Number 27
Well, the World Series is over, and the New York Yankees are once again the champions. New York celebrated with a parade yesterday and the presentation of the key to the city.
Congratulations to the Yankees…you were the best team in baseball this year, and you truly deserve this.
Anyone who has bothered to read about me, or who has read some of the first few posts in this blog, knows that I became a Yankees fan — actually a baseball fan — because of former Orioles and Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina. In the last paragraph of this post, I stated that I knew the Yankees would win because had Mussina retired one year too soon. I was right.
I’ve been thinking about Mussina through the entire postseason, as well as through much of the latter half of the regular season. Earlier in the season, when the Yankees were 0-8 vs. Boston and lost 2 out of 3 games to the 19-46 Nationals, including their only shutout at Yankee Stadium, I admit that I had a few doubts about how this season might turn out! But then I reminded myself that Moose had retired, which meant that the Yankees would, in fact, pull it out and somehow and win it all. I’m pleased that the Yankees won. I didn’t particularly want the Phillies to beat them, nor did I want the Phillies to win the World Series two years in a row regardless of who their opponent was. I’m happy for the “old guys” — Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada — for getting ring #5. I’m happy for Alex Rodriguez, because even though I can’t stand the little fart, he managed to shut out all the distractions and all the crap (self-inflicted, of course), and he just played the game…quite well, in fact. (If he could just learn to simply play ball and keep his mouth shut, he’d be far less insufferable.) And I’m especially happy for Hideki Matsui, who has dealt with his share if injury issues in recent years. His knees may be shot, but his bat was more than enough in Game 6, and his MVP Award is well-deserved. If this turns out to be his final performance for the Yankees, it was one hell of a way to make an exit.
And yet………
I can’t help but feel some pangs of sadness, disappointment, and even some anger over this win…a year too late…actually, eight years too late. The Yankees should have won #27 eight years ago Wednesday night…that horse was long since been bludgeoned to death on my message board, so I don’t really want go there in depth again. In all honesty, those feelings do temper my happiness about Wednesday night’s win. I can’t help it, I won’t make excuses for it, and I won’t apologize for it…that’s just the way it is.
I have no doubt whatsoever that Mussina remains happy and at peace with his decision to retire. But I also remember his comments on WFAN back in February, when he mentioned his disappointment at never having gotten a World Series ring. This just seems to be his lot, considering how many “almosts” he’s had in his career. I’m sure Mike is happy for his former teammates, but I can’t help wondering if he’s feeling a bit of disappointment that #27 came a year too late for him. I know I’m certainly disappointed. I’m sure that it bothers me far more than it bothers him. But I do wonder what he might have been thinking the other night after the Yankees won Game 6. I was thinking, Just his luck…he got there a year too late and left a year too early…….
What can I say…I’m definitely NOT a typical Yankees fan! LOL
A conflict of interests?
A Yankees fan friend of mine said something the other day about TV commentators that absolutely cracked me up. I’m curious to know if anyone else agrees with her opinion.
My friend was talking about a discussion between John Kruk and Bobby Valentine on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight, in which they were making their predictions on who would win the World Series. Kruk said the Phillies would win, while Valentine predicted that the Yankees would win. My friend then stated that ESPN should not allow Kruk to comment on the World Series because “he played for one of the teams in contention.” She said that it is a “conflict of interests.”
Huh? Players who used to play for teams currently involved in the World Series should not be allowed to comment on the series? Seriously? If that’s the case, then ESPN should also not alow Orestes Destrade, Buck Showalter, and Dave Winfield (all former Yankees) to comment on the World Series this year. And MLB Network should not allow former Yankees Al Leiter and Tony Clark, and former Phillies Dan Plesac and Mitch Williams to comment on the World Series either. After all, there might be a “conflict of interests” for those guys too. Oh, and while we’re trying to prevent a so-called conflict of interests, ESPN should prohibit former Yankees beat writer Buster Olney and former Phillies beat writer and Jayson Stark from commenting on this World Series as well. Similarly, MLB Network shouldn’t allow Jon Heyman (former Yankees beat writer), Matt Yallof (who used to work at Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia), and Tom Verducci (co-author of The Yankee Years) to comment on the World Series.
I suppose MLB Network’s Jim Kaat would get a pass and be allowed to comment on this season’s World Series, since he played for both the Yankees and the Phillies. Ditto for Fox’s Tim McCarver. He played for the Phillies and was a Phillies broadcaster, but I’ve been told that he used to be a Yankees broadcaster too. So I guess Fox should continue to allow him to do commentary for the World Series. Or maybe they should both be banned from 2009 World Series commentary, just like the other gentlemen I mentioned above?
What do you think? Should former players be prohibited by national networks (i.e., ESPN, Fox and/or MLB Network) from commenting on the World Series if their former team is currently playing in it? Do you think it’s a conflict of interests if these players offer their thoughts about the World Series? Or…do you think that some fans should stop being paranoid just and let these guys just do their jobs?
I miss baseball
I miss baseball.
OK, I know what you’re thinking:
Huh? What are you talking about? Baseball season isn’t over. Game 3 of the World Series was just played tonight, and there could be as many as 4 more games. How the hell can you miss baseball when it’s still being played?!
Yes, the World Series is still taking place. But I wasn’t there at the ballpark tonight. The last game I attended was waaaaaaay back on September 30th, the Nationals’ final home game…that was over a month ago!
As awful as the Nationals’ season was, and as painful as it was to witness so many of those losses in person, I enjoyed going to the games. I had a lot of good times attending ballgames this season. I love Nationals Park. I had fun hanging out — and often commiserating — with my fellow season ticket holders seated nearby. (I’ll miss those folks when I move to my new seats next season.) I miss going to the games…I miss the Presidents Race (GO TEDDY!!)…
I miss the hotdogs…I miss the chili half smokes (served up “all the
way” with cheese, onions, and mustard) from Ben’s Chili Bowl…I miss
the funnel cakes…I miss the fireworks, and the way the stars on the scoreboard clock would blink, after a Nationals home run…hell, I even miss Screech!
I’ve got tickets for a few Washington Capitals games this season, but that won’t be the same. (At least there’s a good chance that the Caps will actually win those games.) There’s just something about seeing a baseball game in person. And that’s something I won’t be able to do for just over 5 months.
*sigh*
I miss baseball.
The Bronx vs. Broad Street
And Alex Rodriguez’s hit was definitely a home run. Considering what a crappy job the umpires have been doing in the postseason, I’m surprised that they got this call right.
Anyway…it’s been an entertaining series so far. The story of the series so far, IMO, has been the pitching. The battle of the former Indians in Game 1 was a beauty. CC Sabathia pitched well; Cliff Lee, however, was brilliant. And his behind-the-back catch in the 8th inning was incredible! Game 2 was a bit of a surprise…I definitely didn’t expect A.J. Burnett to outpitch Pedro Martinez. I can’t stand Pedro. He’s an arrogant, obnoxious a-hole. (He’s also a coward who thinks it’s perfectly acceptable to grab the head of a man who is more than twice his age and throw him to the ground…but I digress….) I must admit, however, that Pedro’s resurgence has been quite amazing, considering that his right arm seemed like it was going to fall off just a few years ago. The Yankees may have been Pedro’s daddy in 2004, but I didn’t think that would be the case again. And it wasn’t at first…after all, Pedro did shut up the “who’s your daddy” chants early in the game, and he did strike out 8 Yankees. But Burnett pitched a gem. Tonight’s game has been a good one so far, with the Phillies taking the initial lead and then the Yankees going ahead. Jayson Werth just hit his second home run of the night. Exciting stuff!
Many years ago, I read some comments about New York sports fans compared to Philadelphia sports fans in (I believe) Sports Illustrated. I don’t recall the context of the article itself, just the following comparison of New York and Philadelphia sports fans: New York sports fans will boo anything, including funerals. Philadelphia sports fans don’t boo funerals…they cheer them.
This should be quite an interesting series.
Oh, by the way:
More thoughts on the Yankees trying to “buy” a World Series title
I mentioned here that I’m already hearing comments about the Yankees “buying” (or, at least, trying to “buy”) a World Series title. And if you look at it objectively, just from the point of view of total payroll and revenues, then you should be able to understand why some people feel that way. Of course, understanding is not the same thing as agreeing. The reality is that it takes more than just money to win the World Series. Yes, a high payroll team like the Yankees can afford to sign the Sabathias and the Teixeiras. But that doesn’t mean that those expensive players will be the right pieces to the puzzle. Randy Johnson had a much lower postseason ERA when he signed with the Yankees than CC Sabathia did when he came to New York, but so far this postseason, CC has performed far better than the Big Unit did in his postseason starts in pinstripes. An expensive puzzle is just junk if the pieces don’t fit together, but
an inexpensive puzzle can be a work of art when all of the pieces fit
just right.
I’ve been thinking about this a bit more, and I’ve done a bit of research. Take a look at the World Series winners since the Yankees last won, and their total payrolls for those years*:
2001 Diamondbacks – 8th highest payroll
2002 Angels – 15th highest payroll
2003 Marlins – 6th lowest payroll (only the Indians, Padres, Brewers, Royals, and Rays had a lower payroll)**
2005 White Sox – 13th highest payroll
2006 Cardinals – 11th highest payroll
2008 Phillies – 12th highest payroll
Look at that list…only one of those teams was in the top ten for highest payrolls in the year that they won the World Series. By contrast, the 2004 and 2007 Red Sox had the 2nd highest payrolls behind the Yankees.
The Yankees have had MLB’s highest payroll every season except one since their mid-90′s “dynasty” began in 1996. The only season they didn’t have the highest payroll was, ironically, in 1998 when they had one of their best seasons ever. (The Baltimore Orioles had MLB’s highest payroll in 1998…and finished 4th in the AL East, 35 games out of first place.)
What does this prove? Money (i.e., one of the top payrolls in MLB) can help a team to sign the players it may need to be successful, but it doesn’t necessarily help to “buy” a World Series title. Winning takes more than money…that’s a fact that the Yankees have certainly proven for the last 8 years. It takes:
- good players (some of whom do make the most money, and some of whom do not)
- team chemistry (some people roll their eyes at that…I think those people are fools)
- teamwork
- and often, a little bit of luck
By the way, it should be noted that the 1997 Florida Marlins — whom many people (including me) have used as an example of a team that “bought” its World Series title — had the 7th highest total payroll in 1997. The Marlins did bring in a lot of players from outside the organization (free agency, trades, whatever) for the sole purpose of winning a World Series, and then gutted the team over the next two seasons because they could no longer afford to keep their best players. But even they did not have the highest payroll in baseball that season…nor were they even ranked in the top 5 as far as total team payrolls were concerned in 1997.
Does having lots of revenue and a high payroll help a team to be successful? It can. Does it guarantee that a team will win this:
Nope. There are no guarantees. Even a commanding lead in a LCS doesn’t guarantee that a team will get to the World Series, much less win it. Just ask the 2004 Yankees.
* Source: USA Today Baseball Salaries Database
** Note: one other source — baseballchronolgy.com — ranked the 2003 Marlins as having the 5th lowest payroll; the Indians were ranked higher.
Number 29
Somehow I have managed to land at #29 on the Latest Leaders list. I’m not sure how that happened, considering the gaps between my most recent blog posts. But hey…thanks to those of you who’ve visited and commented in my blog!
I dedicate my #29 ranking to the Yankees’ catcher Francisco Cervelli, who wears #29 in pinstripes. He has contributed zilch towards the Yankees success this postseason (so far). But hey, he was the only #29 I could come up with!
Donnie Baseball to interview with the Nationals?
The Nationals have made a flurry of front office changes recently, getting the ball rolling on improving the team to prevent another 100+ loss season in 2010. And word is that the Nationals have requested permission to interview Don Mattingly as a possible candidate for the manager job.
Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly said this afternoon the
Nationals have asked Los Angeles general manager Ned Colletti for
permission to speak to Mattingly about their managerial opening.The
former Yankees first baseman has also spoken to the Cleveland Indians
about their opening, and said the Nationals appear to be waiting until
after the World Series to speed up their search.“Cleveland’s on,
it seems like, a little different timetable,” Mattingly said.
“Washington is willing to wait until after the World Series to start.”Mattingly
has been on Dodgers manager Joe Torre’s coaching staffs since he was
with the Yankees, and has been thought to be an heir apparent to Torre
when he retires in Los Angeles. But that doesn’t appear to be stopping
him from checking into other openings….
I’m not sure how to feel about Don Mattingly being a candidate for the manager’s job. I know that Yankees fans love him, so he must be a good guy. But good guys need more than just their goodness to be successful. The fact that he would be a first time manager also makes me nervous…Manny Acta was a first time manager too, and that certainly didn’t work out too well.
Mind you, the Nationals still need a good starting pitcher, some decent arms in the bullpen, and a reliable second baseman. If they don’t get those pieces for the puzzle, then the managerial choice will be irrelevant…because Casey Stengel couldn’t win with this team right now.
One more win…and buying championships?
The Yankees are one win away from facing the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series.
I’m not getting too excited just yet…I still remember 2004…so I will refrain from any hearty celebrating until after the Yankees have win #4.But Tuesday’s 10-1 win had to have been pretty demoralizing for the Angels. I’m not sure if they can come back from the 3 games to 1 deficit after a loss like that.
I’ve already started hearing comments about how the Yankees have bought a(nother) World Series title. Never mind the fact that the Yankees haven’t won the ALCS yet. If CC Sabathia continues pitching the way he’s been pitching, and especially if
Mark Teixeira gets hot and contributes towards an ALCS, or World Series, win,
I expect those comments to get louder and more frequent.
In all honesty, I can understand where those comments are coming from.
Only a few other teams can approach the revenue coming in to the Yankees. And the Yankees are obviously not shy about spending those millions to improve their team. The reality is that no other team could have spent over $420 dollars on three free agents last offseason.
There’s a lot of whining and complaining about the Yankees payroll. Yes, it’s massive…but the Yankees have done nothing illegal by spending so much money. They operate within the guidelines of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. And the fact is that if other teams had similar amounts of revenue, they would do exactly as the Yankees have done, which is spend as much money as necessary to build a winner.
Does the Yankees revenue give them an unfair advantage? Of course it does. To claim otherwise is just naive. Other teams can’t compete with that kind of money. But if you look at some of the World Series winners in the last 9 years — since the Yankees’ last World Series title — you would see that some of the winners have payrolls considerably lower than the Yankees. Money definitely helps when a team is trying to build a winner, but it doesn’t guarantee success.
If the Yankees do manage to win the World Series, then Yankees fans need to prepare themselves for the barrage of claims that the Yankees had bought yet another World Title. Such claims are understandable. Wrong, but understandable.
Baseball-related pet peeves
Since there are no games tonight, this might be a good time for a few little rants. Here are a few of my baseball-related pet peeves:
- Rain delays.
- People who appear to be incapable of remaining in their seats for more than 15 minutes at a time — the folks who
get up every inning (or several times in an inning) to get another beer or some more food, or go to the
rest room. How can they pay attention to the game when they’re out of their seats more often than they’re in it? - Spending as much for a small soda as I pay for two 2-liter bottles of soda at the supermarket.
- Hitters who stand at home plate to admire their home run as it sails out of the ballpark, before finally starting their home run jog.
- Pitchers who pump their fist and scream and jump around every time they strike someone out. Celebrating a game-ending strikeout is one thing…celebrating every strikeout is annoying. To paraphrase NFL Hall of Fame coach Vince Lomdardi, when they get a strikeout, they should act like they’ve done it before.
- Baseball gear in pastel colors for women. When the teams themselves start wearing pink or lavender, then I’ll accept the pink or lavender caps, t-shirts, jerseys, etc. And don’t even get me started on the sequined caps and jerseys…..
- People who talk so much at ballgames that they miss the action and have
to keep asking what happened. If they had been paying attention, then
they’d have seen that great catch, great hit, great double play, etc. - Treating yourself to field level seats, close to the field, and then having the tallest person at the ballpark sit in front of you (a real problem for someone like me who’s only 5’2″).
- People who ask me why I bother to root for a team that always finishes in last place and loses over 100 games two years in a row.
EDITED TO ADD:
- Caps, jerseys, t-shirt, etc. in alternative colors, other than a team’s actual colors. I don’t want a green Nationals cap or a black Yankees cap, thank you very much.
What are some of your baseball-related pet peeves?
ALCS — Yankees vs. Angels
Yankees vs. Angels…this should be interesting.
First, a few words about the Red Sox/Angels ALDS. I thought that the
Angels would win the series…but I certainly didn’t expect the Angels
to sweep that series. I can’t stand Jonathan Papelbon, so I must admit
that I was not sorry to hear that he blew the save, and the game, and
the series. If the Red Sox destiny was to go home after the ALDS, then
IMO that blown save couldn’t have happened to a more deserving idiot person.
It will be interesting to see how Bobby Abreu performs against his former team. It will also be interesting to see if Alex Rodriguez can continue to play well, and make Yankee fans forget his performances in the postseason from previous years. And the Yankees have to hope that CC Sabathia can perform better against the Angels in this series than he did during the season, when he lost his two starts and had a 6.08 ERA.
The Yankees certainly have plenty of motivation to defeat the Angels. Not only are they trying to make up for the fact that they failed to make the postseason last year, but the Angels sent the Yankees home early in 2002 and 2005 by defeating them in the ALDS. The boys from the Bronx are out for revenge!
I’d like to say that the Yankees will breeze through the ALCS…I believe the Yankees will win, but I think it will take 7 games to do so.
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