabathia, and Burnett are all acquired free agents whose asking price was embarrassing. Their costs were then turned over to fans who were asked to pay as much as $2400.00 for tickets.

But are the Phillies really that different?

In the last five years no team with a pay roll of less then 75 million has won the World Series. The Yankees are first in payroll, while the Phillies are sixth. To put that in prospective- half of baseball’s team’s this year had a payroll less then 75 million. Meaning half the teams were most likely out of World Series contention before the season even got started. The Phillies went out and acquired Cliff Lee, Pedro Martinez, Brad Lidge, and Raul Ibanez. And truth be told- neither team would be in this World Series without their high priced acquired talent.

But just like the Yankees, the Phillies have a ton of homegrown talent too. Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and Shane Victorino are as wholesome and genuine to the Phillies, as Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano are to the Yankees. And those core players are the ones I like to focus on going into this World Series.

I guess the only real conclusion I can draw is that “Its good to be the king, but it is lonely at the top.” When the day comes that the Yankees win their 27th World Series title, their will be more baseball fans enraged then those who will be ecstatic throughout the country. And as for the 2009 World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies are in the driver’s seat. They are the team with nothing to lose, and everything to gain!

Yankees in six.

The 2009 All-Star Game

If I could capture a moment in time and live in it forever, this would be it. Actually, it’s not really a moment. It's a very short period of time that only comes once a year. We are in it! Its mid July, in North America, in the 21st Century. It’s the mid-way point of the summer season. Weather your glass is half full, or half empty, now is the time to make that determination. The bright outstanding colors of the fireworks, the smell of the barbeques, the feel of pools and beaches, the long days and hot nights; it's short shorts, flip flops, and tan lines, and they are all as much ahead of us, as they are behind. But my favorite moment of them all is Major League baseball's marquee event of the summer:

The MLB All-Star game!

Its baseball's yearly traveling carnival. Its the one night of the year that I feel like I'm 12-years old again. Watching all of baseball's greatest heroes in one collective event. What really does it for me is the lineup and introductions just before game time. Players that would kill each other on a normal night, actually standing side by side. Athletics green, along side of Royals blue, and Cardinals Red up against Astros yellow and Rockies purple. All the colors of July fireworks all being worn between the baselines. It's not only the mixture of these great colors complimenting one another, but the games very best players complimenting each other as well. Like the original Thanksgiving was a three-day feast, the All-star game is baseball's three day mid summer feast. Celebrity softball, the Futures game, the Homerun derby, the Fan Fest, and the main event: The All-Star game itself. MLB's American League versus its National League. The game's winner gains home field advantage for the World Series.

It’s not just the game though.

It’s also when all of the season’s story lines all reach their apex. Clear-cut winners and losers have been determined, and now less then 81 games remain for each team to achieve the ultimate goal. Manny Atca is out as Nationals Manager in D.C. Pedro Martinez is in, as the new Phillies starter. Roy Halladay will soon be traded, the Dodgers will soon win 100 games, and soon the Yankees and Red Sox will battle once again. The stakes are higher, quality increased, and the time to say "its early yet" has long since fallen.

One word to describe it all: fun!

It's the middle of the journey! We know where we've been, and we take a moment to reflect. But right now, have no idea where we are going. The road is not written. It may already be over, like the 1990 Cincinnati Reds, who were in first place from opening day, until the conclusion of the World Series. Or maybe a team like the 1978 Yankees, or 2007 Rockies is out there. A team that will make an improbable comeback. A true Cinderella story. Maybe the Mets? Or Maybe the Rockies again? Who knows!

What I do know is that the All-Star game to me is like a moment frozen in time. A moment of the summer I would love to keep in a jar forever. I will be on my couch tonight keeping score, and relishing in all the moments of the mid summer classic.

I HATE THE BOSTON RED SOX !!!

Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

I found myself so excited when I got home from work tonight! I had had an exhausting day at work, and just after opening the door to my apartment, I bolted right for the couch. That was where I was planning to recuperate and find my second wind! For tonight was the start of the third series of the year between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.

Like the two series before this one I was pumped! This is sports greatest rivalry! As a fan, if you can’t get yourself excited for this, what can you get excited for? But tonight there was added incentive! The games in the two series before were over before the ever really got started. The Red Sox had dominated the Yankees in every way imaginable. They had beaten the Yankees to a pulp. The Yankees had lost all of thier first five games to the Boston Red Sox in 2009. But since May 6th (the last time the two teams matched up) these have become two very different ball clubs. The Yankees have been on fire, winners of 21 out of 28. A-Rod is back in the every day lineup, Mark Teixeira’s numbers have skyrocketed, and the starting pitching has found its groove. Even the bullpen, as awful as it is, has not stopped the Yanks. As for the Red Sox, they are just two games over .500 during that time. (16-14) And have been nothing more then an average team over that time.

So certainly the match up was in the Yankees favor! Some sweet good old fashion payback! The dish best served cold- revenge! The Yankees, I thought, were sure to take two of three, if not a straight sweep of the dreaded Sox!

As I watched Pardon The Interruption on ESPN 2, I was counting down the seconds until 7:00pm. From 6:55 to 7:05 I was so impatient I could hardly sit still!

Then as Red Sox starter, Josh Beckett, finally delivered the first pitch of the game, Derek Jeter promptly grounded out to shortstop. It was obvious from the get-go that if the Yankees were to win, they were going to have to match Beckett’s dominance defensively. Yankees starter, A.J. Burnett, was going to have to be better then average. He was going to have to be almost perfect.

After one-and-one-half innings of play, the line score for booth teams was identical- filled to capacity with zeros. But in the bottom of the second it was obvious that A.J. Burnett had no idea what he was doing! A.J. was running up his pitch count, walking batters and drastically missing on location.

Then up came David Ortiz, the Artist formerly know as Big Papi.

I was thrilled to see Ortiz coming into the series with his .197 batting average! Ortiz has been a Yankee killer for a long long time! I have always found his tremendous success suspect. When Ortiz first came on the scene in 2003, he had been released from the Minnesota Twins. The Twins has found serious flaws in his hitting technique, and had outright released him. He was an out of shape, over weight DH, who couldn't catch up to a fastball, and couldn't lay off any pitch off the plate.

“Finally”, I thought!

Ortiz was once again starting to play like the Scube he was in Minnesota.

His skills had dropped so significantly, that Sox Manager, Terry Francona, dropped Ortiz to sixth in the batting order. And so as the sixth batter of the game for Boston, Ortiz came to the plate with one on and no one out. The fifth pitch of the at-bat was a four-seam fastball right over the plate. Ortiz drilled it to straight away center. Yankees Center Fielder Brett Gardner just looked up, as the ball sailed well above him.

2-0 Boston!

The game was over with one swing!

Ortiz might as well have hit a walk off home run!

How confident was I that the game was over?

Well, I actually posted this Blog before tonight’s game went final!

I was disgusted!!!

This is a darn conspiracy! I am sure Bud is in on it too! The Red Sox have the Yankees on a leash, in their back pockets! As a Yankee fan I find it aggravating, embarrassing, disgraceful, and downright repulsive!

After the Ortiz homerun, I started texting the Old Man with profanitites and exploitives that would make a truck driving sailor cry! I got off the couch and went out to jog the neighborhood by the fourth inning! And Tuesday night is not even my usual night to run! Blasting music on my I-pod and sprinting the sidewalks, I found no comfort for my vicarious frustrations.

Einstein was right!

Because tomorrow night, I will be back in front of the T.V. looking for a different result!

I am freaking insane!

Randy Johson Not The First Or The Last To Attain 300

Ready?

Cause here is comes!

It’s all the nonsensical chatter from every baseball scube who claims to be an expert!

It’s a question that will be debated for weeks, following Randy Johnson’s historic 300th victory this past Wednesday in Washington D.C. It’s also a question that has been debated every time another pitcher has joined the 300 win club for the last six years.

They all weigh in with their idiotic opinions on a subject that is just plain dumb to answer “yes” to.

The question is:

“Have we seen the last 300 game winner in baseball history?”

On the evening of July 13th 2003, Roger Clemens won his 300th game at Yankees Stadium versus the St Louis Cardinals. It was thought by the majority in the media at that time, that Roger would be the last player to accomplish such a feat. It was also thought that he would retire after the season. Not only have their been three other 300 game winners since, but Roger himself won another 54 games before he was forced into retirement. If given the choice, Clemens may still be pitching today.

On August 7th 2004, Greg Maddux won the 300th game of his major league career. All I heard from media outlets around the globe, was that this would be the last time a pitcher would win 300 games. The bold declaration would be proven wrong just three years later. As for Maddux: he won another 55 games before retiring last season with Joe Torre’s Los Angeles Dodgers. He was still a valuable part of the LA bullpen when he called it a career.

On August 8th 2007, Tom Glavine won his 300th game against the Chicago Cubs, at Wrigley Field. It was one of the very few highlights Glavine had while pitching for the New York Mets. Once again, color commentators, talk show hosts, and sports annalists alike, stated with certainty that on pitcher would ever win 300 games again. Glavine is still active to this day, however the Atlanta Braves did just release him.

Then this past Wednesday, June 3rd 2009, Randy Johnson became the 24th player to win 300 games in his thirty-one year career. Johnson is just the sixth left-hander to win 300, and maybe the most unlike able guy to accomplish the task as well. A constant snobbish swagger has shadowed Johnson since his early days in Seattle. An “I in team” attitude is a well-documented part of his character. And he certainly has no love for reporters of any kind. (I’m sure especially degenerate sports Bloggers writing without college degrees.) Johnson may also be the most ugly guy to win 300 as well. An insider nickname my family has had for Randy, for years now, is the Freak Of Nature. But regardless of my own opinions of Johnson, his accomplishment is fantastic, well earned and well deserved.

But with Randy’s historic victory comes the media circus of moronic commentary. I just can’t take the irresponsible journalism! All these desk jockey’s, dolled up in a T.V. studio some place, all with blank looks on their face when some host asks them if we will ever see another 300 game winner. The all fumble around, choose their words poorly, and conclude with the safe answer of “no”. They site things like pitch counts, pulling players out of games early, or the five man rotations as their reasons why. These are all weak excuses made by guys who simply have not done their homework.

I will be the first to agree that it is getting harder and harder for pitchers to achieve the 300 win plateau, however it doesn’t make it unattainable! Unattainable records are those like Joe-D’s 56 game hitting streak, or Cal Ripken’s consecutive game streak. A 300 game winner is certainly something I expect to see again in my lifetime!

I will refrain from commenting on the careers of Josh Beckett, Johan Santana, Tim Hudson, or Javier Vasquez. But will simply state that they too could be 300 win candidates. However, here is a list of just four players who could very well get the job done.
Here are my best four cases for baseball’s 25th member of the 300 win club.

Carlos Zambrano

Carlos Zambrano, of the Chicago Cubs, just celebrated his 28th birthday, last Monday. He also just celebrated his 100th career victory just four nights later. So at 28 years old with 100 victories under his belt, Carlos needs to average 13 wins a year for the next 16 years to enter the 300 win club. 13 is of course a very low and attainable number of victories for a given season, while 16 years from today would make Carlos 44 years old. Or one year younger then Jamie Moyer who is still pitching for the Phillies.

Roy “Doc” Halladay

Roy Halladay is 32 years old and already has 140 victories. He will win at least 10 more games before the seasons end. Which would put him half way to 300. So assuming Roy plays another 12 years, (retiring at 44), Roy would need just 12 wins a year to achieve 300. Roy is without a doubt the games most dominating pitcher and as a free agent after the season, he is about to move to a winning team, and score a major payday!

Andy Pettitte

Andy Pettitte, the Yankees 36-year-old left-hander doesn’t turn 37 for another two weeks. He currently stands at 220 career victories. If Andy applied himself and committed to the task of 300 wins he could do it. Andy would need to average 15 wins from now until he is 43 years old to get the job done. The trouble is Andy has no such ambition, to win 300. He also doesn’t believe his own left elbow could hold up that long with the riggers of pitching once a week. However Andy Pettitte is in place statistically and has enough youth in the fountain to do it!

Carsten Charles Sabathia

C.C. Sabathia is 28 years old has yet to win 20 games in a season, and yet has 122 career victories. Assuming he pitches to the age of 40 and avoids major injury, C.C. would only need to average 15 wins a season. This is something very practical while playing on the Yankees. A team that will always score him a ton of runs.

So in conclusion, please don’t tell me a Major League starter will never win 300 games again! As so long as these four starters are pitching every fifth day, a chance still exhists! And my advise for the Harold Reynolds’s, and John Kruk’s of the world- pick up a stat sheet and a calculator (like I did) and make some accurate projections for a change!

New Yankees Stadium

I just couldn’t take it anymore!

As a diehard Yankee fan, (My favorite clique on this site) I couldn’t watch another game at New Yankee Stadium, without having a first hand feel for the new billion dollar home of the Bronx Bombers. Having been to all but one MLB stadium, I can watch almost any game on TV and have a real sense for the field, the fans and overall settings. But to me, every 2009 Yankees home game might as well have been played on Mars.

So late Friday night May 1, 2009 I purchased two tickets for the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim California. The first ticket was of course for me, but the second was for my archrival THE OLD MAN! Yes TOM, fresh off taking in his first Scranton Yankees game on Friday night, had decided to make one of his countless pilgrimages to Voorhees New Jersey. His objective was to annoy the ever-living snot out of me. When I told TOM that I had to take in a Yankee game at the new Stadium, he completely understood my dilemma with very little explanation. He agreed to going to New York, even though he would have rather seen the Mets and Phillies in the city of brotherly love.

Here is a tip for my readers (the one or two of you):

Stub-Hub has a great buyers market within 24 hours of any non-marquee baseball game. Great seats in the upper deck and even parts of the lower deck were being sold for 30, 40 and 50 dollars on Stub Hub at 11:00pm on Friday night. Sellers begin to get desperate. Asking prices for tickets begin to drop down as game time grows loser and loser. And so TOM and I had gotten great seats in the upper deck behind home plate for only 30 dollars.

I found myself feeling like a kid again as we began our drive to the Bronx. I was so excited to see the new home of the Yankees. During the drive, THE OLD MAN was complaining about his sore right shoulder. TOM had been hit by a pitch the night before in Scranton. He had been leaning against the fence behind home plate in-between innings. A warm-up pitch had gotten away from the Yankee starter, and TOM took one to the shoulder. I made a note of TOM’s pain on my scorecard and gave him credit for an official at-bat.

Of course as we hit the George Washington Bridge, traffic slowed our journey to a crawl. The fact that we had slept inn didn’t help. Finally at 12:00, noon we pulled into the old Yankee Stadium parking garage, moments away from entering the new stadium. TOM was fiddling with his Jacket, scorecard and other belongings. I was growing rapidly impatient. Finally we began walking River Avenue, taking in all the familiar sites. Ticket scalpers, homeless beggars, fat-drunken-pinstripe-wearing fans, were all within my line of site. Also in my sights was old Yankee stadium. My old home looked like it has aged 50 years in just 9 months. Of course there has been no up keep on the building. No fresh paint, or minor repairs. In fact, chipped concrete, graffiti, and trash, now serve as hosts to the former cathedral of champions. My heart sank when I saw this. As awful as my thoughts were, I had wished the Stadium was already gone rather then being subjected to its latest fate.

As TOM and I crossed 161st street and stepped onto Babe Ruth plaza, a cluster of fans surrounded us. A crapped feeling began, and would never relinquish throughout the rest of the day. TOM and I entered the new park from the entrance behind home plate. As I walked in from the turnstiles, toward the field, old photos from Yankees past were everywhere. Photos of Ruth and Gerhig were common, representing the tradition of excellence transplanted from across the street. TOM and I viewed the new open concourse on the first base side. The new concourse has been high publicized and very popular.

When we looked out at the field, we noticed that an usher was standing at every asile. If you didn’t posses a ticket to the lower deck, there was no way to get past the usher. Even if you just wanted to check out batting practice, or try to get an autograph, or just check out the view from a seat for a future purchase, you were simply shunned away. This was the case throught the park. There is a strong push by the organization to make sure everyone is sitting in their assigned seat.

I began checking out the concessions. A huge gift shop on the first base side caught my eye. It was over crowed, with over priced, over commercialized merchandise, none of which I was interested in. To appease TOM we did take a look inside after the game. In between the gift shop was a fruit stand and an Art Gallery. I turned to TOM and said “My mind is made up about this place! No baseball stadium should ever sell fruit or art!”. As we continued to walk the cramped and narrow concourses we found our way to an escalator taking us up. As we arrived at our seats, I reminded TOM that we were just fifteen minutes from game time, and that a fifteen-minute call could save you fifteen percent or more on your car insurance. We immediately began to notice the empty seats in the lower deck, but I also noticed the empty luxury boxes. A topic all of the New York writers have left alone.

I finished my $6.00 hotdog, wrote down the lineups and stood for the national anthem. Then at 1:07 Eastern Standard Time C.C. Sabathia threw the first pitch. It was his first of 119 pitches, and an average outing for the new Yankee ace.

C.C. pitched well, and had great movement on his slider and changeup early in the game. As the game progressed, he struggled, and left the game in the 7thing inning, after squandering a 1-0 lead. Sabathia turned the game over to the Yankees biggest quandary of 2009- the bullpen.

It was where the Yankees lost the game.

It will never show up in the box score, the YES network will never cover it, and no one on the Angels will tell you, but if the Yankee bullpen had simply pitched scoreless baseball in relief of C.C., then the Yankees would have won Saturday’s game. The Yankee bullpen has been god-awful, literally since day one! (Opening Day the Yankee pen gave up four runs in 3 and 2/3rd innings.)

I was completely disgusted watching Albaladejo, Veras, Robertson, fumble all around the pitchers mound, throwing balls that led to walks, and giving up base hits. As the later innings unfolded it became more and more clear the Yankees would not be coming back to win.

I left New Yankee Stadium with a complete cluster of thoughts and feelings. There was my aggravation in watching a tough Yankee loss. I had however accomplished my goal. At least now I know what I am looking at when watching a Yankee home game on TV. As for the new Stadium: my vote is not in yet. There is much to hate about the new park. But winning changes everything. Memories are what make a building sentimental. I hope the Yankees are still in the memory making business, and can quickly bring a Championship to the New Yankee Stadium. It would make the new transition a whole lot easier.

Sports Concussions

The following are excerpts from my autobiography:

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Coldness Blackness.

I open my eyes and I have no control over my own body. I close my eyes again before I can see anything.

I open my eyes and I see a shattered windshield and two air bags that have been deployed.

I close my eyes again.

I open my eyes and I see a women standing at my passenger door. I think she might be holding my hand. I close my eyes, and then quickly reopen them. She tells me that everything is going to be ok, and that the accident was not my fault.

I close my eyes.

I reopen my eyes and I see that the entire front drivers side of my car is smashed. It looks like an accordion from the front bumper up to my hood. The woman is still standing outside my door. I close my eyes and pass out.

I see two E.M.T.’s making arrangements at my door to move me from the drivers seat on to a stretcher. I feel my feet touch pavement and I feel the cold air of the winter morning.
Quickly the two E.M.T.’s help me to a laying position on the stretcher. I begin to shake.

I close my eyes and pass out.

I reopen my eyes. I can feel my self totally immobile, as I am completely strapped to the stretcher. There are two men off in the distance standing at a 24-foot truck.

I have had little control over my body since the first time I opened my eyes, and now that I am on a stretcher, I have even less control. I am at the complete mercy of the people around me. They hold all the power. Whatever they want to do with me, or where ever they want to take me is completely up to them.

I feel the E.M.T.’s moving my stretcher into an ambulance. I hear the loud voice of a woman, taking control inside the ambulance. I close my eyes and pass out again.

In and out of consciousness I continue to slip.

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On Wednesday December 27th 2006, I was in a near fatal car accident in Robbinsville New Jersey. The results of which were a severe concussion and post concussion syndrome. To this day I continue to suffer from short-term memory loss, and limited mental fatigue.

The long-term results of a concussion vary, but the internal effects are always the same. The brain is knocked back and forth inside the skull due to a blow to the head. The internal results are dizziness confusion and disorientation. Later feelings of stress, anxiety, depression and sleeplessness follow. Then a lack of sharpness and fuzziness often prevail.

200 years ago scientist Samuel Hahnemann developed theories of the brain as a source of magnetic energy. He believed that the brain was the central area affecting drops in energy levels. The pituitary gland or (master gland) is located at the base of the scull. The gland is responsible for the proper function and coordination of body functions. Recent studies have shown that alteration or effects to the pituitary gland will lead to anxiety, irritability depression, mood swings, and nervousness. Studies have shown that concussions result in gland alterations and loss of energy levels.

As a result of my accident, the subject of Sports Concussions is a topic very near and dear to my heart. I have been strongly contemplating a blog on the subject for nearly two years. Because of my close feelings on the subject, I have been reluctant to post a blog. Unable to truly capture the issue and my feelings, this blog has been continuously pushed to the back of my writings.

Until now.

On Sunday December 28th Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was involved in a three-player sack that resulted in his third career Sports Concussion. He laid motionless on the field for more then 15 minutes before being strapped to a stretcher and taken to a local hospital. Ben is questionable, but is expected to play in the Steelers first playoff game this Sunday.

As I watched the highlights on the Burger Palace Jumbo-tron it became a story all too familiar. Every professional sport is prone to athletes who suffer from Concussions. NHL star Keith Primeau retired as a result of post concussion syndrome. MLB catcher Mike Matheny, who lead the San Francisco Giants to a World Series in 2002 also retired from Concussion related injuries. Johnny Damon, Jim Edmonds, and Ryan Church are other MLB players who have had life altering experiences as a result of a concussion. Even the NBA is susceptible to Sports Concussions. Chicago Bulls team mates Loul Geng and Eric Piatkowski ran into one another during a game two seasons ago.

It’s yet another ugly topic professional sports leaders work to dodge.

But two years ago, just before Super Bowl XLI, New England Patriot linebacker Ted Johnson brought the subject into the spotlight. He had claimed that coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots made light of his concussions, and as a result, played threw many head injuries that required therapy and time off. The media covered the issue well at the time, but the subject matter was eventually swept back under the rug.

This is usually the point in my Blog where I offer an opinion or produce a statement. However in this case I have no answers. The issue is serious, yet those who suffer from concussions are quick to resume normal lives. The body’s physical functions resume almost immediately yet the brain does not. What is the solution for athletes who receive Concussions and those who suffer from Post Concussion Syndrome?

I have no idea.

Ben Roethlisberg resumed practice this past Monday, and is expected to play in this Sunday’s playoff game.

But what can I say.

I was playing football in my mom’s backyard with my cousins four days after my accident. My body recovered, but my mind never to be the same again.