Memories Of Yankee Stadium

I'm no Yankee fan, but being an NYC native I've probably been to Yankee Stadium about 10 times in my life (thru invites from friends, free tickets, etc), the last being 2007 where I had the good fortune to watch Alex Rodriguez hit two home-runs. Honestly, i have nothing bad to say about The House That Ruth Built on the day the Yanks are playing their last game there today. It's a beautiful park, the fans are great and yes, there is a mystique to being there. The Yankees clearly don't need a new park (esp. when you remember that this one was remodeled for two years in the 70's), but the team is no longer winning on the field and in these tense financial times, you gotta make $$$ any way you can get it I guess. Lastly, I'd say that my best memory of Yankee Stadium was getting to see my favorite player of all-time, Don Mattingly, play in person.

Hank Steinbrenner Is A Riot

You just know that Hank Steinbrenner is just trying to cover his ass when comes out blaming injuries for the Yankees lackluster season and the likelihood that may not make the playoffs for the first time since 1993. Remember it was Hank who wanted to get rid of Joe Torre and hire Joe Girardi over Don Mattingly. And mind you, when you have a team with $200million payroll, there's no excuse for not making the playoffs. But at the end of the day it's Hank's dad who should get the most blame for the Yanks demise when he dramatically switched strategy and turned the Yanks into a bunch of superstars with no real chemistry after winning for so many years with good players who hit in the clutch, didn't care about stats, got on base, always gave 100% and pitched liked their lives depended on it.

Here Comes The Yankees!

The Yankees are up 7-3 on the Red Sox in the 7th inning at Fenway. A win today would put the Yanks one game back of Boston for the wild card (the Rays lead the division by 1 over the Sox and 3 over the Yanks.) If the Yanks hold on, it will be their 8th straight win. I know there are arrogant Yankee fans (like Mike Francesca and the hypocritical Mike Lupica) who feel that the world's most famous franchise has a right to be in the playoffs every single year, but if the Yankees are going to make the playoffs every year in order to fall victim to yet another opening series knockout, then really, why bother? By the way, it's because of deals like this that Brian Cashman beats Omar Minaya every day of the week when it comes to whose a better GM.

A-Rod Knows That He's Not A True Yankee

I think that's why he left last night's stellar All-Star game early last night. He's a mercenary who only cares about himself. True Yankees aren't phony, are winners and show grit in pressure situations. Jeter and Mariano have done it their entire careers. They will go down as great Yankees and deserve all the acclaim they get. Alex Rodriguez is a great player who just happens to be wearing a Yankee uniform.

Bobby Murcer R.I.P.

Condolences to Bobby Murcer's family and friends on his unfortunate passing today.

Mets Take Season Series From Yankees

To avoid a sweep and because it's the Yankees, this game was obviously a must win. The big question here is which way will Oliver Perez go after this terrific start? That strikeout of A-Rod in the 4th or 5th was classic by the way.

Jay-Z Looking To Buy Into Yankees

Now this would be something else in its entirety:

He has previously been linked to a deal with London soccer team Arsenal Football Club, and while Jay-Z admits the rumors were true, negotiations fell through in 2005.

And now the star has a new sporting interest, he's in the midst of talks to buy shares in the Yankees.

He tells London's Time Out magazine, "I had invested in the Nets, and they (Arsenal bosses) asked me if I was interested in investing. But I get that from time to time.

"Someone told me yesterday that someone else had a piece of the New York Yankees, 'We wanna talk to you, yadda yadda yadda.' I mean, I love the Yankees so I'm in the middle of following that through, but sometimes it comes to be nothing.

"That (Arsenal) was one of the times it came to nothing."

Personally, I just don't think Hank Steinbrenner's ego would allow it.

Mets Sweep Yankees

Very good series, all came together, Billy Wagner was great on Saturday and that stupid blown call by the umps on Delgado's home-run didn't cost the Mets the game yesterday. However, we got the Braves and the Rockies coming up so we'll have to wait and see if this is the start of something great.

Red Sox Curse Jersey Sells For $175,000 On Ebay

Amazing:

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox jersey secretly buried under the new Yankee Stadium in a failed curse attempt sold Thursday for $175,100 in a charity auction. The bid from Kevin Meehan, the owner of Imperialcars.com in Mendon, Mass., was the highest of 282 for the battered No. 34 David Ortiz jersey.

"I actually thought it was going to sell for more money," said Meehan, who bid only in the final moments of the weeklong eBay auction that ended at 12:30 p.m. "I have three young boys that I take to the games and they would have killed me if I didn't buy the shirt."

The Yankees jackhammered the jersey out from under two feet of concrete earlier this month, then donated it to the Jimmy Fund, the Red Sox's official charity that is affiliated with Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Joba Chamberlain To Stay In The Bullpen

That's where he belongs anyway, esp. after what he showed last season. Why the Yankees took so long to make their mind up in anyone's guess, but you know that down the line they have to look at Joba as being Mariano Rivera's successor.

Don't Mess With Shelley Duncan

To me the Yankees-Rays spring training brawl today was yet another example of the consequences of the A-Rod era on this franchise. I mean, so now we have a Yankees-Rays feud brewing? Puh-leeze. Not too long ago this franchise's focus was on winning championships, now just making the playoffs and A-Rod winning a regular season MVP quantifies as a "good season". It's just not the same.

Jim Leyritz Charged With DUI Homicide

Damn, this is really messed up:

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -Former Major League Baseball player Jim Leyritz was arrested Friday on charges of driving under the influence and killing another driver after his vehicle crashed into hers.

Leyritz, who turned 44 on Thursday, faces charges of DUI manslaughter and DUI property damage, said Detective Kathy Collins, Fort Lauderdale police spokeswoman.

He posted the $11,000 bond and was released from the Broward County jail. It could not be determined whether Leyritz had an attorney.

Derek Jeter Comes To Roger Clemens Defense

And DJ's right and so is Clemens lawyer for getting in the ass of all the pundits who incorrectly predicted that Jason Grimsley would be pulling Clemens steroid card. Not that all of this means that Roger's innocent.

Andy Pettitte Is Back

Hey, not to say it was about money, but you'd have to be an idiot or super-mega-rich to just leave $16million on the table. Now maybe the Yankees can put him on the Roger Clemens Family Plan so Andy can concentrate on pitching instead of whining about missing his family during the season.

Yankees Re-sign Mariano Rivera

To me, getting Mariano back is way more important than A-rod.

Yankees Can Keep Alex Rodriguez

Hey, maybe he is sincere about wanting to be a Yankee, but then again as image-conscious as A-Rod is, I wouldn't be surprised that his reaching out to the Yankees is more about the deserved beating he's taken in the press of late. After all, announcing you're "opting out" during the World series was stupid and so was treating the Yankees like they need you when you've been nothing but a playoff bust while wearing the famous pinstripes. Despite all of that if the Yankees want to keep Mr. April for $300 million, that's fine by me because I certainly never wanted him on my team.

Andy Pettitte Is A Class Act

Unlike the phony that is Alex Rodriguez, Pettitte shows the Yankees and us baseball fans that it's not always about the money.

Don Mattingly Interviews For Yankees Job

The former Yankee captain gets his chance to make a case on why he should be Yankee manager.

Joe Torre Wanted To Live Off His Legacy

When it comes down to it, Joe Torre felt that his 4 championships would stand up to 7 straight seasons of the Yankees not winning the World Series. But he was wrong. And while the argument could be made that Torre should've taken the deal the Yankees offered him (in which he still would've been the highest paid manager in baseball), when it came down to it for Joe Torre the 4 championships made him feel like he had every right to be Yankee manager until he was ready to retire.

Yet, the facts are the facts and they start with an owner who puts more of his money into his team then any other owner in the game. And for that reason George Steinbrenner deserves the right to say that the finality of the 7 seasons have not been good enough. The owner deserves the right to feel that if he's giving his manager the best players in baseball, as he does every year, should have more to speak for it then a bunch of playoff appearances. He deserves the right to say that if he's paying his manager two times what the second-highest paid manager makes, that manager should take his team all the way.

Joe Torre made his legacy in pinstripes, not the other way around. He became a Hall of Fame manager, mostly because of the quality of players Steinbrenner provided him with and while he did a great job altogether, bottom line is that he should've won more. Now it's time to move on and if the Yankees hierachy is smart they'll give Don Mattingly a chance to manage the team.

Now It's All Chien Ming Wang's Fault

So the Joe Torre For Life Squad is putting all the blame on second-year starter Chien-Ming Wang for the Yankees loss this postseason. Granted, Wang was awful in his two starts against the Indians, but who was the genius that decided he should start on 3 days rest for the first time in his career? Joe Torre. Who decided that an able veteran like Mike Mussina wasn't capable of starting Game 4? Joe Torre. Who's the $25million-a-year player who went 4-for-15 with a meaningless solo home run (after numerous opportunities to drive in runs with runners on throughout) in the series, adding yet another playoff no-show to his resume? Alex Rodriguez. Who hit into double-play after double-play in key clutch situations throughout the series? Derek Jeter. But unlike the the perennial playoff bust that is Alex Rodriguez, at least Jeter has a long history of performing when in the postseason. Of course, none of that matters to the Joe Torre For Life Squad, after all, they're not the ones shelling out $200million+ to make it to the World Series, unlike you or me, they just get to go to Yankee games for free because they're the so-called "experts" demanding that Torre never lose his job.