Derek and the Falling Dominoes

As someone who bleeds blue pinstripes, what happens to Derek Jeter at the end of this season has been lurking at the back of my mind, threatening to hurl my soul into an abyss of despair (that may be laying it on a little bit thick, but sports does that to a guy). But beyond The Captain's contact expiring, there's the fact the he's aging. The man's 36, playing shortstop. He's not having a great season, but we can ignore that for now. But on the whole, I (like a lot of fans) have pushed the whole thing to the back of my mind, because we really don't want to deal with it--mentally living in a van down by a river in Egypt with Chris Farley.

SI.com Joe Posnanski wrote a great column today, about a conversation he had with a Red Sox fan talking about the diminishing future of Jeter. Clearly, this member of Red Sox Nation has thought about it more than most of the Yankee Universe has--and who can blame him?

If you're of a mind, give it a read--this is what baseball writing should be about--historical context and precedent, good use of stats to describe past/present/future, and rational thinking about what lies ahead--sprinkled with a little humor and respect.

A Couple of Class Acts

Finally, after an unimaginably long drought (well, to Yankee fans) the New York Yankees have once again won the World Series. There's really nothing I can add to all the blogs/news stories about The Core Four and their "one for the thumb", CC, Mariano (how can he still be doing what he's doing?), Tex...so on and so on. But I had to say a couple of things about a couple of real class acts both on and off the field.

I was really torn last night between my desire to watch Game 6, especially if it turned out to be the last game, and my need to get some sleep before work. It would've been an easier choice if Pettitte hadn't been doing such a great job (and honestly, I think Pedro was doing pretty good, too. He'd have been doing great if he'd had his fastball). But it wasn't until Matsui hit that two-run single in the third that I felt confident enough in the Yankee's fate to drift off. One of the last things I remember hearing was Tim McCarver correcting Joe Buck's recap of the score "Yankees 4, Phillies 1" with "Matsui 4, Phillies 1." And if it hadn't been for Tex's RBI, it'd have ended up being Matusi 6, Phillies 1.

Godzilla's been a consistent, dependable player since he came to the States, and it's great to watch him get the recognition he deserves--especially after such a performance. The fact that this was very likely his last year with the team (man, I hope not--and have been hoping not all season), made the whole thing all the more bittersweet.


And then there's the NYPD's (and formerly Baltimore PD's) Det. John Munch Yankee Manager Joe Girardi (third Yankee to win a championship with the Yankees as both a player and a manager), who followed his team's win with dose of Good Samaritanship, stopping to help someone who'd had a car accident.

According to Lohud.com:

The crash happened at 2:25 a.m. today in the eastbound lanes along a long blind curve where the Cross County meets the Hutchinson River Parkway near the New Rochelle Road exit, police said.

Police were conducting a nearby sobriety checkpoint on the parkway. In fact, about 15 minutes earlier, Girardi had passed through the checkpoint.

Cristiano, who was working the checkpoint, congratulated him on his first win as a manager and waved him through. He hadn't been the only Yankee to pass by the checkpoint. Pitcher Andy Pettitte, who lives in Harrison, also passed through earlier.

"He came through with a smile," Cristiano said.

Cristiano, a self-described huge Yankees fan, said she hadn't expected to see either one of them again. But, then, a 911 call came through about a car accident a short distance away, and he cops suspended the checkpoint to respond to the crash. As she came upon the accident scene, in an area where the parkway's two lanes turn into three and cars speed by the curve that takes them to the Hutch, Cristiano spotted Girardi.

"He was jumping up and down, trying to flag me down," she said. "You don't expect him standing by a car accident, trying to help."

Cristiano said that, by the time she arrived, Henry was able to get out of the crashed vehicle and declined to be taken to the hospital.

Girardi, dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, then told them he "had to get going."

Cristiano and Henry both thanked him and watched as he ran across traffic again to reach his car.

"The driver didn't know it was him until after I told her," Cristiano said.

The Season That Wouldn't End

Didn't see the whole thing, but I did catch the last 3 4 few innings of Game 163 between the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins. Not the prettiest game I've ever seen, but...wow, those guys were giving it everything they had. So many opportunities for each team to put it away, or to throw in the towel, and they just kept on fighting.

Baseball in October...what's better?

Big Tip of the e-Cap to the Tigers, and a hearty congrats to the Twins (and their fans, like my good buddy Clyde).

Now it's time for a weary team to get on a plain to the Bronx to get smoked by Sabathia.

Too Good Not to Share: What a Prediction!

just saw this on Ken Levine's blog, had to pass it along...even if you're not a baseball fan, give this a watch.

Happy Trails

The Yankees Universe--particularly the blog reading portion thereof--was rocked yesterday by the news that Peter Abraham, beat writer for the The Journal News has taken a position with the Boston Globe, and in two weeks will have to transition to covering some baseball team that apparently calls Boston home (I hear they have an affinity for garishly colored hosiery).

I've been reading Pete's blog almost daily since near the beginning (2006)--about once a day during the off-season (covering the Yankees gives him something to talk about throughout the year), and at least three times a day during the season. Like many, I will miss his thorough coverage, sense of humor, healthy dose of perspective (particularly when some fans are likely to start panicking), and appreciation for the game. Oh yeah, and frequency of posts!

Moving to the Globe is a heckuva step up for any writer and no one deserves it more, kudos Pete, and may you find only success (and a job with a major NY paper in the near future).

The Sandman's 500th (and his 1st)

Mo is not only the most feared closer in baseball, he's the most feared hitter in baseball, walking 33% of the time. Not since Babe Ruth have the Yankees been blessed with a player that dominates as both a pitcher and hitter. (from Respect Jeter's Gangster)

The expression on Jeter's face when K-Rod pitched to him at the beginning of his at-bat (2 on, 2 out, with Mariano Rivera waiting for his 3^rd career at-bat) was enough to make any Yankee fan laugh, but the laughter turned to gleeful hysterics he (eventually) was intentionally walked to bring up Mo for a quick third out. Why? 'Cuz one of the most feared closers working today enabled Mariano to work him to a full-count and then drew a walk, adding an insurance run to the Yankee totals, and giving Mo yet another statistic: 1 RBI (or, as Big League Stew noted, 2,296 behind Aaron). Not to overload this post with quotes, but...I laughed out loud (only funny because it's tuh-rue) at Craig Calcaterra's comment:

Francisco Rodriguez gave it up, which in some cosmic way illustrates the vast gulf between those two pitchers in my mind. How do you walk Mariano Rivera? Nerves is all I can think, and you can bet your ass that if the situation was reversed, Rivera would never have walked Rodriguez, because Rivera's body temperature runs at a constant 57 degrees.

Rivera (the other #42) then went on to do what he does best: sending batters to bed, earning his 500th save in the process.

His reaction? After hugging every teammate and coach, he had to go speak to the press. He was nothing but class, of course. "I don't play for the records, I play for the Yankees."

He's simply the best.

RIP Nick Adenhart

Since I heard about it yesterday morning, I haven't been able to get the death of Nick Adenhart out of my mind.

Obviously, the deaths of all three men in that car are tragic, as are the injuries sustained by the fourth man. But, I only know anything about Adenhart--and outside of hearing about the game, I knew nothing.

A 22 year-old pitcher, who'd seen a little action in the Majors last year, started his rookie year on Wednesday by pitching 6 shut-out innings for the LA Angels. It was one of those nights he'd look back on, tell his kids and grandkids about. One his buddies from high school would remember, they'd have been cheering him on while watching the game on TV--as would his family. This is what they'd all dreamed of since Little League. And where would he go from here?

Then it was all snatched away by a repeat drunk driver running a red light, slamming into a car, driving it into a telephone pole. All that remained was memories--and given what happened after the game Wednesday, those memories can't be full of that much joy.

It's mostly his parents that I can't stop thinking about, the loss their dreams and hopes--but more importantly the loss of their son, horrific even without the timing. I don't know the eternal state of Adenhart or his parents--I pray they know the saving grace of our Lord, and if not, that the Gospel will work in their hearts as they grieve.

If this isn't proof that under the sun, "all is vanity and a striving after wind," I don't know what is. One more reminder that we need to

Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might

Think I Like Him Better When He was just A-Roid

what the--?

why would anyone in their right mind pose for this pic? Dude, you're the most vilified man in baseball (well, after Bonds and Selig), the poster-boy for what's wrong with the sport right now...and you do this? How's this help with the reputation for being "me-first"? Gah!

As Peter Abraham says:

(Seriously, does anybody get worse advice than this guy? Anybody? What do you figure would happen if a photographer asked Tiger Woods to kiss himself in a mirror? There would be a two-iron wrapped around his neck. Alex’s ability to continually do and say strange things is amazing. He’s the Cal Ripken of bad decisions.)

Programming Note: am scheduling this to post late so I don't crowd off the other stuff I've written today...

Recommended Reads

I don't know if anyone actually reads any of these posts/articles when I do one of these posts, but I like to think some one does. And it makes me feel like I'm providing a small service to my readers--particularly on days like today when I can't really come up with much, my brain's too busy mulling over the implications to that huge info-dump that the writers of Battlestar subjected us to and thinking about Whedon's destined-to-be-short-lived Dollhouse.*

Anyway, some of the more thought-provoking reads of the three-day weekend:

• from CNN, Bob Greene asks--and answers--a good question:

  But all the games, in all the seasons, in all the big-time sports leagues -- what is the real reason we keep on watching?
  
  You might think that we'd finally grow weary of caring, with headlines about Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds, with the sports pages often reading like the business pages (contract disputes and stadium bond-issue negotiations and salary arbitration), with police-blotter details sometimes pushing aside the box scores.
  
  Why do we watch?

• from The Outfit, Country Music: Why the music we love to hate should get more respect from storytellers, columnist Graham Verdon posits:

  Country music is clearly the ugly stepchild in the family of popular music. But the truth is, for those working to achieve mastery in the craft of storytelling, country songwriters are close cousins.

• Lastly, the good people over at Respect Jeter's Gangster, give the definitive (and chuckle-worthy) response to the burning question:Where Will Joba Find His Place?

* Yeah, that was a dare. Prove me wrong, FOX. Prove me wrong, America. Please.

Another Week Started

another weekend full of blogging I neglected to do.

This weekend was also Daddy-Daughter Date Night at the local rec center, which we didn't attend due to a few too many sick people at home. So, now I have to come up with something to do with her in 2 weeks to make up for that. Sadly, I have no idea what we can do...looking through newspapers, websites, etc...can find nothing for a dad and his Princess to do (found a couple of activities for the others, tho).

Still plugging through Torre's book--it's an easy, enjoyable read, and I feel like I could knock it off in one sitting--but I can't get myself to read more than 1/2-1 chapter at a time. Not sure why. Anyway, so far even with the players that have been shown in a critical light, there's a balanced, complimentary tone. No balance so far with the Saints: Cone, Rivera, Jeter, and O'Neil. Heck, so far even Boss Steinbrenner's looking pretty good.

One More Quick Sports Note

There are a lot of athletes out there who are good at their job, but are simply jerks (see the last post for one potential nominee). For example, A-Rod is quite possibly the best player in the world, but between the way he treated his team last year, his wife, kids, charities, you name it...it's pretty clear the guy's a prick. Manny Ramirez is another prime example, as the Yankees Chick put it recently:

Manny Being Manny - "Manny being a difficult, ungrateful jackass" is a more appropriate catchphrase

Thankfully, there are some athletes who in addition to being stellar players seem to be genuinely nice guys. Joba Chamberlin seems to be one of those guys--a dynamite pitcher, a model son, and an all-around good guy. Which makes it all the worse to see him on the Disabled List. Loved watching him come out of nowhere last year, was excited to see him move out of the 'pen this year, laughed myself silly over the controversy over his fist-pumps...and now this? Blargh. The kid deserves better. Get better soon, Joba.

Graceful as a School Bus

I would be laughing at this if it was Damon, Melky or Abreu--really, I would. Just not as hard as I am now (which is almost as hard as these ESPN guys)...nor would I be posting it here. But I would laugh. Thankfully it's Manny, so I can just cackle and post.

The Baseball Finals

Doesn't he look tough there?

Finally, getting around to talking about Samwise's Little League Tourney. Sorry for the delay, life and stuff interrupted. So the team entered the tournament having finished the season in First Place--and, Sam wasn't a small part of that (wasn't a huge part, don't get me wrong, but he's was a role player), so they got a bye for the first game and the lowest seeded team for the second game. Which basically served as batting practice for the team--although there was a moment or two where it looked like the other guys could make it interesting. Sam's coach spent the week walking the tightrope between an intense desire to win and trying to keep things fun for the kids--he succeeded for the most part, but came close to running the kids ragged with practices on top of their games. If it wasn't the end of the season, it'd have been cruel. Then came Saturday--the big day. 2 games guaranteed--one more elimination game for the four remaining teams and then either the consolation game or the championship game. The team they faced first (at 8:30 in the morning! How mean!) was no slouch--finished the season in a close fourth. This was everything that a parent/fan/coach/player could've wanted. Some decent defense (great defense for this level, if you grade on a curve), great offense, dumb young kid mistakes...a real nail-biter for too much of the game. In the end, Sam's team won and the 4th place team went to the consolation game (they ended up winning in an offensive slugfest, at one point it was 17-14 and they played a couple more long innings after that). So we get a few hours off (nap time for the dad who came straight from work for the early game). Thankfully, the second place team ended up in the championship game with them--the third place team had beaten Sam's team twice and had this psychological hold on them, and would've likely won. Sadly, they were hurt by illnesses (flu, pneumonia, etc.)--one player in the second game wasn't feeling good enough to play in the first of the day. They had enough to field a team, but had no bench to draw from. This game wasn't as good--both teams were tired (Sam's had a couple more hours of rest tho), neither team's big hitters were able to do as much as they wanted to, which was frustrating to all. The end of this game was never in any real doubt--thankfully. The lack of bench came into play towards the end--in the penultimate inning, the "big gun" on Sam's team hit this monster line-drive right into the face of the girl playing pitcher. She got a small cut by her eye, a bloody nose and a trip to the ER (seemed okay, but parent's were being understandably paranoid). The game really ended right there, although another full inning was played. Typically, the parents on the losing team took it harder than their kids--on the whole, the parents on the winning side muted our celebrations because of the injury (the players really didn't...breaking into an impromptu cover of "We are the Champions" shortly after congratulating the other team). Then there was the award ceremony--and, like I mentioned the other day, Samwise now has a trophy that had nothing to do with participation. An actual trophy, signifying an actual accomplishment and victory. Couldn't bee prouder. Of course the thought that occupied my mind for the rest of the day was..."what nimrod spends 6 hours at a baseball field without a cap on a sunny day?" OW!!

Jobamania Gets Hit with a Dose of Reality

Joba Chamberlin, the great hope of the Yankees (for the next 15 years), got his first start tonight. Didn't see it televised, but caught the second inning on MLB's Gameday. Ouch. Over 2.1 innings he threw 62 pitches (38 in the first inning!)/32 strikes, 4 walks, 3 K's, 1 balk (!), 1 hit, 2 runs, ERA of 2.43.

I knew the kid was going to have rough times ahead of him...was just hoping it wouldn't be his first inning. I fully trust he's going to bounce back after this, and won't turn this chance into another fiasco like Kennedy and Hughes made of April (still have trust in those guys, too...not sure why).

Meanwhile, Kyle Farnsworth is well on his way to make sure that Yankee fans everywhere miss Joba in every 8th inning for the rest of the season.

Is Roger Clemens serious about retirement?

Nice Quote

Think I've read this once or twice before, but when I stumbled upon it today, it struck me as worth dwelling on (besides, if I put it here, I can easily find it for future reference)

It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.

- Bart Giamatti

Yes, Baseball is a Game of Failure, but Come On

Yeah, I've been awfully silent about the Yankees lately, 'cuz what can you say about these guys? "Rock bottom" seems to be the theme this week from the Manager's mouth, blogs, news stories, and now Hank Steinbrenner. There's a few other words that might stick finer point on it than that, but I try to keep from working blue (even when it comes to these pinstripes).

Rock Bottom...swept by the Mets (including one massacre) with the two best pitchers on the team; getting spanked by the O's, yeah, can't get much lower. Until now...I'm reading a bit on the official site and...Hank Steinbrenner's comments today seemed restrained and rational. What twisted world is this? (actually wish he'd come out yesterday and complained bitterly--particularly about Moose, that really seems to help the team win lately)

Let's go Rasner! (yes, I actually said that)

A Classical Education

Spent today either in a tremendously deep sleep or in really horrible pain. Was able to find a little relief through the magic of destraction via youtube. Whilst doing so, the idea occurred to me to pull up this classic and introduce it to my kids. They didn't erupt in howls of laughter (clearly, mine aren't the only genes in them), but they did find it funny. How many things on SNL and the like today will be funny 50 years from now? Maybe I should be asking how many of those comedy bits in 50 years will be able to distract from Kidney Stone pain? That's the real test, isn't it?

Been wanting to say something about the Yankees' 2008 season (which in many ways seems as long as the 2006 season already), but didn't know how to boil it down to something that wouldn't be so long as to bore everyone to tears. Should've known that it'd be summed up perfectly by Peter Abraham after last night's game:

When you consider everything that has happened to the Yankees (injuries, sickness, suspensions, Joba’s dad, the schedule, rain, cold, etc.) it’s impressive that they’re 14-13 and a game out of first.

Mark Feinsand's summary of the season is worth the time, as well.

Hughes and Kennedy are making it difficult for me to not regret them not being traded...but I am enjoying watching them grow up this year (be even better if I wasn't limited to whatever few games ESPN, TBS and FOX throw my way...ohhhh, to be able to watch all the games...)

Meanwhile, on the homefront, Samwise keeps getting better and better--two doubles and a single last night (and those doubles would've been triples if he didn't make Jason Giambi look like an Olympic sprinter)

Reversing the Curse

Well, so much for that jersey's curse! (still, why Ortiz? Why not Manny? He's more lethal to the Yankees...or Schilling?) The Yankees have buried something of greater karmic weight than any silly shirt....Bernie Williams.

Citing a need for physical and spiritual cleansing after a Boston Red Sox fan entombed a David Ortiz jersey in the floor of the new facility, the New York Yankees buried former centerfielder Bernie Williams under 4,650 pounds of concrete Wednesday in the foundation of the new Yankee Stadium for good luck.

According to team sources, the instant the 39-year-old Williams was completely submerged in the rapidly setting structural material, stopping his voice as his lungs and mouth filled with concrete, the sun broke through the clouds and shone on the yet-incomplete field. Yankees part-owner Hank Steinbrenner called the occurrence a sign indicating that the "Curse Of A Red Sox Fan's David Ortiz Jersey" had been reversed, and that God was once again on the Yankees' side.

"Any attempt to put a hex on the New York Yankees has been successfully averted," Steinbrenner told reporters while standing over the still-wet concrete slab beneath which, judging by the sluggish ripples and lopsided bubbles in the hardening agglomerate, Williams still struggled. "Not that this organization believes in curses. We're the Yankees. We believe the success of our team is based purely on our players and their on-field performance. And we act accordingly."

"However," Steinbrenner continued, "Bernie was on our last World Series team in 2000, so we figured burying him under our new home certainly couldn't hurt. Also, he was available, and his appearance fee was quite reasonable."

[snip]

"By giving Bernie this chance, we have once again proven why we are the classiest organization in all of sports," [Yankees President Randy] Levine added. "Lesser teams would have overreacted to this whole curse thing and buried Derek Jeter."

From The Onion, naturally...very, very funny stuff. Why can't I be this funny?

H/T Peter Abraham.

"Their Best Game Ever"

A minor family emergency gave me an unexpected and unwelcome night-off last night, which took away my prime-blogging hours, no time to get anything real posted today--but am sticking with my at least one post a day for April target...

via HotAir, another Improv Everywhere video--if this one doesn't make you smile, there's something wrong with you. Frankly, I needed it--one van in the shop for transmission work, another van (which we haven't even made our first payment on!) in the shop for some body work thanks to some possibly un-insured dope with a slippery brake pedal...well, let's just say it does not make for a happy Hobster (or any other member of the clan).