All about Andy
The return of Andy Pettitte makes complete sense to me.
First, the Yankees get a guy who has topped 200 innings for two straight years, showing that his elbow doesn’t seem to be a problem. 
Second, they get a guy who has gone through everything you can go through in New York and looked awfully darn good doing it.
Pettitte brings a tremendous track record back to the Bronx, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. No, he may not be the 21-game winner he was in 2003, but I don’t think he’s that far off. Plus, when October rolls around, are there many pitchers you would feel that comfortable handing the ball to?
Yes, I know … Pettitte’s career postseason record is only 14-9, but he has pitched some of the best games I’ve ever seen in October. And while his record in the World Series is 3-4, his ERA of 3.92 is pretty good.
I’ll put it this way: If the Yankees have a must-win game next October, I hope for their sake the ball is in his hand.
The other thing about signing Pettitte is that we’ll have a few months of Roger Clemens speculation. I think there’s more than a 50 percent chance that the Rocket will land in New York sometime this year, looking to win one more ring with Joe Torre, Derek Jeter and the rest of the Yanks.
Ted Lilly? Gil Meche? Jason Schmidt? No thanks. I’ll take Pettitte. And so did the Yankees.
Mark it Down 
Brian Cashman is a genious. Plain and simple.
Today was a good day. I’m stoked we didnt end up with Lily or Meche.
Great writing, Karl. Hopefully they will revisit salad bars in your school all the while protecting the salads from terrorists.
Salad terrorists are the worst kind and we must be ever vigilant.
Welcome back, Brian, ikf it really is you. We still think you may have been kidnapped by aliens when you went to the ball game in Atlanta.
its amazing how little it takes to make some people happy
i wouldnt worry about his post season record, mark, he probably won’t be called on to pitch more than one game a year, in the alds, if that. with a 14-13 record last year, he can be your team’s .500 pitcher like tim wakefield is for boston. i wouldnt expect more than that because mussina is good for 4-5 over .500. rj has a long shot at stayig up with another .500. pavona won’t last past spring training unless he hurts himself sleepwalking earlier. that leaves wang to make up the difference. how long has it een since someone won 3o-plus games? that kid’s good, though.
Mark and all true Yankees fans,
I am so very pleased to have Andy back in pin stripes. It is going to be a very endearing moment when Andy starts his first game at Yankee Stadium in 2007…chills baby! But anyway i will never forget how crushed I was at the end of the 2003 season when Pettitte was put to the side by Georgie and then pitched up by the Astros. Especially after such an amazing ALCS against the RS. Over the last 3 seasons, just think of what a huge impact Andy would have made. I truly believe the Yankees would have won 1 if not 2 WS rings or atleast got to the WS all three years. Kevin Brown, Javier, Randy, Pavano, Wright,ETC.. have not been able to get the job done. And its great to have a another season with Andy on your Yankees, because he should have never left and I welcome him back!
Thanks for the welcome back Paul, Jtorres (Jorge is it?) and others. I didn’t get kidnapped, some stuff came up for a while which kept me away from the computer and i never got back into my online groove. I’m still not online as often as i used to be so don’t expect me to post the way i did in the beginning of last season but i’ll be around.
Eitherway, good points swolansky (in the last post) about the Nick Johnson idea. You’re right about it being a lot easier to come up with a 1st basemen of course, and now that i think of it the Yankees still have Eric Duncan down on the farm training at 1B. So i think the Yanks will be well suited to give Andy Phillips another shot, and if he doesn’t get it together then i suppose they can try Eric Duncan.
I would not go after any other first baseman than Andy Phillips, unless Mark Teixeira became available. He will be a free agent after the 2007 season anyhow.
mark, you are always forthright about these things. so how did mlb reporter alyson footer beat you, the nyy beat reporter, out on getting the scoop and writing the breaking story on andy pettitte’s signing with the yankees today? shouldnt you have been offered first dibs on that story? or isnt that the way it works? also is she a girl? not that there’s anything wrong with that. better luck next time. or does luck have anyting to do with it? thanks for responding.
Regarding Nick Johnson…he had a terrible injury at the end of last year (broken leg) and we don’t know how he is recovering from that or how ready he will be at the start of 2007.
BTW, what are the Royals thinking? $55 mil for 5 years of Meche and $5 mil for a year of Dotel?
For a $50,000 rule 5 pick…Josh Phelps could turn out to be a steal.
excuse me, i have to run, but arent you a sort of statistician? so i was just wandering before i go, how many baseballs did they use last year. i mean like in the majors.
Paul: I went to the link you offered up last night. GREAT information there!! thanks, Ellen
where do old baseballs go?
hi ellen and dont be mad at me because trot aint never never never comin back. i liked him to but i didn’t do it.
and what is that “other thing” that is “like opinions” that you keep mentioning? is it something you can say here?
I am having a pettitte party!!!!!!!
Thank you, Paul and Angel, for your kind words about my article. Here is the link again for anyone who did not see it:
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=30261§ion=Opinion
Yes, the guy did actually say salad bars are homeland security threats. So be careful, everyone, next time you eat at one in case it’s been poisoned by Al-Qaeda’s Salad Faction. Crazy. Fortunately, on Thursday we had a brief meeting with some other, more sane people from the food services in the district who seemed willing to work out some sort of experimental compromise. We’ll see how that goes.
Tomorrow I have a holiday concert, with rehearsals from 8:30 till 3-something and the concert at 7. It will be pretty awful, so I suppose I should get some sleep-with happy dreams of Andy Pettitte on the mound in pinstripes next year. I’m wondering if he should start the home opener, though I completely understand starting Wang. It’ll be interesting. I’ll try to check in at some point tomorrow, most likely at a very late hour.
I’m there!
We’re all happy about having Andy back home. But there is another reason to be happy with this great notice. Now we have six starters (assuming Igawa will sign soon). So that means an extra power for our bullpen, because Scott Proctor will be there. We won’t need Scottie to become a starter. He can remain in the pen, which is another great notice.
No doubt about it. We’ve got the best GM in all MLB. All my respects to Mr. Brian Cashman.
I was having a bad day and that just brightened up my day!! Thanks soo much Brian Cashman, you are the best GM ever!!!!!
I’m hearing Doug Mientkiewicz as a possible option at first base…I’m not totally opposed to that, he’s probably one of the best fielding first baseman out there, although Phillips is an excellent fielder as well.
Yikes, Doug M. is
1. impossible to spell
2. the worst hitter since Helen Keller
3. a complete jerk, as with the Red Sox ball issue
No, no, no to him.
Haha about your first point Paul, I actually spelled it without looking and was only 1 letter off. You’re right though I don’t know if his defense is that much better than Phillips’ to override Phillips’ superiority with the bat.
Alex, I looked up his hitting.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mientdo01.shtml
No question he is a good fielder but his hitting makes Andy look like Babe Ruth.
Transactions
June 1, 1995: Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 5th round of the 1995 amateur draft. Player signed July 8, 1995.
July 31, 2004: Traded as part of a 4-team trade by the Minnesota Twins to the Boston Red Sox. The Boston Red Sox sent Nomar Garciaparra and Matt Murton to the Chicago Cubs. The Montreal Expos sent Orlando Cabrera to the Boston Red Sox. The Chicago Cubs sent Brendan Harris, Alex Gonzalez, and Francis Beltran to the Montreal Expos. The Chicago Cubs sent Justin Jones (minors) to the Minnesota Twins.
January 27, 2005: Traded by the Boston Red Sox with cash to the New York Mets for Ian Bladergroen (minors).
November 1, 2005: Granted Free Agency.
December 16, 2005: Signed as a Free Agent with the Kansas City Royals.
_______________
Ironic that the trade with Boston involved one of their future and now past Red Sox SS.
I wonder who will follow Lugo?
Am I the only person who does NOT want Clemens back?
Probably, Jenmatt.
Nope. I don’t want Clemens back either.
I posted this somewhere…but I don’t think here.
Anyone else think that Eric Gagne and the “Schwab” were separated at birth.
Besides interest in the “Eye Chart”, the Yanks are looking at Dustin Hermanson. I’m not sold on that.
Hiya, Matt, how is the little guy?
I am ambivalent about Clemens. I would only take him back if they could move Johnson and Pavano.
The real goal this year is to bridge to the youngsters coming up and maybe give a few of them a larger chance than last September, specifically with Karstens and Rasner.
Besides the fact that Clemens is 44 and would be goin from the NL to the AL, why don’t you want him Mike?
No idea what the Schwab is, Mike.
Dustin Hermanson? I thought he was injured.
I googled the Schwab and found Howie Schwab, of an ESPN game show. That is possibly the reference. But then I do not watch ESPN any more.
That’s who I meant. Howie Schwab. He looks like Gagne’s brother.
You just hit the nail on the head why I don’t want Clemens, Alex….that and the preferential treatment…1/2 of a year, don’t travel with the club if he isn’t being used, etc.
Truth is, if he is doing the half a year deal and the Yanks really need another starter come July for whatever reason, I’d rather just call up Hughes.
Hermanson missed most of last year with back problems, hence my comment that I’m not sold on him. He had a good 2005 before the Chisox went to Jenks.
Yeah…to me Gagne and the Schwab are “separated at birth”. Schwab’s memory for sports trivia is amazing.
One player I would like to see the Yanks look at is free agent Todd Greene. He’ll be 36, but I’d rather have him back (was with Yanks in 2001)as a backup catcher than use Nieves or Chavez. Greene went .289-2-17 for SF this year.
…and I don’t want to pay $11 mil to Clemens for just 1/2 a year.
Dustin Hermanson? Not at all. He’s not the type of pitcher we need. And I’m sure that Brian Cashman knows that muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch better than us.
He was a starter, at the beginning of his career, mostly with Padres and Expos. Mediocre stats. Then, he became a reliever. Just one good year, 2005, when he was 2-4, 2.04 ERA and 34 saves. Surely he was injured last year, since he pitched just 6.2 innings. Righty. 34. Not what we need.
Proctor, Myers, Farnsworth, Karstens, Rasner, Mariano. Where does Hermanson fit?
Ooops, I forgot two of the BAMF’s: Britton and Bruney
Any news about Igawa’s deal?
And deadline is coming fast for the Red Flops trying to have an agreement with Matsuzaka
How much $$ do the Cubs have? Am-Ram, Sori, DeRosa, Lilly and now Jason Marquis.
With Marquis, we now know what a 6.02 ERA can get you. Sheesh.
Remember what I wrote yesterday, Jorge. The 14th is the deadline for Matsuzaka to be (pardon me, Stevie Wonder) Signed, Sealed and Delivered. Meaning all i’s dotted, t-s crossed, physical etc. So the $$ issue really may have a Dec. 12th deadline—three days away.
Yanks have until the 28th (My b/day) to finalize all with Igawa.
Mike you just asked an interesting question, “How much $$ do the Cubs have?”
The fact is that ALL the teams could spend like the Cubs and the Red Sox if they choose to. This was a record year for Major League Baseball. With attendance, concessions, merchandise, television and radio rights and licensing the teams are ALL flush with cash.
There are some (Loria, Pohland, among others) owners who pocket that money and some (Steinbrenner) who consistently invest it in the team. However, all have the power. Only a few choose to use it.
Hye Paul, he is doing great, but he is FAR from little, lol. Gonna be a big boy. Thanks for asking though. Wish I could chat in here more, I miss it, but am kept pretty busy.
and as far as my feelings on Clemens, we just got rid of one HUGE ego is Sheff, no need to bring another one on, who will only be here part of the season for buttloads of money. I use to love Roger, and stuck up for him all the time, but when he did that whole I am retiring bit, then turn around and resign, that did it for me. He never had any intentions of retiring, he is just addicted to the media hype. If someone retires for a year or 2 and then realizes they just cant stay gone, thats one thing, thats love for the game. Like what Junior Seau did in San diego, retires, then signs with the patriots like 7 minutes later, thats just ignorant.
We’re all happy about having Andy back home. But there is another reason to be happy with this great notice. Now we have six starters (assuming Igawa will sign soon). So that means an extra power for our bullpen, because Scott Proctor will be there. We won’t need Scottie to become a starter. He can remain in the pen, which is another great notice.
No doubt about it. We’ve got the best GM in all MLB. All my respects to Mr. Brian Cashman.
Posted by: jtorresmesias@hotmail.com | December 9, 2006 01:32 AM
Jorge, well said.
I am sooooooooooo stoked about getting Pettitte. We get a proven starter who has performed well in NY in the past, didn’t take on long term committment, and added depth to our rotation. Cashman is absolutely showing why he is a great GM right now. There is NOTHING out there to warrant spending tons of money, and if Pettitte doesn’t do well, he’s gone in a year anyway. (Pettitte WILL do well, though. Plus, anybody to make Pavano less likely to make the rotation is an upgrade.)
See what happens when you are too busy to check the Yankee news for a couple of days? You miss out on things. I guess I’m gonna have to become a video-every-day-type of teacher so I can have more time! hehe
http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=171207
The Innocent Empire!
Wow, and did anybody read the articel in the SF chronicle that a rod for bonds would be the perfect trade? Bonds would put up “gaudy numbers” in yankee stadium and A rod would “flourish and be the celebrity the giants need”.
Yeah that’s perfect if we weren’t trading a third baseman 12 years younger with better numbers at this stage of his career for an AL DH with a history of steroids slowly breaking down and in his mid 40’s. Wonderful journalism.
Vince, with that report, it sounds like Haight Ashbury’s drug trade is thriving.
Back later, I gotta take it easy today. My ribs are killing me.
Doc says 6-8 weeks for it to heal. Of course the colder it is outside, the more they ache.
About Matsuzaka: He’ll be signed. Boras is just holding out s long as possible for the best possible deal. If he doesn’t sign he goes back to Japan for a lot less money, to a team that doesn’t really want him. Boras won’t let that happen.
About Clemens: I’d love to have him back, too. He’s still a great pitcher, he’s a leader in the clubhouse, and sets a great example for younger pitchers. I doubt the Yankees would allow the “not travelling with the club” perk, at least they wouldn’t last year, so that wouldn’t be a problem. And I don’t think the retirement thing was a ploy, I think he really expected to retire but was persuaded not to by Pettitte and the advantage of playing at home. Also the chance to play with his son.
Imagine how peeved Randy Johnson would be if we got Clemens back! Remember the stories of the rivalry between he and Schilling in Arizona? Clemens would be twice as bad! Maybe it would be enough to convince Johnson to accept a trade.
Andy, It is possible that Matsuzaka won’t be signed. He wouldn’t make as much money this year but if he has another monster year in Japan, Boras can significantly up the price on him next year when he’s a free agent. Only time will tell.
Proposed Red Sox penalty for tampering with Drew and subverting the bid system with Jampanese baseball:
1. Daisuke Matsuzaka is considered a free agent and all teams except the Red Sox may bid for his services December 15-January 14, 2007.
2. JD Drew is considered an unrestricted free agent and all teams except the Red Sox may bid for his services December 15-January 14, 2007.
3. Red Sox forfeit 1 first round draft choice to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
4. Red Sox must pay the posting fee of $51.111 million to the Seibu Lions on or before January 15, 2007.
5. Larry Lucchino is prohibited from acting for or on the behalf of the Boston Red Sox, its affiliates or assigns, nor any other concern of Major League Baseball, from the present to January 15, 2008.
6. Any further prohibited acts by the Red Sox will require that the present ownership relinquish rights to the team in an immediate sale during a 2 year probationary period ending January 14, 2009.
I should be the next Commissioner of Baseball. I would exact those penalties above.
Alex, if Matsuzaka has to go back to Japan this year, he and his team will both lose tremendous face. He would probably fire Boras to deflect as much of the Japanese critism as possible. There is a report that the Lions have even threatened to send him to the minors as punishment if he doesn’t sign with the Sox.
Paul, please don’t mess with the Sox’ front office. I think they’re doing a fine job for us. And I think forcing them to keep Drew is better than taking him away.
Yeah that’s a good point Andy, I’d still be pretty amused if they can’t sign him though.
This Pettitte thing sure seems like 2003 in reverse.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16126100/from/RS.1/
Ha, ha, good point, Andy, about Drew.
This is the Red Sox slogan for 2007:
Nancy Drew and Lugo too!™
So as i’m walking to the communications building my back just completely tightened and I can’t sit up. Umm, does anybody know what just happened? This pain is excruciating
nvm i just hobbled to the nurse…I have back spasms….stupid connecticut weather.
Vince, so many possibilities, such as pinched nerve, pulled muscle.
Most schools have an infirmary. I would call or visit them.
Ouch. I once had them when I was at the Stadium for a game.
Yeah I just went, she didn’t know how it happened but said sometimes stress and cold weather, along with slouching for long periods of time can send your back into spasms
That was quick.
haha well I actually went like a half hour ago. She told me to lie down with ice compressors but I have papers to write so i’m on painkillers instead.
Mike, that is not actually the worst place to get them because you’re supposed to have your back on a hard sufrace and not slouch…the seats are almost designed for spasms haha. I’m sure being so far away from home was a pain though…no pun intended.
I was a little at ease when some kid I know’s mom came in and told the nurse he was having emergency surgery because he was hit last night and broke his jaw in two places and dislocated another part of it….6 weeks with a wired jaw. Rough break.
Especially during finals week.
Vince, when you lie down try also putting a soft pillow on your chest/torso and resting your arms on it. That can help relax the muscles in your back. But the best remedy is a good massage therapist.
I’ve had various back pains over the years. No surgery, but no fun, either.
Hey. A few comments i wanted to make.
1. I think it will be especially hilarious if after committing nearly $300 million to new (mostly mediocre) players and a new manager, the Chicago Cubs finish in 3rd place or worse in their division. I wouldn’t want Lou to go through that, but still i just think that would be pretty amusing.
2. I think it would be even more amusing if the Red Sox failed to beat even the Blue Jays for the second consecutive season.
3. “About Matsuzaka: He’ll be signed. Boras is just holding out s long as possible for the best possible deal. If he doesn’t sign he goes back to Japan for a lot less money, to a team that doesn’t really want him. Boras won’t let that happen.”
Posted by: ataustin@aol.com | December 9, 2006 02:37 PM
That comment i found a little amusing too. It’s Scott Boras. He cares about himself not his clients. It is a very real possibility that they don’t make a deal with the Red Sox, because there are no rules regulating business that Boras can do individually with the Seibu Lions. I’m not saying i think this will happen, but if Boras is unhappy with the Red Sox offer, he can personally buy Matsuzaka from Seibu himself and make him a free agent to go anywhere. I know it seems unlikely, but think about it, Seibu would do it. Because if the Red Sox don’t make a good enough offer, then Seibu doesn’t got the bid at all, not a penny of that 51 mil, then they also won’t see a penny when Matsuzaka is a no-strings free agent next year. That would mean it would be a lot better for Seibu to take a personal bid from Scott Boras to get at least something for him rather than lose him and get nothing in return.
Again, i’m not saying i think that will happen, i just said that because i thought the Scott Boras comment was funny about how he wouldn’t let that happen to his players…if there were any agent to do what i just explained, it would be Scott Boras.
Oh another important point i meant to add to that, the reasoning Boras would do that, is because of the extreme amount of the bid the Red Sox made, the contract they offer him will probably reflect that, as in it won’t be nearly as high as it could be. So if Boras were to gain personal rights to Matsuzaka and make him a free agent, he could find a much, much larger contract.
But really i just said that all for the sake of speculation and an interesting possibility, i personally feel that Boras will get a fairly lucrative, 3 or 4 year deal for Matsuzaka in Boston this week, making him a free agent in a few years to get the big money then. That scenario is a lot more practical.
I should be the next Commissioner of Baseball. I would exact those penalties above.
Posted by: paul1040@aol.com | December 9, 2006 02:53 PM
Paul, you’d be a much better Commish than Selig or Larry Lucchino. Yes that’s right I said Larry Lucchino–I read that he is actually being considered for the job when Selig retires in 2009. Scary huh? Do you think he would actually get it? How would that be anything but completely unfair to us in any way shape or form? How could someone who was quoted as saying “the evil Empire’s tentacles extend into Latin America” actually be considered to be the Commish of ALL MLB teams?
BTW, off-topic but does anyone ever take those lame Quiz Farm quizzes about “which Yankee are you most like?” I just found a Yankee Legends one and scored as Yogi Berra, woohoo! Looking for one featuring the 06 Yanks though…
Thank you Andy, I will keep that in mind
Brian, I didn’t suggest that Boras would sign out of concern for Matsuzaka. See my next comment of 03:02 PM. If Boras does not get a deal done with the Sox, Matsuzaka will, in all likelyhood fire him and he’ll get nothing.
As far as Boras buying Matsuzaka from the Lions:
1) See previous paragraph;
2) Even if he did, Matsuzaka couldn’t play in the majors this year. He’d have to play someplace else or sit out till next year. MLB rules prohibit Matsuzaka from playing with any team but the Red Sox next year unless the commissioner’s office determined the Red Sox didn’t negotiate in good faith.
I don’t know how much English Igawa knows, but between Randy, Andy and Gator, he has some very good tutors.
…for pitching that is…not for learning the language…lol
Hey all, can I trouble any of you football fans for some fantasy advice?
Who would you pick between Kevin Jones and Cadillac Williams as your second RB? Most of the sites that rank players have Jones above Williams and I think Jones is generally better, but he has to go up against a tougher D (Minnesota) than Williams does (Atlanta.) Not sure whether to make this decision based on who is better ranked or who faces a weaker D.
Thanks in advance…this is my playoff game so want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row.
Oh and Mike…if Igawa needs any help learning the language I’m sure Mussina could give him a few pointers. I mean, is there anything Moose DOESN’T know? 😀
Gina, the Ducks are a hockey team.
Tough call, Gina. Vikings are a pretty lousy team and Detroit almost upset the Patriots last week.
But then I think Atlanta as a team is totally demoralized and Vick has lost the team. But then Tampa has not won a division game yet.
Were it me I would pick Kevin Jones. But then I saw how he did last week.
I also don’t do fantasy football and don’t really know that much about other NFL teams. I am also usually wrong in my predictions.
Why did I even answer?
Gina, Kevin jones in a heartbeat. I had williams most of the season and dropped him. He is almost useless as a fantasy player, a really down year. He barely ever breaks 100 yards rushing and NEVER gets touchdowns. I think he had one fantastic game this season and other than that is useless, tampa’s offense is not even as good.
Thanks Vince. Ironically I have only used Williams once or twice all season..for some reason he is on my can’t cut list? Jones was pretty much the MVP of my team for the first 8 weeks or so then he began to drop off. And Williams had a good week last week but that’s been one of the only ones all season, so you’re probably right.
Paul, LOL @ the Ducks joke. *rim shot here.* You’re scaring me about Vick though, I’m starting him tomorrow! He can disappoint you anytime, but he is the no.1 ranked QB on all the sites for this week, so I can’t resist!
Williams is on your no cut list because you picked him in the first few rounds. However many no cut players you have is the amount of rounds in the beginning you drafted the players. Basically what im trying to say is you picked him so early that you can’t cut him.
Pettitte trivia: Andy is the only pitcher since 1930 to win 12 or more in each of his first 9 years in MLB.
Andy has pitched 12 years in the majors and has had a winning record in all 12 years. The only pitcher in MLB history to pitch in parts of 10 or more different seasons with a winning record in each season is…Surprise!
Babe Ruth.
Here is an interesting article on Suzyn Waldman:
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=157365
The article says she’s not coming back next year?
Oh darn, that’s not it at all. Oh well….
Interesting article, Mike. I think she has shown a lot of improvement as an announcer in her first 2 years and for the most part enjoy her commentary.
Great to see the Red Sox getting into more messes! Though I do kinda hope they keep Drew. If they don’t I hope they get slapped with some really nasty penalties.
If Larry Lucchino is the next commish of baseball, I will…do something, and it won’t be very good.
Had my school’s holiday concert today, which was hectic despite being shortened to only 2 and a half hours this year. It ends with everyone in every choir, band, and orchestra (about 600 total) playing ‘Do you hear what I hear’. Quite loud. Being a string bass player I have to stand for the entire thing, and am now very tired.
haha Karl if it makes you feel better I can’t move without feeling intense pain.
hey gentlemen…whats up? pettite is a sweet dude. glad he is home tonight. i think he;kk bring it home nex year bros. yeahh!!!
http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=171334&format=&page=1
Ha ha ha ha ha ha
LOL!! The S*x could not be making it anymore obvious that this was a blocking bid all along. Dumba**es. Don’t they understand that they already set a precedent of DMat being worth a lot of $$ by bidding such an obscene amount…now they are trying to lowball him in contract negotiations? LOL! I *knew* they’d do this too. Despite all the sportswriters that assured us to the contrary. Oh well, hope they have fun never doing business in Asia again and losing out on all the revenue that market would bring. And their misstep can only up Yankee fandom in Japan too! 😀
Interesting article on Suzyn Waldman also. As a fellow female who is interested in maybe writing about baseball one day I really respect what she’s done for women in sports broadcasting. On the other hand though, it is always in the back of my mind that she’s a S*x fan!
I’m not positive about this but remember an MLB article saying that if there was not a good faith attempt to sign Matsuzaka then the team with the second highest bid would gain exclusive negotioating rights. Does anyone else remember hearing about this? Also Is it true that the second highest bid was placed by the Mets
I never heard about that, MC, but yes I believe the 2nd highest bid was placed by the Mets.
Also, even if that is true, the term “good faith attempt” is very arbitrary…who decides what qualifies as a good faith attempt, ya know? And on what basis do they make the decision?
Minor deals, but besides signing C Raul Chavez for a possible backup, the Yanks also signed to minor league deals INF Angel Chavez (19 at bats for SF in 2005, 25 yr. old) and Ben Kozlowski, a 26 year old lefty who is 6′ 6″ 220 pounds who started 2 games for Texas in 2002.
The Mets were 2nd in the Matsuzaka sweepstakes with a bid of $38 million.
So what does everyone think.. if Boston doesn’t sign Dmat in time, will that cause MLB to take a look at and revamp the posting process?
I feel like anytime boston cheats the system it will not be reviewed or altered because the other 29 teams in baseball will not raise a stink. Though maybe because they made a “yankee” move, this time will be different.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/story/478832p-402836c.html
I just find it interesting that he bashes teams for signing roid heads and then in the same article supports the signing of luis gonzalez, who hit 58 hrs the year he stole a world series, and then was never heard from again. Anybody remember his arms that year? I support the basis of the article, but stay consistant, even bonds never failed a drug test.
It is clear to me the way the Patriots are playing is a naked attempt to give me a bleeding ulcer.
Oops.
How is your back today, Vince?
Gina, I listed my proposed Red Sox penalties above, but after good counsel they may be allowed to keep Nancy Drew.
From what I remember reading MLB would consider it not a good faith attempt if it was seen as a blocking bid more than a serious trying to sign him bid. I found the article where I read this its below
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6158878
My god I was just reading a prosportsdaily forum. It is amazing how many dumb fans there are.
“the sox are brilliant because they will get their posting fee back to sign gagne and a setup man and they keep matsuzaka away from the yankees for three years”
It just blatant inaccuracy.
Paul my back is in a lot of pain. It is in constant pain today as opposed to mobile pain yesterday
baba o reilly might be my favorite song of all time.
Sorry to hear you are still hurting, Vince. Backpain is pretty awful.
Yeah, I’m used to stomach pains because I have acid reflux (now i’m medicated) but back pains are so much worse.
lol this is going to be an interesting show, I have spasms and greg has been sick all week.
What exactly is meant by back spasms? Is it just like you’re back is locked up?
A second blatantly bad call against the Patriots. The officials are either blind or paid by Miami.
Giants are being robbed too.
Alex, basically my back is completely locked up and then every so often sharp pains enter my lower back.
Are they shooting pains?
No, more concentrated in a specific area….if i move side to side it especially hurts. I suppose if tomorrow it still hurts this much i’ll set up a doctor appointment inbetween finals.
basically, my entire lower back hurts and if i move it hurts more intensely haha. It is a tightening bruising feeling I guess.
I found something else in that Madden article interesting. It seems that for all the $$ they spent last year on Glaus, Ryan, Burnett, etc., that now this winter the Jays have taken a step backwards.
Vince, regarding your post of 1:49—remember what P.T. Barnum said. “There’s a ****** born every minute.”
Mike I was thinking the same thing, I feel like the A’s and Bluejays are probably the least improved teams so far this offseason. The redsox may get 2nd place by default.
From Peter Gammons:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?id=2692259
…and now a lot of places are all over the “Matsuzaka talks breaking down” story. It’ll be an interesting week.
Can the Bosox Bungle this completely? If so, within a week we could get that as a Christmas gift to go with what we already have–the return of Pettitte.
lol oh yeah i forgot to add part of the blog on prosports also said “clement won his first 7 starts, and he will be back to add depth” First of all, wasn’t the last word that clement will not pitch in 07? Second of all do they forget what happened after that? You revert to the last time somebody was healthy not the half season before that. It’s like me saying had we signed sturtze back that he will solidify the bullpen because he had half a good season in 04.
Beckett needs a new attitude, schilling needs to maintain a body that has had issues here and there lately, papelbon needs to adjust to a starter, no small task, lester needs to be at full strength AND improve, wakefield needs to stop being torched by the yankees and make sure he won’t get injured and tavarez was a flop last year and all sox fans remember is september as a spot starter, not the five or six games he single handedly lost in relief.
I’m sorry but if they don’t sign matsuzaka, I am not terribly fearful of the staff they have to offer, and certainly not the bullpen. The offense might improve but I still don’t think it is as solid as ours. Matsuzaka goes a lot further than people think, even if he only wins 15-18 like I think he would.
If they are THAT hopeful, maybe we can ****** them into taking Pavano…
hey, it’s a thought.
Gotta go. Back later.
I commented on that story yesterday on Pete’s blog, Mike.
Not sure if Gammons was overly medicated but the story was full of inaccuracies.
1. Cashman has not yet signed Kei Igawa, as far as we know, unless it was done in secret.
2. Pavano does not come off the books next year but his contract runs through 2008 with an option for 2009.
3. Teixeira’s contract runs through 2007 not 2008.
4. If the 4 starter spots are occupied by Wang, Pettitte, Mussina, and Johnson, why would the 4-5 slots need to be filled? Maybe they mean just the 5th slot? Or have they had Johnson abducted?
ESPN is getting sloppier and sloppier.
Patriots are bloody awful for the 2nd week in a row.
Dolphins lead 13-0.
giants looking good at the moment.
I think he meant johnson getting injured.
I would love tex and vernon wells.
THE G MEN ARE BACK! 27-10 over the panthers, let’s hope they don’t pull a titans game in the 4th….unfortunately the falcons and eagles are also winning, though we have the tiebreaker over both of them.
Yes, I noticed the inaccuracies. Didn’t see Pete’s blog. Gotta head out. Catch you later.
Yuck, crappy Giants are winning and of course the Deadskins are the Deadskins today
Pettitte was also misspelled a couple of times in that article.
russ, redskins are making a comeback, they only trail by 5, they were down by 18 i think.
And I may not be the most popular kid on the block w/this observation, but I having Pettitte back doesn’t excite me as much as I guess it does most of you folks. I am thinking he will be the left handed RJ next year. His ERA will be around 5, with around 13-15 wins with a lot of run support and for $16 million a year, I don’t think that is a bargain. I still like Zito, I don’t know what eventually he will command, but if he wants $16 million for 4/5 years, rather have signed him. His ERA is a run lower and he pitches 220 innings. I think Pettitte will struggle coming back to the AL. I just see three out of Yankee five starter w/ERA’s around 4.75-5, but we shall see….well, my ‘Boys have to win tonight, Giants and Eagles have won today…..
Good, go Redskins, last time I saw, they were down 21-9…..
Well go Saints next week….
mark’s team has the eagles against the ropes, they’re in the redzone looking for a lead.
russ, pettitte has pitched 200+ two years in a row, he also had a sub 3 era down the stretch last year. Though he was younger, he also pitches well in yankee stadium in this atmosphere, especially in the playoffs, which is what we have failed to do well lately. He can win 13 games in the regular season, if he gives me a solid month in october that makes it worth it to me
Patriots can’t really do much worse than they are right now.
Russ, you can’t forget how terrible Zito is against AL East teams as well.
Well, I was about to eat a lot of crow telling andy (i think andy, could have been gina) to start jones today. He has -3 yards rushing. But he just received a td and has 49 yards receiving….so he has 8 pts today, which is bad but not awful. Cadillac also has 2 total pts on 48 yards rushing and no td, so it paid off.
It was Gina, Vince, I completed rehab for my fantasy football habit and have been clean for 9 years.
“…Boras has chafed from the beginning about the inequities of this system and has hinted repeatedly that the process will end either in Matsuzaka signing with the Red Sox or with Matsuzaka declining and having to go back to Japan.”
Ummm….duh?
haha my radio show starts now, tune into http://www.wqaq.com to listen
LOL Vince I checked the GameChannel stats just in time to see the TD #s. Still better than Cadillac and I think I am safe b/c Big Blue put up great numbers, all my guys have TDs and I still have Bears D to look forward to. Woohoo I’m gonna beat up on the Cowgirls fan I’m playing…may the Saints beat up on the Cowgirls tonight too!
Usually a pitcher coming from the NL to the AL will have the ERA go up, but I’m not sure that will be the case with Andy. Remember the ballpark differential. LF in Houston is so short it is a joke. The deeper LF at the Stadium will probably offset the AL/NL difference so Andy’s ERA very well will be the same.
Russ, I don’t think you took this into account. Also, Russ, Boras is looking for $17 mil/yr for 6 years of Zito…that is $102 million.
The way the Yanks are against the revenue sharing, they are paying $1.40 to the dollar for every F.A. they sign. So if they give Zito $102 for 6 years, it is like giving him $142.8 million. No way.
Reports have been out there for 2 years already that Matsuzaka wanted to come to the U.S. to play. If Boras costs him another year, I can’t imagine Matsuzaka will be very happy with him.
In addition to all the other reasons everyone listed for not signing Zito, remember that if we signed him we would also lose out on facing him, which is generally fun times for the Yanks… 🙂
That’s true Mike, but his socks make up for the extra $20 million…haha.
…Wait that still leaves another $20 million…haha I can’t think on weekends.
haha
i really think that the Yankees, if the Red Sox fail to sign Matsuzaka, should sign Kei Igawa to a fairly nice deal, just to show up the Red Sox and boost the rep in Japan.
well and to add depth to the rotation of course
im so glad we got pettitte back. now we have 3 quality starters since you never know how pavano and johnson will pitch. if clemans comes back that wouldnt be bad since he also knows how to pitch in ny. now we got a guy we can pitch in the play offs again…..thank god.
Jesus, thank you Tom Brady. My fantasy team stands no chance this week.
Show 6:30-7:30 tonight.
Mike, I saw on the site it is 6:30 for an hour and you are the guest.
Just take over the show and rename it “Paul’s Yankee Show.” That may not make sense to you. Yet.
I hope you enjoy. Of course the topic for most of the show will be the return of Pettitte.
Since the Yanks have not yet signed Villone I am thinking I might have a chance to be the Yanks left-handed reliever.
I have started my David Wells Training Program, making a list of buffets for each day of the week. Pretty sure I could not drink as much as him so I will have to make up for it with lo mein or pizza bites.
I cued up the theme to Rocky as I was running up and down the steps.
(Well, I really did not run up and down the steps but I rolled my chair back and forth from the desk to the bookcase really fast several times.)
That’s 2 shots at Carl Pavano in the first 5 minutes.
Listening to Mike’s show but Mike is not on yet so there are lots of mistakes.
Pavano has pitched in 17 games not 10. There were 10 decisions.
His contract is up in 2008 with an option/buyout for 2009.
Paul let’s see how many shoutouts you can get.
lol, Andrew, I am just typing here. Not sending an IM.
Pettitte was 14-13 not 14-12.
lol they want to send Pavano to Asia.
Not sure Asia is far enough. He could escape.
Al Pacino is on.
Mike has been scamming volcanos.
Yeah he has…
I think Ty just crossed the line with the man-crush comment…
Yeah, he seems overly concerned.
Yaaaay, Andy in Oregon!
Paul, how old will you be in 8 years?
31
(Congressional math)
Film at 11:00.
This is a side of Ty I’ve never seen before.
A-Rod does have purple lips…
I have that effect on people!
Extra 1/2 hour tonight. We will have to see what happens in the next few weeks. Today being the 10th, that means Christmas Eve is 2 weeks away, and New Year’s Eve is 3 weeks away.
It was a good question, Andy.
Yeah, Andy you completely set him off. It blew me backwards and made me go 0_o
Andrew, to answer your question…
I am 49 now. So in 8 years.
Hmmmmm….
4.53 era for Garcia. I im’ed them. Hope they get it.
Moyer, Eaton, Hamels, Myers, Garcia….Lieber on block.
Hope you enjoyed.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!
TODAY I’M 16!!!
CONGRADULATIONS TO ME!!!
Congrats. My birthday is at the end of the month. I’ll be …
um…
older than 16.
hmmmmmmm
how old???
45
You gettin your lisence Navy (Elizabeth is it?)
man, we lost in the conference finals of dodgeball. I watched from the sidelines with great anger.
fo sho
yes it is elizabeth
I want to hear more dirt on Mike getting free desserts in foreign lands.
dodgeball????
Vince, dodgeball is a real hit or miss game.
A Volcano was like 4 brownies shaped like a pyramid, a scoop of ice cream in the middle, and covered with chocolate syrup.
hardy har har Paul. Jeeeeez.
Yeah, we have dodgeball intramural but I was physically ineligible….dodgeball dudes get all the chicks I swear. Congrats Elizabeth..I wish I had received my license at 16. Stupid NJ.
Dude I would own at that…How many people per side?
Thanks Vince
Yeah I cant imagine living in NJ.
6 people per side, 3 balls in play, it is a thrillride of joy.
I got my license at 17 and my full license at 18.
But I have to learn how to drive first. My bros won’t let me near the steering wheels on their cars!!
Our school is having a gigantic dodgeball tournament with all clubs and a few made up clubs participating.
I’m gettin my permit this summer for PA.
Dodgeball is my favorite gym class game as well.
I lived in NY and could not get a license until 17 either.
I’m in PA and my dad wouldn’t let me get my license until the week I graduated high school at age 17 1/2
I don’t know if I can get my license yet though. But I am most definitely getting my permit.
I haven’t had gym since 9th grade.
I probably won’t actually get my lisence until I’m 17 considering my situation.
Fox reporting Rangers close to a 1-year deal with Lofton to fill CF spot vacated by Matthews.
I took drivers ed in summer school, which was a good arrangement. Rather than just a 44 minute class we had a lot more time to drive and we went on trips.
The teacher had us learn to read maps, plan routes to a destination. For our final we went to a state park out on the eastern part of Long Island. We had a picnic and came back.
God drivers ed here is a nightmare. Maryland recently upped the number of hours required in car from something like 40 to 80. The classes are completely useless and desperately boring.
When I took it there were a lot of hours required. We went a lot of hours in the summer and may have been 4 days a week, though I cannot recall.
The class was divided up into classromm, simulator, and time in the car. Each car had a teacher and 4 students. But the class size was maybe 6 or 7 times that so there was a schedule which had to spread the teacher thin.
I recall that the simulators were a joke. We sat in what would be today a primitive arcade game. We each had individual units with a dashboard and steering wheel and they all faced a screen in the front of the room.
The master control would keep score of our mistakes in steering, braking, signalling, and in pretty much all facets. But it god to be tedious so eventually we tried to hit people and houses.
does anyone know when tickets to yankees games begin to be sold at the stadium?
Ah yes, driver’s ed…I was just finishing that a year ago. Wow, that was boring. Endless bland videos made in the 80’s. I could’ve passed the permit test without a second of driver’s ed. But it’s worth the reward, and the license test is easy. I did not make it into the parallel parking space and still passed on my first try.
The Packers won today (meaningless at this point, but good for the morale), and the Cowboys are being slaughtered =-)
Just saw on espn.com that the yankees apparently signed a 23-year old cuban first baseman by the name of Juan Miranda. Scouts project him to hit around .280 w/ 20 HR’s, he’s a lefty. It is a four yr. deal worth $2 million
-Ben
I heard the Yankees signed some Cuban defector to a pretty cheap deal, and that he is going to be added to the 40-man roster. Can anyone confirm this?
Aha. So that’s the confirmation I needed!
Sheesh…might as well hold open tryouts for first base this spring!
The sweet sound of a Cowboy loss.
A very interesting move and, it appears, a good one. 23 years old, it adds youth and depth at first base. You now have Guiel, Phillips, Phelps and Miranda to compete for the job. I would guess that this eliminates Hillenbrand from consideration. Even if Miranda needs some time at Scranton, a good move. You now have more youth developing at Scranton rather than the Erubiel Durazo/Carlos Pena types who were there in the past few years.
Once again, Brian shows his acumen.
It’s interesting reading different blogs and seeing the clamor some have for the Yanks to bring back Nick Johnson.
Hello!!! Do these people remember (apparently not) that Nick Johnson suffered a broken leg last year? Gruesome injury. How well does anyone know how the recovery is going? This wasn’t a minor injury.
No. No. No. and No.
I have to pass this along. For years, a sportswriter at my local rag covered the Phils. He actually grew up in New England as a diehard Red Sox fan. Well, I’ve never met him, but he knows of me and I am sure he can’t stand me. Why? Because the guy never does his research, and I have called him on it many times. Once I had a bet with a friend that I could find 10 mistakes in his column (mistakes, not typos) from the beginning of Spring Training until the All Star break. At the end of April—APRIL!!!—I had already found eight. My friend called off the bet and paid me. Well, this guy doesn’t cover the Phils anymore, but is covering hockey. Nevertheless, I believe he is still eligible to cast a HOF vote.
Here is his latest blunder, from this morning’s paper. He was discussing some of the HOF candidates:
They all have about the same chance of being immortalized in Cooperstown as the 1964 Phillies have of reversing how the final 10 games of that season played out.
My response is:
You would think someone who covered the Phils for years would know more about the ending of the Phils’ 1964 season. The common perception is that the Phils lost their last ten games that year to blow the pennant. They did not. They had a 6 1/2 game lead with twelve games to play. They then lost ten in a row before winning their last two games. These last two wins were not insignificant because they came over the Cincinnati Reds, and those wins knocked the Reds out of the N.L. pennant. The Reds and Phils wound up tied for 2nd, 1 game behind the eventual World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals.
As for Miranda…cuban defector…we HOPE he actually is just 23.
After Phillips’ performance last year, there is absolutely NO reason why the Yanks aren’t considering ONLY backup infielders. Andy deserves first base and at least the chance to prove he CAN’T play. His glove is already better than Jason’s and his bat and capabilities wouldn’t hurt us ANYWHERE in the lineup. To me, that gives him the job until he loses it.
Mike, the way Cuban birth certificates are so dicey he might be older than El Duque, which could make him 61.
Anyone else getting a ton of e-mail spam since Pettitte came back?
If anyone knows more about this Miranda, fill us in.
Maybe Jorge does, but I know he isn’t happy about last night’s football game.
Mike there is not a lot of information about Miranda. There is a little more on these two blogs.
http://www.waswatching.com/archives/2006/12/juan_miguel_mir.html#comments
and
http://canyonofheroes.blogspot.com/
Mike, most of the spam I get is from the Nigerian scamsters telling me I have won some lottery or want to hire me in business as soon as I send them my bank info. Some of them even ask for help in laundering money or stealing an inheritance.
But they are all a scam. I saw a news report a couple of days ago from ABC News showing one of the bucket shops in Lagos, Nigeria, conducting this activity. Nigeria used to turn a blind eye toward these scams but now seem to have made some gestures toward cracking down.
If they actually do it will just move to another welcoming venue.
These scams would not work if people were not participating. Invariably some Jerry Springer guest-type person will be interviewed saying, “Gol—leeeee, I knew I shouldna given thems my bankin’ info.”
If anyone out there reading this gets email from a stranger asking you to pray for them and and share $324343928 because they trust you, delete it.
I heard Skippy is also going to get a shot at becoming the first baseman next season. I mean, his glove is good, so he’ll be joining Phillips, Phelps, Guiel, Miranda, and (I guess) Duncan, in addition to whoever shows up to Spring Training games with a first baseman’s mitt. Fans are welcome.
Interesting, just as I finished typing the above I went to check my email to find more of those scam emails in my spam filter box.
Then I found a shorter version of the news story I referenced above. It is only about 2 minutes but worth watching.
http://us.video.aol.com/video.index.adp?pmmsid=1789001
They aren’t even read. I delete them immediately. Just seems like there is more after Pettitte returned.
I get around 10-25 on any given morning.
I am so happy that Andy Pettitte is back in pinstripes. He was my favorite player and it’s good to have him back on my favorite team…not to mention his post season experience. I still cringe at remembering Aaron Boone screwing up Pettitte’s no-hitter shut out…
The deal makes Cashman look like a genius, the Astros look like idiots and seems to be good all the way around. For Pettitte detractors…what do you guys expect? No one out there has a 33-0 record with a 1.00 ERA. Signing Pettitte for one (or two) years gives our minor leaguers time to develop and to learn under one of the best MLB pitchers in the past decade. Hughes (Clippard, Sanchez, whomever) doesn’t have to be rushed and we have someone who is dependable and won’t have post season meltdowns or have a shattered psyche because of the booing.
Pettitte’s signing made my day. Welcome back, Andy P.
A side note: the email scams are commonly referred to as Nigerian 419 scams. Two web sites for info/examples: http://www.419eater.com and the PG13/R version: http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com
Both sites have examples of scams and their outcomes as well as a few people who “scam bait” and tips to avoid the scammers.
Hi guys! OK first of all… woohoo COWGIRLS LOSE!!! **** @ Marion Barber and his, what, -2 yards? Where is that Cowgirl lovin’ smack-talkin’ now? 😉
Second, just reading over some of the comments.. was I the ONLY teenager who had absolutely no desire to get their license? I only took Behind the Wheel because my high school wouldn’t let me graduate without it, but didn’t actually go for my test until I was 19 and was dating some dude who lived in another town and didn’t drive either. I never liked driving, the only thing that made it worthwhile for me was having a loud stereo system in my car. Oh well, have fun driving everybody! 🙂
Also, a question for Rob or anyone else who plays MLB 2k6. Why does Wang keep automatically getting dropped from the starting rotation and put into relief? And then this makes Villone a starter. Does anyone else have this problem? How do I stop it from happening?
Better question for “show” players. Why does wang look american, or mexican at best?
lol, he looks *extremely* American on MLB2k6 too. And also Jeter looks white as a sheet. They are not so good with their animation skills!
I’m jealous, I want “show”, I wish they had it for Game Cube.
MLB2K6…I had some issues with that game…
1. Reds: Aaron Harang stinks, and no Arroyo
2. A’s: Haren stinks
3. Wang has no sinker.
4. Hughes has no potential at all
5. Overly weak Yankees farm…probably designed to overcompensate for them being the best team
That being said, the game is better than The Show. I recommend it strongly. Also looking forward to MLB 2K7, where hopefully Wang will have a sinker and the prospects in the Yanks’ system are actually decent.
Last July my son and I bought MLB2K6 for our Nintendo Game Cube. Frankly, we were disappointed. We both prefer BY FAR our MVP 2005, by EA Sports. The graphics are MUCH better. Unfortunatelly, there is no Wang, no Canó, no Bruney, Karstens or Rasner and of course, no one of the kids in AA or AAA.
But I think I read an article saying there will be no MLB game by EA Sports for a while. Is it true? Anyone knows why?
Oh, and there is no Melky either. Of course, you can create some players, but it’s not the same.
Jorge, can you give us more info on this Juan Miguel Miranda than we have received so far? Maybe you know something we don’t?
No Mike. I don’t know nothing about him, except for the links Paul gave us in his 11:45 AM posting.
Seems to be a good player, but the strange thing is why it was 2 years before someone sign him.
Have you checked those links? They’re interesting
You remember a week ago I was a little sad (speaking about soccer). Today I am very happy. My favorite team (América) is playing the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan. We played really early this morning (5:20 ET) and we won 1-0 over the Asian Champion (a team from South Korea). So, now we’re in the semi finals and will play next Thursday againt the European Champion, Barcelona, from Spain. Here is the link, if someone is interested:
http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/index/0,2442,CWC2006,00.html?comp=CWC&year=2006
Yeah, I did, Jorge. Looking for more on him, but there isn’t much on the ‘Net.
So it was around 60 degrees today. It’s supposed to be like this next week too. Global warming gon’ kill us.
Guess What
Today I got some tests and essays back (hats why no one heard of me all of last week).
AP US History:
94 on test
A- on the essay
AP Calculus:
97 on test (should have been a 98 though)
English:
A on the essay
Physics:
92 on test (not happy with it, but since I waited for the last minute to study, not bad)
5:26 pm
*thats
There’s nothing like college to knock you down a peg and lower your grade expectations. I haven’t even sniffed an A in any one class since I’ve gotten here, and I’m finishing up my 7th semester (3 1/2 year).
Random tidbit…the moves the Orioles have been making this offseason, you kind of have to give them a hand for at least trying. Solidifying the bullpen, adding a solid outfielder…if their rotation pans out this year (instead of just Erik Bedard), they might be pretty formidable. A good 4th place team, but still formidable.
Dan Patrick was reporting today on interest in Pavano. The conversation went something like this:
Patrick: The Cardinals are interested and they’ve requested his medical records.
Olbermann: A 6-boxcar train is now on its way from New York to St. Louis.
Patrick: What could the Cardinals be offering that might interest the Yankees?
Olbermann: For Pavano? The statue of Stan Musial.
Swo, what’s your major?
swo, what does colgate offer, I litterally only know about your hockey team.
Vince, fresh breath and sparkling white teeth?
haha I suppose.
Great, so I just noticed that Case Western has a 61/39 male to female ratio. That school was high on my list too.
Andy, someone on a blog chastised other bloggers suggesting there are no more Pavano jokes.
That is like saying there are no more grains of sand on the Sahara.
Is Olberman still on ESPN? When I watched it way back he was one of the best. I also liked Dan Patrick and the guy who used to follow Letterman.
Vince how is your back. I really think you should see a doctor, or at least a nurse.
A naughty nurse.
Oops.
Guess I’ll answer both questions. I’m a history major in a relatively small history department with good professors. Colgate is pretty much your typical liberal arts college, not quite at the level of Williams or Amherst, but we’re up there. I haven’t checked the Princeton Review lately, but…yeah. We’ve got English majors galore, but otherwise a pretty healthy mix of the sciences, social sciences, and other humanities stuff (foreign languages, art, music, etc.)
In 2003 our football team made it to the Division I-AA championships, but got pretty handily beaten. Still, it was a heck of a time getting there. Even at home in NJ I was getting remarks about Colgate football whenever I wore Colgate gear. Other than that, I haven’t really paid attention to the other sports up here…Yankees-Red Sox gets more attention because of the distance from both NYC and Boston (both a 4+ hour drive away).
Olbermann does not have his own ESPN show, but is on Dan Patrick’s radio show regularly, every Tuesday I think. His “Countdown” news/commentary show on MSNBC TV is fabulous.
Here’s an interesting take on the Pettitte or Lilly decision:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/hotstove06/columns/story?columnist=klapisch_bob&id=2693725
And from a Japanese paper:
As happy as Lions fans would be to have Matsuzaka for another year or so, the nation of Japan would be devastated.
If the sheer embarrassment of the nation’s hero being thrown back like an undersized trout is not enough to spark a showdown between Red Sox Nation and Japan, the fact that Japan’s loss of tax revenue would be 2.4 billion yen ($20.65 million), just might do it.
Although Boras might think nothing of causing an international incident of these proportions, Matsuzaka is unlikely to be a party to it.
Expect him to sign and to be in Boston come April.
Jim Allen covers baseball for The Daily Yomiuri in Japan.
Paul I saw a doctor today, they put me on some sort of muscle relaxer. Here’s the catch, I can’t really take it during the day until thursday after my finals because it makes me drowsy and I need to study, sometimes you just can’t win. He thinks it’s spasms and a little twisted or something.
Yeah swo I know what you mean, i’m 2 hours inbetween both cities, redsox and yankee rivalry runs deep here.
Thanks, Andy. I don’t have cable but I frequent Olbermann’s MSNBC site to see clips from “Countdown.”
It is a great show including his rants and the Worst Person in the World segments.
I agree. Without getting too deeply into politics, let’s just say he’s a refreshing change from the majority of the news/commentary shows out there.
Thanks for the feedback on MLB2k6. Swo, I have Haren in my Yankee rotation and he is actually doing pretty well for me–he’s my No. 4, but all things considered, he’s pretty good. I think I hate that Wang doesn’t have his sinker the most. It completely defeats the excitement I had over getting a game with him in the majors.
Jorge, I am also a GameCube user…I hate that we don’t have the Show! MVP 2005 is by EA Sports right? I like that one too, except the “soundtrack” annoys me, lol.
Nothing really new went on in baseball today…Kenny Lofton to the Rangers pending a physical..*yawn* lol
if you have i believe mvp 2005, u have heard the song finding out true love is blind, well the edited version at least….I met that band, they were awesome.
In The Show, when it got to the trading deadline, the game didn’t have Cory Lidle and it wouldn’t let me aquire Bobby Abreu so I deleted the season and made a career for myself haha.
after winning the world series handily, i chose brandon webb in free agency along with baez, greg norton and johnny gomes…..utter destruction. Mussina retired though
it was weird, wang was terrible the first season which would be 2006. 13-9 4.80 era. This season, 16-2 2.98 era at the moment.
it’s amazing to me how prevalent the selling of adirol is on college campuses. Especially during finals.
My starting rotation in my MVP 2005 (EA Sports)
1- Randy Johnson 10-2; 1.25
2- Mike Mussina 9-2; 2.50
3- Carl Pavano 11-1; 1.15
4- Andy Pettitte 5-5; 3.20
5- Esteban Loaiza 10-2; 2.10
Of course, these stats are really near from the stats they all have in my game. I do not have that brilliant mind to keep all those “fantasy” numbers.
As you can see, I’ve got Esteban Loaiza. And in my pen there is another mexican: Ricardo Rincón. My NYY have played exactly 61 games (50-11). And Alex Rodríguez has been awesome. 37 HR and 79 RBI’s. And there are 101 games left…………
From Ken Rosenthal of why Pettitte isn’t a http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6259574bargain….
**isn’t a bargain….sorry….
lol russ, that link doesn’t work.
Clearly there is Pettitte karma around this blog.
Dan Patrick was reporting today on interest in Pavano. The conversation went something like this:
Patrick: The Cardinals are interested and they’ve requested his medical records.
Olbermann: A 6-boxcar train is now on its way from New York to St. Louis.
Patrick: What could the Cardinals be offering that might interest the Yankees?
Olbermann: For Pavano? The statue of Stan Musial.
Posted by: ataustin@aol.com | December 11, 2006 05:48 PM
I have sore ribs that will take 6-8 weeks to heal. I think that after **** over this post, they will now take 6-8 MONTHS to heal!
Hey Vince, I have been on muscle relaxers before. They really knock you out. No drinking on those.
Mike were you in Pavano’s car when you got that rib injury? If that’s the case it could take you 6-8 years to heal.
haha yeah that was really ***************, Mike, that was my fear, this is such a joke, I can’t take them until I sleep when it won’t matter because I have to study.
I didn’t open it up, but I can read the e-mail through Properties/Message Source. This one is funny.
Good day Yankeefan1!!
Three are no needed tests, classes, books, or interviews !
Obtain a_Bachleors, Masters., MBA, and Doctorate (PhD) diploma.
Matser the perks and high regard_that comes wit ha.diploma !
Not a single person is turned odwn
Copmlete Anonymity made
First of all, I have a college degree. Considering how this idiot spells, maybe he or she could use one!
These finals, mixed with my physical situation, are making me downright vicious and angry right now. I am so livid.
Besides Lofton, the only other major move I saw was Jose Mesa going to the Tigers. Anywhere where there is no Vizquel will be fine by Mesa.
Pete’s blog states that the Miranda deal isn’t finalized and that there may be evidence that he is 25, not 23.
lol wow that was quick.
here’s some minor trivia, who was known as junior smoke when Jose Mesa was known as smoke as a closer of the indians?
u have heard the song finding out true love is blind, well the edited version at least….I met that band, they were awesome.
Posted by: yankeevmm@yahoo.com | December 11, 2006 07:49 PM
Who is the band? I may recognize it easier by the band name than the song name.
BTW, I’m really sorry about your back and finals and all.. one at a time is bad enough, both at once? auurgh! I hope everything gets better for you soon!
Mike Jackson?
Jorge, nice 51-11 record there in MLB 2k6, LOL. Don’t you love that about these video games? I think my current record is like 60-13. Giambi has nearly 50 HR and we’re only in July. If only real life could mirror that!
The 13 losses are all my boyfriend’s fault, BTW. I win all my games! He abuses his starters so badly that I had to write him Jeff’s Guide to Bullpen Management. LOL, just sayin, not being overly competitive w/him or anything…who me? 😀
good job alex haha……..Louis XIV….thanks gina, yeah it’s a pain in the *** but I hate complaining about it, it is just frustrating that something ridiculous and out of my control happens to me during every finals (bronchitis first semester last year and a pulled groin last semester)
I looked up the 1997 Indians, and the late Aurilio Lopez was known as Senor Smoke.
I’d have to guess the same as Alex here–Mike Jackson?
oh it was lopez? Leave it to mike to correct my own trivia question and still get the same answer I was thinking….Yeah Jackson was the setup man, that was a nasty duo, especially the 110 win team that did not lose two in a row the entire season until they played the yankees.
That s*cks Vince. I had to get my wisdom teeth pulled once during finals. Makes you think God has a cruel sense of timing huh?!
duo and team*
yeah seriously, I wish I could just make a list of eligible physical shortcoming weekends.
Haha I cheated though Vince I looked at the 97 Indians stats.
My fault. The Lopez on the 1997 Indians was ALBIE Lopez. Was he the Junior Smoke? Could have been.
As for Aurelio Lopez, he was retired by then. He was Senor Smoke and was on the 1984 Tigers. He became a sheriff but was tragically killed in an auto accident. He was just 44.
Here is a trivia Question. You may have read it this week.
Name the only pitcher since 1930 to win 12 or more games in each of his first 9 years in the majors.
That’s awful
I always thought Jose Mesa, the closer, was senor smoke and Mike Jackson the setup man (both had awesome sliders) was junior smoke? I do remember the yankees were the only team to have any sort of solid record at jacobs field that year.
I also remember a game where hte yankees lead 9-5 in the 9th and carlos baerga capped a 5 run rally with a base hit to give the indians a 10-9 win, I was so upset.
Andy Pettitte.
Exactly. It is Andy.
You guys know that you can increase the difficulty of your baseball games, don’t you? I mean, going 130-30 can’t possibly be fun for long……
How come boston fans and anti pettitte fans point out his 4.20 era but ignore the 2.80 after the asb and ignore the fact his era was 2.39 in 2005? Pettitte had some nasty, nasty years, I think we will see something similar to 2001 this season, except less losses since he will have more run support this year.
15 wins, 3.99 era 200 innings.
and mind u that 2.39 era was after his injury shortened 2004 when he was 6-4 and pitched 86 innings.
Just makes me sort of angry that we gave away a 30 year old home grown with 4 rings, a history of playoff success, a lefty and a two time 20 game winner coming off a 21 win season in 2003. There is no excuse for that, we would have never had guys like brown wright or pavano if we held onto him I think, and clemens would have never gone to houston
Vince, because it is Boston fans. They have so little to hold on to in their lifetime other than 2004.
Their team has more question marks than the Riddler’s costume in Batman, so they lift themselves up by knocking the Yankees.
Anyone hear whether the Yankees tendered Aaron Guiel a contract? Is tomorrow the deadline?
As I mentioned on the show last night, there is a big difference between LF at MinuteMaid Park and LF at Yankee Stadium.
I think tomorrow, Paul.
Mark, I read your mail blog, but I have a question and a concern about Jesus Montero the future of Yankees catching. This article at Baseballamerica.com says,”The Yankees reportedly gave another international player $2 million this year, but reports on Jesus Montero have not been good ever since the Yankees signed him for that amount in July. Montero has been dogged by rumors that he fudged his age or worse, and sources had indicated for weeks that his contract was under review by the commissioner’s office at the Yankees’ request.
Newman confirmed that the Yankees and Montero, a Venezuelan catcher with prodigious power potential, had “long, involved” negotiations. He would not comment on the value of Montero’s signing bonus, but said one source’s information–that Montero’s bonus had been restructured to $1.3 million–was not correct. His only on the record comment was that “there is no age issue” with Montero, who struggled in the Yankees’ fall mini-camp.” This is a big concern concidering that Posada is done after this year. Why not bring Jesus up as our backup catcher this year and break him in and hope he can be the next Justin Mornea-and what do you see the Yankees doing if Jesus is not ready?
Before that article, montero scared me as a catching prospect as many thought he was simply too big and bulky to be an effective defensive catcher.
However, as a 1B he might have all the right tools to be a Ryan Howard-George Scott type player.
So I was thinking that at 16 he is unlikely to be ready at the major league level until 5 years hence, maybe starting out as catcher and moving to 1B.
But now the article casts doubt on his age, but does not suggest whether he is possibly older or younger than 16.
Mark, I went back and read the mailbag. Montero turned 17 in, I believe, August.
If I remember correctly, the player signed has to turn 17 before the end of that season. It’s been a while since I read the rule, so I may not be 100% accurate, but I think that is it.
Yes, I found something. I edited the rest out, but here is the age rule:
Teams are eligible to sign 16-year-old international players, except those from Puerto Rico and Cuba, if the player will turn 17 before September.
As I mentioned, I believe Montero turned 17 (if he didn’t lie about his age) in August.
So Mike, that could only mean he may have been 15 and not 16. Otherwise it was not the other way around wherein he was 17 pretending to be 16.
He could be older than 17… most scouts were leery of his size, thinking he was too big to be a catcher. Already 6’3″ and 220.
It sounds funny that there would be a beef if he were in fact, a few years older, but I think the beef would be in potential…at 17, he’d have it. If he lied and is actually, say 22, then you wonder if he has already “peaked”.
I read about the awful minicamp, too. When he was signed, he was projected immediately to be the #1 catcher in the system.
From what I’ve read, he is supposed to have “Piazza-type” power.
Why do I have a mental image of Baby Huey right now?
http://www.gpdesenhos.com.br/imagens/outros/outros/babyhuey2.jpg
Two things…first, Montero is going to lose weight. That isn’t even an issue. He NEEDS to lose at least 10 pounds to be able to move quickly enough to be a catcher. If he does so then his size shouldn’t be a terrible issue. It’s not like it’s Bartolo Colon behind the plate.
Second…Vince, you said: “Just makes me sort of angry that we gave away a 30 year old home grown with 4 rings, a history of playoff success, a lefty and a two time 20 game winner coming off a 21 win season in 2003.”
I’m almost positive that we never “gave away” Andy Pettitte. His leaving was definitely painful, but it wasn’t the FO’s fault. He took a pay cut to play in Houston, remember? His family was the main issue back then.
all i remember about the negotiations was pettitte was offered 3 year 39 million by the yankees and 4 year 52 million by houston…not a paycut but an extra year offered by houston made him leave…I could be wrong.
all i remember about the negotiations was pettitte was offered 3 year 39 million by the yankees and 4 year 52 million by houston…not a paycut but an extra year offered by houston made him leave…I could be wrong.
We’ve been through all this before, but – at the time there was some he said/she said dispute, but the most credible account was that the Yankees took it for granted that he was coming back and didn’t pursue him very hard. The Astros did, and by the time the Yankees figured out he wasn’t “in the bag” he had verbally agreed to Houston’s offer.
Swo, can’t agree with you there. The front office was supposedly not even in touch with Pettitte’s people during the exclusive negotiating period. They just presumed he would renew without asking.
Now maybe it was all spin, but it seemed very true at that time that the Yankees just dropped the ball.
This all sounds like speculation and what people “seem to recall” or whatnot. Granted, my own testimony isn’t much better, but I find it absurd that the Yankees would let Pettitte get away when they knew for sure that Clemens was leaving. Am I wrong?
I was following it pretty closly at the time, Swo. I couldn’t believe it either. Funny thing is it seems teams often under-value their own players, or assume they’ll be back, and don’t pursue them as hard as they do other teams’ free agents.
Swo, maybe you forget that at that time the Yankees were also totally embroiled in the who is in charge fiasco. The Tampa and New York factions were at war and there was no master plan at all.
I, too, followed it closely as best as I could at the time and losing Andy, I think, was one of the greatest failure of the Cashman administration. Yet I am not sure if Cashman was the one who failed at all.
I was checking this blog out. Once you get past the name, there are some very in-depth profiles of Yankee prospects. You may want to give it a look.
We all gush over Hughes. You have read my reports on Betances. This guy gushes over Betances.
Oops.
Here is the link.
http://firetorre.blogspot.com/
More than anyone else I hope Joba Chamberlain is a beast of a pitcher. I so want to have a pitcher named Joba along with an outfielder named Melky.
Those are both really cool names.
Well, I had an interesting day. Got hauled to the assistant principal’s office regarding the editorial I wrote last week. I wasn’t in trouble, they just wanted some clarifications and had me talk to a lunch lady. An effective use of my Spanish class.
I have precalc and AP World tests tomorrow, and am missing part of Spanish again for orchestra. I will be at school two hours early for Knowledge Bowl and stay late for Amnesty International. What fun.
The good news about signing Miranda: no Hillenbrand. Yay! I’m sure one of the 4 first base options will end up working out.
Aha. That’s something I forgot about. The FO was overrun by Steinbrenner’s cronies back then. Suddenly I’m not surprised, and I can rest somewhat assured that Brian Cashman is probably not entirely to blame for “letting Pettitte get away.”
Got to say, you have to love the B*tching and moaning on Red Sox blogs regarding the Matsuzaka situation. Although they will probably strike a deal, wouldn’t it be great if they don’t and next year when Matsuzaka is an unrestricted free agent he comes to the Yankees?
OMG, that would beat all!
wow, he thinks bruney will be traded? I think he’s full of it. He also had five guys ranked above Sanchez….I can only hope.
I think, Mike, it would not be earlier than 2 years from now for him to be unrestricted.
By then it will be Hughes, Wang, Joba, Santana, and Igawa.
That is if he is not signed. I think he will be.
Today I saw someone in the hallway with a Red Sox shirt on and had to restrain myself from asking him how the Matsuzaka negotiations were going. Hehehe.
Did you see Boras’ comment that Matsuzaka was worth $100 million or more…
that on top of the $51.1 million posting fee.
This is getting very interesting.
Remember the earlier post Andy made about the Cardinals interest in Pavano?
Do you think we can get the Clydesdales for him?
Those are big horses.
There is an Annheuser Busch brewery in Nashua, NH, which I have been to many times. (They give out FREE BEER!)
I am a bit of a beer snob but I am able to sublimate those opinions in the face of FREE BEER.
Oh, yeah, sometimes they have had one of the Busch teams of Clydesdales on the property so people could get to see and talk with their handlers.
They are truly huge, magnificent animals.
paul i resent your recent praise of clydesdales being “magnificent animals”, as my late brother was trampled by a pack of rabid clydesdales.
The Red Sox said on the call they also intend to sign Masumi Kuwata, a 38-year-old right-hander who has spent 21 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants.
Desperate for relief help, eh?
Schilling, Wakefield, and this guy, and rumors of Clemens and they call our staff old?
I believe the saying is “takes one to know one”.
Hold on to that Thompson for Marte rumor.
NY Post reporting that the Red Sox and Yanks have interest in Pirate reliever Mike Gonzalez. He wouldn’t come cheaply, though.
Gonzalez, a lefty, was 24/24 in save opportunities last year until tendonitis ended his season on Aug. 24. He is believed to be healthy. He is 28 and was 3-4, 2.17 with the 24 saves last year. 64 K in 52 innings. Gave up just 42 hits.
For his MLB career, he is 7-9, 2.37 with 183 Ks in 155 2/3 innings.
Sounds more like the Red Sox are desperate to not forsake the Asian market. Everyone knows that if they lowball Matsuzaka they’re going to lose that market for a long time. Like the captain said in Super Troopers, “desperation is a stinky cologne”.
Mike Gonzalez was definitely a bright spot on an awful season for the Pirates. That said, I doubt the Pirates want to give him up so readily. But I wonder if we can send them Thompson and Matt DeSalvo…that would be a pretty sweet deal.
Actually, the Post reported that it would probably take a 3-way deal with possibly Atlanta involved. The Bucs like LaRoche, but the Braves would want probably Proctor and someone else (Melky?) from Yanks.
Yanks would need more than just Gonzalez to give up Proctor and Melky.
Red Sox have dangled Crisp, but it would take more than Crisp for Braves to make the 3-way deal.
Seattle is close to sign Miguel Batista. It would be a three year deal.
Rangers did sign Eric Gagne. 1 year-8 million
And according to MLB.com, Rangers had a meeting with Mark Mulder
Hey, Mark. I think we need a new thread
8 mil for a guy who has hardly pitched since 2004.
Clock still ticking on Boston. It’s obvious that they misread what the market would be after their ridiculous winning posting bid. They could have won the bid at $40 mil instead of $51.1. Do you think they would like to have that $11.1 to put into Matsuzaka’s contract?
Yeah, if the deal involves Proctor then it makes no sense. Why trade a proven American League East set up guy for a National League set up guy? That just sounds like your asking for trouble.
Proctor and Melky for González????????? I wouldn’t trade Proctor and Melky for the entire Pirate’s team.
I think only way I could trade both of them is if we get Albert Pujols and a top prospect
But I’m not sure Cardinals would accept
Hold on to that Thompson for Marte rumor
Posted by: yankeefan1@enter.net | December 12, 2006 11:09 AM
Mike, do you mean Andy Marte? This is the first I’ve heard of any such rumor, but I have long been an advocate of trading for either Victor Martinez or Andy Marte to become our new 1b. Obviously Martinez is a much better hitter, but Marte would come much cheaper and can also play 3b on ARod’s days off.. then we’d only have to keep one of Guiel or Phillips to play 1st on the days Marte plays 3rd. I hope this rumor is true! Where did you hear it?
I am not interested in trading Melky and Proctor for this Pirate either. Really, I can’t envision many deals in which I *would* be okay with dealing Melky AND Proctor.
And yep, looks like Rangers got Gagne…what pray tell are the S*x going to do about a closer? Craig Hansen? Hehehehe. Manny Delcarmen? Hahahaha. Mike Timlin? *snort*
Damaso Marte.
gina, he meant demaso marte I think, the reliever.
Thanks for the clarification guys.
There is a mystery in the agreement with the Cuban 1B Miranda.
Mark Feinsand wrote in an article that Brian Cahsman said “We have nothing to announce”
I wouldn’t mind if the Yankees went after Mulder, offering him a heavy incentive deal for 2 or 3 with about $3 or $4 million/year guarenteed…this guy used to be a premier pitcher, and he’s still just 29…I know he’s been injured but any thoughts? Also, does anyone else agree he looks like Nick Stokes from CSI?
Sorry, busy job searching.
No Gina, the Marte I talked about was answered above by Swo. Lefty reliever Damaso Marte, who once was in the Yanks system. He spent a few years with the White Sox and helped them win the title in 2005 before going to the Pirates last year.
The show this Sunday will have a guest.
That website I mentioned yesterday with prospect reports? Ty contacted the guy who runs that and we will have him on for a while to talk about the prospects.
News from a web blog on 11/16:
Christian Garcia was mysteriously scratched and removed from the roster in Hawaii last
week, and no one seems to know why.
Now today a friend of mine, Josh “The Yankee Truth” sent me this message:
YANKEES PROSPECT CHRISTIAN GARCIA WILL PROBABLY MISS NEXT SEASON DUE TO ELBOW
SURGERY ?
Well, we wait and see what’s up and what the report is.
Mike, is this the one you mean?
I was checking this blog out. Once you get past the name, there are some very in-depth profiles of Yankee prospects. You may want to give it a look.
Posted by: yankeefan1@enter.net | December 11, 2006 11:18 PM
I got past the blog name okay (even though I disagree), but I just about choked at the name of the blogger.
Yes, that’s the one. I told our host, Ty, that the guy (I had no clue who is was) that ran it had some nice profiles on prospects and told him that he may want to check it out. He did and thought enough to invite the guy onto the next show to discuss the youngsters. I couldn’t believe it when I saw the last name, either.
As the Moody Blues sang,
Isn’t Life Strange.
This guy actually writes coherently, unlike …
I’d have to ask Ty if we are going to have guests on during Spring Training from our divisional opponents. We had people on before that cover Toronto, Tampa Bay, Boston and Baltimore for 20 min. or so segments just to give a glimpse at the moves they have done and how they think they look heading into the season. Some of the interviews were quite good and informative regarding our divisional rivals. I’ll send an e-mail to Ty and see if come Spring training if we do it again.
One thing I should point out come Spring training is that one member of our club works for the Yanks in Tampa during Spring Training. We do plan on getting him to call the show like we did last year so that he can give his take on what he sees down in Tampa.
what is the last name?
nvm i found it
Moody Blues reference….nice. Seventh Sojourn, I believe?
Alex, re: Mark Mulder looking like Nick Stokes.. I don’t watch CSI so when I read that, my first thought was, no way Nick Stokes could be anywhere NEAR as hawt as Mark Mulder. But, after Googling, I stand corrected! Thanks for the heads-up on the eye candy!! LOL
Haha no problem Gina. I bet you’re gonna watch the show now…
mmm nicola pisano the relief of the nativity. 13th century
LOL yup, I think it’s pretty safe to say that CSI just acquired a new viewer!
lol so, staying in true form, I took the medicine prescribed to me for my back last night at around 2am when i went to sleep, and it stayed in my system for 12 hours and did everything it said it would (make me drowsy, irritable) except make my back feel better hahaha.
so, no more taking that…..I once had my stomach scoped for a seliac test and i was tired for two days.
Interesting–with the same guys they had wanted to get Garland with (Tavares, Hirsh and Buchholz), the Astros instead get Jason Jennings from the Rockies and a minor leaguer.
with gagne signed, besides dotel are there any closers left without trading? I sense a Crisp trade before the offseason ends, which essentially means replacing a guy with a higher ceiling (crisp) with a guy like lugo.
Speaking of that Garland deal, did we ever find out exactly what the last-minute snag was that stopped it from getting done? Initial reports on it were vague and I kind of stopped paying attention once Pettitte’s return was announced.
The White Sox said that Buchholz failed a physical.
Gina, the White Sox didn’t like what they saw of Buchholz’ physical.
I’ll check my F.A. list on closers.
Ahh okay. The Phillies didn’t sign Borowski for the same reason. Although, another team (Indians I think?) did turn around and sign him after that. At least that’s a mistake we know we won’t be making again anytime soon!
I’m still thinkin Mulder would be a good idea to add depth, it’s just a question of price.
*…or trade for Borowski as the case may be…think it was a FA signing but I’m too lazy and rushed to look it up 🙂
Heading out for a while, check you all lata!
“One of the drawbacks of the posting process is the possibility a cunning player would manipulate the system to establish his minimum market value in the majors.
By refusing to sign, a player could return to Japan and demand the posting fee — money that would have gone to his team — as the starting point in his negotiations upon becoming a free agent.
In Matsuzaka’s case, this would require him to wait until after the 2008 season. Barring any of the breakdowns after age 27 that historically have plagued pitchers with similar workloads, Matsuzaka would then be able to claim $51.1 million as the absolute minimum for signing him. And in this case, all the money would go to the player and none to his former team. “-espn.com
Yes, the Indians got Borowski.
There was a rumor about the Yanks having interest in Dustin Hermanson, and Boston may look into him, but he missed most of last year w/injury. Troy Percival had injury problems and is expected to retire. Steve Karsay retired. Eddie Guardado had elbow surgery and is probably done–he’ll miss all of 2007 at least. From what I see, Dan Kolb is available, he used to close before he went to Atlanta, flopped, and was sent back to Milwaukee.
Other than that, someone would have to make a setup man like Felix Rodriguez or Arthur Rhodes and types like that a closer.
lol i hope the sox get arthur rhodes, he has a habit of being star struck when he faces the yankees.
If the Red Sox fail to sign D-mat they’ll have to keep Papelbon in the rotation…so they’ll need to use an internal option at closer. They could also give that bullpen by comitee another try…haha
OMG I’d really like to see the Yankees bomb Rhodes next season. For a strange reason I hate seeing him pitch. Never could figure out why, though.
I would be so happy if the Sox fail to sign Matsuzaka. I would flat out die laughing.
Wait, let me not jinx it.
cause u know I was OPP help from the very start come on now ill tell u what its all about when u get down u cant go runnin off at the mouth thats rule number 1 opp in this establishment u close ur mouth and it wont get back to u or him.
her*
Yanks didn’t offer a contract to Aaron Guiel. Maybe this is a sign that Bernie will stay with us for one more year beeing the 5th outfielder
I don’t know about that, Jorge. I think it depends on if the Yanks keep Kevin Thompson or make that trade.
Others non-tendered include Alexis Gomez of the Tigers, and Chris Reitsma and Marcus Giles of the Braves.
It’ll be interesting to see who goes after Giles.
Maybe Padres, according to MLB.com would get Marcus Giles to play with his brother, Brian.
And about Bernie, I agree with you. It’s between him and Thompson
I’m wondering if the Gagne signing means Akinori Otsuka might be traded to the Red Sox. The guy was lights-out as a closer last year, and he was every Yankee fan’s favorite because 2 of his blown saves came against the Yankees. Still, makes you wonder why the Rangers would trade him in the first place. Putting way too much trust in Gagne, in my opinion…
Regardless, I’m sitting here thinking…what the **** are the Red Sox doing?
Swo I think you answered your own question. I doubt they give sole possession of the closer job to Gagne, without otsuka in there as a setup man in case gagne is injured. I doubt the sox get Otsuka, especially since texas would want pitching, something the sox are yet to add to in their already thin bullpen and if they don’t sign dmat they have no starters to give away either.
And it would be another japanese to the Red Flops. Remember, Swo, that Schilling is learning how to speak in japanese
LOL…yeah, that would just be further proof that the Red Sox are saying “Look! Look! We really like Japanese people! See? See??” Overcompensating in case Matsuzaka isn’t signed. They know darn well they risk losing the Asian market…
Jorge, did you celebrate the Feast of Juan Diego? I know about Our Lady of Guadalupe (the American Shrine is near me) and I know the Feast of Juan Diego was just a few days ago.
I can’t even express how excited i will be if this thing falls through. Not only does it weaken the sox and take away the centerpiece of an otherwise subpar offseason (they would have upgraded their ? in right with a ? and replaced their gg ss with a sloppy offensive upgrade and would have gained exactly one potentially decent reliever to add to their awful bullpen and no closer or setup man) but, I would be so excited to read how every single sox fan that said this was the say all end all pitcher of the universe and can dominate mlb to the beat of 20-25 wins in his first season, would then claim he would have been a major flop and wasn’t worth it and how boras is evil.
And i’d giggle because to this point it would mean we gained a 3 starter and they gained nothing in a rotation that was worse than ours to begin with. As far as I’m concerned, if this deal falls through, which I still doubt, then all they did was weaken their bullpen and gain nothing in their rotation compared to ours. Therefore they would have weakened the only thing they had going for them, pitching. Now if only they would trade manny
No, Mike. But we will have tonight a great celebration, since today is Her day. I mean, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. I will assist to a mass at 7:30 local time (8:30 ET). And after the mass, we will stay near the church and have a huge celebration. This is a very important day for us, catholic mexicans.
I have a non-baseball related question. Sorry to interupt the flow.
On saturday I’m going to go buy an iPod and I don’t know which one to get. At first I wanted the video iPod since my brother has it and I’d like some videos on it, but to me it looks more like a boy iPod because its a little big. Which do you guys think I should get? Thanks
And talking about festivities, how was your Club’s party? I believe you celebrated the Pettitte’s return
Lo siento, Elizabeth, pero no sé nada acerca de I-pods. Mis hijos tienen los suyos, pero la verdad, ni idea de qué tipo sean
liz, it depends, what is ur main reason for getting one? Do you have the potential to have a lot of music on it, is it for hardrive purposes, aesthetics, or mainly for videos?
Elizabeth, it depends on how many songs you want to put on it. I would recommend the 30GB video iPod which holds 7,500 songs, it’s the best value. If you don’t expect to have that many songs, they have an assortment of iPod nano’s which are 2GB, 5GB, and 8GB I think. The 8GB holds around 1,000 songs.
There’s more information here:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/61314001/wa/PSLID?nnmm=ipod&mco=9B42A06C&wosid=RP4q6ALM4Nm62DO9wI91oH5gGyE
lol yes, Alex was getting at what I was getting at. The nanos are where you will find the varieties of colors and “girly” looking ones, or else yours will more than likely be white, but I think you can get any color case for it…..mine holds 5000 songs, and I am completely content with it. I am also getting a new one for christmas because after three years mine died.
iPod’s are about the only thing dealing with computers which I have any remote knowledge about, I’m pretty much lost when it comes to anything else.
Yes, I went to Mass the night before so I could fulfill the holyday obligation so that I could go to our party. Very nice. Finding out about Andy’s return just an hour before the party led to a very festive atmosphere.
alex got at what i was getting at*
ever consider working at a bermuda best buy wireless section alex?
jtorre, nice spanish. Where did you say you were from?
Vince, that’s the thing. I have no idea. I love music (in specific spanish songs, even more specific, reggaeton songs) so its going to have a lot of songs on it. Videos would be nice but they’re not really neccesary.
Vince, did you have a 20GB? That’s the one I have…It died on friday but I brought it back to life by,no joke, dropping it on the ground 3 times. I’ve had it for almost 2 years so maybe I’ll be able to get some more use out of it.
Vince, I would if we had Best Buy here haha.
Thanks btide.
I was leaning towards the 30 GB. Thats the one my bro has.
haha alex I’ve never heard of that before. If the 40 gb is the biggest, mine is 20, i know it based on how much it holds not the size if that makes sense. I know mine holds 5000 songs, seeing as I have around 2000, i’m still content.
Yeah it is only supposed to last 1-2 years, mine lasted just short of three.
Elizabeth, it sounds to me like you should consider the 20 gb 5000 song one. The nanos only hold 1000 songs I believe, which is roughly 15-20 cds. Not much.
Unless you are like my friend who owns 450 cds, the 40 gb 10,000 song ipod is not very economic. I am not positive oif there are any 20 gb video ipods, my dad might have one….I havent worked at best buy for 10 months so i’m sort of out of the loop….You can ask me about bank security or atm cards though, I’m all about that.
Oh dear, it’s about time for me to get that 80 GB iPod. My 30 GB is nearly full (~4770 songs) and at the rate I’m acquiring music, I’m set to go over very soon. The video function is pretty good, but it is a music player first and foremost.
the 30 gb would work too, it is just obviously more expensive.******** alex i don’t know what i would do with no best buy near me….if you ever do live near one, I highly suggest working there…the discounts range from decent to outrageously awesome.
Vince, they only sell the regular iPods in 30 GB and 80 GB now. I think they got rid of the 60 and 40.
I’m from Yucatán, México, Elizabeth
Sorry to ask again but btide what was your name again? I s*uck at names. The only one that I know is Vince because he was the first person I talked to when I first got here. I’m going to have to write them down. Sorry.
***….that is absurd. Man I am really out of the loop on ipods then.***** Apple. What does 80 gb hold, 20,000?
lol Liz has a crush on me….take that alex!
Vince, I was actually thinking of working at a Best Buy as there are several in my area. Hopefully if I end up going elsewhere for college, there will be one nearby. I spend most of my money there aside from the paintball shop.
It all depends on the quality of the songs, so the range could be anywhere from 15,000 to 20,000.
andrew, I get the feeling best buys intentionally try to plant themselves near college campuses seeing as teenagers and wealthy middle aged white men are their biggest customers.
It is definitely a job tailer made for a college student….they don’t give u cell phone or ipod discounts but the headphones i’m wearing right now are 16 dollars and they gave it to me for 1.98. Large purchases like TV’s and speakers and whatnot could be trimmed by nearly 50%
Well, I’m not sure I’m much of a salesperson but I’d like to give it a try.
and I worked in media, so hot girls were always near.
So, if you’re correct, then you, me, and Mark should be very happy at Best Buy.
hmmm…Vince I can’t say I don’t….but I can’t say I do either. lol
OK so we’re gonna have to do another run down on everyone’s names. So I guess btide is Alex??
nah don’t even worry about it, you don’t make commission unless you work magnolia which is not even at every store…..if you work in media you just learn stuff (im sure u already know a lot seeing as you have a large musical collection) and then help the customer figure out what they want. The rss computer system does the majority of the work and you get the credit…..You could also do something like inventory where you don’t even deal with people.
and assuming u go to school in the north, you’ll prob make between 8-10 dollars an hour. Not sure what you’re used to, but for me that was a big step from 2.13 as a waiter with tips. Now of course, the bank was another step up.
$2.13??
Wow Vince you were broke. lol
My parents think being a waiter would be good for me, but I don’t think I can handle completely tooling myself to other people.
I have a pen and paper ready. Any time now.
My name is Jorge, Elizabeth
haha well with tips it was between 6-12 dollars an hour. The problem with waiting is 3 things: 1. it is almost all cash so it is very hard to save any of it. 2. like andrew’s fear, you’re basically somebodies *****. I didn’t mind it except when you have 5-6 tables at once and everybody expects u to pay the most attention to them and your ice cream people don’t show up to work you’re up ***** creek and instead of getting one bad tip you’re getting 5 of them and everybody is pissed off, you’re sweating from stress and then the manager tells you to refill the ketchups. You also never sit.
3. you’re trying to entice people to kill themselves. I worked at friendlys, known for their ice cream, you know the moral weight it is when a family of 3 obese people makes TWELVE ice cream orders? You feel like satan accepting their request.
Waiting was not for me, and andrew, if that is your mindset before you give it t a try, it is not for you either. I feel like everybody should try it so the next time you see some 16 year old trying to get some spending money and peace of mind, you don’t necessarily rip him a new one if he screws up your hot chocolate, but it is not glamarous, at least not at a place like that.
Most of the mistakes you blame on the server, like the food taking too long, or the wrong side order is actually the kitchen’s fault and not theirs. And when you’re making 2 bucks an hour, it is important people realize that.
Yeah that sounds about right. Whenever I go to restaurants, I see many Vince-types hurrying back and forth.
Vince, but there was a lot of flirting, right??
hahah yeah see. I’d rather be in a job where i’m on the customers level but they still need my help, rather than they control my destiny….I especially like the fact that I have more power than them because I control their money and can look up any info I want on them if I really wanted to.
marksman, your name is…
Lizzy, if you went to a restaurant with friends and u had a studly italian waiter, wouldnt YOU want to be flirted with? A waiter does anything he can to get ahead.
Needless to say girls have much much more luck and my tips mainly came from old people….who reward being “cute” with change.
My name is Andrew.
though i used to work with two guys that would compete with each other for the most numbers from girls per shift.
awww, old people telling you you’re cute. thats so cute. did they pinch your cheeks to?? lol
italian. another thing i can jot down right next to everyone’s names.
lol just don’t stalk me without telling me first.
lol no they don’t pinch my cheeks, they ask for their new orleans chicken platter and a sprite with no ice instead.
lol me, stalk you?? you know i wouldn’t do that.
You know I would.
lol all I said is let me know, I welcome stalkers, especially if they aren’t creepy.
No, that is not an oxymoron.
mmm done with my first 93 pages of studying, only 200 more.
Mike, there is something inherently wrong with having someone by that name on the show.
I would not even go to the site until I saw the mention of it tonight because I did not like the site name. Then to see the blogger name. Wow!
Speaking of names, perhaps it is Mexican culture but I did not know a man would be called by a man and woman’s name but I will try to remember your new name Jorge, Elizabeth.
As for being a waiter it was always something I wanted to do because I thought I could be entertaining to the customers. But I am a big time spiller and carrying a tray with liquids or hot food could make me a weapon of mass destruction.
lol paul the best spill story I have is I had an order of 5 waters to bring to a table of 5. It was the daughters b day and this was their first order of the night. As I came over to their table which was litterally right by the kitchen I lost balance of one of the waters and it happened to be the closest one to me on the tray. As I tried to rebalance it it hit the wate rnext to it which in hit the other three and all five waters splashed across the table and right onto the birthday girls lap.
5 people, 45 dollar meal.
1 dollar tip.
lol now that you say its ok, i change my mind, i will stalk you. a smart (i assume), studly italian guy that is a yankee fan… i wouldn’t pass up that opportunity. you said you go to school in new jersey?? (or was that where you grew up, i forget??)
Yeah my name is Alex, sorry about the delay I went to do some other things for a while.
grew up.
You could even call me Alejandro if you felt so inclined….haha.
lol they were really generous.
Yea we’re pretty hard to resist….unfortunately there are about 14,000 on a street in staten island alone….well the ones that go to private school at least, SI education is not exactly for “smart” people.
so you’re not smart??
Vince is a genius, read his blog.
lol I didn’t grow up in Staten Island.
Schilling is learning how to speak in japanese
Posted by: jtorresmesias@hotmail.com | December 12, 2006 07:10 PM
Oh, lawd, poor Matsuzaka. If Schilling was the only person on my team I could speak to, I’d go crazy for sure! LOL
oh, Vince you have your very own blog. what’s the link?
a24, what is your name, if i may ask?
My name is Gina. You’re Elizabeth right? (I read above lol) Nice to “meet” you!
Also, a question for Rob or anyone else who plays MLB 2k6. Why does Wang keep automatically getting dropped from the starting rotation and put into relief? And then this makes Villone a starter. Does anyone else have this problem? How do I stop it from happening?
Posted by: a24diun@yahoo.com | December 11, 2006 01:53 PM
Yeah, I know I’m late with this, but, Gina, looks like your here, so I’ll say something. Yeah, I had the same problem with Wang. It kept making him the long reliever. But I never had Villone become a starter. ‘course, I dumped him early. The game just doesn’t give Wang any credit with stamina, probably because there is a belief that he didn’t make many starts more than 5 or 6 innings last year. No, he doesn’t throw a sinker, but since you develop new pitches, he might. I had him develop one for me, but I didn’t keep it because I already had 5 higher rated pitches.
Then my 4 year old deleted my game and I haven’t taken the time to start a new one. It’s frustrating when you get 3 or 4 seasons in and then have to start all over.
I’ve been tempted to become the Red S*x GM in that game and then see how quickly I can completely ruin the team…..
lol if you’re aware I have a blog, I’m positive you can find the link.
Yeah, my name is Elizabeth.
Vince, this may be my lack of computer expertise, but I don’t know how. lol but don’t really laugh at me.
hahah you’re a very bad stalker…that’s ok, the blog is not baseball related anyway, except when I bashed Ortiz. How did you find out about it anyway?
I mentioned it Vince. I would post the link but it’s not exactly… appropriate should I say for this 100% family-friendly and child-safe site.
lol good decision andrew. Though I have noticed it has started to catch on within its own community. I just hope people that read it realize it exists because what I include on it is not me at all and that is its whole purpose.
But I would still like to know the link.
haha I am a really bad stalker, aren’t I?
lol I just don’t know if you’re old enough to be able to handle it.
andrew had to pass a series of difficult tests, had to take x rays, run in the NY marathon and do 7 backflips without hitting the ground just to get the link.
Actually, you posted it a while back but I like to believe I could do all that.
ohhh, you’re questioning my maturity. I am appalled. I thought we had agreed that you wouldn’t think less of me because of my age way back when I first started posting here. I guess you didn’t mean it back then.
lol nothing to do with maturity, completely has to do with loyalty.
lol I don’t think I can do 7 backflips. I’d probably fall face first on the first try.
Tell her what I had to do to get the link…
Alex, it wouldn’t fit into one post.
loyalty? explain please
what did Alex have to do? (you see I did remember)
That’s true Andrew..
lol omg, in a nutshell for alex.
He had to run 2 miles in 6:30, walk from bermuda to miami, write the english dictionary in swaheli AND identify the difference between orange and burnt orange in a series of 344 different coats, while blindfolded.
lol I’ve been talking to alex and andrew since july. I know all about alex’s love life and andrew’s college stress. I know what andrew likes to do drunk on weekends on his computer (hahahaa) and alex’s favorite movie.
me and alex are myspace friends and me and andrew are facebook friends, we’re tight.
and I even know if paul reads the last comment he will correct me with alex and I and andrew and I.
Paul—I didn’t know his last name, and Ty doesn’t know about the trouble we’ve had with that last name.
Weird, though.
Someone with the same name as me once killed someone where I lived. I had people for days asking me how I was. I had to keep telling them it wasn’t me (the other guy was high on coke and ran a red light). Years later, I met someone at a club I belong to. We both still go there. It was the father of the girl who was killed. One day he asked me my name and he just about went white when I told him. Of course I didn’t know why. Then he told me about his daughter. I had to do all I could to convince him it wasn’t me.
Life is strange.
actually, andrew did u ever make a facebook? I know I’m lola’s friend, and some sox fan on the other blog, I’m not sure about you on 2nd thought.
I’m not using Facebook again until college.
ohh ok, I get it.
So in a few months, after you get to know me a little better, I can have the link?
or is it just that you have a picture of yourself and you don’t want to scare me off? lol
lol andrew, whether you want to succomb to it or not, facebook will own you.
haaaaaaaaaaa, I wouldn’t broadcast this mug all over the net if that was the situation.
What happened to Lola 😦
lol but I’m not so sure about that.
I tried to make a facebook but it was taking to long to register.
Alex, it’s not about the time you spend setting it up, it’s about the time spent on it after you’re done.
lol alex, u musn’t give up on facebook, it saves you so much embarressment from drunken nights.
lol Listen Lizzy, I don’t exactly know what you look like either. Besides 10 years from now everyone will see my on tv anyway.
Tick, Tick, Tick. I have to say, it is funny seeing the spazzing out going on on some Red Sox Blogs.
Schilling learning Japanese. As if he doesn’t talk enough. Now his teammates will have to learn how to say “Shut up!” in Japanese. LOL
lol I’ve been talking to alex and andrew since july. I know all about alex’s love life and andrew’s college stress. I know what andrew likes to do drunk on weekends on his computer (hahahaa) and alex’s favorite movie.
Posted by: yankeevmm@yahoo.com | December 12, 2006 09:05 PM
I clearly must have been drunk since I don’t remember mentioning this lol
When I click register, the page is forever in the loading stage….
lol actually yeah that’s about right andrew.
maybe they know you’re an underclassman haha.
And I am happy to inform you that a picture or even a glance at me will not scare you off. I won’t show anyone any pictures quite yet but I can give a description, if you’re interested that is.
On tv doing what?
Oh well, not as bad as some people I know. One of my friends Brian, he got drunk after 3 beers (THREE!!!) and afterwards we all decided to go to Giant for some reason and while one of us were going around buying stuff, the rest of us were put on Brian-watch. So Brian goes and takes his pants off in the middle of the store and starts climbing on top of the shelves in the aisles and knocking stuff down. We were freaking out trying to get him to stop and put his pants on and while all this was happening we got more than a few stares from old ladies and little children pointing at us. It wasn’t funny then but it sure is now.
lol go for it, it can be the liz intervention on the mark it down blog.
I don’t know, probably exactly what I’m doing right now…or was until we all started to bond…analyzing sports.
Aaron Guiel was non-tendered. Sad, I liked the way he played.
He was not the most talented but he worked hard and was an effective role player.
Mark wrote the story earlier today.
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061212&content_id=1760120&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy
hahaha andrew, my sister gets drunk on 2 mixed drinks….I know a few guys (my diabetic friend for one) whom gets drunk on 2-3 beers. Those people are funny.
Andrew, is your boy Ben an ant? 3 beers!?
I also am kind of upset about guile, but I suppose you can only have so many outfielders…of course now that I said that damon and abreu will be injured for 4 months next season…actually I think damon would have to be decapitated to miss 4 months.
No, I don’t think he was faking either. It was pretty bad.
oh that would be cool.
As you know already, I am dominican. I am light skin, dark brown eyes, long brown hair, slim figure, 5’8″ (hope that’s not taller than you), 138 lbs. Is there anything else that you would want to know about my appearance that is not already listed?
Yeah Damon is one guy who I underestimated. I hated him when he was on the Sox but I really got to like him last year.
I think I was feelin pretty good after 6 Coronas and a shot of Goldschlager but 3 beers? That must have been hard to do.
Alex here is a giant, so 5’8 is nothing.
Not sure decapitation would stop him if he had duct tape.
lol a lady including her weight? that is bold.
it usually takes me 6 beers if im sick or really full….8-10 normally…..shots I’m not typical though, 9-12 will do me in, I have a high liquor tolerance.
yeah alex is 6’6 in quicksand.
good point paul.
that is not taller than me, but it’s close, NO HEELS FOR YOU!
With that I will leave you to your chat of underage drinking and pretending someone is a teenager. Have a good night.
Yeah I always made sure I ate my veggies.
that reminds me, i’m almost not a teenager, what a good feeling.
goodnight paul.
yeah I agree with those thoughts on Damon. I used to hate him with a passion back when he was part of the Sox and I’ll admit it did take me while to start liking him (about a week after he was signed) but I am really glad the Yankees signed him. He fun to have in the clubhouse and always hustles. And he would literally have to have both his legs amputated to be out for an extended period of time, just like Jeter.
Sorry to hear about Guiel. I actually liked him a little.
Vince you’re 19?
indeed.
it’s depressing to see prospects your age shooting through the farm system.
Shoulda stuck with Little League.
when do you turn 20?
and i do say my weight and i say it proudly because i believe that lying about your weight( in specific, females lying about their weights and in some occasions their ages) is a sign of insecurity. and that i am not.
june, 2 days after jeter.
june 28. thats a good time to have a birthday. i hate it that every year i have to wear a heavy coat or at best a jacket on my birthday.
when is urs?….yeah my birthday is pretty sweet….righhhht as summer begins, and now in college its a solid month and a half into break so people are home and ready to party.
my birthday just passed. it was on the 10th. i would have loved to have a summer birthday but its not so bad since i’ll graduate high school at the age of 17.
lol that’s a good thing? You’re gonna be 21 ur last seemester of college, that’s rough.
I just found out my high school is going to boston for their senior trip….600 dollars.
My year we went to cali for 800 dollars, that is so pathetic. Boston? People can go there any weekend they want in NJ, what a reaming that is. They did disney world every other year, at least then you’re still taking a plane.
800 dollars to cali, 300 dollar plane tickets. that means there is already 100 dollars extra going to a place like boston, compared to a place like hollywood.
yeah its good cuz then i’ll have a head start on college (yeah i know that sounds so geeky but that is the way i feel). i would not have payed those 600 dollars to go to boston. i lived there for two years and i couldn’t and still can’t stand it. cali sounds nice.
and all those sox fans didn’t make anything any better
I like the city of boston, a lot. Just not worth 600 dollars, from my old high school, I could have gone there for 37 dollars between nj amtrak and fung wah…..that means they are charging 563 dollars for entertainment? Man, if I were a parent i would want a break down pronto.
i didn’t really live in the city of boston (lived in lawrence) and i’ve only been to boston like three times but i really don’t like it there. i only go as often as i do because i have family that i care for very much living there and i like visiting them.
i have a question for you:
i told you more or less how i look like, can i have a description of you?
and sorry if it seems as though i am clinging to you a lot.
and what made u move to brooklyn?
I’m italian, it is basically self explanatory. Dark brown everything, except skin, but still slightly tanned, esp when i’m home….5’9″, no idea what my weight is, I really couldn’t care less……I feel like this is a dating service, if you want to talk about non baseball issues you can just email me.
i have a 75 inch vertical too, where the heck is everyone, this is prime blogging time.
Vince also likes long walks on the beach.
i was born in manhattan, spent a little time in DR, moved to brooklyn at the age to 2, moved to massachusetts at the age of 7 because my parents split (my dad cheated and my mom wanted to create some space between them), moved back to brooklyn at age 9 because my brothers weren’t really adjusting. they were in their teens and having rough times so my mom decided to move back to make us feel more comfortable. even though my parents split and my dad caused the split up, i still see him as the best dad in the world and all of us still have a good relationship.
haha
but sorry if i made you feel that way.
very enticing…..lol how’d you know andrew?!
jeez tomorrow will either be a great day or awful, there is no inbetween
Great: matsuzaka remains unsigned thus effectively ending their chances. I do well on my finals
Bad: I wake up to reports they have reached an agreement pending a physical, i fail one or both of my finals.
i don’t
i’m going to log off now.
good luck on those finals, Vince
thanks, good luck with your modeling career.
Underage drinking…what is this world coming to?!?!?!?!
😛
From ESPN…
Gordon Edes, The Boston Globe’s Red Sox beat writer, says there’s a 40 percent chance that the team gets a deal with Daisuke Matsuzaka done in time.
…and the clock keeps ticking.
39.75 percent; 39.5 percent; 39 percent….
So I see we’re setting up a dating service now. Interesting. Anyone out there who is single and within 500 miles of Duluth, MN?
I didn’t think so.
But just to throw it out there: My name is Karl, 16 years old, 6’2″, 145 lbs. I enjoy long walks on the beach.
Anyway…
Felíz día de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Jorge. I was in México four years ago today (in Cuernavaca, perhaps you’ve been there?), and it was a fun experience. I enjoyed all the little children in authentic costumes, though the fireworks display involving the tower that shoots off fireworks in every direction was a bit frightening to a 12-year-old gringo like me.
So, it’s nice to see no Gagne for the Red Sox and that they continue to bungle their negotiations with Matsuzaka.
I’m a bit sorry to see Aaron Guiel go, he was an excellent fill-in. But baseball is a business, and the Yankees need to move on.
I’ll check in again tomorrow.
lol 6’2″ 145? Gain weight brotha
Boy, we need a new thread.
Don’t worry about Karl gaining weight. If he ever discovers beer, he will. LOL
THE CLOCK IS STILL TICKING…
tick, tick, tick….
what are the odds now down to, 25%? Less?
This is getting good.
I’m glad Pete wrote about this on his blog.
Do you want to see the clock actually ticking down?
Go here:
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/
Guys, you know I love all of you, but you are making me feel OLD!
You guys are cracking me up. The deal will be signed by late tonight or tomorrow. They are doing it on purpose to get the most publicity possible, this is what it is all about. It is an entertainment business people, come on. From day one, this deal was planned on being signed on the last day.
If Daisy Duke accepts $8 mill/yr and we are paying Pettitte $16/mill a year and Moose $10 mill a year and Meche making $11 mill a year and Bautista making $9 mill a year something is very wrong or Boston is very smart…
It’ll probably get done, Russ, but don’t you like to see the squirming??
You are a killjoy, Russ.
A Killjoy. 😉
A friend had a good comment–that if the Yanks are going to make a major move, NOW is the time to do it, while the Bosox are preoccupied with Matsuzaka.
Sweep in under the radar…and
BAM!
I’ve been tempted to become the Red S*x GM in that game and then see how quickly I can completely ruin the team…..
Posted by: rob.bush@excite.com | December 12, 2006 08:41 PM
Hahahaha!! I never thought of that but sounds like it could be a good time, lol. Make Ortiz play 1st, DH Mirabelli every day, trade Manny for Tony Womack…yay for chaos and destrucion! lol
About Wang, I can only deduce that the game formulated his pitching profile based on old scouting reports. He doesn’t have the sinker, he doesn’t go deep into games, etc. Annoying cause he was the No. 1 reason I wanted this game in the first place.
Also, to all my underage friends on here…
Reading thru some of last night’s comments and, as the Cynical Old Lady of all us students on here, lol, I feel the need to implore you Facebook users to be careful talking about drinking on there, if you do. Here in Philly many schools, including mine, have been using Facebook to bust underage drinkers. They look up random students’ profiles and if they see any pics of people drinking in the dorms or whatever they print them out and use them as just cause to bust the people in the picture. Getting caught is no fun, so be careful! 🙂
Oh and indeed it is nice for us to be able to sit back on our laurels and watch Boston bumble and fumble and just generally muck things up for themselves! Tick-tock, tick-tock… 😉
Felíz día de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Jorge. I was in México four years ago today (in Cuernavaca, perhaps you’ve been there?), and it was a fun experience. I enjoyed all the little children in authentic costumes, though the fireworks display involving the tower that shoots off fireworks in every direction was a bit frightening to a 12-year-old gringo like me.
Posted by: gonyy27@yahoo.com | December 12, 2006 11:13 PM
Thank you very much, Karl. So, you witnessed how important is December 12th to all mexicans.
Talking about baseball, Dodgers didn’t offer a contract to Toby Hall. Since he is a 31 y. o. right handed catcher, who averages .265 lifetime, playing in the Majors since 2000, I believe I would prefer him than Chávez or Nieves. He’s available since yesterday. Hope Cash can bring him to the Yankees.
Tick…tick…tick…tick…tick…
1 day, 12 hr, 25 sec….24..23..22..21..20..19..18..17..16..15
My mistake.
Tick…tick…tick…tick…
1 day, 13 hr, 57 min, 15 sec…14…13…12…11…10…9…8…7
Any comments about Hall? See my 10:50 AM post
Yes, Jorge, I read about Hall. Interesting. Before yesterday, I wanted Todd Greene back over Nieves and Chavez; but if Hall is available, hey…
I agree with Russ that the Daisy Mat negotiation is a publicity machine on speed. The fan feeding frenzy on this is even more annoying taking every rumor as fact and debating it until the next rumor in the seemingly endless soap opera.
Frankly if I were a player I would not want to play for the Red Sox. It is a great team with a tremendous history, but the present owners are despicable rodents who would not know honor and loyalty if it bit them on the butt.
Toby Hall seems to be an ok catcher, career .265 hitter, slightly below average. His fielding is slightly below average. Not sure if he would be an upgrade over Nieves but worth a look.
On another blog someone wrote that he absolutely rakes. I think the intended reference was to hitting but I think it is more likely the leaves in his yard.
In 2004 he was one of the league leaders into ground into double play outs.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hallto02.shtml
No question Hall is better than Nieves with only 37 major league games and simply awful hitting. But I am not sure of his potential.
I just remembered one of the reasons i stopped coming here a lot….i can’t keep up with you guys!
over 200 posts since i was here last night and it’s the offseason! You guys must make Mark look mighty popular in the blog world, bringing in hundreds of comments on his posts year round.
Eitherway, i’ve got mixed feelings about this whole Matsuzaka situation. I’m glad that it’s looking more and more like Matsuzaka won’t be joining the Red Sox, but the whole thing just kind of bugs me because i think it will have a negative effect on all of MLB’s relationship with Japan baseball, not just the Red Sox. I mean seriously, i think the Red Sox asked for it by bidding so high, but Matsuzaka and Boras sure have a lot of nerve, and a lot of ego. I’ve lost a good amount of respect for Matsuzaka through this whole thing, and i’ve never had a whole **** of a lot of respect for Boras anyway, but seriously, the bid went to their heads. The guy hasn’t even smelled the major leagues (besides throwing to some fresh-from-the-offseason major leaguers in the WBC) so how is he worthy of $11 mil a year? It’s hard to say that when guys like Gil Meche are getting it, but at least Meche has thrown in the majors for a few years and has shown that he can win some games. Just because the likelihood shows that Matsuzaka will be a success in the MLB doesn’t mean that he will. I think the contract Boras is looking for is ridiculous and I don’t know the way Matsuzaka has been through this whole thing, not feeling it’s necessary for him to be present at any meeting even though the Red Sox have been trying to get him personally involved. To me, that shows that he truely has a lot less of a desire to make this work than he should.
And some of Boras’ comments? God. He said something like 26 year olds with stuff like Matsuzaka’s get $100 mil on 5 or 6 year deals…
OKAY Scottie, i don’t know what baseball you’re involved in but i can’t think of any pitchers who have ever been given a contract like that. Maybe i’m mistaken, but i can only think of 6 guys who have been given contracts of $100 mil or more (A-Rod, Jeter, Ramirez, Carlos Beltran, Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Lee) and none of them are pitchers and they are more like 8-10 year deals…
Like i said, mixed feelings. I’m glad they may not be getting him (although his first showdown with Hideki Matsui would’ve been awesome, but i just hope this doesn’t set some precendent for bidding really high for japanese players and then they just waltz over here thinking they can command huge money in the majors when guys who actually play in the majors aren’t making that kind of dough.
The thing is, Hall is 31, Greene 36. Hall probably wants to start and not be a backup, while Greene has been a backup for years and is used to the role. Also, there is the $$ factor. Hall made $2.25 mil last year, Greene $750,000.
In comparing stats I have to agree with Mike. Todd Greene is not that much worse a hitter but he is at league average as a fielder.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/greento02.shtml
If a catcher is a good hitter he will be a starter. There are few, if any, good hitting backup catchers. You just want one who can field well and throw out runners.
You hope he is not an automatic out.
I did not think Sal Fasano was that bad and when he got a hit it was a bonus. Ideally the Yanks would have a young kid waiting in the wing, but they traded Dioner Navarro away in one of a series of simply awful trades.
Brian, I think the general consensus on this blog is that the Red Sox are notorious for lowballing the free agents that they pursue, and that this Matsuzaka instance is just another example of that. If they got the winning post, they should have had the stones to offer a large contract as well. They keep talking about how D-Mats is an ace, so they better offer him ace money! In this market, that means a lot more than just 8 million a year! And I think the fact that they paid so much for JD Drew and Julio Lugo that they do, indeed, have a lot of money to throw around, and should throw at least SOME of it Matsuzaka’s way.
His value is being judged more by his tools and potential than by his actual performance. The fact that he can throw heat and throw a changeup and 2 breaking pitches, all for strikes, means that he would fare well against any competition. That’s the argument I’ve heard, at least. Yes, the whole “never faced MLB hitters” thing definitely comes into play, but not as much as most people think. I’ve no doubt that he can come here and post a record above .500 and an ERA below 4.00.
But if he isn’t the ace that he was supposed to be, all Boston fans are going to be absolutely furious, because they’re expecting this guy to be the next Pedro. Thus it’s a win-win situation for the Yankees, because if he doesn’t sign, we don’t have to worry about Boston pitching, and if he does sign, Boston is going to be as stingy as possible for years to come.
I agree with the majority of you that Toby Hall would be a good pickup for us. I don’t know much about his D but I’m assuming it’s adequate or else someone would have mentioned it. Even if he is not the best hitter and GIDPs alot, he still seems to be a better hitter than people we have used as backup in the past.
I still maintain that there are some backup Cs that are good hitters. Maybe not great hitters in the grand scheme of hitting, but good hitters for backup Cs. Off the top of my head, a few of these that come to mind are Chris Coste, Vance Wilson, and Minnesota’s backup catcher seemed to hit ok, can’t remember his name.
I think it is still very painful to all of us that Dioner Navarro is gone! Terrible, terrible call.
*proves* that they do
Hey does anybody here look at this site called The Dugout? It’s part of the Progressive Boink site, it’s like a fake MLB chatroom with a whole bunch of chat transcripts from players, managers, and baseball people in general. It’s basically a big satire on everything and they make fun of everybody, it’s pretty funny but you have to like the humor because it’s pretty out there, but also really smart at times. The players all have screennames too that are usually a pun, and they’re pretty funny, my personal favorite is “HeyLasordaSomePizza” (Tommy Lasord.)
Anyway, it’s funny. If you like weird humor check it out at http://www.wordupthome.com. If you love the Yankees too much and can’t laugh at any fun being poked at them then don’t go there, but keep in mind they rip on everybody. everybody.
Oh, and I agree that Fasano was not that bad at all. He was certainly better than the ridiculous Stinnett. Why are some people so down on Sal? I’ve seen him get slammed with such venom on Pete’s blog and can’t really imagine even one reason why they might think he’s such a ‘joke.’ There are far worse backup Cs out there!
“I think it is still very painful to all of us that Dioner Navarro is gone! Terrible, terrible call.”
Yeah, for freakin Randy Johnson, too. That must have been the trade where Cashman was like “All right, that’s the last straw. I’m leaving if you keep this up, Steinbrenner.”
Brian, that Dugout/Progressive Boink chat thing is freakin hilarious! Love it. The “Professor Farnsworth” screenname is tooo much and I think it was him who once said “I’m like the black Jim Thome”..ROFL!! Oh, and I also love “CornOnTyCobb”..hahaha.
What are the details on Sal Fasano’s situation? I know he was a free agent but i haven’t heard anything about the Yankees considering brining him back or not and haven’t heard anything else about him at all. I think he’s a way better option then the two guys we have now to fight for the job…i mean Sal is a great clubhouse presence and he can play some wall ball. I remember a couple of clutch doubles he’s roped. I like him. I wonder where he’ll wind up.
haha that’s cool. one of my favorite quotes on there is by Mr. Met, when he says “I’ve got sitches in my face and ******* at my place, ya feel me?”
just for the record the censored word in there rhymes with stiches….
stitches. god. i messed that word up twice and this is possbily my 4th consecutive post.
I haven’t heard Fasano’s name mentioned even once in conjunction with the Yankees (or w/any other team for that matter) so I assume that for some STRANGE reason they have no interest in bringing him back. I agree, any day of the week he is a better option than Nieves or the other dude (was it Chavez?) Sal’s da man! He even stole a base once remember? LOL. And I don’t understand why so many Yankee fans have ‘issues’ with him, when he played here in Philly he was one of the most well-liked players on the team! Long live Sal!
Looove the Mr. Met quote, forgot about that one.
Absolutewlly agree with Gina and Brian. I would be very pleased if Salvatore Fassano comes back to the Yankees.
Gina, I have an idea. You just have to twitch your nose, and Sal will be back. It’s in your hands (or should I say “it’s in your pretty nose?”)
I like how the fans in Philly started that “Sal’s Pals” section, which i think was copied at Yankee Stadium but not to the same extent. When Sal Fasano saw those guys with the “Sal’s Pals” sign he ordered a pizza and had it delivered to them in the stands. How cool is that?
Brian, once again, it’s nice to have you back here
thanks, its good to be back
If I’m not wrong, Brian, you dissapeared from here after a game in Philly. I think it was that dramatic game when Ryan Howard smashed three homers, but we came back to win the game in the late innings. Am I right?
LOL, if that is all it takes, Jorge, then let the twitching commence!
Duuude Sal had a pizza delivered to his Pals in the stands? OK that is officially the coolest thing I’ve ever heard!
GOD. This is brian on my alternate account. As you can see it’s just my name backwards.
What an annoying series of events, it won’t let me log in. Says i logged in too many times. Eitherway, i’m in the lobby of the testing building at my campus because my girlfriend is taking a final, and these computers are like tough to get on because so many people are using them. Well i got up for 2 seconds and told the guy next to me i’d be right back, and some guy ganked my computer. Then i switched computers to try and log back on and it said i logged in too many times. So annoying.
Eitherway, Jorge that is about the time i disappeared. I was driving from Atlanta to Philly that day and listened to that game on my XM in the car. I was visiting family the whole summer and i was concerned with other things besides getting online. After i got back here in Atlanta, i was just taking care of a lot of other things but now my semester is over and i’ve got more free time.
No, Jorge, Elizabeth. I think it was a game in Atlanta against the Red Sox.
Ok, Brian. I thought you were in that game.
Anyway, I’m sure all the Yankee family in this blog site would be happy to have you over here more frequently.
Looks liek Red Sox are flying back with Boras and Matsuzaka on board, meaning they struck something at the last-minute. It was nice to see them squirm for a while, though.
We’ll see what the contract is. Boston wanted to bid $51.1 mil … and that is an ace’s bid.
Then they want to pay him $8 mil (same as Randy Wolf is getting with the Dodgers, and $3 million LESS than Vincente Padilla with the Rangers).
If the bid is an ace’s bid, pay him an ace’s salary. It looks like they really misread what the market would be after they made the ridiculous bid.
Hey, Paul. You’re forgetting that coma (,) I wrote after my name. I was telling the new Elizabeth that my name was Jorge. Not Jorge Elizabeth. There was a coma in between. LOL
But you were saying that you didn’t know male and/or female names could be use for a man. Well, here in México a lot of men are called Guadalupe, of course in honor of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. It is a female name, and over here, it is a male name too.
Where did you hear this from, Mike? I can’t find any info anywhere that suggests anything but the disparity between Boras and the Sox.
good memory, Paul. It was a Braves vs. Red Sox game that i attended in Atlanta shortly before i disappeared. A week later i saw the Braves play the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, which was a lot more fun. A-Rod hit a walk-off homer.
Fasano’s a free agent. I haven’t heard anything on him. The .143-1-5 as a Yankee didn’t help him. Overall .217-5-15 in 149 ab. Better than Chavez or Nieves, probably. He just needed to put up a little better numbers than he did. A backup doesn’t have to be great, but give us around .250. Flaherty .165 in 2005, Fasano .143 and Stinett’s .228-1-9 weren’t good at all.
WFAN just reported it.
Mike: That’s exactly what I was telling yesterday night to one of my nephews (the only Red Sox fan in my entire family). I told him that Boston’s executives put the price on Matsuzaka’s contract making that RIDICULOUS bid. An ace bid? An ace contract!!!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/baseball/mlb/12/13/bc.bba.redsox.matsuzaka.ap/index.html
has a report
Yes, Jorge. That’s been Boras’ argument all along.
a lot of the newest reports on the Matsuzaka situation pop up on the Boston Herald website pretty quickly but for whatever reason the site won’t load for me.
now there’s a report by SI.
Bring on Daisy, Red Sox. bring him on. Hideki Matsui will blast on out the first time he sees him…much boom boom big honor.
okay i’m out gotta take my GF home. good talking to everyone.
what will make this even funnier is if daisy mat cant pass the physical….HA i can see it now!!
Let’s hope Bore-*** screwed every last dime out of them that he could. Then Boston can’t do much more.
It’ll be interesting to see what they then do for ticket prices to the smallest park in the majors. They already put seats above the Monster, and their prices are, I believe, the highest in baseball.
Boy, if Drew and Matsuzaka start slow next year, it’ll be quite interesting up there.
Gotta go. Be back later.
Putting Dicey Matsuzaka on the backburner for a moment, copying and pasting this INCREDIBLY disturbing rumor..
Posted by someone on Pete’s blog:
“Rotoworld is reporting
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review believes Mike Gonzalez could go to the Yankees in a three-team deal with the Braves.
Pittsburgh gets Adam LaRoche and Kyle Davies
Atlanta gets Melky Cabrera and Scott Proctor and Jose Castillo”
For the love of all that is holy, please let this not be true! It sounds really out there to me. Why would the Yanks give up Melky AND Proctor for 1 reliever? Anyone else heard anything? Hopefully it is just the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review trying to fill space in their probably lackluster sports section…
Gina, I don’t believe Brian Cashman could ever make such move. I think it’s just a rumor to fill some pages
Yeah, anyone can see that move is idiotic. The Pirates would have to send us some decent prospects for that to go through. Don’t put any stock in it. You said it yourself: “Hopefully it is just the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review trying to fill space in their probably lackluster sports section…”
yeh seems a tad off….the only way i could see the yanks pulling a two for one deal would be salary issues or a superstar, and neither of those seem to prevelent here…proctor and cabrera are cheap and gonzalez is far from superstar level
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/pirates/s_483954.html
http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17582460&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_id=478568&rfi=6
Those two both show reports of melky being necessary for gonzalez. I bet the sox would get him by giving up crisp.
If it was just Melky for Gonzalez, straight up, then MAYBE the deal would be good. But throwing Proctor in there makes it hopelessly lopsided. If they need to include a relief pitcher, just send them Jose Veras or something. Melky and Proctor is too much.
That report about the 3 way trade with melky and proctor is really disturbing, i hope that rumor doesn’t start to gain a lot of attention and start to look possible. I would be deeply, deeply disappointed if we lost melky cabrera, under any circumstances.
Gina, I wrote about this yesterday. I think the Yanks would need to get more than just Gonzalez. Gonzalez is the real deal…and his numbers throughout ARE better than Proctor’s. (Sorry, Scotty).
Gonzalez is 28, a lefty, and would be an great setup guy for Mo. He is top notch. 24 saves and a 2.17 ERA for Pittsburgh last year. 24/24 in fact. A 2.37 career ERA.
But for Proctor AND Melky, I’d need more.
..and yes, I wrote yesterday that Boston is interested in him and it would have to be CoCo.
im all for giving melky the oppertunity to play every day, but as we learned last year the need for a STRONG back up is very pressing!! people get hurt all the time and who is to say that it couldnt happen again next year? melky provides a solid back up who can step in and give guys a needed day off with out sacrificing much either offensively or deffensively. i cant see him being traded for a guy like gonzalez…nothing against him but a player like melky who is cheap and a very good back up (starter on almost any other team) and probably going to be your starter in another couple years is SIGNIFICANTLY more valuable than a NL (lets not forget that fact too) reliever!!
Kevin Thompson to Pittsburgh for Damaso Marte (lefty reliever) has been discussed also.
BTW, Gonzalez is cheap financially for now. But very talented.
Replace Melky in that deal for Gonzalez with Thompson, and things may get interesting.
gonzalez is cheap for now but he is also going into year 4 (three full seasons and september call up) as opposed to melky’s year 2…
while the pirates have made many questionalble moves over the past few years i doubt they would make the deal as gonzalez for thompson… but you never know
Gonzalez’ stats.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gonzami02.shtml
He came to the Pirates WITH Freddy Sanchez from the Red Sox. A real bad deal that Boston made there. See the link, it has that deal on there.
Oh well, here’s to Matsuzaka getting shelled in his first Red Sox-Yankees start.
Oh…I meant Proctor and Thompson instead of Proctor and Melky…and they would be going to Atlanta…not Pittsburgh. LaRoche would take his 32 hr and 90 RBI to Pittsburgh.
i th ink the deal mike was proposing or considering as “interesting” was proctor and thompson for gonzalez.
Forget where I wrote it, but can you imagine New England if both Matsuzaka AND Drew get off to bad starts?
three cheers for that….may his ‘gyro-ball’ be as hittable as MY fastball!!
if miranda and doug m won first base jobs out of spring training (one for offense one for defense and giambi full time dh)…..would we then try and trade phillips?
could we trade phillips thompson and pavano for a solid starter?
or a good catcher?
i dont like the idea of trading proctor for gonzalez either (even with thompson). again you are talking abt an NL reliever (this board especially should know how most NL pitchers fare in the AL, especially a division of big line-ups like the AL East, at least comparatively big line-ups). We know Proc can pitch here, he had nearly twice as many innings i think, and he did pretty well against boston if im not mistaken (someone here is bound to have some stats to back me). i dont see letting him go and only getting back mike gonzalez, but maybe thats just me…
WFAN reports deal for Matsuzaka is Six years, $51 million. $8.5 mil/yr. Boras lost badly.
Sheesh. Matsuzaka gets 8.5 mil a year for six years…about what Adam Eaton is getting with the Phils, Randy Wolf got with LA and just over what Jason (6.02 ERA) Marquis got from the Cubs.
So $51.1 mil for the bid, and $51 mil for the contract. $102 mil…six years. $17 mil a year. Just what Boras is asking for Zito.
Yes, Gnome. We know. We also know the guy is a YOUNG, LEFTY RELIEVER WHO IS GOOD. There are few of them out there, which is one reason I wanted Matt Smith to stay a Yankee.
He also has CLOSED. Rivera is now 37. I’d rather have Gonzalez or one of the kids, like Cox, close than Farnsworth.
Not to mention, I’d like a lefty to get Big Fatty out.
Melky and Proctor for Gonzalez is an awful deal. Though Gonzalez looks like a decent pitcher.
But he only has 168 major league innings. Didn’t Proctor have more than that last season.
The transaction history is interesting as he has gone from Pittsburgh to Boston and then back to Pittsburgh and now Boston wants him back.
If they are talking Melky and Proctor, Boston would need to give up more than Crisp since I find him to be less valuable than Melky. Maybe Crisp, Papelbon, and 4 or 5 of their farm prospects.
i am a little surprised at bora$$, i figured he would play the, “boston doesnt want to treat japanese players fairly, doesnt want to pay them on the same scale as players in america…”
maybe this is more d-mat REALLY not wanting to go back to japan, but again if i am him i would spin it just like that….boston doesnt want to pay japanese players to the same scale that it will play american players….but then again i dont know if thats good politics for the long run…
still if bora$$ couldnt get the money im surprised he didnt try to shorten the deal and opt for free-agency after 3 years (ala matsui). maybe there is a nancy drew like clause letting him opt out early if he wants!
SI reporting Sox and Daisy Duke 6yrs $52 mill deal, could reach $60 million……
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/baseball/mlb/12/13/matsuzaka.signs/index.html………….
here is link
Sorry, link didn’t open. Anyway, go too. CNN.COM, then to to the sports section….I can’t paste and copy links I guess…….
look i know gonzalez is a lefty, and i know he put up decent #’s in Pitt, but those numbers are still going to inflate here, we know proc does well, and we know he can handle boston, i dont like any trade of him for any NL reliever, at least not straight up and certainly not for more than him, i too am aware that rivera is 37, and i am equally as worried abt the prospect of 1) replacing him and 2) having farnsworth close. but cox seems to be the most logical solution in out system right now unless one of the prospect we got from detroit proves to be a viable option, heck maybe sanchez will find a closers roll more to his liking, but still i dont see the logic in trading proctor for hernandez in any situation where thats all we get back….but im not a GM so i dont have to make those decisions
Proctor was 1-0, 6.32 vs. Boston.
Gonzalez is also being pursued by Boston, where he would close. Boston would give up Crisp.
You can go to ESPN, type in the players name, then click on splits to get various specialized stats. For example, Lefties only had 43 abs vs. Gonzalez and hit .163 off of him.
lol 6 years. He’ll be gone in 2008 after he gets run out of town.
cant go to espn…my office blocked it!!******…can barely get to mlb.com
guess you cant say “****” here…sorry
Proctor appears to be Torre’s next burnout, just like Quantrill and Sturtze. I’d rather deal Proctor now if it means Gonzalez. But no Melky. Kevin Thompson? ok. But no Melky.
“Replace Melky in that deal for Gonzalez with Thompson, and things may get interesting.
Posted by: yankeefan1@enter.net | December 13, 2006 02:28 PM ”
So, Proctor and Thompson for Gonzalez? That might be a better deal. I cannot stomach Melky getting traded at all right now. But Paul does make a good point above that Proctor has pitched more innings. With Joe’s propensity to have his go-to guys in the pen, durability is definitely an issue. It would kind of scare me to give up both Villone and Proctor.
The ERA was 2.17. His career ERA is 2.37. Inflate that by a run. It’s still lower than Proctor’s 3.52.
The Yanks are built around lefty pitching. Always have been. We know what happened in you know what year when they had NO lefty starter.
As of now, Myers is the only lefty in the bullpen. Villone is a F.A. (Please don’t mention Sean Henn. Please.)
Gonzalez is a nice pickup….but not for Melky.
Also, it makes me angry that Boston got away with keeping Dicey away from other teams for 6 years and that the amount of his contract is not really commensurate with what they bid on him, IMO. Why did Boras give in??
Yeah…let’s just hope we hit Dicey hard the first time we see him now. That won’t be an easy thing to rebound from for him.
i understand the need for quality set up guys who can potentially close, but why rob peter to pay paul, we also have an ailing johnson and povano in the rotation (at least for now), we might need some guys who can come in during the 5th, and eat an inning or two for us effectively, gonzalez has never done that, he isnt that type of pitcher
Haha the poll on ESPN.com made me laugh: “Can the Red Sox win the AL East without Matsuzaka?” …the Red Sox can’t win the AL East either way so what does it matter?
It’s hard job-hunting right now. I’m trying and have sent some resumes out, but at this time of year, there aren’t openings, people are thinking holidays, and places are doing year-end financial reports, etc.
I can just take it easy and do nothing until the new year, but that’s not me. I want to research companies and get my resume out there to them.
…and no, I don’t want Clemens. Unless he wants to set-up Mo. That would be interesting! (Just kidding.)
Yeah Mike, and I don’t see the Yanks giving Villone the 2 year deal he is asking for, so that does really leave us in a bind for lefties. I certainly don’t trust Myers as the lefty out of the pen, I barely trust him as a lefty specialist (in fact I think we need to carry an extra pitcher as long as he’s on the roster.)
One argument in favor of this trade is that Proctor did much better than at least I was expecting from him this year (can’t speak for everyone) What if he never put up numbers like that again? Especially seeing as how he was overused this year..
If the rest of the bullpen can get the job done, Proctor won’t just be “Torre’s next burnout.” If Farnsworth and Bruney and the other guys really step it up, I can see Proctor doing well for a long time. The only reason he pitched so much in the first place was because Villone got burnt out and Farnsworth couldn’t ever pitch 2 days in a row.
Next year’s bullpen will probably have: Mo, Farnsworth, Proctor, Bruney, Myers, Britton/Beam, and Villone/Igawa. Just pure speculation. I’m confident that those guys can take some of the heat off Proctor’s shoulders, at least, better than last year’s ‘pen did.
where are you located?? my company is losing 4 ppl and abt to lose 3 more, what type of work are you looking for? do you have security clearance? if not can you pass a small background check??
If we need guys to come in in the 5th a lot, we’re in deeper trouble than anything Proctor could give us.
Besides, guys like Rasner/Karstens could fill that role. Bruney is still on this team, as are Britton and Farnsworth.
There are enough righties.
I’m not looking to relocate.
interesting you put Igawa in the pen there, i have been mentioning that to ppl here (in the DC area) since they bid on him, everything i had heard was that he is a 4-5 starter, says to me he would be great as a lefty reliever
What about signing Mulder and using Igawa as a lefty reliever?
i wouldnt say relocate for a job here but if you were in the DC area its not a bad place to work, depending on your supervisor (but i guess that could be said abt almost every job)
If anyone is afraid of Matsuzaka remember last year and how we were all scared of what Beckett would do. We all know how that turned out and we don’t know how this guy will fare against a good lineup.
Oh Wow. I didn’t realize these people died today.
Basketball great Paul Arizin.
Actor Peter Boyle. Boyle was great in Young Frankenstein and was good friends with John Lennon. In fact, when Boyle got married, Lennon was his best man.
I was sad to see Matt Smith leave us too, I liked his potential and he performed extremely well for the Phillies in their stretch run.
This just came to me–maybe unrealistic but just thinking out loud here–wonder if there is any way we could get him back from the Phillies in a trade for Pavano? We could give em Henn and maybe even Thompson too, and get Coste and Smith. That would then give the Phillies a 5th starter and allow them to deal Lieber for relief pitching…
i dont think signing any more starters is the answer, i do like Igawa in the pen (funny we are saying this now but havent seen him pitch here yet). i think between karstens and rasner (despite the less then stellar AFL) backing up for when povano drop a refridgerator on his foot or something we are ok in the rotation and then we have guys like hughes and sanchez and clippard ready and waiting for the 2nd half if needed.
Alex, as long as Mulder would accept an incentive-laden deal with fewer guarantees, I think that could work out pretty well for us.
Also, if we were to deal any of our righty relievers, Britton would be the first one I’d like to see go. Don’t get me wrong I think that was a good trade, but for some reason I have a bad feeling about him. I look at him and can just smell Sidney Ponson. Anyway, Britton did show decent potential with the Os, wonder if any teams would have interest in him?
No. I’m in Eastern PA where most of my family is. At almost 45, I have a home and am not interested in moving unless I need to. My mom is a few blocks away, and if she needs help (my dad is gone). I’m there. She had a botched knee replacement and had to have it done again. That knee is 50% at best.
I wouldn’t touch Mulder. One scout watching Mulder in a rehab last year said, “if his name wasn’t Mark Mulder, there would be no reason for me to be here.” … which was an indictment.
I want to dump Pavano and have 3 lefties in the rotation===meaning Igawa is my #5 starter. The Stadium is made for lefties. Granted lefties have to learn to win in Fenway, but the Bosox have had trouble with lefties, even with Manny.
R.I.P. Frank Barone. That made me sad when I read about it earlier. 😦
i would love to see smith back!! was very sad to see him shipped off….who was the kid we lost to minnesota 2 years ago for lawton??
I’d go Wang-Pettitte-Mussina-Randy-Igawa.
Sounds nice, Gina, but the Phils already have 6 starters, which is why Lieber is on the block (Garcia/Myers/Hamels/Lieber/
Moyer/Eaton)
It is a good idea, Gina, but I would not give them Thompson. I like him too.
Sorry to hear Peter Boyle died. He was a terrific actor.
He was in a recent show that I saw, though I am not sure if it still on, “…Raymond”
alright guys, was fun….but im done for the day….time to go home!! ciao!!
Also about Mulder…Gina you better act fast, he’s getting married on saturday.
he died already? of what!? he was just on tv a year ago.
Everybody Loves Raymond ended last year. Seen in Reruns.
He had heart trouble for a while
In 1990, Boyle had a stroke and couldn’t talk for six months. In 1999, he had a heart attack on the Raymond set. He soon regained his health, however, and returned to the series.
Ohh thats right, for some reason I keep forgetting about Eaton! Who knows if he will stay healthy though..I was kind of surprised the Phillies gave him what, $8 mil per year?
Boyle was a member of the Christian Brothers and actually spent 3 years in a monastery.
His wife was a reporter for Rolling Stone, and friends with Yoko Ono. Boyle became close friends with John Lennon, and Lennon was the best man at their wedding.
Seeing him as Frankenstein doing a tap dance to Puttin’ on the Ritz is classic.
Yup. $24.5 mil/3 yrs. for Eaton.
Uh-oh, Mulder marrying on Saturday?! E-gads..ok we need to sign him TODAY so he has to fly to NY immediately. I would be more than happy to volunteer to um, administer his physical..hehehe.
Thanks for the heads up Alex! 😀 Ugh and Chase Utley is getting married any day now too..why are these guys not saving themselves for me? LOL
Oh well. Stop search for today. Time to make some dinner.
What would happen if Matsuzaka failed the physical? Would he go back to Japan or would the Red Sox try and cover it up?
If he failed the physical, that would be hilarious. He would go right back to Japan and everyone would have a good laugh.
I suppose the Sox could try to cover it up, but I think it would end up getting leaked, and then they would be in HUGE trouble from MLB.
What would happen if Matsuzaka and his gyroball failed in the MLB? Would he be run out of town or would the Sox try to cover it up?
The only thing they could cover up in that situation is their eyes so they don’t have to watch him get murdered on the mound.
Matsuzaka doesn’t have a gyroball. It’s a myth. He admitted to trying to throw one but isn’t able to, so he nixed the idea. Just want to get that out there.
But if D-Mats failed in MLB, he would definitely be run out of town. Bigger bust than Hideki Irabu by far.
I have each WS video/dvd from 1948 on (my brother borrowed one and hasn’t given it back yet)…but this year’s has … Billy Bob Thornton as the narrator.
Makes me long for my 1961 and 1962 videos which have Mel Allen narrating.
lol I still have my pen and paper ready.
Awww, no love for Billy Bob? He is one of my all-time favorite actors. Luuurve him!
You know what I just remembered…..the sox signing wade miller ahha whatever happened to him?
He went to the Cubs.
Only pitched in 5 games in 2006 season (21.2 innings) and had a 4.57 ERA.
I think Miller went to the Cubs. He is from Reading, PA not far from me.
Whether he can come back from his injuries, who knows.
It’s funny. Granted there was a gap, but with Cashman cutting payroll and the Red Sox adding on, wouldn’t it be funny if in a few years the Red Sox payroll is higher than the Yanks, but at that point the Yanks would have the better, younger talent who wouldn’t yet be making big bucks? (Hughes, Betances, Cox, Clippard, Tabata, etc.).
That is very likely and it would be very funny. Although it has cooled off a bit with the Matsuzaka bid, Sox fans enjoy making so many comments regarding the Yankees payroll. I would really like to see them to shut up.
BTW what is your name?
mike
Where is everyone?
Well I’m going to go finish up my homework. I’ll try to be back in a little bit.
thanks mike
i’ll try to remember that. that is if my bad memory lets me.
One thing I should mention that sounds funny to me. When the media and the Red Sox discuss Papelbon to the rotation, they automatically assume that Papelbon will be a solid starter.
Well, we know what they say about assume.
There is a reason that the Yanks are BUILDING UP HUGHES ARM STRENGTH. Papelbon has 102 IP–total–in his MLB career. 68 last year. What he may wind up being, is the Jaret Wright of the 2007 Boston Rotation. 5 IP then done.
Here is an example of an elite closer who was thrown into the rotation.
1976. Goose Gossage.
Check out the stats for him that year. Lot of innings, but the ERA–up. 9-17. Strikeout ratio? Down.
Then again Mike, gotta look at Derek Lowe. He was a bad closer though so that might have somethin to do with it.
after taking a physics and physiology final in the same day I feel an intense desire to jump off a cliff
Nice point, Alex. So they expect lightning to strike twice, I guess.
All I know is… some may question how Matsuzaka will adjust. At least he’s always been a starter. He may have the easier adjustment than Papelbon.
You really don’t know how either will adjust at this point. Neither can be “penciled in” for anything.
Red Sox fans who automatically assume Papelbon will make an easy adjustment should step back and ask if the guy can really go deep into games or if he will start wearing down come stetch time. I really think they have blinders on come Papelbon’s adjustment.
**stretch**..sorry. Gotta head out.
I agree, they REALLY do have blinders on where Papelbon starting is concerned. Not only are they in denial about his durability, but about his rather shallow repertoire (sp?) of pitches too. As far as I’m concerned he doesn’t have enough pitches to be a top-of-the-rotation starter. And I understand he will be their 2 or their 3?
Also, this may or may not be relevant. But in a fit of insomnia the other night, I was rereading an old (from 05) issue of Sports Illus. And his numbers in relief THAT year, were NOT great. 3-and-change ERA, very average. I know we have to factor in a period of adjustment to the majors for his 05 numbers, but is it possible he just got very lucky this past year? (My point is who even knows if he could replicate his 06 success as a closer, so doing so in the rotation could be even dicier!)
I just read an article about the Yankees possibly being interested in the Pirates’ middle reliever Mike Gonzalez. I don’t know about everyone else but I haven’t heard too much about this guy. All I know is that he has a career ERA of 2.37 and his numbers look pretty good. He’s 28 (29 in May) and taking into consideration that the Sox are rumored to have interest in him also, the Yankees aquiring him could be a positive for this ballclub. Does anyone know anything about Gonzalez?
(I apologize if anyone here has already posted something regarding this rumor)
Oh and another plus: he’s a lefty.
Check some of the posts from this afternoon Liz, there was some stuff regarding Gonzalez.
Thanks Alex
No problem, I like the prospect of getting him but I’m not sure about the price.
Yeah, he seems like a good option but I would want to give up too much for him either.
Well, I’m signing off now.
Nighty, night Alex.
So sad, it appears the Red Sox actually figured out how to do something. Depressing. Well, let’s just move on and hope Hideki cranks plenty of homers off of him.
Trade Melky? NO! (I’m wearing my got melky shirt today, btw.) Proctor for Gonzalez, on the other hand, is intriguing. Just not Melky.
I will be somewhat distracted tomorrow by the largest sporting event of the year in northern Minnesota. Here, high school hockey is like Texas football. And tomorrow night, 2 bitter rivals and top-10 ranked teams in the state will play at the Duluth convention center. Duluth East (my school ) vs. Cloquet-2 schools with combined enrollments of about 2,300-will sell out the 5,000 seat arena. It’s a very unique experience and the recent games have been very intense, including the section final 2 years ago won by East 3-2 in double OT, a 2-1 OT East win during the regular season last year, and a 1-0 Cloquet win in the section playoffs last year. It will be bedlam.
I’ll catch up whenever I next have a chance.
I’m trying to re-do that 3-way trade, but without giving up Melky.
Yanks send Pavano, Thompson (hate to give him up, but…) and Proctor to Braves (that then means Bernie is back as 5th OF)
Braves send LaRoche and one other to Pirates (I forget who else they wanted from Braves)
Yanks get Gonzalez from Pirates and Jarrod Saltalamacchia from Braves (21 year old C, switch hitter, ranked # 39 on top prospect list. Had bad year at AA .230-9-39 last year, but went .314-19-81 in A ball in 2005. Hey, a switch-hitting 21 year old C….)
Saltalamacchia would be a sticking point for the Braves, but if we are to pick up all or most of Pavano’s salary, we tell Braves that in order to do so, then Saltamacchia would have to be part of the deal.
Just trying to figure out what would work here….
Matsuaka will have a very easy transition because…**** Schillling or Curt Shitting, whatever his name is, is learning JAPENESE! Have no fear, Shilling is going to teach Matsuaka not only to put soy sauce on his sock and say he is bleeding, but also how to be a concided self-center pitcher! At first I was very worried, because poor Matsuaka would be all by himself in bog scarey Boston, but now Schilling will be able to talk JAPENESE and help him out. Good bless you Curt…you truely are a ******-bag.
ps. no fans are like boston fans, (not a compliment), and Matsuaka I can’t wait til our Yankees line up murders you and you get to see the trash you will be pitching in front of for 6 years. Theres a new evil empire and it starts with Red and ends with *****!
i dont understand you guys….a few weeks ago everyone was up in arms abt proctor to the rotation, talking abt how we cant afford to lose him from the pen, he is one of our best ‘pen guys (obviously short of rivera), now everyone seems ready to trade him for Mike Gonzalez. everyone brings up how young gonzalez is, he is one year younger than proc. ok, yes he is lefthanded, but he pitched in the NL Central, i think the only weaker division he could have pitched in was the NL West! we know Proc has what it takes to pitch in NY, He threw almost twice as many innings last year! strikeouts to walks was better than gonzalez as was his WHIP (1.19 to 1.35). ppl keep saying how boston wants him, so what they wanted Nancy Drew too!! lets not give up that much just to block the sox. im not saying he isnt good, but proc is a proven comodity! there is NO WAY we should let him go if all we got back was gonzalez!! now adding in saltalamacchia (wasnt that the karate kid’s last name??) and it gets interesting, but i still think giving up that much (proc, thompson, and dip-$#!&) would be a mistake.
Sorry to keep beating a dead horse
I definitely don’t want to send Proctor away, and I don’t see the logic behind doing so. The only argument used is that “he’s just another bullpen arm that Torre will abuse.” But……isn’t that exactly what we would be getting in return? I’m sure Torre would end up abusing the injury-prone Gonzalez the same way, except we have NO IDEA if he can last 100 innings the way Proctor did.
We need a proven closer for life after Mo? Let’s wait until he actually breaks down. And no, last September doesn’t count because the team was so far ahead in the standings that they chose to shut him down. Frankly, the way Farnsworth filled in at closer, I’m pretty comfortable leaving it up to him if worse comes to worse.
And for the record, Proctor still had enough gas to pitch well in the playoffs.
If we can get Gonzalez, then by all means, we should try. But how does the bullpen benefit by losing its iron man to a guy who pitched half the amount of innings last season?
I was in the city last night and came home to read that Boston sealed the deal. Oh well, we all knew it was going to happen.
We are NOT trading Melky and we are NOT trading Proctor. Simple as that. It cannot happen. Those two were two of the brightest spots during the stretch, when we weren’t necessarily playing our best and everyone and their mom was hurt. I don’t CARE if trading Proctor means we’d be able to bring Bernie back ~ don’t get me wrong, I adore Bernie, think he is everything that is good with the yankees and wear his #51 with pride ~ but what we need is a strong bullpen and Proctor needs to be in it. I certainly hope we can bring Bernie back, but if not, I am sure he will still be in integral part of the team as a coach or mentor in some capacity.
Ugh… I cannot wait for Spring Training.
Thank you Swo! You seem to be the only one who agrees with me!! Gonzalez would be a nice addition, but not if it costs proctor. Nor if it costs Melky (much to my wife’s shegrin, she doesnt like him).
and another!! finnally some people who agree with me abt Proc!!
“Yanks get Gonzalez from Pirates and Jarrod Saltalamacchia from Braves”
OK, this trade works for me just based on the Cool Name Clause. Then we have Melky, eventually Joba, and Saltalamacchia? That’s what I’m talkin about! Since Colter Bean didnt work out, we do need someone to fill his spot on the Cool Name Roster..
Gnome, your wife doesn’t like the Melkman? Ahh, my eyes! LOL seriously…how is it possible, for someone to dislike such a wondorous lad? 😀
Has she seen his dimples? I bet if she saw his dimples, she would like him!
hmm weird, work filters allow me to post here and on the sox blog, but not jeff’s.
Hey, random for question for everyone…what was your most embarrassing moment at Yankee Stadium?
swo:
At the end of dwight gooden’s no hitter (I was 9, turning 10) my dad told us to yell out the window (the whole parking lot was insane, people dancing on cars, the prison across the street shouting lets go yankees! from their cells, soda falling from the upperdeck) so my best friend and I started shouting lets go yankees, and the teenagers in the parking lot started making fun of us…it was pretty rude, and embarressing
I think I’ll start. This past summer I got tickets to a Yanks-Rays game, where Chien-Ming Wang was pitching. He was carrying a perfect game into the 5th innings. Ty Wigginton steps up to the plate and fires a pissant hit just past Miguel Cairo. I get up and start booing him as loud as I possibly can, drowning out any noise I can hear around me. I mean, I’m ragging on Wigginton, calling him so many different names and booing him over and over again. After about 30 seconds of this, people are starting to give me funny looks, and finally my girlfriend grabs my arm and says “Stop it…” I stop, and I realize that everyone in the entire stadium is giving Wang an applause for his pitching effort (he went on to pitch a 2-hit shutout).
Of course, I had to mutter a quick apology to pretty much everyone around me… “No,no…I wasn’t booing Wang, I was booing Wigginton for being a jerk! I swear!” But yes. I certainly felt silly for an inning or two after that. But all was forgotten when we were all on our feet and Wang was pitching in the 9th inning.
I learned to be a bit more mindful of stadium ettiquette that day.
What can i say? she doesnt like melky….we went to see the yanks 4 times this year and he didnt really do anything at any of those games, so she decided she didnt like him. Now in her defense this is the first year she has shown any interest in baseball and the first year she has followed a game (and the first time she went to a game). She is learning more abt the value of players (not just “they look cute, i like em”). its only a matter of time before she comes around on Melky.
most embarassing moment at The Stadium: never been! been following the yankees for almost 20 years and i have never been to yankee stadium!! tho for our aniversary this year she is taking me to NY to a game, i then have to take her to a show as a return present! i figure its a double win for me!!
do you know which show yet? BTW, gnome, what is your name?
dont know what show, depends on who is playing the yankees when! i told her we had to look at the yankee schedule before deciding when to go, then we can pick the show after that based on a date!! and she agrees (her priorities are shifting to the yankees and baseball too!! ha ha converted another one).
im mikee, but i saw another mike here too so gnome will also work if its easier.
Um… embarassing moments at Yankee Stadium. Hmmm… maybe when I was drunk at a Yankees/ Red Sox Game and Manny hit the ball that was destined to go out of the park. I start yelling and cursing when everyone around me stands up, and through the crowd I JUST managed to see Melky make the infamous catch. But it was still embarassing. Ezpecially because jsut before that I went to the bathroom between innings and missed a crazed fan that ran onto the field and security took him down. I always wanted to see that, but I missed it because I drank too much beer.
*especially – NOT ezpecially… haha
way to go drunkie….oh yeah gnome, i remember now, maybe i’ll call u mikey mike haha.
no “y” two “e”s, much softer that way, and different. it started in highschool and stuck! ive been mikee ever since
fair enough Mikee, I think it’s funny how everybodies schedule works everyday. There is almost always someone by a computer.
Ezpecially because jsut before
Posted by: kzimoulis@yahoo.com | December 14, 2006 11:00 AM
My dear Greek Goddess. I think that beer still has its effects on you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
well seems the only time i am really here is when i dont feel like being productive at work….my job is such tho that i can sit here as well as accomplishing all i need to at the office! and as long as there is no streaming information and **** the office doesnt care what sites i play on!!
thats why i was saying yesterday that for those in the area its not a bad place to be….but the salaries in my division arent worth moving for!! unless you are one of the medical specialists
Wow. Lot of posts this morning.
I never was an advocate of Proctor in the rotation. I’m still not sold on him. His career ERA is still 4.45, more than two runs above Gonzalez. The Yanks need lefties. They had THREE last year. Myers, RJ (5.00 ERA) and Villone (5.04 ERA). The Yanks have always been built on lefty pitching and lefty hitting.
There aren’t many lefties in the minors. Chase Wright, Sean Henn (who I have NO faith in) and who. Tell me. Who. Whoever it may be is YEARS away. That’s why I wanted Matt Smith to stay. Good lefty relievers are a) hard to find and b) can last a LONG time…(see Mike Stanton, Jesse Orosco, etc.)
I’ll be 45 in two weeks. I’ve been following the Yanks for 40 years and thinking like a GM for probably 30 of them. You have Jeter and A-Rod on the left side of the diamond and a 399 LCF. You need lefties.
Not sold on Farnsworth closing. My stomach can’t take it. There’s only so much Pepto/Nexium in the world.
As for Proctor’s 102 innings, that’s an indictment on the rotation. Hopefully the rotation is better to the extent that 102 innings won’t be needed. I feel as if Rasner or Karstens could fill those innings quite capably. Proctor isn’t Cy Young here. Sorry, gnome and others if we disagree on Proctor. I wouldn’t mind him staying, but for the right guy, I wouldn’t mind him going either. Note: the right guy.
Bernie’s not coaching material. Some guys just aren’t.
Most embarassing moment at Yankee Stadium? Old Timer’s day 2005, there was a rain delay. After a delay, the game started. I had to leave my seat in the third because of back spasms. I had to go back to the bus in the sixth, they were so bad. My chiropractor said my back looked like I was in a car accident.*****. Go to a game, and have to leave after only a few innings because of back spasms.******.
Yes, Gina, it is good the Yanks don’t have names on the backs of their jerseys. Should Jarrod Saltalamacchia ever be a Yankee, I think they’d have to run his name down a pants leg.
haha same with mine mikee
Embarrassing moments at the Stadium, nice topic!
First of all…wow! Kat, you were at the Melky robs Manny game, and Vince you were at Gooden’s no-hitter? Man I’m jealous! I’ve never ended up at a ‘classic’ game like that; matter of fact I didnt even see my first walk-off HR until this past April (hit by Abreu, thankyouverymuch! lol)
Also, I’ve never really had an embarrassing moment at the Stadium. I am always the first person to start talking smack about a player on the opposing team and I get the rest of my section all riled up, lol. I almost got into a fight with some dumb chick who dressed up for the game like she was going to the club once, but that’s about it.
Only time I was ever really embarrassed at a baseball game was at a Phillies vs Dodgers game, I was extremely drunk and started cheering for Dioner Navarro really loud when he came up to bat (hey, he used to be a Yankee!)..I didn’t realize how loud I was being..the people around me were not happy and had a few choice words for me and my ‘disloyalty.’
Be back later. Things to do…
About crazed fans running onto the field…my friend in Miami, Fast Eddie, was the first person ever to run onto the field at a Marlins game. He wrote to the Guiness Book of World Records asking them to put him in there afterward, lol.
That’s how I feel about if I ever went pro.
Back spasms, I’m still not 100%. I have ignored the pain medication though, it knocks me out too long,I have to function. I have Mike’s stance on proctor. Farnsy in that whitesox game made me need an extra serving of aciphex he was so bad. The guy islights out, in the right situations, such a quirky pitcher.
LOL Mike, speaking of long last names, I would have hated to be a Royals broadcaster last year. Imagine having to announce double plays quickly when two of the players involved in the DP were Grudzielanek and Mintckiewicz? Awhellnaw..lol.
And, Gnome, I’m sure your wife will come around on Melky eventually! I did not hold him in the highest regard after the 05 callup, but he grew on me quickly after I realized what a special player he really was 🙂
i agree that for the right guy trading Proc is fine, i just dont think that hernandez is the right guy
haha did he try to score a touchdown in that stadium?
I was also at the game before the jeter dive into the stands. I believe after shef ripped one through ortiz’s glove that was the last time ortiz was a full time first baseman.
mikee I think you meant gonzalez.
Ohhh man I will never forget that series Vince! It was a classic for sure. Sheff ripping one through Ortiz’s glove was the BEST! Remember he was examining his glove for, like, 10 minutes afterward to see if something was wrong with it? LOL, there’s something wrong with the 1st baseman, not the glove! 😀
And then the Jeter dive the next day really made the series one for the record books!
That play (or lack thereof, lol) is always the first thing I bring up every time S*x fans try to use the dumb argument that “Ortiz *could* field, if he had to..”
haha same with me, yes he did check it for the rest of the inning…that was some battle too, an 11 pitch war with sheffield, shef ripped some liners right over my head during that at bat (I was on the third base side)
well actually, i think shef gave the yankees the lead, but the rip through the glove tied it up.
Most embarrassing moments at Yankee Stadium?
I do not have many at all…but I have many, MANY at Fenway. Some of them may have involved free alcohol (Sky Box Suites). Perhaps injuring a broadcaster. Possibly involving throwing grapes or ice. So hard to pick just one.
yeh sorry….had a moment that crossed work and yankee rumors….bad mikee!! quit mixing work and play!!
I have to make a point of seeing pettitte and wang pitch, I have seen the following yankee pitchers of noteworthiness:
1. clemens (7-1 win on mets, matsui gs)
2. irabu (12-6 win over indians, typical irabu start)
3. lilly (bonds homers midway up the upperdeck, error in the 9th by soriano wins it for giants)
4.gooden ( no hitter)
5. johnson (17 ip 1 run in two starts)
6. mussina
7. vazquez (2-0 loss to pedro)
8. pavano (twice oddly enough)(one a win over zambrano one a loss to rodrigo lopez)
thats a lot of games!! i cant remember when but i have vague recollections of a game in Baltimore when i was kid visiting my grand-parents and my granddad took me to a game, i vaguely remember a donnie baseball home-run that landed like 4 seats away from me but the guy next to us fought us off to get the ball. as i recall he was wearing a yankee jersey and all the baltimore fans started booing and giving him a rough time for not giving me the ball (i was like 8), when they thought i was an O’s fan (i actually have been a yankee fan since abt the age of 4, before that a pirates fan, but i did live in pitt at the time so i guess it was excuseable….)
he never did give me that ball either!! just sat smuggly watching the game and then left before the game was over….
of course how much was an actual memory and how much was inflated i couldnt tell you…
Vince! Somehow you managed to see BOTH games that Pavano pitched. Gee, you really are lucky!
so shall we start the pool now to see what injury he will come up with between now and opening day to avoid pitching in two more games in pinstripes?? my $$: a refridgerator falls on him…..it could happen 😉
haha My first game ever was a 3-0 win over the orioles. The only time I saw mattingly, he went 0-3.
I grew up about an hour from ny, and 2 hours from yankee stadium so I had the luxery of going games. except for 2003 I have been to at least one game since 1995 every year.
Probably about 25 games in total and 15 were yankees redsox (estimating). I am absolutely confident some people on this blog have been to 10 times that in their lifetimes though. Luckily since I still go to school in the north I will still be going to games this year.
hahaha yeah that’s how I felt, and I didn’t want to see him pitch either time. I think I saw his 2nd start at yankee stadium (april 18th game or april 11th or something) He was not sharp either game and the first one was when he took it off the head and came out in the first or second inning.
my bet is ankle sprain…my honest bet….I think the first game he pitches in poor weather he will land wrong and be out for two years.
didnt he have an ankle injury once?? does anyone have the rundown of all the various ailments that have kept him off the field???
im thinkin shoulder might be next (if it hasnt already appeared). i truly think when/if he comes back he is going to be trying too hard and over pitch, i think it will lead to shoulder issues.
fair point….Mark we really need a new thread, this is loading four or five times.
vmm=Vince McMahon??
lol no unfortunately I do not own the WWE (that’st he name now right?)…though their HQ is in ct.
Those are my full initials though
Paul you’re going to have to share some of those stories…
Wait Vince. 17 IP, 1 run by RJ when you see him.*******, we gotta get you a limited season ticket.
Oh, and if I didn’t mention it already, my dad was at Larsen’s perfecto.
Mike has us all beat.
haha Yeah Mike, I must be a unit good luck charm. 8 innings 1 run vs the twins (13 k)
1 run (hr to tejada) 9 innings against the orioles (I wanna say 7 k).
Hey can someone answer a football question? This is irking me now (long story):
Jerricho Cotchery of the Jets is not a rookie, is he? I thought that he had been with the Jets for a few years but just did special teams before..
scratch that 1 run against the twins, it never happened, it was 8 inning shutout and then mo came in in the 9th in like a 5-0 game or something.
I was at two “Jeffrey Maier” type games at the Stadium where there were homers hit by Yanks to RF where fan interference could have been called but wasn’t.
The first was in 1978. It happened to be Guidry’s 13th straight win as he started that 25-3 season 13-0 before he lost one. Mickey Rivers had just come off of the DL and he hit a HR late in the game to win it. Mickey Stanley was in RF for the Tigers and he argued like ****. The other thing I remember about that game was that 1b Jason Thompson of the Tigers took Gator out of the park…and how! A lefty hitter, he went the other way and hit one over the (at that time) 430 sign in LCF.
The other was in 1993. Orioles/Yankees and Mattingly hit it. Beat Ben McDonald 1-0.
I am the anti-good luck charm for Mike Mussina it seems. I have been to like 5 or 6 of his starts and not one was a W. 😦 This will be the year I see him win I hope!!!
in 2004, cotchery had 6 receptions for 60 yards in 12 games. 2005 19 receptions and a full season…he is in his 3rd pro year. Yes, he also plays special teams on kick returns and has since 2004, his actual rookie season.
Damon speaks…on Pete’s blog.
I think my favorite yankees sox game was in 1996. sox lead 7-1 and we were going to give it one more inning before trying to beat traffic (this was around the 5th or 6th) the yankees added some runs to make it 7-6 and then the sox took an 11-6 lead…a 7th and 8th inning rally made it 11-10 in the 9th (i’m pretty sure)and then rookie shortstop derek jeter with 2 outs in the 9th hit a game winner up the middle in an 12-11 victory featuring 30 hits.
Strawberry’s grandslam to make it 8-0 in an 8-4 win was pretty cool too.
Thank you! Woohoo, that means I was right and these big diesel football obsessed dudes were wrong! hahaaa and when I tried to say he wasn’t a rookie some dude got all uppity with me and harrumphed that ‘he’d think HE would know better than ME..’ Ha! 😀
My dad was also at the 1958 Colts-Giants NFL title game.
Exactly three years later, I was born (with 7 more to follow). That ended that.
(Sorry dad) LOL
Now you can tell them you have the looks and the smarts!
wow mike family of 10? rough.
my great grandpa and grandma had 21 kids…only this year did I meet someone who had me beat.
Awww, the Johnny Damon stuff on Pete’s blog just put me in suuch a cheerful mood. Impossible not to love the guy!
Haha I love showing up dudes when it comes to sports. At a bar once some dude tried to tell me the Mets swept the Yanks at Shea in 05. After I proved him wrong via someone’s Sidekick, he had to buy me and all my girlfriends a round! 🙂
My Yankee Stadium visits were sporadic over the years since it was a trek from Long Island to the Bronx but I went to a bunch of Yankee games at Shea when they used it as their home when Yankee Stadium was under construction. Shea is one of the worst stadiums I have ever been to, terrible sight lines.
But I did go to a lot of games at the Stadium 1979-1983. A friend had season tickets and I went to 40 or so a year. I worked in Queens then so it was not so far into Manhattan to meet myt friend and then we either drove up or took the train.
My most embarrassing Yankee Stadium experience happened during that period.
The seats were in about the 10th row of the upper deck just to the 1B side of home plate a bit. They were great seats and you could see everything. However it was steep and the incident occurred when a hot dog vendor slipped on the steps and came tumbling down.
I tried to catch him and missed, as did many others, as it was sure he was going over the edge. But there was enough of a railing to stop him which was amazing with the momentum.
But with the tumbling and scramble of people to grab him I got covered in mustard. Mustard everywhere-hair, face, shirt.
But that was all secondary because we were all glad the guy did not go over the railing. Yet the rest of the night people around razzed me about whether I wanted a hot dog to go with that mustard.
im sure shea has nothing on RFK….will be glad when the nats are outta there!! football stadiums just dont work for baseball!!
Hector Noesi was suspended Thursday for the first 50 games of next season after testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance under baseball’s minor league drug program. Yanks pitching prospect………
Good afternoon guys. I’m not here to chat long, gotta go christmas shopping but wanted to stop in.
I like that the Yankees took home a nice group of TYIB awards. I’d rather Jeter got the MVP but atleast he was recognized in someway for being the top hitter. And i’m really glad that Wang got top starter! To beat out Santana? Wow. And Melky with top play is also really nice.
Embarassing moments at the Stadium? I was in the left field bleachers right behind the bullpen and Mo was warming up, and he was pretty close by so i went down and yelled “You’re a beautiful man, Mariano” but he was concentrating on his warming up so he didn’t respond or look back. Then some security guy started to kind of give me a hard time. It wasn’t that bad but that’s really the closest thing to being embarassing that’s happened to me at the Stadium.
Not sure how many games i’ve gone to at Yankee Stadium, probably around a dozen or more. My first was in September 2004, and Kevin Brown was pitching against the O’s. Jeter hit a leadoff homerun, so the game had a promising start, but that would be the only run of the game. It was also the game where Kevin Brown went into the clubhouse and punched the wall and broke his hand. O’s won 3-1.
The best game i went to a the Stadium was in 2005, in game 3 of the Yankee Stadium portion of the Subway Series. I was in the right field bleachers with my brother and lucky for us we got surround by Metrosexuals fans. The Mets were winning pretty much the entire game, so it was really annoying sitting there surround by these Mets fans busting our chops. We got the last laugh however, as the Yankees rallied in the bottom of the 9th and Jason Giambi ripped a walkoff single up the middle to win the game. I never screamed louder at Mets fans than i did at that moment. They got out of there so fast it wasn’t even funny. We were all high fiving and hugging other Yanks fans too, it was just that cool of a moment. The game i went to this summer where A-Rod walk-off homered against the Braves was pretty cool too.
And a side not about that Mets game, when my brother and I were walking down 34th street on our way back to Penn Station, this ***** Mets fan got in my face and started bragging about how the Mets kicked the Yankees *** that night. I was more than happy to inform him of Jason’s walk off hit.
Holy ****!!! Assuming this is Noesi’s first positive test.. 50 game suspension for roids in the minors, and only 10 games in the majors?!
Brings to mind what has become one of my all-time favorite baseball quotes..
“Only in baseball, you get a 10-game suspension for steroids, and a 6-game suspension for milk.”–Brad Penny (after the suspension of the Marlins bat boy for the milk prank.)
Brian I was at that 05 Subway Series game also. 6/26, Jeter’s 31st birthday. Great game! Mutts fans totally silent on the way out but they sure had an awful lot to say about an hour before.. 😉
Yeah, I saw Yanks pitching prospect, and was worried, then I saw Noesi had 5 games in GCL ball and I was like, whew. I was scared it was one of our big guns.
Looking around baseball, Nats give up Vidro. No Sori, Nick Johnson coming off a broken leg, and Tim Redding is their #2 starter right now. It is looking like they will challenge the Royals for worst team in baseball.
I think they changed it so that it’s a 50 game ban in the majors now, too. if i’m not mistaken.
just for the record, i figured out the number of games i’ve been to at Yankee Stadium and i was dead on with a dozen. 1 in 2004, 8 in 2005 (had a 16 game plan with my brother, but i moved to Atlanta in the middle of the summer) and 3 in 2006 when i was in PA for the summer.
at a dozen you have been to more games in yankee stadium than povano!!
Well when you say it like that i makes me feel like i’ve hardly been there at all.
lol! nah, just means you could be part of the team!!
I mean **** my 2006 total alone puts me ahead of Pavano! haha
See its all in how you look at it!!
my high school #’s were better than povanos, heck i look at the pitching contracts being handed out now and i start to think comeback!! course 10 years without playing on even college level doesnt help, but hey even if i get 500k guaranteed, i can pitch left handed, and was decent before i threw my arm out…might not be a bad time for a career change!! lol
my high school #’s were better than povanos, heck i look at the pitching contracts being handed out now and i start to think comeback!! course 10 years without playing on even college level doesnt help, but hey even if i get 500k guaranteed, i can pitch left handed, and was decent before i threw my arm out…might not be a bad time for a career change!! lol
darn proxy double posing….sorry abt that
So I moved to Boston in 1983 so my Yankee Stadium visits since then are few.
My last time to Yankee Stadium was with tickets that were courtesy of the Red Sox. (I had helped out someone in the organization pro bono on an IRS audit.)
They were good seats behind home plate but I did not like having to look through that wire protection stuff.
Gnome, I am thinking of trying out for LHP in relief in Spring Training. I am working on getting in David Wells shape.
He was actually the best starter on the Red Sox last year. He was the only Red Sox starter to pitch well in Boston Massacre II.
Lived in Akron all my life. Never been to NY or Yankee Stadium. Been to a few Yankee vs Cleve games in Cleveland. Went to one game Soriano got picked off 2nd base twice in one game where Clemens started for Yanks which they eventually lost in extra innings……..
live the David Wells life style: used to have a six pack, but upgraded to a keg!!
any news on Igawa?? all this DMat news has me wondering.
Mike and Vince – Consider this then. If it were possible for the Yankees to have both Proctor AND Gonzalez, would you agree with that? I feel like you guys are intent on getting rid of Proctor for no reason at all. That is anything but productive at the moment, especially when people say that we need bullpen arms.
Keep in mind Proctor has only pitched in the AL while the opposite is true for Gonzalez.
2 weeks until Igawa deadline.
Yes, Swo. My first option would be to keep Proctor, get Gonzalez and dump Farnsworth.
I think we have enough bullpen arms, esp. righties. I look at Rasner, Karstens, Britton, Bruney, Farnsworth, Proctor, Veras and Mo. That’s 8. Cox and Pope are close to helping. Whelan will start at AA. They are righties also. If Igawa wins the 5 job, then Pavano becomes the most expensive mop-up man around if the Yanks cannot dump him.
swo: as long as we keep proc, im fine with going to get gonzalez. but to me keeping proc is more important then getting senor gonzalez.
gotta go for now.
Mike – of the bullpen arms you named, only Bruney, Farnsworth, Proctor, and maybe Britton (likely in AAA) have proven themselves in setup roles. The jury’s still out on Veras, and Karstens and Rasner are better suited for starting because of their pitching repertoire (both are a mix of Mike Mussina and Ted Lilly). Pope couldn’t handle AAA last season, but we’ll see how he does this time around. Cox doesn’t need to be rushed, and neither does Whelan.
So far we have Mo, Farnsworth, Proctor, Bruney, and Myers as locks for the bullpen, in my opinion. If Pavano wins the 5 spot, Igawa will be a left-handed mop-up guy. That still leaves an extra bullpen spot (assuming we carry 12 pitchers). Re-signing Ron Villone isn’t out of the question, even though talks have been quiet.
Long-term I understand your concern, but we’re only talking about 2007 here. I don’t think the bullpen righty logjam will be as severe as you say it will be. Someone WILL get injured, Igawa will move to the rotation, and either Britton or Beam will be called up. These things will work themselves out.
Regardless of what does happen, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I feel sorry for anyone who has to play against our AAA team next season.
Well said, Swo.
Well it wasn’t at Yankee Stadium but when the Yankees were in Camden Yards last summer I yelled at Johnny Damon “Do you remember me?” (I had yelled things at him when he was on the Sox) and he turned around and gave me this strange look.
Andrew, what’s your last day of school before Christmas break…and when do you go back?
ahh break for me started toay but I go home tomorrow……I would be fine with proctor and gonzalez….I guess you have to have watched gonzalez to understand, the guy is really good. I would be with mike in getting rid of farnsy to get gonzalez, a little more mobile and flexible, his back won’t lock up.
My last day is the 22nd… but I play to skip that day. I believe I go back on the 2nd or the 3rd, not too sure.
*plan
What makes Gonzalez even better is the fact that the Sox traded him for Suppan, Freddy Sanchez was a throw in on that deal.
andrew if it makes u feel better im off since today until january 22nd.
Vince, do you fear small spaces? Specifically trunks?
I still have another week before I get off from school. I go back on the 2nd
I envy you so much right now, Vince.
hahah thank you lizzy, if you look like what you say you do, I envy you too.
hahah andrew, actually yes I do, too bad you’ll have too much homework and school to catch me. 🙂
Break starts for me tomorrow…contemplating leaving either tomorrow or staying and partying and leaving the next day…decisions decision…
I get back on the 22nd of January as well. Vince, I need to take you out drinking or something. We’re both gonna be so bored for the next 5 weeks.
Why thank you, Vince. And don’t worry, I didn’t lie about my appearance.
omg i know swo….it takes 3 weeks and then i want to off myself….I JUST GOT MY FAKE! anyway…..u should come up next time we play colgate lol…..I’m staying until Friday so I can drink tonight, it is definitely the way to go.
Saying at home in fenway in boston in the al east beckett will have roughly the same era as he did in a pitchers park in florida in the nl east is being unrealistic. He will prob get his 15-20 wins because the sox will give him run support (see randy johnson) but there is no way he will ever be an ace. If anything matsuzaka could become an ace, followed by beckett and then papelbon if he makes a clean adjustment eventually. Clemens will not become a redsox at any point next year, those are my beliefs. The only sour taste I have is that the guy’s rating went way over his worth because he dominated the yankees, and it has taken 3 years and counting to convince people he is not all he’s cracked up to be since.
Posted by: yankeevmm@yahoo.com | December 13, 2006 11:33 PM
That’s true, Swo, but last spring, who in blue blazes actually thought Proctor would do well?
Come to think of it, in the spring of 1996, another guy who no one knew how good he could be was a guy named Mariano Rivera. Had Buck known what he had, the Yanks would have won the 1995 ALDS from Seattle.
BTW, “only”? That’s four you named. How many set-up guys do you need? I mentioned eight righties and you only need four.
With Hughes, Clippard, Betances and Sanchez on the way, Rasner and Karstens most likely will get squeezed out of starting roles. Switching one to long relief could be the ticket for MLB success for one or both of them. Remember Mo came up as a starter.
I’m not saying there is another Mo here. Those are once in a generation, but maybe all one of the other guys need is the same chance.
Remember that sometimes you need to lose out short term in order to win out long term.
God I don’t want Pavano in the 5 spot. C’mon Igawa. I want 3 lefties in the rotation.
I don’t think Villone is coming back. Not for the two years he is asking for, at least.
I hear talk of going with 13 pitchers, believe it or not. I don’t agree with it, but that’s the word.
I won’t be satisfied if the lefty relievers are Myers (38 next year) or Villone (37 next year). I’d like the other lefty (Gonzalez will be 29) to face the Thomes, Ortiz’s, Morneau’s and Mauer’s, and as mentioned, I’d like Igawa to hopefully go 13-9 or so as the #5 guy.
Don’t you think that with his stuff and lack of command, Scott Proctor would make a much better starting pitcher than reliever? — Alex B., Bermuda
Proctor had success in his only start for the Yankees this season, holding Texas to three runs in five innings of a 9-8 Yankees victory. But I don’t think his calling is as a starter. With a fastball that consistently hits high-90s, Proctor simply needs to work on his command. If he can do that, he can become a dominant late-inning reliever.
With guys who throw hard, starting isn’t necessarily the answer. He has had success as a closer in the Minors, saving 14 games for Columbus in 35 appearances this season. Proctor isn’t likely to get a shot as a starter with the Yankees any time soon, so if he is to contribute to this team, it will be as a middle reliever/setup man.
I look at Proctor in the same light as Tanyon Sturtze when it came to starting vs. relieving. Sturtze was very inconsistent as a starter, as he was forced to use four pitches on a consistent basis. Once he moved to the bullpen, he was able to stick with his two best pitches and go into attack mode. Proctor wouldn’t be as effective if he had to mix it up as much, as his best pitch is his four-seamer.
That was from Mark’s mailbag on October 17, 2005.
mike that line just made me extremely angry…the 95 division series bothered me more than any other playoff series including the ’04 alcs for some reason, maybe because I wasn’t yet mature enough not to let it get to me for a long period of time, or maybe because joey cora cheated, or maybe it was griffey’s domination, or edgar martinez or the fact they had the ugliest team ever (charleton, buhner), I just simply hated that team and obviously the outcome….now realizing we had mo and instead it was mcdowell coughing up game 5 bothers me greatly….and those stupid refuse to lose signs
From Mark’s Mailbag, May 15, 1960:
I think Roger Maris will hit lots of home runs soon.
–Paul, Long Island, NY
From Mark’s Mailbag on March 27, 2006:
That Melky Cabrera is a bum…when will Cashman trade him and what can we get for him?
-Paul, Long Island, NY
Yup, that series burned me too. Those 163 pitches by Cone…when it was so obvious he was running out of gas. Had Mo come in at that time…he was just starting to show his future dominance in that series.
ha ha, Alex…I moved to Boston in 1983.
I never wanted to trade Melky.
Nice research, Alex. Mark was dead on.
Well apparently you were visiting Long Island when you sent that email….
Haha I find it ironic that it was me who sent him the email Mike.
Love Wilbon on PTI….they are criticizing BOSOX fans…Wilbon “who goes out to the hospital to see a guy take his physical?”
TODAY IS BILL BUCKNER’S BIRTHDAY!
Reading through some of the comments…as far as carrying 13 pitchers…I think it’s a necessary evil as long as Myers is on the roster.
As for Christmas vacations, my office is closing up on the 22nd and not opening up again until after New Years. Woohoo good times!!
Also, Farnsworth cannot get traded until he serves his purpose. And, his purpose is to get into a brawl with somebody on an opposing team. So, he can’t get traded yet! 😀
haha Gina
But I would really like to see Farnsy get into a fight with someone…just as long as he doesn’t get hurt.
I pretty much have my next column written. I’ll send it out in a week or so in order to get it out before the holidays.
I’m using two trivia questions. One that Jorge gave me a while ago on this blog, and this one.
On May 14, 1967, Mickey Mantle hit his 500th HR at home vs. the Orioles.
What event in Yankee history happened exactly one week later?
The problem with Karstens and Rasner is that they simply don’t have relief pitcher stuff. The “crafty relief pitcher”, as far as I know, doesn’t really exist. You used Mo as an example, but he at least hits up to 96 on the radar gun. Karstens and Rasner barely hit 90. That’s why I would take them out of the equation when it comes to future bullpen arms.
I know there’s serious speculation about Sanchez being moved to the bullpen if there is a logjam of starters, partially because of his small repertoire but mostly because of his heat. We’ll see what happens.
Again, we’re talking about 2007 only, so there’s no need to get ahead of ourselves. Cashman and Torre will put together the best possible team one year at a time.
Liz do you have a myspace?
Alex, what I think is funny about the Proctor-Sturtze comparison is that Proctor, in the past year, has actually developed at least 3-4 effective pitches. He IS capable of being an effective starter after all! Yet at the same time, he became an effective relief pitcher just as Mark predicted. How’s that for even more irony?
May 21, 1967 – Earl Wilson gives Detroit its 3rd straight win over the Yankees, 9 – 4. Mickey Mantle hits his 5th homer in six games but it’s not enough for Whitey Ford, who appears in his last ML game.
Elizabeth, good point about Farnsy not getting hurt. When he was a Cubbie he kicked a fan in anger over something that happened on the field, and he ended up on the DL for 6 weeks..in the midst of a pennant race!
But, I could deal with him getting suspended for a couple of days as long as he really beat someone up good, lol. Until he does we will have to satisfy ourselves with pics of his last brawl:
http://reds.enquirer.com/2003/06/20/Fight1_zoom.jpg
Here is what his victim looked like afterwards!
http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/images/2003/06/19/gTWhWoVI.jpg
Thank you, Google.
Well as a true red sox fan I must admit that you yankee fans have entertained me so far in this past year that I have been in Iraq. Let me start by saying Matsuki will not hit a home run off of matsuzaka the first time he faces him. I’ll put my years salary on that. Pap will have to adjust a little to his new role but he will be fine. The young kid has alot of heart.As for Lester that boy is tough as nails and will also be fine. It really must make you mad that the Red Sox beat Borass though. matsuzaka Passed his physicall but what is most hiarious is while the negotations were going slow you all were hopfull that the Yankees were gonna get him. Igawa as much as you would like to think he is a top notch pitcher, he is not. Stop being mad at Chilling for playing and beating you guys with a messed up anckle. It’s not our fault the Yankees had the worst collapse in baseball if not sports history.
Then with the arms coming up, they will be expendable in say, two years.
I and a few others have advocated a long-term approach. Take one step back in order to assure long-term success. Unfortunately (to us, anyway) some only look at the now. We would sacrifice one now for eight futures. We feel that is sometimes necessary.
I’m not saying that 2007 needs to be sacrificed, but I do and am looking long-term here.
Good job, Paul.
On May 21, 1967, one week after Mickey Mantle’s 500th HR, Whitey Ford pitched his last major league game in Detroit. He left after starting and pitching just one inning (elbow injury) and giving up a run. He lost the game. Mantle did hit #504 later in that game. When Whitey retired in 1967, he was 2-4 with a 1.47 ERA. Both of his wins in 1967 were over the White Sox’ Tommy John. The last man to homer off of Whitey was Joe Foy of Boston.
Punctuation-challenged troll alert.
Actually I don’t, Alex.
But I should really start one. It seems like the whole world has one!
Then I could see how you all really look like.
Pettite will only help your rotation in the playoffs other than that he wont win more than 16
Wow!! Farnsy really banged him up!! Now I really want to see him fight…a RED SOX!!
thats giving him a little to much credit
Mike I only know the answer because I Googled it. I did not follow the Yankees that closely then. That only came a few years later.
Spelling-challenged, too.
You cannot blame Red Sox fans for clinging to 2004 like moths to a light since in their lifetimes it is the only high spot.
It is just they seem disposed to be so obnoxious, nervy for a 3rd place team.
i’ll be that
LOL yup, Farnsy definitely needs to save his wrath for a Red Sox. What I can’t decide is which one of them I’d like him to annihilate. 😀 I keep going back and forth between Big Fatty, Manny, Varitek (revenge for ARod!) and of course Schilling!
Schilling is probably the most excreble Red Sox. He is just so pompous.
I still like David Ortiz. I really hope the rumors of him being a steroid junkie are not true.
ROTFL @ the troll misspelling Schilling as “Chilling.” LOL that grumpy old man is ANYTHING but ‘chilling’!
You cant blame us for holding on to that because that year we did the unthinkable come back from 3 straight lossos and beat the yankees to go on to win the world serious. I mean come on who in the history of sports has had that kind of colapse? Then listening to you all talk trash about Chillings bloody sock like he wasnt actually hurting and still go out there and play because he knew his team needed him. I love it
And Mike, ideally, I would look long-term as well. But I also place myself in the seat of the GM and realize that, when you run a team like the Yankees, one that has a legitimate World Series shot year in and year out, there is a lot at risk when you place too much emphasis on the long-term.
All I know is that the approach Cashman has taken in recent years has shown that he clearly has the long-term in mind. Therefore I’m not too worried about what happens with the kids. I mean, if it weren’t for Cashman’s moves last month, we wouldn’t even be talking about 4 of the prospects whose names keep popping up.
I dunno. I don’t think we disagree, Mike, I just think I’m less of an idealist than you are.
The only way to deal with trolls is to limit your reaction to reminding others not to respond to trolls.
You can call me what you want but i am a 24 year old that has seen more in life than anyone else in here
Private Capici isn’t dead after all! What’s up, soldier?
I was talking with a friend on the phone tonight about the Matsuzaka deal as he is a Sox fan and wanted to gloat. I let him because I think Daisy Mat will be a good pitcher, likely their best.
But he raised an issue I did not consider, that Manny is juiced. I am not sure it is true; I think Manny is just that talented. But he insists that he is. So I am not sure.
Absolutely, Paul. Schilling is lower than pond ****. Did you ever see the HBO documentary ‘9 Innings’? It was about the 01 WS and how it restored some hope and sanity to NY after 9/11. Many players–both AZ and NYY–were interviewed onscreen for it, and in Schilling’s interview he called New Yorkers “obnoxious and arrogant.” In a frickin documentary about 9/11 he says this! I hope he meets a slow and painful end one day.
nothing it’s quiet in iraq today so i thought i would catch up with some baseball news
That’s why Brian makes the big bucks, Swo. Probably not as much as he should…lol.
I’ve seen 40 years of Yankee baseball, and believe you me, I’ve seen some low points. I think it’s just that I lived through 1966-1973 (remembering 67-73) and 1989-1992 and you may be too young to remember those years. Just a generational gap thing, maybe.
Gina—Schilling. Definitely Schilling.
Not surprised, Gina. Even the people here can not stand him because of his arrogance.
What year was Thurman a rookie, Mike?
In Iraq, my *****.
In Iraq, my *****.
Farnsy does seem to have a thing for beating up fellow Ps, so Schilling is a good choice. I wonder for how many weeks he would wear ketchup on his sock afterward to milk the incident for all it was worth…
I think they don’t like him in new york because he owns new york. You can’t beat him in the clutch
He came up in August 1969, but didn’t play too much that year.
Thurman was the 1970 Rookie of the Year, in a near-unanimous vote (one vote went to Foster of Cleveland).
Proxy error.
I’m out for now.
Ahh the darkness that was Yankee Stadium in the early 90s! That is the first era of the Yanks that I was really old enough to semi-remember. All I will say is, when Matt Nokes is your 2nd favorite Yankee, you know that things are baaaad. LOL
You know if the roles were reversed and you had someone out there pitching with a jacked up anckle you would put him on a pedastel and say how he is the greatest thing to live scence the Babe
Thanks, Mike, I was just starting to look it up. I think that was the time I really got involved as a Yankee fan.
LOL……factor in the fact that Schilling supports a certain politician and he’s pretty much at the top of Paul’s list of people he’d most want to see suffer a horrible, horrible death.
cutesingle, what is your name?
my $0.02 is coming a little late, but i’d love to see the yankees get gonzalez, if for no other reason than to keep him from the sox. if the red sox shore up their bullpen a bit, they’re going to be awfully, awfully hard to beat next year. as is, their bullpen is a pretty big weakness.
giving up melky and proctor to get gonzalez is borderline insane, but just proctor, i could live with. gonzalez may have pitched in the NL, but he’s a very, very tough lefty.
Yanks had 3 rookies of the year playing together but only Thurman won it as a Yankee. Also Lou Piniella and Chris Chambliss.
swo, you too
Kasey you also said the same about last year’s Red Sox.
How did that 3rd place finish work out for you?
My name is Mark and I am from Brockton , Ma. Half hour south of Boston
Let’s recap…
Red Sox vs. American League teams in 2006
70-74
thanks mark
i’ll try to remember
lizzy no facebook and no myspace? jeez, you’re the worst junior ever.
As far as the S*x’s chances of getting Gonzalez, who else are they offering in return besides just Coco? I thought I had read that Coco alone wasn’t gonna be enough to get him.
no problem
Well, it’s definitely true that the Red Sox can be tough if they shore up the bullpen, and if the Yankees acquire Gonzalez it would definitely go a long way…I don’t think there is a single legitimate closer on the free agent market right now. But that’s a big if. Last year they entered the bullpen market late and ended up with Seanez and Tavarez…and look how that ended up.
We can only hope they rely on Delcarmen and Hansen again. And let’s not forget about Timlin. The three of them are…ahem…quite the powerhouse.
Mike, btw, did you sign up for mlb.com’s job offers? I recall seeing some phillies job offers, I am on their internship email list and it also sends me job offers which I obviously cannot take and am not qualified to take.
Troll alert
I get the feeling this season will be exactly like 2002 all over again…and 2008 will be much like 2000
I know we have alot of great prospects but i wouldnt want to give any of them up
lol wow Vince…the insults
but i can make one if you guys really want me to
i want to see how you people really look.
*like
wow, i don’t usually expect you to be a ****, paul.
oddly enough, each season is different from the previous one. and the one after, for that matter.
but i guess since they finished third last year, then we might as well pencil them in for third again, right genius?
all i’m saying is they’ll be tough. the yankees got better, too. i love the pettitte signing and the sheffield trade as much as any moves cashman’s been involved in. the yankees should be formidable next year, especially if igawa or pavano can contribute. but, if matsuzaka even lives up to a fraction of his billing, the red sox will have a very, very good starting pitcher on their hands. and, on paper, their offense should be better as well. but jd drew could easily implode.
right now, the teams look about even on paper to me. if the red sox have to go to war with their current bullpen, they could be in trouble.
done being a ****?
Dustin Hermanson, Dan Kolb, Brian Meadows, Ray King, Chris Reitsma, and Arthur Rhodes are the only relief pitchers on the market worth mentioning at all. That’s slim pickings, in my opinion.
whats up with this troll alert thing
hermanson’s back is worse than farnsworth.
any team who wants bullpen help is going to have to trade for it at this point.
Paul, it’s pointless to compare last season’s Sox and the 2007 version. The Sox had little depth in 2006, and then had an unprecedented rash of injuries that no team has encountered as long as I can remember. It’s amazing that they won 86 games with a rotation that included Jason Johnson and Kevin Jarvis. The 2007 version of the Sox will be deeper in every area.
I do agree about Mike Gonzalez. He is a power-pitching left-handed reliever who has been impressive the last three seasons in Pittsburgh. He is the Sox best option for a closer right now.
Jeff
http://www.bosoxbanter.mlblogs.com
that should say hermanson’s back is worse than farnsworth’S. although, if dustin hermanson’s back tried to pitch, i imagine it probably would be worse than farnsworth.
I’ll almost always give the edge to the Yanks, but I’ve no doubt the Red Sox will be tough next season. They broke the bank and we can now make fun of them for being hypocrites, but that doesn’t necessarily make them a bad team on paper either.
But yeah, like my last couple posts suggest, I agree about the Sox bullpen, Kasey.
Wow, impressive response, kasey, with namecalling. Did you cry also?
Did I call you a name? Did I get personal?
Have I ever been abusive to you?
Nope. Too much like shooting fish in a barrel. But I could start.
Reitsma could be a decent set-up man, but he has been inconsistent. Ditto Arthur Rhodes.
Jeff
http://www.bosoxbanter.mlblogs.com
kasey:
The Yankees are awful; the Red Sox are great.
The Yankees are awful; the Red Sox are great.
The Yankees are awful; the Red Sox are great.
The Yankees are awful; the Red Sox are great.
The Yankees are awful; the Red Sox are great.
The record is stuck.
The record is stuck.
The record is stuck.
The record is stuck.
The record is stuck.
The record is stuck.
The record is stuck.
The record is stuck.
The record is stuck.
The record is stuck.
lol
“I’ll almost always give the edge to the Yanks, but I’ve no doubt the Red Sox will be tough next season. They broke the bank and we can now make fun of them for being hypocrites, but that doesn’t necessarily make them a bad team on paper either.”
exactly what i’m saying, swolansky. i think the yankees will be a very good team next year, and i fully expect them to compete for a championship, but the red sox will be right there. i think the third place finish last year shifted theo and co. into panic mode.
Ugh. Can both of you just agree to disagree? The last thing the rest of us want to read is you two going back and forth.
Swolansky, Yankees fans are calling us hypocrites, and we are laughing at Yankees fans because they are bashing the Sox about doing what the Yankees have done for years. It’s fruitless to debate about it. We will go around in circles.
I’m glad that Henry and Theo opened their wallets. The Sox have a well-stocked farm system with numerous starters, relievers and position players who will start arriving at Fenway in 2008 and beyond. Yet they had holes to fill for 2007, and for the short term, I don’t mind the fact that they increased payroll to become more competitive. The Sox long-term approach has not changed. They are developing more players from within. You’re right, the bullpen is questionable right now, but I’m sure Theo will make the necessary moves to strengthen the pen before spring training.
Jeff
http://www.bosoxbanter.mlblogs.com
that’s actually not what i’m saying at all, paul. i’d agree to disagree, but we don’t even disagree.
shut up Swo. Thank you.
I did not start calling this self-absorbed whiner a name until now.
It is not even a new season and we are hearing the same old **** again and again. Oh the powerful Red Sox.
Frankly, to me, they look far weaker than last year.
The sox still do not have as circular or as many dimensions of a lineup as the yankees and they have a lot more health ?’s too. Right now the sox have a better starting staff on paper and the yankees have a better offense and bullpen in my opinion.
i agree jeff
i could re-post my actual statement if that would help, paul. all i said was that if the red sox shore up their bullpen (which is a BIG WEAKNESS), then they’ll look very good ON PAPER.
i also said – and read this as many times as you need to, or better yet, don’t read it at all and move on – that the yankees SHOULD BE VERY GOOD.
clear? hope so. let’s move on so you can get back to your adorable quips, and i’ll chime in every once in a while with infuriating negativity. you seem like a good dude, no reason to get riled up.
Jeff it doesn’t work that way. Yes, we have been doing what you are doing this offseason, but we never complained about that method. It is the sox fans whining year after year after year about how we buy players and how we put up unfair numbers unmatchable by any team, not yankee fans. Therefore, now that you are all gung ho about this method, after calling us the evil empire and saying the yankees are bad for baseball, it is laughable to see how transparent and bitter sox fans have been for years.
i wouldnt say the yankees have a better line-up. The only thing the yankees have better right now is their bullpen
“Yankees fans are calling us hypocrites, and we are laughing at Yankees fans because they are bashing the Sox about doing what the Yankees have done for years.”
Nobody is bashing them for spending lots of money. What we’re bashing them for is the hypocrisy of spending lots of money not 6 months after Epstein stated that the Sox didn’t have the money to compete with the Yanks.
I could personally care less how much $ the Sox or any other team spends. But when they go and spend all this money now, it only makes it look like Theo pulled out the “can’t build an uber-team like the Yankees” excuse merely because the Sox had just been beaten badly by the Yanks. Which, in turn, would make him look pathetic and full of it.
to try and move past the bickering (aren’t you in your forties, dude? a bit too old for internet arguments, i’d think), i’d actually like to discuss the following statement:
“Frankly, to me, they look far weaker than last year.”
moving papelbon out of the closer’s role will definitely hurt them, and schilling is a year older, but how could they possibly be weaker? their rotation last year -as noted – included kevin jarvis, kason gabbard and jason johnson. papi, manny, schilling and papelbon all missed time at the end of the season. jd drew may well implode, but if not, their offense only got better (and it’s not like nixon contributed much last year anyway). how, in your opinion, will they be worse? and i’m not trying to bait you into an argument, i’m honestly curious about this.
Now because THE SOX owner is willing to spend the money he has had all along, it is suddenly ok for the redsox and the rest of baseball.
The Sox look weaker? lol. You’re definitely entitled to your opinion, but as the lineup stands now, it is deep offensively, and in starting pitching. The bullpen is the only question mark. Pedroia is the only question mark from 1-9. The rest are solid hitters.
Mark, the Yankees do have a better line up. Any way you look at it, we’re loaded. Can’t say the same for the Sox.
Sox fans are loyal not bitter
again – and you seem to be missing this point so i’ll put it in caps for you again, paul – I THINK THE YANKEES WILL BE VERY GOOD NEXT YEAR. i expect both teams to make the playoffs and have one of those classic yanks-sox series. ON PAPER, both teams look very strong, but they have to play the games, as we all know.
so, to recap:
THE. YANKEES. LOOK. GOOD. ON. PAPER.
SO. DO. THE. RED. SOX.
read it as slowly as you need to to comprehend it.
Jeff, exactly as Vince said. Sox fans have inveighed about the profligate Yankee spending, and even you suggested it was bad for baseball.
Funny, that when the Sox do it, it is good.
The fact is baseball is presently in its most lucrative period, thanks in no small part to the Yankees and the attendance they draw everywhere they go.
Major League Baseball is flush with revenue as the wild spending this offseason shows.
Money was really never an issue for most of the teams. They were flush with cash but usually it was pocketed by the owners, including the Sox ownership.
But now that the Sox are spending a little cash, Sox fans thinks it is ok. And it is. Just to accuse the Yankees of being bad for baseball is absurd.
You guys have pedroia 9th, and right now crisp first, with lugo 2nd (suspect rookie, crisp coming off an off year, and lugo a .277 hitter) compared to (god only knows who hits 9th but he is better than pedroia at the moment, damon leading off coming off a .290 24 hr season, and cano coming off a .343 season)….that in itself should tell you something about the lineups. You have the 1-2 punch but 6 of our 9 hitters minimum is better offensively.
Vince, like I said before, it is bad for baseball when only the Yankees can afford to sign big name free agents and take on huge salaries in trades. It is good for baseball when small market teams like the Royals and Pirates are flush with revenue sharing cash and can acquire some big names. And it is good for baseball that teams like the Red Sox, Mets and Angels spend more money and make it more competitive for the Yankees to acquire players.
As Yankees fans, you are just not accustomed to this. But that is how it will be for the long term as long as revenue sharing continues, and as long as Henry owns the Sox.
I’m not saying your not loaded but what you have gotten awayfrom is the key role players that made you win thos world series’. Thats what the red sox have done went out and got players that will fit well with what they want done. Not just the biggest bat, but the person with the biggest bat in his situation
Paul, go ahead, speak the truth.
To me it’s not a question of if JD Drew will implode, it’s WHEN he will implode (and how far he will fall when he does) that remains to be seen. I watch him play in a hostile environment in Philly and he can’t even handle being booed by a bunch of Phillies fans (turns into an absolute hack at the plate) so he will definitely not be able to handle the high expectations of Boston fans. Although, I will say that I think he will s.uck far less as Manny’s sidekick than he would have as Manny’s replacement. Expecting him to fill Manny’s shoes would have been REALLY setting him up to fail. Now, he is not being set up to fail, but he’ll still manage to do so on his own.
I dont think drew should get as much money as he is but if he can stay healthy batting behind ortiz and manny is a perfect situation for him to succede in
Drew was a piece? Please, he was the big bat on the market that fit somewhere (carlos lee can’t play rightfield in fenway and neither can soriano)…the yankees have aquired a cuban first baseman, andy pettitte and rid themselves of shef and wright….how is it that the yankees are not getting role players? How is it that the sox are?
You see, Jeff, the alleged small market teams always had the money to spend if they so chose. They elected not to and kept the money.
“To me it’s not a question of if JD Drew will implode, it’s WHEN he will implode (and how far he will fall when he does) that remains to be seen. I watch him play in a hostile environment in Philly and he can’t even handle being booed by a bunch of Phillies fans (turns into an absolute hack at the plate) so he will definitely not be able to handle the high expectations of Boston fans”
i mostly agree, but drew won’t have to face nearly as much pressure hitting behind ortiz and manny as he would anywhere else. the boston fans will probably rattle his pea brain and fragile psyche eventually, but he won’t be expected to step in and drive in 125 runs. that’s manny’s job.
Vince, here is the lineup for the Sox:
1. Lugo, SS
2. Youkilis, 1B
3. Ortiz, DH
4. Manny, LF
5. Drew, RF
6. Lowell, 3B
7. Varitek, C
8. Crisp, CF
9. Pedroia, 2B
This could change since Crisp will likely be dealt for a closer. If this is the case, Wily Mo Pena would hit sixth followed by Lowell, Varitek and Pedroia.
That lineup is filled with solid hitters. Pedroia is a question mark since he is an untested rookie. I think that, if given 500-plus at-bats, Wily Mo will hit 30-plus homers, knock in 100 runs and hit around .300. That is why I don’t mind if the Sox trade Crisp.
“shut up Swo. Thank you.
I did not start calling this self-absorbed whiner a name until now.”
Why are you telling ME to shut up? I didn’t even accuse you of calling him a name or anything for that matter, I just wanted you both to stop bickering because it wouldn’t have led anywhere and it would have just made the rest of us readers pretty bored. On a public forum, I don’t think that’s such an outlandish expectation.
Goodness gracious. For your health’s sake, don’t get so freaking worked up over a disagreement on an internet blog. This is bordering on absurd.
You have a point with the whole role players tid bit but, yes we do have some big, HR threat bats in our line up, but out line up as a WHOLE is more than capable of producing runs. The Sox line up looks balanced but no where near the balance we have.
Jeff, it has not been the yankees who can only afford big names, it has been the owners were not willing to spend some of their profit on fielding a winning team and only now are starting too. We did not get beltran or a rod the first time, other teams have always been able to afford big names, it is ust a matter of how badly the owners care about winning, something nobody will ever judge steinbrenner for.
I agree that 1-9 the Yankees are more loaded offensively, but the Sox lineup 1-9 is filled with solid hitters, and with a deep starting rotation, the Sox will be tough to beat.
“it is bad for baseball when only the Yankees can afford to sign big name free agents and take on huge salaries in trades.”
Other teams besides the Yankees were always able to afford to do this. They just chose not to.
That’s all I’m going to say about that. *** for tat, or whatever they say.
Like I said before, I don’t want this to turn into a spat as opposed to a discussion, so let’s just keep this thing going and see how long “cutesinglesoldier” is going to keep drinking the Kool-Aid.
Jeff I agree, and the sox are always difficult to beat against us anyway and vise versa….I was simply stating there is no way the sox have as good of a lineup, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a solid one.
Oh, I should have known that would get censored. Well, what I meant to say is self-explanatory. Quid pro quo, I guess, works as well.
You’re right, Vince. However, in the past – before revenue sharing – the Yankees had an unfair advantage. That has been evened out now. I prefer revenue sharing to a salary cap. And though I prefer Theo’s long-term approach of building the farm system and promoting players from within, I like the fact that when they need to fill holes, Henry is willing to spend the money.
Building the farm system? Like with Anibal Sanchez, Hanley Ramirez, and Cla Meredith?
You guys could use ALL those guys right about now…
lol yes well revenue sharing has been around much longer than last year and that is when sox ownership and a solid 80% of sox fans cried like babies over what the yankee FO was willing to do for their team…..enter Bobby Abreu at the trade deadline. We’re going to laugh until sox fans either A: admit they conceded last season by august 1st and that was the reason they had the floor wiped with their pride and B: we never hear the word “payroll” again.
lol.. I’m kool i like discussions it keeps my mind off how bad iraq ***** 🙂
The Yankees never had an unfair advantage.
Let’s correct that. The Yankees had an owner willing to spend money on the team.
The Yankee owner wanted to win.
Other owners wanted the cash.
“mark” mentioning “iraq” many many times and having a username craving attention will not make any more of a convincing argument.
I like Bobby Abreu but I wish they had not given up Matt Smith in the trade.
liz, let us know when you’re done lol.
You’re right, Hanley Ramirez especially. I think that was a good trade, though. As Vince knows, I’m a staunch supporter of Beckett. I think he will have a breakout season in 2007, and he is a NO. 1 or No. 2 starter for the long term. No need at debating about this because we will go around in circles.
The Sox farm system is stocked. Sometimes you have to trade prospects to get a MLB ready player. Theo likes to trade for young veterans with high ceilings (like Beckett). I like that approach.
However, I’m glad they are giving Pedroia a chance. I wish they would’ve done the same with David Eckstein and Freddy Sanchez. You’ll start seeing more and more Sox prospects playing in Boston in the next 2-3 years.
Yeah, it’s pitiful that the Red Sox COULD have spent the money last season but chose not to, instead taking the “high road”, only to do a complete about-face 4 months later. What does THAT say about an owner’s commitment to winning on a season-to-season basis?
Thank you Paul!! God that turns my stomach to see complaints that the Yankees have an “unfair advantage.” That is nothing but WHINING fueled by years and years of bitterness for the way other owners stuck it to the fans who supported the team by pocketing all the profits.
I am out of here for a while.. definitely do not frequent this blog to hear whining about Steinbrenner’s commitment to winning as opposed to other owners’ commitments to…pocketing profits. Aurgh!!
lol done what?
BTW how were your finals?
i am not trying to make a convincing arguement about that
And we will laugh when Yankees fans cry when the Sox outbid the Yankees on free agents. Like I said, it’s pointless to debate this. We will go around in circles, just like the Josh Beckett debate.
lol Yes Jeff, I am familiar with your “Beckett” opinion. I cannot wait until it is proved wrong haha.
I am finally starting to feel stress free, I think the fact I’m just chilling with no classes is starting to hit me, now I can start some projects I’ve wanted to for awhile.
The only breakout Beckett might have is acne. He may break the homeruns surrendered record this coming season.
Does he have a no trade clause?
Good night to all my fellow YANKEE FANS!
“The Yankees never had an unfair advantage.
Let’s correct that. The Yankees had an owner willing to spend money on the team.
The Yankee owner wanted to win.
Other owners wanted the cash.”
exactly.
Wasn’t 2006 supposed to be Beckett’s inevitable breakout season?
lol with your myspace silly.
Finals was kind of like taking a big ax and chasing me around until I was eventually trapped in a corner and bludgeoned to death 🙂
I think i did ok.
Epstein has been graet for the sox as your GM has been for you. But like i said he’s more worried about getting the big names rather than the players that fit best in his scheme
I’m not saying your not loaded but what you have gotten awayfrom is the key role players that made you win thos world series’. Thats what the red sox have done went out and got players that will fit well with what they want done. Not just the biggest bat, but the person with the biggest bat in his situation
Posted by: cutesinglesoldier@yahoo.com | December 14, 2006 07:25 PM
Actually you said the complete opposite.
Unless you’re implying by trading sheffield and wright for four prospects and signing a 5 starter and an old “piece” that is “clutch” we are signing “big names”.
Uh…what if the big names that he gets happen to fit his scheme? That seems to be the case in the Yankees’ lineup…not all power hitters, but they seem to be doing SOMETHING right, eh?
All I can say is that I am ready for spring training to begin. This has been one of the longest off seasons for me already. I love basketball and football, but nothing compares to baseball. I” definitely be in Ft. Myers for a couple weekends this March. I don’t like attending spring training in February since there are just workouts.
haha
well let me know how you did when you get the results back.
Meanwhile, does anyone even remember all the infielders Theo has gone through during his tenure? You’d think he would have figured out by now who the players of “best fit” are by now…
Swolansky, if you want to read my opinion on Beckett, visit my blog (http://www.bosoxbanter.mlblogs.com), click on yesterday’s post and scroll down to read the explanation. Vince and I have debated about Beckett since I first started visiting these blogs last summer!
how did i say the complete oposite
The Yankee management was distorted for some time by two factions. The New York faction and the Tampa faction.
Unfortunately the team had no overall plan and would throw money at players who had big names without any idea how they would fit in the mix.
Most of those have not succeeded in both the regular and postseason.
Finally Brian Cashman was able to wrest control from the non baseball people of the Tampa faction and steer the Yankees back in the direction they were going in the early Torre years.
This Yankee fan is much happier to see it going in this direction.
way more than all the second basemen Jeter has gotten to work with
I think since we all started blogging on a regular basis we have sort of taken our love of baseball to a whole new level….this offseason has been painful.
Yeah, Theo has gone through a lot of infielders. That will start coming to an end with the presence of Pedroia at second and Lugo at short. ANd Youklis at either first or third. Chad Spann is potentially the third baseman of the future. Lars Anderson is the first baseman of the future, but he is a few years away. I would like to see more stability in the infield.
yeah but not getting out of the playoffs
lol I’ll let you know Liz.
I think that it is good that the Sox and the Yankees are both working on building a well-stocked farm system. It is easier to fill holes from within, and then spend money on free agents when warranted.
Jeff can we agree if beckett does not have below a 4.50 era next year he will not amount to the ace you expect him to? Of course next season I’m sure we will both have much to report on his progress anyway.
The Red Sox had one of the best infields in baseball last year. No idea why they broke it up.
Thank god the yankees started building their farm, I just wish I still lived in NJ so I can see both scranton and trenton on a semi regular basis.
yes it has
and we still have to wait until MARCH to get some action.
and staten island, though A ball doesn’t really appeal to me.
Jeff does Beckett have a no trade clause?
i would like to see more stability in the infield as well but when you are waiting for a couple prospects to be ready you want to put them in when they are ready and not before. In order to give them another year or two yo have to fill those holes the best you can. Until the people you really want can play at the level you expect them to
Vince, I’m referring you to my comment on my blog yesterday! I don’t want to go in-depth again here; however, I do believe that it takes some pitchers longer to realize their full potential than others. case in point – Curt Schilling. So, no, if Beckett has a high ERA next season, I won’t be ready to give up on him. He’s only 27, and he has shown improvement in each of his seasons. Last year, he just tried to overpower everyone. This season, you will see a greater mix of pitches.
Amazing! When cutesinglesoldier talks, Jeff’s lips don’t move at all!
i’ll say if he doesnt have below a 4.50 era he’s not the ace unless he proves otherwise in clutch situations
OK, I checked Beckett’s contract. He does not have a no trade. Smart move.
No idea why most of the Yankees have no trade clauses. It really handcuffs the trades I want.
We won’t talk about cutesoldier, Swolansky, for reasons most people on this blog understand.
lol Jeff i responded to that comment with my own beliefs.
lol I wonder if he really is a cute soldier.
Heheh, well, I’m only teasing the guy, so we’ll just leave it at that.
I understand, Jeff and Vince. Read ya loud and clear.
lets say Beckett has a 4.90 era in the regular seson but drops it to 3.30 in the post season then he is an ace becuse the most important thing to look at in an ace is how he steps up in the big game
Paul, after 2007, Schilling will retire and Clement’s contract will expire, as will Lowell’s and Tavarez’s. That represents about $35 million in salary. You will see a rotation that includes Beckett, Papelbon and Dice-K (who are all about the same age, 27). Lester will likely step in, and perhaps Daniel Bard will be ready, but likely, in addition to Lester, the Sox will use that money and sign a top free agent starter. With Beckett’s nasty stuff, his age and his salary, I would be very surprised if the Sox traded him.
lizzy has hormones…jeez you high school kids, I tell you…good thing everybody in college is Asexual.
lol well I can’t say that I don’t but I was just curious
Are you serious, Vince? I thought college + beer only made things infinitely worse. That’s been my experience, at least.
Boy…I have some crazy stories, I’ll tell you that much. But let’s leave it at that.
No, lets not leave it at that. I want to hear some college stories.
Theo will trade most of those prospects, Jeff, in trying to replace some of the outfielders.
I actually think Lester will be your future star. He and Daisy Mat will be a strong 1-2 punch for several years to come.
Beckett is a bust and will likely be gone by August 1. Papelbon is a mystery; I wonder about his health.
if you want to know if i’m cute all you had to do was ask for a pic
Yeah, college and beer. Vince likes his Colt 45 lol.
so can i see a picture?
Do they still make Colt 45?
i think lester will be great….lol jeff
Yes they do Paul.
Paul, I think you are mistaken to think Theo will trade most of those prospects. Bard, Ellsbury, Buchholz and Michael Bowden are untouchables. The Sox won’t need to make trades to find outfielders. Like I said, give Wily Mo Pena 500-plus at-bats and will will produce big numbers. Jacoby Ellsbury will likely be the starting center fielder in 2008. Maybe the Sox sign an outfielder via free agency when Manny’s contract expires. I think Theo realizes that it is not wise to trade top prospects, thus the reason he held onto them at the trading deadline, a move that hurt the Sox last season but will help in the future. I hope they keep Craig Hansen. Like Beckett, he will make adjustments and be better in 2007.
yes hold on 1 sec. they will come from a dif. e-mail address though
lol swo I was completely being sarcastic, I think I had to scrape hormones out of my room last weekend, this place is absurd.
wow that came out the wrong way, nobody take that litterally.
there you go
I keep getting drawn into this Beckett conversation. lol. Paul, Beckett will not be traded. He is young, has nasty stuff and is signed to an affordable long-term deal. Beckett right now is much, much, much, much better (and has a higher ceiling) than guys like Gil Meche, Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis and Miguel Batista (all who received $10 million plus).
Not only will the Sox not trade Beckett because Theo is high on him, but it doesn’t make financial sense to deal him.
hmmmmmm….Vince
Wow Vince, that sounded horribly wrong now that you mention it.
Vince is not 21, so of course he does not partake of alcoholic beverages. However, on his 21st birthday, I bet he tips a Colt 45.
Jeff, Theo has offered Hansen to every team in baseball this offseason for anything, backup catcher, backup infielder, backup batboy.
No one seemed interested.
I think the kid is talented but he was brought up too soon.
jeff has a good point
Jeff, he will be traded by August 1.
By then the Sox will be tired of his 5-11 record and 6.37 ERA.
college stories anyone??
navy is that the e-mail address you use
soldier….where is the pic??
How many games do you think Manny will play this year?
I was looking at his contract. His salary actually goes down this year and back up next year.
2006 19M
2007 18M
2008 20M
no
******, everyone who applied early is finding out right about now whether they got in or not. Now I feel stupid for not applying anywhere early, but at the time it seemed like a good idea to not.
lol im drinking out of a stine from germany right now, it is filled with uv blue and gatorade…my roomate is drinking out of a goblet….last year i drank out of a cooler….litterally on may weekend……hahahha i turned 21 yesterday according to the state of ny.
Liz do you have like AIM or somethin like that?
Keep dreaming, Paul.
lol andrew I went through that, your time to celebrate will come don’t sweat it….paul, that’s an odd salary arrangement.
oh god i’m gonna be belligerent later…..off of….virgin…..drinks.
Yeah, but by the time April rolls around and I get in everyone else is like “Oh, well I got in during December” and then I feel like punching them. But at least most of the kids applied regular. This whole college application process *****, having to put forth the best face and secretly hoping that most of your peers don’t get into the schools you apply to.
Paul, again you are misinformed. The only time Hansen has been mentioned in a deal is a trade with Crisp for Andruw Jones. Theo is high on Hansen. He will be the set-up man or closer in 2008. Bryce Cox will be one or the other in 2008 or 2009 as well. Hansen will not be traded unless it is for someone like Jones, since Atlanta wants Hansen. However, since Manny is likely staying, the Sox will not pursue Jones.
Manny also has $4M a year deferred.
$31M deferred ($3M in 2001, $4M each 2002-08) (paid out in 16 annual installments of $1.94M, 2011-2026)
Happy belated birthday, Vince. Did you partake of any beverages?
what e-mail address do you use
Jeff, you mean to tell me you think Hansen was offered only in that one trade?
Um so why do 25% of voters on ESPN.com think the Yankees will sign Zito?
when i send them 2 that one they get sent back
hahah no, tonight I am…I’m not actually 21, I just have proof that I am.
I live in Boston. Hansen has been offered in some of the Patriot trades.
Hansen is highly sought after by many teams, but Theo to this point has refused to include him. You seem to be a big baseball fan, but you don’t know much about Sox prospects. True, Hansen should have been in Triple-A last year. Injuries at the big league level required his presence, and he learned on the job. That should benefit him for 2007 and beyond. Judging his potential as his performance in 2006 makes no sense at all. The guy was pitching for St. John’s in 2005. He will be fine for the long term.
Vince, so you are saying you are using illegal means (fake ID) to perform an illegal act (underage drinking)? I’m shocked that the esteemed Quinnipiac College would allow that. lol.
lol you should be more surprised they allow 86% of us to do that.
This is going to sound kind of babyish but…I don’t like giving out personal information over the internet. And while I really enjoy “talking” to all of you, I don’t know any of you so I don’t feel comfortable giving away my information…yet
Sorry (Alex)
cute soldier- can’t you put it on photobucket and put up a link or something?
Hansen is going to be a good pitcher in a few years
all is right in fair play….that is not fair play.
Good decision, Alex. You would just receive a photo cutesoldier lifted from Soldier of Fortune magazine or some other publication anyway!
Not to sound dumb but not so good with computers. no clue how to do that
Vince, what that directed to me?
yes ma’am….they allow laptops in the army these days?
go to photobucket.com, make a profile, and then download your pictures. (never really did it myself but my cuzn did and that’s what she said) then put up a link.
You’re right, Jeff, I don’t know much, but I listen well. Hansen has been offered around. Deals were not finalized but that does not mean he was not in the mix.
The Yankees took a lot of heat for not drafting Hansen, the hometown boy. Newsday particularly questioned Yankee scouting for not selecting him.
ohhhh all u people and ur knowing how to post pics but not actually doing it…..none of you will be lola i guess.
i hope your not directing that towards me
lol Don’t want to sound slow but I still don’t get it.
lol Vince gotta love the internet.
Yeah, Hansen was a good selection for the Sox. It is best to build a bullpen from within, and the Sox should have Hansen, Delcarmen, Okajima, Bryce Cox and Edgar Martinez in 2008.
No problem Liz I understand.
Then the Yankee draftee was traded in the Abreu trade. (CJ Henry)
this reminds me of very very bad things that guys do when they are just learning certain things about the internet.
I know Okajima is not homegrown, but he is a young reliever with a high ceiling that cost the Sox very little.
This is a baseball blog, not a dating service. If you want to find virtual love, take it elsewhere!
guys like you
Navy, don’t they teach you in like, every level of school about how you shouldn’t talk to strangers on the internet?
At least, not the way you are…the talking all of us are doing is all right 😀
haha I would say this blog is baseball 80% of the time. the other 20% has ranged from australian animals, to sitcom characters to facebook.
Isn’t it like during the night in Iraq?
well yeah but since this is a baseball blog and I love baseball, I figured that everyone here also loves baseball and wouldn’t be on here if they didn’t.
guys like me?! psh.
I hope the cuban makes it big.
Vince you forgot the drunken midnight escapades.
not really night time anymore it is 5 a.m.
If that guy is blogging from Iraq, then I am blogging from my wireless connection in a cave in Afghanistan. Hold on a second, I think I spot Bin Laden. I’ll be back in a few minutes…..
hahaha yes and andrew’s trunk of course.
Vince I think she digs you.
Wow, there are a lot of comments here.
lol. Salem witch trials all over again.
it’s my boyish good looks and stellar confidence of course!
Zack? I feel like you used to comment here long ago.
lol so wait, we can’t occasionally flirt here??
well not flirt but you know what i mean.
i should have them pics loaded in like 5 min
It is all the others commenting. I am the quiet one.
no, no, no
i do not “dig” anyone here (if alex, you were referring to me)
good
lol don’t listen to her alex, we know the truth 😉
I’m just glad hillenbrand is pretty much out of the equation.
Haha I’m only messin around Liz but I like how you put dig in quotes.
lol ok, sure we do
*you
still waiting for that myspace…..and picture loading and all those other things in question.
andrew do they have mortal kombat for pc?
nights before the end of a semester own.
I love posting here.
Jeff your kind of ignorent if you dont think they have computers for people to use in iraq… We use them for both work and entertainment
lol you wanted that myspace today? oops. you’re gonna have to wait a little longer
actually, I said it, so if anything i’m ignorant, which I doubt.
just kind of odd a sox fan from iraq comes on here at 4am before even going to a redsox blog and comes shooting from the hip out of nowhere.
oooo soldier, where are the pictures??
slacker.
there uploaded so i take it you just need my screen name now
I don’t doubt there are computers in Iraq. What I doubt is that you are a soldier and that you are in Iraq. You’re likely pretending to be a soldier and you’re ensconced in your spare bedroom in Hoboken, N.J., Omaha, Neb. or somewhere else here in the good ole’ USA.
…or you could just put up the link
yeah, I agree with Jeff
By the way, it’s ignorant, not ignorent.
this power hour is hysterical…..this has become a spontaneous dance party
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r165/soldier1221/DSC00040.jpg
and I’ll say it again. I love posting here.
you do know I’m 16, right?
soldier
I’m taken by Vince
you do know I’m 16, right?
Posted by: navypinstripes@aol.com | December 14, 2006 09:04 PM
If that’s not the quote of the day I don’t know what is.
hahaahahaaha……LIZZY’S MY GIRL!
oh man this night is too funny.
Vince, Melky will be jealous.
i do not really care where you think i am or what you think i do. I know what I do and that is all that is important….. navy it’s all good i’m not tryin to get with you
Ashley and Lola aren’t going to be happy, then again…where are they?
Vince, why are these young girls so enamored with you? First, 14-year-old Kaylee. Now Alex. You better watch yourself. lol.
16, what brought u into the army at that age?
why thank you alejandro
funny?? am i a joke to you, Vince
alex love vince too?
Jeff, I must have some sort of charm to younger girls….all of a sudden I just had flashbacks of jessie timendaquas scandals….eww.
Anyway, lol I couldn’t tell you….she’s lizzy though, alex is btide, he’s quite manly and loves a girl named erin.
In parts of Missouri, 16 year olds are becoming grandmothers.
I thought you were Alex, navy?
Jeff, you know I’m a dude right?
i am working if you read what i said earlier it was it’s been quiet today so i’ve been able to catch up on baseball alittle.. I have been in a boston blog today but when i was reading what was said in here about several subjects then i posted a few comments and had intelligent conversation with people
I’m so confused!
Nah Navy is Liz, Btide is Alex
vince, i’m not in the army, boo.
no of course not, this night in general is funny to me….until you have a myspace with 5’8″ specs I can’t consider you real though…..I mean, paul showed off his myspace and he’s in his 20’s (that was repayment for all the times I accused u of teaching in the 1730’s)
Nah not anymore Vince. haha
Sorry, btide. I know you are a dude. I thought navypinstripes as Alex, a female Alex!
Vince, why are these young girls so enamored with you? First, 14-year-old Kaylee. Now Alex. You better watch yourself. lol.
Posted by: Jeff | December 14, 2006 09:08 PM
I have competion now? Who is Kaylee?
Paul teaching in the 1730’s? I thought he had retired by then…
Haha no worries Jeff.
Wow and I almost thought of telling some of my embarrassing Fenway stories.
I can’t stand posting on the Boston.com blog about the Red Sox or Celtics. There are a bunch of vagrants and clowns with minimal IQs. All it is is a bunch of name calling. No intelligent conversation and viable opinions. That is why I post on MLBlogs, and have a blog here.
I think Kaylee only really exists in cyberspace.
Kaylee was 13, 13, and 15 within 6 months.
Kaylee is Jessica Simpson’s twin.
To let you know where i am from it is Brockton , ma
And in 11th grade at the age of 14 during the summer.
13, 14, and 15. This page is taking forever to reload.
02301, 02302
good to know. Kaylee ain’t no competition for me.
and don’t worry Vince. You’ll see a picture of me soon enough. But I doubt it will be through myspace. I am 5’8″.
alex what happened?……..no competition lizzy, I don’t cyber get along with psychos….so you’re safe until you unveil you’re some 66 year old man with multiple personalities.
Come on Paul, tell some stories, I just said you were 20 years younger!
02302 for me
What happened? Well she had a boyfriend to begin with and about 20 other dudes at my school have a crush on her so I figured why bother.
but you do know I wasn’t serious? or was I?
college stories anyone? how about you, boo?
speaking about boyfriends, who here is dating someone?
this is turning into a dating service, isn’t it?
that’s ok alex.
she probably wasn’t even worth it.
yo alex, whats her sn ill talk her into it. An all star pitcher with lots of height? nobody else stands a chance, not even her boyfriend.
College stories? You have to create them not live vicariously through them. I have some really screwy stories but i wouldnt tell them unless it was not on this blog, I don’t want to insult anybody
if you had facebook, you would k now such a thing.
Paul….fenway stories. I know I have told the old man throwing peanuts at me for cheering a damon leadoff homerun story before
I think Kaylee became a Red Sox fan again. But…I could have sworn she talked about having kids, saying things like “It’s hard to type and hold a kid at the same time.”
Now I’m REALLY confused. She’s COULD be around 15, but she could also be like 25. I dunno.
The blogosphere sometimes scares me. Just want to let people know that I’ve always been 100% honest about the things I’ve told here. If you don’t believe me, find me on facebook. I’m wearing a gray hat in my picture.
yes it kinda is
Haha Vince she’s a tough one…I just don’t have the motivation to really go for it…but I haven’t liked her since like october.
Well, Liz, I have three wives – one here in Orlando, another down in the Keys and a spare one back in Ohio. Keeps me busy.
Agreed about the stories, Vince. You just can’t tell them. It’s all about the experience.
Jeff is such a badass.
alex if you’re happy i’m happy….I will talk to her though if you want me to, let her know where she stands compared to you.
lol isn’t it weird how that is just an understanding when you come to college swo? it’s weird how that works.
I hear you, Swolansky. I’m legit as well. Obviously, if I was a fake, I would post a more handsome photo on my blog. lol.
I’ve always been completely honest as well…except for that comment about Paul being a retired teacher in 1730…haha I was only jokin Paul.
When I moved to Boston it was a job transfer and one of my new responsibilities was to participate in negotiations for media purchases (advertising) for the ADI (metro media market). I also worked part time in the media.
So, knowing my Yankee affinity I used to get lots of invites to Fenway and went to almost all of the Yankee games in Boston and many other Sox games. I got to go to a game or two in pretty much every Sox homestand.
A lot of those games were up in the Skyboxes.
The Skyboxes are a nice room with couches and comfortable chairs, a wet bar, a private bathroom, and comfortable seats to watch the game inside and outside. In nasty weather you could sit inside and watch the game on the big screen tvs and enjoy the buffet or sandwiches that was provided.
Two other important words: open bar.
You’ve all heard me on the radio, well if you’re cool enough you did…..I have no reason to lie and there are way too many ways to find me anyway.
three wives… bigamist
anyone else a bigamist?
isnt that pigamist
is that how you spell that?
Jeff you need some help bro
Vince I tried to tune in to the radio show but the website was being difficult.
yeah, true
Bigamist is correct. I’m interested in adding a fourth. lol.
Dang, facebook doesn’t help……there are too many Vinces at Quinnipiac. Which one is you?
Class of ’10? ’09? ’08?
Some of you heard me on the radio when Mark was on the MLB tv. I am not sure how it sounded because it was a bad phone hookup and I could not hear them responding to me.
We’re all bigamists here. Paul has two wives at his school. They work on opposite wings so that is how he gets away with it. Vince has two as well – one in Brooklyn and the other in the Qunnipiac co-ed dorm. Not sure about Alex.
One of Jeff’s wives is Zsa-Zsa so through the associative rule of math, Jeff is somehow related to Merv Griffin.
Facebook is the devil.
Vince would be ’09…the only reason I know that is cause my bro is ’10 and He’s in his freshman year.
Well, I need to clear my name. I have made myself look… what’s the word… easy. And that I am not. I made myself look like a ignorant little girl trying to be horny. That is nowhere near the real me. I apologize. Can I come back to having a clean image?
For all of you who are easily persuaded by what you see on the Internet, I am JUST KIDDING! I can only handle one woman at a time!
Jeff, your picture is fine. It looked better than me so I actually printed it out and scotch taped it to my drivers license.
I had been using a picture of Flipper but the police have not been amused.
Shoot! I’m down to two choices!
Vince, is there a chick with you in your profile picture?
I’m friending you whether you like it or not, dammit… 😛
lol. That is truly funny.
If I was a cop and somebody gave me an ID with Flipper on it, I would give them a high five and probably buy them a beer. That’s priceless.
I can help you Swo if you can’t find him.
I’m in my 30s, so the Facebook and My Space thing is not too intriguing to me. I know their main market is teenagers.
haha i’m class of ’09 swo. Me and two guys in my picture actually, i’m wearing a knicks jersey, Vince M would help.
Paul sounded sophisticated and well rounded.
I’m actually making a facebook right now cause I finally got it to work.
So, understanding the open bar concept is a key to many of my misadventures at Fenway.
Yet I was not the only one to take advantage of the sheer volume of offerings.
A particular tv sports reporter who thought it was funny to try and pelt the network cameraman down on the field at a game with grapes pointed to me sitting next to him when security came up.
In this instance, as with most others, I was purely innocent.
Boy, I leave for a few hours and I miss a lot
Lugo, Pedroia, and Youkilis don’t scare me at all.
Wakefield is 40. Schilling is 40. Papelbon has 102 IP in his big league career but ***** fans think he’ll be a 200 IP, 15 win stud. Umm. I’ll believe it when I see it.
I don’t hate Schilling because of 2004 or 2001. I hate him since he was an anus on the 1993 Phils.
Wow. According to the resident mutant (soldier in Iraq my butt–we know who the F it is) 2004 haunts us forever and is the worst collapse in history. Some points: Teams lose four in a row. Almost every team does it in the course of a year. There were many 4 game sweeps in WS and LCS play. Did anyone lose after being up 3-0, no. But it was due to happen someday. Unfortunately it happened to the Yanks first, probably because of the law of averages—they are in the playoffs the most. Does that make it the worst collapse ever? Not in my book. As I just wrote, 4 losses in a row happens, and more often than you think. Losing ten in a row? Doesn’t happen much, does it? Therefore the worst collapse ever to me will always be the 1964 Phils. Up by 6 1/2 with twelve left and lose ten in a row. Won the last two to knock out Cincy but too late. Losing four in a row…s**t happens. Losing ten in a row…different story.
As for Zito….because the voters on ESPN are ignorant and uniformed?
In Iraq, my ***. I take offense. My father was in the Marines 1949-1953 and volunteered for Korea (he was kept stateside). I have a friend here who served in WWII—along with FOUR of his brothers. Yes, FIVE men from the same household serving overseas during WWII.
alex, yeah sometimes the page is a pain, it can take a few minutes.
lizzy calm down, nobodies judging how easy you are….that said, still waiting for myspace.
Alex, Facebook will **** your soul out. Consider yourself warned.
Sweet! Done and done!
Who else has facebook?
the 96 braves bit it pretty hard, ona 6 gamew inning streak, outscoring the yankeees 16-1 in 2 games in ny…then the yankees take 4 straight including a 6 run comeback….that was a pretty huge collapse.
you have such a calming voice (you know what I mean)
but I don’t think its going to be possible through myspace.
Mike, we’re not debating baseball right now. We want to know how many wives you have!
I have Facebook but if I friend you I will have to change my profile picture so you don’t figure out that I’m a 60 year old child molester in disguise.
I just got one Swo.
Thats nice bro but whether you want to believe it or not i do not care
BTW, on my facebook I have a photo album with a candid shot of Phil Hughes just sitting in the stands at AA Trenton. It’s taken with a cell phone, but it’s clearly him. That photo’s my pride and joy.
swoooooo is whylinnnnn….how’d you get your name, im lovin your facebook.
alex seek me out…
lizzy u listened? you liked?
this blog is in a party mode. where’s angel?
Jeff, myspace is a youngster venue, not for me. And to even see facebook I think you need a college email address. I looked one time but could not access it.
It is for the kids.
I just check the obits each day to make sure I am not listed.
All right…well, it’s probably easier for you guys to find me. Just drop the first “s” from swolansky and search the Colgate network. If you find more than one match I would be shocked.
hahaah Paul
oh yeah now it makes sense. Swo looks like a grizzly party boy
But don’t say i am not a soldier. I am glad you have a family with a rich history of serving the country. I hope your proud of them. I’ve been in the army scence april 15 2001. I am on my second enlistment. so dont try to say that i am not
Dude, Swo I can tell by your picture that you definitely keep it real.
Vince I have no idea what I’m doin how do I find yours and Swo’s pages?
…and Andrew’s
Yeah, that’s a pretty accurate description of me
Wait, I am a little lost.
No idea what you’re talking about.
I wanna see some pictures
None. Which is good. Paying alimony, supporting kids or paying child support while you are unemployment S*U*C*K*S.
Err, if I add you guys am I gonna get kidnapped in public?
lol no drew…..alex type our names into search and you’re dipset.
I think I should start a site for middle aged folks…
The PlotzBook™
http://www.plotzbookkeepoutdamnedkids.com
Anything goes, just no pictures of a goiter.
No one under 30 allowed.
Mike, did you get my mlb.com post before? They might make you an owner if you take them up on it.
isn’t that what adultfriendfinder is for?
I mean…what?
I’m lost…
LOL, Paul…you have my full support in creating that site. Best of luck to thee.
alex, come on man, facebook is like erin, easy and simply to navigate……just type our names into the search area on the upper left and you’re good.
Alex you type in their names in the top left corner where it says ‘search’. When you see the person you’re looking for, you click ‘add to friends’.
good night guys
i am going to leave you people alone. i am way over my head. college guys can be so hot yet so confusing (at least to me).
don’t pay me any mind guys. i’ll be all here tomorrow.
what is adultfriendfinder?
Is that like the Popeil Pocket Fisherman®?
Our country’s soldiers know how to spell and how to use punctuation.
The only way to deal with trolls is to limit your reaction to reminding others not to respond to trolls, which I will do and hope others follow.
I know that much but if I type in “Vince” It’ll take me a while to find him.
Auf wiedersehn.
alex try vince mer……i’m being daring now….goodbye liz who thinks i’m hot
i got to go right now but if you want confirmation so you feel dumb that you sat up trying to argue with a soldier about wether or not he is a soldier or what not then e-mail me at mark.s.roderick@us.army.mil and i will hit you back just so you feel dumb. Hopefully when you do that you will apologize like a real man would
Vince, you have the weirdest look on your face.
Bitte Nacht, Herr Mike.
Ok I added you Vince but I’m out cya later.
Oh and he has his own fan club.
i really hope you man up when i prove you wrong
haha and id idnt even create it….can i tell u there is a lot of making out in my room right now…welcome to college.
you netter join that fan club too, i might be upset if u dont.
looks like your boy punked out
Mike doesn’t punk out, he just reloads.
Alex or andrew, whoever siad i looked weird….I was drunk.
Oh I can’t wait.
No, you don’t look weird. It’s just that you have this facial expression of a guy who is hiding something.
nah he punked out becuse unlike a man hes afraid he is wrong holla at yall later
Mike is just trying to think of a stat with which to counter with.
So Vince, why are you on the computer if what you say is actually happening in your room.
hahaha Mike is half machine half god, don’t **** with him.
lol Maybe I was hiding something andrew!
Did you notice the face perfectly formed between us compeltely unplanned in the background.
lol andrew cause my roomate, his friend, and other guy and his little girl moved elsewhere, i’m content drinking and people watching.
I actually thought that guy in the middle was you for a second. No way that was unplanned.
I wonder if Mark would give us a new blog entry. I think we broke this one.
1230+ posts and counting. What’s the record number for posts we had?
I think we hit 3000 on one when Mark was on vacation.
Hi everyone.. long time no see.. i have been horrrrrrrribly busy at work this week and rarely get any time to do anything *blames Kraft*
I just went outside to see my first view of the Northern Lights.. pretty spectacular, and they weren’t as bright as they can be here.
So now we have a “cute single soldier” roaming the blog?
Modest little toy soldier isn’t he? 🙂
I love you angel, I swear to god it was planned.
haha.. Vince what are you going on about?
That ******* is still posting as me on Pete Abe’s blog… ugh.
Not sure, Angel, but whatever you do, do not touch the walls in his room.
Trust me on that one.
I have never seen the Northern Lights. I feel deprived.
LOL I can’t even look at college dorm rooms from the outside – without wanting to go out and buy several cans of Lysol.
lol paul ur so bad….hi angel! IM DRUNK!
Well I guess what is showing tonight isn’t anywhere near as spectacular as they get in Iceland or up in the Arctic Circle.. they weren’t really colorful.. kind of misty white here.. but its perfectly clear here tonight so you could see them quite well. Still amazing to see.. to think that the sun (which can’t be seen) is responsible for them.
I promised myself I would not make jokes about the walls comment, Vince. And I deleted them each time I types one. But I hit send too soon on that one.
You’re drunk? LOL
Oh good.. *sprays Vince down with Lysol while he is too drunk to object to the smell*
Did you know they number sunspots? Sunspot 930 had a solar flare or something yesterday and thats why we can see the lights tonight.
Now that I’ve seen them, I’d definitely like to go to Alaska someday to get a better view of them.
No self-respecting MALE soldier in our military would call himself “cute”, would he?
Okay.. and now I’ve just outed myself as an astronomy dork, lol. haha
When I was in Alaska I wanted to see
1. the Northern Lights
2. polar bears
3. moose
Well, I saw moose. Lots of moose.
It never occurred to me thatr since it was light 24 hours when I was there near the summer solstice I would not see the NL.
And at some point I amended my polar bear wishes when I was wandering around on a glacier in the middle of the wilderness. We landed by helicopter and the pilot stood by with a loaded shotgun.
My goodness you’ve all been chatty without me.. look at the number of posts in this thread. :O
It was the others, not me.
They were all signing each other up in their facebooks and myspace stuff. Joining together. Whatever those kids do.
Angel, the fake Angel and many of the others are the same person with the same bizarre capitalization style and broken English. He/she/it posts the identical item on the Newsday blog and on the Canyon of Heroes blog. It creates needless clutter.
Dearie me. I definitely chatted way too much today.
i love you all
im that drubks
holy ****. you guys have posted like 500 times since i was here this afternoon!
Ok, way too many posts to read through. A few thoughts: Vince, wait until you are old enough to go to bars and drink. You won’t want to sit here and blog then. 🙂 In the meantime, I hope your head doesn’t hurt too much today.
Angel, we have missed you!
You guys are making me feel old. Also, if you guys are sharing myspaces, I want in. I want to see what you people look like!!!!
TGIF!
What a bunch of balogna on this site. You Yankee fans are so arrogant and ignorant….first of all Andy Petite is a has been…wait til our twins line up knocks him around. Second, and this is directed at you (Vince) yankeevmmm, your jealousy of the Bosox getting Matsuzaka is apparent and I hope he is very successful with the SOX. You brag about your linup in past comments…well for a 200 Million dollar payroll and no championships the last 6 years? Well…thats just an embarrassment. You give the Twins that payroll and we’ll show you how to win. Nobody cares about your 26 championships that you guys try to bring up everytime another team is enjoying their championship. The rest of the league is very happy winning the world series once or twice…and when they don’t win. They try harder next year. But not you ********… you pout and spend more money and bring out the “got rings?”
t-shirts. GREED, PRIDE, ARRROGANCE and IGNORANCE is what should be put on YANKEE$ uniforms,hats and shirts…it would personify not only its team, but also its pathetic fans!
I’m a huge twins fan, but perhaps the best thing that has happened in baseball is the Red Sox coming back from a 3-0 deficet and whipping your Yankee *** in the 2004 ALCS. Its great how that just spurns you guys. In an earlier comment you boasted of your 5 game sweep at Fenway last year….who cares, you were playing a Boston mash unit riddled with illness, injuries, and minor league pitchers. But this just shows your immature mentality. Yankee fan$ just like to pound there chest…well wake up! The rest of the baseball world watches you and laughs!
Go Twins! Go Bosox! Go Mets!
You mean you’ll show us how to get swept out of the playoffs? I love when trolls single me out. some bozo complains because his owner can care less about making his team’s fans happy, wahhhhh.
In fact, every new member on here seems to get aquainted with me first.
haha kat, I was so lazy last night, and my head never hurts.
sorry about last night guys, hope you had fun though.
It is no use responding to this loser, he never stays long enough to see a response anyway.
With what starting pitching? What, is Santana going to start every 3rd day? Carlos Silva? Please. I have read that the Twins are actually trying to get Radke to postpone his retirement.
Pohlad is richer than Steinbrenner, but puts nada into the team. He could have gone after a Zito himself, but won’t. Instead he makes a backroom deal in which he wanted to contract the team and pocket the money he would have gained from contraction. Some owner.
The only reason the Twins have a team in the first place is because another cheapskate owner threw away all his family’s history in D.C. because he didn’t like how the racial demographics in Washington were changing. Nice legacy, there.
Pohlad can’t even put his team in a decent ballpark. It is one of the worst stadiums (along with Tampa Bay) in baseball. Pohlad wants the taxpayers of Minnesota to foot the bill for a new ballpark. Cheapskate. The Yanks are financing their own Stadium.
Sorry if this comes as NEWS to some lunkheads, but MLB is a BUSINESS. Always has been. Once some people get that through their thick heads, maybe, just maybe (I’m being idealistic here) they might understand something.
Oh yeah, weren’t the Twinkies favored in their Division Series as well?
Spend more $$, how so this year. Pettitte is on, but he doesn’t make up for getting RID of Sheff and Wright. The payroll is actually down.
Don’t let the facts kick you in the butt on your way out of this blog.
As for 2004—that’s history. Wish we would have finished the job, doesn’t bother me in the slightest. And as for making injury excuses, hmm…the Yanks had some in October 2004 along with a grieving closer. We never make excuses for that, and never will.
See Ya later, Torii.
Sorry Vince, didn’t see your post until now.
Besides, my reply was directed to fire up OUR fans!…LOL.
Catch you later.
lol I don’t mind if other people respond, particularly you or paul, i’m just not wasting my time.
Yeah, Vince, I find it a bit ironic that every random new blogger that says the same exact thing about the Yankees payroll and about 2004 always goes after you first. What a crazy coincidence.
LOL, that Twiin “fan” has been here before, merely to bash. You might recall last summer it came here and expounded that Yankee fans were worse than alQuaida.
Realizing that mental midget’s incredible grasp of vlarity or reality, notwithstanding it is functionally illiterate, makes you wonder if its parents had any children who lived.
But what I find funnier is that a Twins “fan” says absolutely nothing about the merits of his own team and does nothing to defend against harsh (but true) accusations.
“accusations about the Twins ownership” is what I meant to say.
oops, clarity, not vlarity
Indeed, Swo, it comes here with that name merely to bash.
When it came here last summer I went to see if there was a Twiins blog to which it had regularly posted. There was no really active blog but some very small ones at which point I discovered that “Kaylee” character was a die hard Twiins fan.
That got be curious and found out “she” was also a diehard devoted fan of a number of other major league teams.
The anonymity of the Internet seems to allow scary people the means to express themselves while in real life they are unable, unwilling, or not permitted to interact with other humans.
Not to mention he can’t have a true allegience to anybody if he roots for the redsox, mets and twins all equally….is that 5 titles between the 3 teams in the last 80 years?
Why isn’t anybody making a big deal of the ducks? They are 25-3? Holy ****.
Move over sabres.
what is that, hockey?
Ask and ye shall receive. New post is up.
Ducks are 25-3-6 and the Sabres are 24-5-2. The Ducks statistically have a better record, but they’ve played 3 more games than the Sabres.
I’m not making any judgment calls on who’s better at this point. I mean, I love the Sabres, and they’re great all around. But all I know is that Anaheim’s Defense and Teemu Selanne…I mean, forwards…are really freaking good.
whats good