On the Yankees beat

He will be a good aquisition for the Yanks.

Low-profile, not too much hype.

This is the type of players that wins championships for you, not the glam, superstars that wilt in the white hot spotlight that is New York in the postseason.

*cough*kennyrogers*cough*javiervasquez*cough*kevinbrown*cough*

*cough*randy johnson*cough*arod*cough*

*cough*randy johnson*cough*arod*cough*

*cough*randy johnson*cough*arod*cough*

So funny I had to post it multiple times. tee hee.

sorry about that!

I hope the scout low balled his win expectations. I would prefer 12+ in the 5 hole with 6 innings average. He would be a steal. He'll need no help finding a girlfriend in NY.

To the older yankee fans who remember some of the old days. The one thing that I find missing is the grit in the modern yankee teams. The guys of the pennant winners in the late 70's. Nettles, Munson and Randolph to name a few. It was not just the Red Sox. It was the Royals, too. Nettles brought alot of life to the Yanks. Going after Lee of the Red Sox and body throwing him to the ground, running down Frank White at second base after an incident that involved Randolph at second on double play. I believe. These guys had fire.

Joe Torre says he admires his guys for battling. I chuckle. These are just multi millionaires playing baseball. I'm not advocating fighting but an eye for an eye. You take my second basman out. Your guy beware. You hit Jeter than Ortiz should beware. This puts the fear in other teams. Now, couple this with ability and you have a championship team. You have chemistry with watching each other's back. I would love A-rod to knock down the second baseman of a team on a clean hard slide after Cano wa sent into left field.

So I watched "Yankees Hot Stove" on YES last night and they discussed a lot of the things that we bloggers have been posting. Cash was interviewed and used a lot of words to say absolutely nothing as he is keeping his cards close to the vest. I heard nothing good about Igawa on the show and the reporters, Tom Verducci from SI and Joel Sherman from the NY Post seem to think that they should've just gotten Lilly instead. They were saying that when you add up the dollars and the tax implications Igawa costs about $60Million for 4 years. It wasn't an inspiring show that made me want to head for Florida that's for sure. Although I still think Cash has got something up his sleeve, he's being extremely quiet.

This weekend and next week will probably lead to a lot of movement in the market. We'll see a flurry of signings I'm sure.

Jim A: Keep in mind Cashman can't defend Igawa until he signs him -- the more he pumps him up, the more money Arn Tellem is going to request. I caught Cashman's appearance on the show and I think he even referred to that at one point.

Lilly or Iggy? Who cares? They're both 4th starters who project about the same.

And if Cash starts listening to reporters or fans he'll be joining them soon enough ie Steve Phillips

Yeah Christ, Vinnie. That A-Rod. He sure sucks. Let's ignore the numbers he puts up and just focus on the 436 outs he made at the plate this year. Boo. Terrible. Forget trading him. Let's just release him. Brilliant.

Julio Zuleta - Scouting and analysis by Mike Plugh

http://www.canyonofheroes.blogspot.com/

The First Baseman

So, here we are. We've put ourselves close to signing a "back end rotation" pitcher, with good upside in Igawa. There's a catching issue and a first base issue that remain up in the air. I'll throw you an idea or two that I'm looking towards to answer the first base spot. Talking about the back up catcher is a bit like devoting time to discussion on a punter.

I think the Yankees would do well to go out and resign Craig Wilson. Everyone and their brother is calling for the Yankees to do this, and it makes sense. He can do a lot of things on the field, including play 3rd catcher, and he hits lefties like Jim Leyland smokes cigarettes. According to BR's projections, Wilson will sport a 12.5 VORP in 2007 (his primary position is listed as RF, but BR takes into account all possible positional scenarios in defining that number). The other name being mentioned for the Yankees opening is Shea Hillenbrand. His 2007 projected VORP is 8.2, listed primarily at first. Wilson's EQA the last three seasons has been .285, .289, .273 (.199 with the Yanks), while Hillenbrand comes in at .267, .265, and a .265/.231 split between Toronto and SF last year. Wilson had a lefty/righty OPS split of .843/.710 last year and a career split of .938/.793! Hillenbrand posted .862/.728 last year and has career marks of .801/.763, which is fairly consistent.

For my money, I'll take the guy who is already on my team and who has a long track record of absolutely MASHING lefties. Wilson is a year younger, and doesn't carry any of the clubhouse baggage with him that Hillenbrand does. My vote is Craig Wilson. There is one other intriguing choice that I may be in a special position to write about. That choice is Julio Zuleta of the SoftBank Hawks. He has filed for free agency and by all accounts would love to play in the Majors again, if given the chance. I'll give you a quick blurb about him, and then project some numbers to help size him up against Wilson.

Julio Zuleta is 6'5" tall and 235 pounds. He was born in Panama City and came to the US as a minor league player in the Cubs system from the age of 18. After several not-so-remarkable years in Rookie and Low-A ball Zuleta was given the chance to play ball at Single-A Daytona. In 1998, Zuleta had a breakout year by hitting .344/.405/.549 in 94 games, before getting bumped to AA. He rounded out the '98 campaign by hitting .295/.347/.403 for the Western Tennessee club in the Southern League. By all accounts a very strong season for the 23 year old prospect. How did he follow that up in 1999?

.295/.361/.519 and a post-season nod as the Southern League's top firstbaseman. Not too shabby, if you ask me. What happens to 24 year old prospects who tear up AA to the tune of being named their league's top position player? That's right...they move to AAA to start the following year. At AAA Iowa in 2000, Zuleta hit .311/.372/.579 in 107 games and posted 26 homers, 94 RBIs and a 31/77 BB to K ratio. He got the big call and played 30 games for the Cubs. A dream come true.

In those 30 games in the Majors, Zuleta went .294/.342/.541 in almost a mirror image of his AAA and AA work of the previous two seasons. Granted, the sample size was only 68 at bats, but it's impressive nonetheless. He looked to be on his way to stardom, as all eyes in Cubbieland were on the promising young hitter from Panama. He disappointed to open the 2001 season, however by delivering .217/.288/.415 over 49 games and 106 ABs. It's hard to imagine that a guy would have the plug pulled on him so soon after having such tremendous minor league numbers, but it happened. He went back to Iowa and raked at .308/.348/.541 in 37 games.

What's the market for a guy that posted these lines over the last 11 seasons:

Single-A (.293/367/.437)
AA (.295/.359/.493)
AAA (.298/.359/.551)
Japan (.291/.378/.568)

He missed the mark at the Major League level when he was a younger man. .247/.309/.466 over 79 games and 174 at bats is a ridiculous sample size. That's a little over 2 at bats per game. Hardly a fair evaluation of a guy who has consistently, and I mean consistently, produced at every other level in the world. 1251 games and 4495 ABs at Single-A and above, with staggeringly consistent offensive numbers ought to be enough to land a multi-million dollar contract at 31 years old. Perhaps the Yankees are the team to give it to him. What might he do in pinstripes should he make the move? He has hit .273 with 7 homers against the potential Red Sox ace.

I did a few rough number crunches, and glanced at Hideki Matsui's sample to determine a reasonable statistical transfer. I moved some of the homers into the doubles column, by way of actual calculations and eyeballed what I thought was fair. Here's what I came up with.

162 Games
570 ABs
157 Hits
35 Doubles
28 Home Runs
60 Walks
.275/.360/.484 for an .844 OPS

Mind you, those numbers are very rough, and smarter heads than I may look at the huge sample of .290/.360/.550 and say that he can do that at the Major League level too. I prefer to leave that to them, and to the imagination. My number still rank Zuleta as a kind of Richie Sexson player. He may come in a little lighter on the power, but he may also duplicate it. He has the size and strength. Look at Cecil Fielder's pre-Japan numbers in the minors, his one season in Japan, and his Major League production, and tell me Zuleta can't find part of the same succes. At any rate, he'll come much cheaper than Sexson's $13 million a year. I reserve the right to change my mind on Craig Wilson, and opt for the guy that could come much cheaper and bang out a Richie Sexson season for the Yankees. Go get 'im Cash Money.

I hope Cashman Sign this guy instead of Hillenbrand.

I found this in youtube. By Watching this Video I noticed that Matsuzaka's vulnerable and weakness against Right handers than lefties.

Julio Zuleta homerun vs Matsuzaka

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-XB2x8bw6o

Cashman is obviously not going to pay upwards of $40 million dollars for either Lilly, Meche,Padilla, etc. No decent free agent starting pitcher is going to fall into our laps "on the cheap". Even "dinged up" Randy Wolf got $8 million for 1 year. Cashman is lowering our payroll, and attempting to improve our pitching at the same time. You can't do both by purchasing "over priced" free agent starting pitchers. The only way to both lower the payroll, and improve the pitching is thru the trade market. This means trading A-ROD. Peavy, Ervin Santana, and Buehrle are just a few of the arms being mentioned in trade packages for Manny. These are all trades we could easily make ourselves, as A-ROD is cheaper salary wise, and puts up very similiar numbers. A-Rod has publicly said that if the Yanks told him they didn't want him, he would consent to a trade. This makes his "no trade" clause a non-issue. Other than the Japanese bid, Casman's "moves" the past month have 2 things in common. Lower the team payroll, and improve the pitching. Trading A-ROD fits this "method of operation" perfectly.

Jason: Great job with the facts and figures of Zuleta. I 'm not in favor with Sexson. I rather have C. Wilson. He needs at bats. Most of the Yankee hitters are guys who need at bats to stay healthy at the plate. Bernie was 2 for 16 as a pinch hitter. Wilson is the same type of player needs at bats. There are two issues with Wilson that concerns me. His ability to hit the braking pitch from the righty and his arm as a catcher. He doesn't appear to throw quickly with strength. At first and third you can get away with it. I'm sure Cashman is working it all out. I still believe that Andy Phillips can do the job hit .275 with some power out of the 9 spot. How much hitting do we need. I rather spend the money on pitching.

Julio Zuleta will cost less than signing Hillenbrand. The Yankees lose anydraft picks by signing him.

Julio Zuleta will cost less than signing Hillenbrand. The Yankees would not lose anydraft picks by signing him.

sorry for my double post.

To the guys who remember the old days;Rick Keyes;Jim A, Kerouac: I believe the Yankee teams of the '00-'06 are missing the grit of our teams back in the midle to late 70's. You know about Thurman and Randolph. The guys who got my attention were Nettles and Pinnella. They were guys who let know one be one up on them. These guys would play hard. Let me clarify this. Play hard Jeter plays hard but Pinnella and Nettles would slide hard. Pinnella knocking into Fisk and a fight erupted. Nettles KO of Lee when the pitches were tight or hit him. Nettles crushing Frank White with a body block at second base to brake up a double play. These guys have grit and wanted to win desparately. A-rod strikes out he walks casually back to the dugout gazing into the stands. Don't take this the wrong way. I'm an A-rod fan. Do not want to see him traded. Mickey Mantle struck out and would be mad. He do the pattened flip of the bat which did about 10 revolutions until it hit the ground. Guys got mad at themselves if they didn't perform. This is what is missing. Media image was one thing. Winning was everything. Joe Torre has to put some fire into the team with some up tempo on his own part.

Posada shows this grit. If, you get hit the face with a throw from the seond baseman or shortstop on the double play. This means that your coming in high to disrupt the throw. I see guys sliding half way between first and second. I believe the chemistry comes from many different facets of the team not only the harmony on and off the field.

Sorry I don't see any of the above mentioned potential 1B players as an upgrade over Andy Phillips.

Hillenbrand-slow, does not walk, slow, potentially a clubhouse cancer, slow, and lacks speed.

Wilson-had a poor debut as a Yankee. He is a seemingly decent fielder, but he just cannot hit. As for MASHing lefties he hit .278 against LHP and .235 against RHP in 2006. His last time slugging over .500 was 2003. Maybe he was injured but after a decent 2004 season he had trouble getting into the lineup in Pittsburgh in 2005.

I cannot see any advantage in him over rookie Andy Phillips.

Zuleta-must say I know little to nothing about him. He has had 174 ABs in the major leagues over 2 years 2000-2001. I cannot see a reason to take him on over Phillips, but since there is no draft choice involved he is the lowest risk certainly. Maybe a minor league contract would do.

Once again, the grass is always greener on the other side. Phillips can play a good 1B; Giambi should not attempt it.

Another video -of Zuleta's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5gsvBwr2M0

Zuleta's is another version of Preston Wilson .

Andy Phillips did nothing in the same amount as at bats or more than wilson to proove he superior at 1st base. he was streaky but struggled majority of the time. his defense was average, and has never proven he can an every day depenable hitter. Wilson has a track record , the Other guy is known to hit well against boston biggest addition , remember andy is signed so we can gamble on signing a proven hitter and if all fails we still have andy , i would'nt sleep well with 256 7 80 (projection) full time 1b and Wilson goes else where and hits much better

I can almost guarantee you guys that unless Craig Wilson decides to come back for, say, a one-year, $2-million deal, the Yankees are not bringing him back. And I bet Wilson gets more than that, even off his bad run with the Yanks.

Here's another video of Zuleta. 2005 Playoffs Softbank hawks versus Bobby Valentine Chiba Lotte marines.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf59ScwgFyg

Zuleta's much better patient hitter than Hillenbrand. He won't chased pitches out of strikezone.

JIM B-

I agree at that money no and I agree he would get more else where, but not as much as Hilabrand , In truth he would come cheaper than hilabrand and if torre gives his word that either he would compete for the everyday job or it is his Wilson comes back. It was dicoraging for a player like him to come over to spot play so of course he wants no part of that if that is the Yankee intention

To Rick Keyes, Jim A. and Kerouac
This my 3rd time trying to get this to the so call old timer Yank fans. I believe the grit possessed by the yank teams of the middle to late 70's is missing. Munson, Randoloh, Pinnella and Nettles. I can remember Nettles dumping Lee (Boston) at the stadium after being hit by Lee. Knocking F. White (Royals) into left field in the playoffs trying to stop a DP after Randolgh was plowed under. Pinnella famous fight with Fisk. Joe T. has to step it up with the emotion and A-rod should learn the Mantle flip of the bat after a K or missing a HR pitch, get some emotion. NY Yanks are the team everyone wants to beat.

You got it right Larry. I think the team of the late '90's and 2000 had some grit as well- O'Neill; Cone; Jeet etc.
I have a great memory of going to a game at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore and Earl Weaver was managing the O's. Weaver was always running his mouth and I heard every word of it because I was sitting nearby with my parents and after Lou got called out looking, Weaver yelled something to him and Lou yelled something back. Then Weaver makes a big mistake and says something about Lou's mother and Lou charges the Oriole dugout. The funny thing was every Oriole player slid down the bench away from Weaver-they left him in no man's land. I think it may have been Al Bumbry who jumped in front of Lou and said, very clearly, "Don't mind him, he's an *sshole". It was great stuff...Lou's head looked like it was going to explode (something tells me we'll see that look from Lou a lot next season).

Jim B: Are you at the GM meetings? Can I come w/ you? I gotta talk to Cash about some ideas.

You guys want "grit", then we should sign Darin Erstad to play 1st base. Forget the bargain basement hunting, and forget limiting yourself to a right handed hitter at that position. Cashman should just get the best guy available, at the best price. Coming off an injury filled year, this guy can be signed cheaply. His ability in the outfield also adds versatility to the team.

To Jim A: If A-rod forgot his lines and stage positions while playing and acted as Lou did. He would own NY along with Jeter.

A-rod just has to let loose. Even his fight with Variteck, bear hug and wrestle to the ground . Lou was throwing punches at Fisk as soon as he realized it was a fight. This is what this team needs. It comes from JT. He needs to drink more coffee and not green tea.

Since Pedro has left the Sox. Posada has calm down. Those stares at each other were classic. This makes a team move toward a championship family.

Larry M

Sorry I missed your other 2 efforts. You are certainly right that there is something missing in today's game. The TEAM mentality is not there. Seems it's just a bunch of hired mercenaries looking to pick up a ring before they retire.

I miss the days when guys had fire in their bellies. Billy Martin is my favorite Yankee of all time. I wear number 1 on my softball jersey. Remember the "pine tar" incident with Billy and George Brett?

I have a video tape of when John Denny of the Indians knocked Reggie down and then Reg got up and hit one out on him. Denny was chirping at him all around the bases and when Reggie reached the plate, Denny was there to say something. Reggie went at him and there was a brawl for about 25 minutes.

I miss the days when the players were players and not "performers". They played hard and for keeps. Give me the battling A's, George Brett, Billy, Munson, Fisk, Pete Rose, O'Neill, Bob Gibson, Drysdale, Reggie, Nettles, etc.

Man, I miss those days!!! And the young fans of today know not of what we speak. I feel for their loss.

Roy, I like Erstad. We need grit. Melky may have some grit in him. He's got to battle everyday to stay with the team and show his worth. Cano doesn't have it. Damon does.

Paul (trademarked) - so Hillenbrand is slow and lacks speed? Is that the same way that Damon is fast and has speed?

Hey Jim B

How come some of my blogs get screened out? After I hit the Post button, I get a message thanking me for my comments and a message saying my blog is being reviewed by blog owner? I don't use profanity or say bad things. I don't understand???

Yea, what gives Jim B? He's seen Mickey Mantle play! He knows everything there is to know about baseball and the Yankees, why are you censoring him?!

Grit ? yeah that would work , that is why i miss chad curtis when he played. (critize jeter and your doomed)

A real intellectual!

Hey Bronx Bomber: If your referring to my comment about grit. Its having the the ablilty to get the job done. Bring a win to the team. I never knocked Jeter. I just like teams that have fight in them. The teams of the 70's had this inner spirit. Does this explain my comments better.
I believe A-rod would be better served to himself and the team if he did not cameo his emotions.

Rick Keyes:
I don't understand either. I know there is an automatic censor that takes over sometimes if it sees something it doesn't like. But obviously your track record as a blogger speaks for itself. I'll ask around and see what kind of answer I'll find. Let me know if the problem continues.

Jim B

Thank you for your response and for checking it out. It has happened twice since last night. I really enjoy this blog site and many of the great guys. I will keep you posted if it occurs again. Thanks again!

Email me at jim.baumbach@newsday.com when it happens again.

Will do and thanks again! I just hate it when I type in a fairly long and detailed entry and then that happens. The first time last night, it finally did appear hours later. Today's hasn't appeared, yet?

Thinking back to the old days makes me wonder what some of your opinions are about just when or why things changed, not only in baseball but all professional sports. Off the top of my head I'd say the agents have ruined sports. They have talked players into just going for the max dollars instead of maybe being loyal or following their hearts and the way they do it is by saying that if they don't take the max contract it will hurt the next free agent. For instance, I heard that when Andy Pettitte left the Yanks to sign w/ the Astros, he actually had to some damage control because other agents and probably the players union were getting on him for not taking the max contract he was offered. I guess there are plenty of villains though, the owners who treated players like garbage, paid them next to nothing and didn't provide benefits when they retired.

I was at a game when the Yanks were playing Boston and Clemens was pitching for them against a pretty bad Yankees team, I forgot the year but Clemens was mad about someone taking him deep and proceeded to drill Matt Nokes who was catching for us, in the armpit. Nokes actually caught the ball in his armpit, walked halfway to first and then fired it at Clemens. Clemens looked like he'd seen a ghost and did nothing about it. The next time Nokes got up...you guessed it, he took him deep.

Jim A
The post I made today that hasn't been cleared yet was about the old days. It was a rather lengthy piece and I can't even remember what all I said. I hope it gets released soon so you and Larry M can read it.

I know some of it was about todays players just being hired mercenaries trying to get a ring before they retire. And much of it was about the old hard nosed players like Munson, Fisk, Pete Rose, Bob Gibson, Drysdale, Piniella, Nettles, etc.

The game today is made up of "performers" and not players.

One of the things I talked about was a tape I have of John Denny of the Indians knocking Reggie down. Reg gets up and takes him deep. Denny is chirping to him all the way around the bases and meets Reggie at HP. He says something and Reggie goes at him. The benches clear into a 25 minute brawl. Oscar Gamble (fro and all) carries Reggie off the field as Reggie's ripping his shirt off. Man, I miss those days.

Rick- Sports has definitely become more of a business than anything and I guess the Yanks are right up there with all the guilty parties but what separates the Yanks is they have an owner who wants to win badly. There are a lot of teams whose owners don't care, especially those that have a good fan base. I live in the DC area now and for a couple years Peter Angelos to field a crappy team because he knew Camden Yards would sell out every game, and they did. Finally the fans got tired of it and stopped showing up and low and behold, the wallet has opened back up.

If you ever get the chance to catch the "Pine Tar" game on tape or anywhere else, take a look at Nettles' face the whole time, he has a grin that is like the cat eating the canary. I crack up when I watch it as Billy Martin always said it was Nettles who planned the whole thing. When Brett came out of the dugout I swear Nettles was trying not to crack up.
I take my six year old son to Yankee Stadium at least once a summer and I wear a #15 jersey (he wears #2) and I always end up talking to guys my age or older about this type of stuff. This blog is great. Pretty soon the young guys are going to kick us off and make us have our own oldtimers blog.

Speaking of the good old days and having a little passion for the game, my favorite Yankee of all time is Billy Martin. I wear his number 1 on my softball jersey to this day. Like Billy said, "If winning isn't important, then why do we keep score?"

Oscar Gamble had the all time best 'fro! I never figured out how he got that thing (most of it) under his batting helmet.

Just try to imagine how Billy might handle A-Rod. That would be a disaster. Man, I loved Billy too. There will never be another one like him.

I see up above that my post from earlier today finally got posted. If we do get kicked off by the young guys, I know Jim B will set us up with our own "oldtimers" blog. This is great and love talking with you guys.

I always wondered too how Oscar got that helmet on? And Billy is my all time favorite. If George would of just backed him and let him run the team, we would have a few more rings. I'm sure of it.

Billy and A-Rod, wow? Well, I always say A-Rod is like Winfield and Billy had him. I remember when Billy once dropped Winfield to 6th early in the year. Winfield did rise to the challenge and start ripping it. I think it was May though!

Think back to Winfield's contract and how crazy we all thought it was at the time. Wasn't it 10 yrs/$10M?
When Winfield was hot (yes, in May) I remember the sound the ball would make when it hit off the fence at the stadium. It's one of the only times you could hear it on TV. That man definitely did not get cheated on his swing.

It was for 10 years and I think for $10 mil. But, it was insane at the time. He did have a vicious swing, alot like Sheffield. And, he was a big boy too.

To Rick Keyes and others bothered by the posting irregularites:

We've been getting more and more spam on the blogs recently, so the filters were bumped up to handle it. Unfortunately, that meant that legitimate posts were being filtered as well.

The filters have been reset to the old level on this blog. Better to suffer a bit of spam than to get our bloggers all upset! ;-)

Let's hope that does the trick!

Newsday Admin

Thanks for the prompt explanation and attention to my concerns. I love this blog. Personnaly, I think the lengthy cut and paste jobs are more of a problem than spam. Maybe we should filter them out???

To the old timers: you know who you are. Trying to tie in the rational of todays game and the game that we were brought up on. I do not think there is a better handler of high price personalities than JT. Billy Martin had no tack when it came to personalities. The Reggie incident in Boston was classic. If Joe had a little more spirit he truly would be the best. Its nice to be in control but dam get mad once in a while don't send the bench coach to say something to a player. Get off your butt and do it yourself than the player will know it means a little more than sending a messenger. Professionals need their butt kicked once in a while even the one's making 20 million.

Larry M

I agree that Torre's strength is handling the prima donna personalities of today's era. However, I would take Billy any time over Joe. This team needs a little fire now and then and some of these guys need a kick in the *ss. That is why I was kinda hoping Piniella would get the job. This team is way to corporate. Not enough fire and desire to win, especially in the post season!

Guys- My opinion is Billy was always great for a jolt when a team needed it. He always had immediate results but he tended to wear on a team after a while, but he is still my all time favorite.
JT is more suited to this era of player as they are high paid prima donnas, even backup infielders make millions and Billy was a bit of the jealous type so I don't know if he could or would even want to manage in today's game. He would probably have a team like the Marlins in the WS this year and get fired as soon as they became all stars.
I have no doubt Joe does his share of butt chewing in private, which is where it needs to be done. I think we'll see a little bit of a different Joe next season, especially with A-Rod, I think he will set things straight right from the start, I hope so anyway. Man, I miss Billy, he was SO much fun.

Yes..."kicked off by the young guys," you got it Rick! We're all jealous because you've seen Mickey Mantle play. And we don't know what we're talking about. Ever. Because we've never seen Mickey Mantle play. Nor are old enough to have idolized him.

Atticas- Don't get too bent out of shape, one day you'll be on some blog telling the young ones that you saw Derek Jeter play. You will say you lived in an era where a broke the stolen base record (assuming you're over 20); a guy broke the consecutive games streak; you remember when there was no interleague or wild card etc.
"The good old days weren't always good and tomorrow ain't as bas it seems" (B. Joel).

Oh I agree, and I'm not knocking anyone for it, on the contrary I'd rather you know I'm respectful towards everyone equally age-wise. I agree one day I will be in the same position - the difference is I won't be condescending towards everyone elses' viewpoints and shoot everyone down based on the fact that I saw play and idolized Derek Jeter, that's all, and have more years on the rest.

I've tried to read through some posts and find where Rick came off as condescending and I don't see it. I know he can speak for himself, but I have found him to be one of the better guys on this blog. There are a lot of good guys on this one, which is why I like it so much. I really look forward to the season starting so all of us can really have stuff to talk about. It should be a lot of fun!
By the way, I forgot to mention another great moment I had at Yankee Stadium. I was there when Giambi hit the walk-off grand slam against Minnesota. I dove for the ball and missed it by a few feet and broke a rib in the process...alcohol was not a factor either..just a little too much excitement on my part. There were only about I'd say 5,000 fans left but you would have thought the stadium was full.
When they tear down Yankee Stadium it will be a very, very sad day. I think all of us can agree on that, young or old. If they name the new one anything but Yankee Stadium, I'm going to be seriously p*ssed off!

Jim A

Thanks for getting my back there buddy! Some of these guys really hate me and I don't know why? I thought this was a place where everyone could voice there opinions and share thoughts and ideas?

Anyhow, I think it was you who first brought up the "kick the old guys off" line and I was just agreeing with you.

The Giambi slam was in extra innings and in a steady cold rain wasn't it? I remember watching it on TV and staying up late to see it. It was the night Giambi "became a Yankee".

Whatever anyone says, I enjoy having this blog and having guys like you and the other oldtimers here. And, it BETTER be Yankee Stadium.

Rick,
Yep, it was pouring rain that night. The only reason I stayed for the whole thing was the streets were jammed with traffic so I figured what the heck, might as well stick it out. It made the drive home a happy one, that's for sure.