How I spent my winter vacation
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jan 03, 2009 
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haha
sign him!
David Wells?
The taxes are so high in Westchester poor Frosty couldn’t afford a full outfit?
Hello to all just back from my yearly carribean extravaganza, nary a bit of snow in sight. Hope everyone had a healthy and happy holiday as well as hoping a good New Year to all.
Have any partial season ticket holders heard from the Yankees on when we mihtexpect to hear from them about our relocation locations. I kjnow they are not yet finished wih the full season people and have not even stared yet on the 41 game plan holders so I am hoping that they get to us by the teamthe season starts at this point.
Nice. It’s a frigid 83 degrees in North Texas today.
That looks like Hank Steinbrenner to me.
Nice snowman, Pete.
I hate the cold of winter, though. And the short days. But snow is beautiful. It seems to me there was a lot more snow when I was younger. We used to ice skate during the Christmas/Holiday/Winter break at a nearby pond. We used to build not only snomen but snow forts. It was great.
I disagree with the idea that the Red Sox still have a better offense than the Yankees. I don’t think the Yankees are head and shoulders above them, but I do think they are better. Obviously the Yankees have injury questions with Posada and Matsui, but I’d say that Ortiz and Lowell are almost as big risks. Also, Swisher and Cano might not rebound to career average years, but even if they are the worst hitters in the lineup, they are still better than Lowerie or Varitek. I think this is a pretty fair break down…
Damon vs. Ellsbury: Yankees
Damon is definitely the better offensive player, no question. His OPS was 100 points higher last year, he gets on base at a higher rate, and has a lot more power. Ellsbury has more potential to improve because he’s young, but I’d take Damon anyway, especially in a contract year. To be fair, Ellsbury is much quicker.
Jeter vs. Pedroia: Red Sox
Pedroia was great last year and has to be considered a much better offensive player based on those numbers. There’s no reason to think he won’t have another great year next year. Jeter should have a better year next year, but he would really need to have an amazing year to put up better numbers than Pedroia.
Teixeira vs. Youkilis: Yankees
Youkilis had a career year last year, and has steadily improved each year he’s been in the league. That being said, I don’t think he can repeat his numbers from last year. Teixeira gets that production regularly, so you have to like the Yankees better here.
A-Rod vs. Ortiz: Yankees
Ortiz should rebound from last year, but it would be a stretch for him to go back to his MVP hitting numbers. On the other hand, 2009 is an odd year so A-Rod will probably win the MVP again. I don’t think anyone can really argue who’s the better hitter at this point in their careers.
Matsui vs. Lowell: even?
Both of these guys are bit injury questions and similar hitters. Lowell has been more healthy over the last 3 years, but Matsui will be DHing while Lowell is playing the field, so I’d say they have equal chances of staying healthy. They’ve got similar power and are good RBI producers in the 5 hole when healthy.
Posada vs. Bay: Red Sox
Posada is another one of the Yankees injury risks, and even if he stays healthy, it will be hard for him to put up numbers like he did in 2007. If he’s healthy, you can count on him for around 20 home runs and 85 RBIs. Jason Bay is younger and is a more talented hitter at this point in his career. He’s had 30 home runs or more in 3 of the past 4 years. Gotta give the Red Sox the advantage here.
Cano vs. Drew: Red Sox
Cano had a terrible year last year, and Drew did much better in his 2nd year in Boston. Over the last 3 years, Cano has had 25 more extra base hits, but 160 less walks. Drew has played in about 50 less games over that time. Because of Cano’s terrible 2008, you have to say that Drew wins this battle, but if Cano plays like he can, it’s probably even.
Nady vs. Lowrie: Yankees
Even if Nady goes back to his career average, there’s no argument here.
Swisher vs. Varitek: Yankees
Varitek is a terrible hitter. Even if Swisher doesn’t bounce back to his career average numbers, he’s still much better than Varitek. Hell, even if the Yankees decide to put Nady or Swisher on the bench in favor of Melky or Gardner in CF, it’s probably still even.
You know i had someone ask me last night if it was cold in New York on New Year’s…
Pete, I live in north Texas, so please help me with something…
What’s all that white stuff on the ground there?
Can he play CF?
God…PA, please don’t tell us that it took you 3 weeks of vacation to build that snowman.
C-
from previous thread:
Wave Your Hat: Just as CB did, you make a lot of excellent points about the macroeconomics of baseball and why the Yankees don’t operate in a genuine free market.
However, none of these excellent points really counter what TKinDC said. Are Yankee tickets ‘too expensive’? That question is answered when Joe or Jane Yankee Fan gets to the head of the ticket line or the website and asks another question: should I stay or should I go?
My favorite (not) play in football – “taking the knee.”
M second favorite – walking off the field with time on the clock.
Cardinals win
Thank god I don’t gamble.
Nice snowman Pete
Watching ny new fav channel MLB Network and on Hot STove just now both Joe McGrane and Mitch Williams when talking about the Yankees and what they did over the winter so far one of the things they claimed that Joba needs to be the setup man.
The reason this discussion will never go away is because others who actually know baseball keep bringing it up. I know it is on Pete’s pet peeve list not to bring up but it seems to b destined to be a never ending debate. Especially when you have people who have played the game, know the game discuss itnot just fans of the game
Nick in SF -
I think John and/or Jane Doe now need to plan their game experiences. No “last minute” decision to take in tonight’s game at the Stadium.
Whereas, at $10 for the best seats in Trenton, we often decide at the last minute to take in a game.
gayle
January 3rd, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Watching ny new fav channel MLB Network and on Hot STove just now both Joe McGrane and Mitch Williams when talking about the Yankees and what they did over the winter so far one of the things they claimed that Joba needs to be the setup man.
The reason this discussion will never go away is because others who actually know baseball keep bringing it up. I know it is on Pete’s pet peeve list not to bring up but it seems to b destined to be a never ending debate. Especially when you have people who have played the game, know the game discuss itnot just fans of the game
————————————————————
Did you see the interview with Cameron Maybin? Kid has his head on straight.
Doreen
January 3rd, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Nick in SF –
I think John and/or Jane Doe now need to plan their game experiences. No “last minute” decision to take in tonight’s game at the Stadium.
Whereas, at $10 for the best seats in Trenton, we often decide at the last minute to take in a game.
————————————————————
Love going to the minor league games. I live 2 blocks from Grayson Stadium in Savannah, Georgia. I go watch the Charleston River Dogs when they come to town, but, my friend and I take his boat up to the coast for a lot of the games in Charleston (about 30 miles up the Atlantic coast). Cheap tickets, cheap hot dogs and cheap beer. Great brand of baseball, too.
Doreen: I didn’t really put a specific time frame to when that decision is made, the point applies to a decision about buying a ticket three months in advance or at the walk-up ticket window. It was just a discussion about whether Yankee ticket prices are too high with the answer being, no, not if they can sell 4 million tickets. But that was last season, this coming season could be a whole new, um, ballgame.
But even then, plenty of people make last minute decisions about whether to attend a game, but these days those decisions are often related to prices on craigslist, ebay, etc.
The reason that players bring it up is because it is a legit debate. Most of the media is one-sided when it comes to Joba and fail to recognize the other side of the argument.
The reason so many people bring up keeping him in the pen is because the suggestion is not as outrageous as Pete and others are making it out to be. It’s not like it’s only Mike Francessa… a lot of people share his opinion.
GB7 =
We have the Trenton Thunder and the Lakewood Blueclaws, each about 45 minutes from home. We got to see the River Dogs at Lakewood last summer. It was great to put some bodies to the names I’ve seen here.
It is great way to spend a summer afternoon/night.
Caps
January 3rd, 2009 at 7:51 pm
The reason that players bring it up is because it is a legit debate. Most of the media is one-sided when it comes to Joba and fail to recognize the other side of the argument.
The reason so many people bring up keeping him in the pen is because the suggestion is not as outrageous as Pete and others are making it out to be. It’s not like it’s only Mike Francessa… a lot of people share his opinion.
————————————————————
NYY already has a bullpen of solid options to pitch the 8th inning. What they don’t have at this time are enough major league ready starters, even if they do sign Pettitte.
Green Beret
Did you see the interview with Cameron Maybin? Kid has his head on straight
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Yes he seems to be a really good kid and how many can say that they hit their first 2 HR against Roger Clemens lol
How;s this for a little tidbit just mentioned on MLB Network. Today is the anniversary of George buying the team and he bought it for 10 million dollars. This i what the Yankees are offering Andy this year so lets talk about inflation lol.
Nick in SF -
After I posted, I realized your point and mine were different. It is true, even if you plan in advance, at the point of purchase you do have to decide if you can afford it, or even if you can afford it, whether it’s worth it. For many, it’s not just the game itself but the process of getting there – driving/parking versus public transportation and the time/costs involved in each.
The thing is, it’s not something you can do (buying tickets to a Yankees game) without having to put some thought into it. But that’s been true for the last few years.
In a way, I feel like most of the time, if you wanted to go to a Yankee game in the last few years, you were going to pay upwards of face value anyone, more in line with what face value is now. So the question is, with face value being so much higher now, and the general state of the economy not being conducive to a “what the heck” attitude, will there be as much of a mark-up on those “extra” tickets?
**upwards of face value ANYHOW” not “anyone”
Doreen
January 3rd, 2009 at 7:55 pm
GB7 =
We have the Trenton Thunder and the Lakewood Blueclaws, each about 45 minutes from home. We got to see the River Dogs at Lakewood last summer. It was great to put some bodies to the names I’ve seen here. It is great way to spend a summer afternoon/night.
————————————————————
Yeah, it is. I take my laptop and stay connected (wireless) and watch the Yankees on MLB.com and the kids on the field. Like you said…I can go to 7-8 games for what it would cost for one MLB game.
Love just watching the kids…talking with them and Torre Tyson…he’s going to be a fine MLB manager some day soon. He really keeps them in step and has them talking to the fans, especially the young fans. A nice bunch of young guys, and almost everyone is polite. Hopefully success doesn’t ruin that.
gayle
January 3rd, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Yes he seems to be a really good kid and how many can say that they hit their first 2 HR against Roger Clemens lol
————————————————————
The funny part was him saying he ran around the bases fast so Clemens wouldn’t think he was hotdogging it and wouldn’t hit him with a pitch. Clemens then hit him anyway.
Gayle, I’m a partial season ticket holder too and no they have yet to contact me with my new seats. The full season people can downgrade to our package first, but I’m still thinking we can get better seats than last year. I called the office and expect something from them in the next 10 days or so.
Nice snowman Pete.
Your only mistake was using a “neutral” cap.
A Boston snow hat would have elicited a 300+ post response cap debate.
Looking closely at the appendages I figured you were going for 2-finger Modecai Brown.
Nice snowman,do you live in Westchester? Im a partial season ticket holder 41 game plan and they told me 2 weeks. I think they may be sending them this week or next.
Interesting new Gatorade commercial with Jeter in it. They should have shown the Big G a little love and included him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4dm-OnmLXY
haha, cute.
that commercial is terrible….”the jabba wockies”(spelling?); really…?
and little waynes voice is annoying
Repost from last topic
GreenBeret7
January 3rd, 2009 at 8:40 pm
randy l
January 3rd, 2009 at 8:18 pm
“Sounds like Randy was more of a US Steel guy.
Sorry, Randy.”
low ,really low.
just when i thought we were making progress. lol.
——————————————————————————————
LMAO…Sorry, Randy, but cheap lines are just too easy to pass up. I admire anybody that had enough ability to get past high school ball. Best I could do was playing on the Post teams for the Army. Trouble was, they always wanted me to play in another country. I guess they figured if I was going to hurt somebody, being out of the country was the best thing for everyone.
andruw jones?
HBO is making a movie based on “Game of Shadows”:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1149308/
I missed the Hot Stove discussion – how was it tonight? I thought last night’s was exceptional. AT this point, I’m not even going to hold it against analysts that they want Joba in the pen – it’s a non-starter for me. When they talk about that, I’ll ignore it, because they don’t have any clue. Outside of that topic, I’ve got an open mind……..I watched Inside the Moments HR show this morning and I have a few more to watch tonight. Baseball clip shows are tremendous……….
“I guess they figured if I was going to hurt somebody, being out of the country was the best thing for everyone.”
somehow i think having the ability to cause international incidents is a pretty useful skill to have whether active or retired.
randy l
January 3rd, 2009 at 9:06 pm
“I guess they figured if I was going to hurt somebody, being out of the country was the best thing for everyone.”
somehow i think having the ability to cause international incidents is a pretty useful skill to have whether active or retired.
————————————————————
If they had given me a baseball when I was in Vietnam instead of a rifle, I could have done more damage. Control wasn’t necessarily my best skill as a pitcher.
I don’t get MLB network at my house
Randy I, I was in my back yard hitting whiffle balls with the hand turn in mind…..Felt very natural and far less taxing mentally as it’s so easy to get hung up with the locked wrist and tight elbow on the take away……How many bullpen sessions before your mitt was considered broken in….I remember being told by Tony Kubek to throw my new Rawlings in a bucket of water overnight and then let in dry in the sun……It’s still how I break in mitts…Then saddlesoap and mink oil……
“Control wasn’t necessarily my best skill as a pitcher.”
hey, it worked for ryne duren.
Joba looks like a reliever, thats why people want him in the pen. He has a violent motion, he is only 6’2 and husky, and he has had injury problems in the past.
Their theory of moving him to the pen is purely physical, not stuff-wise. And it’s not a bad theory either if you go by his physique and injury problems in the past combined with his maximum effort delivery.
These guys are not crazy for using this as their basis for wanting him in the pen. I don’t agree with it, but if you are objective and not wearing pinstriped glasses, then you can certainly understand it.
This is what George Steinbrenner said when he bought the Yankees:
“We plan absentee ownership as far as running the Yankees is concerned,” he said. “We’re not going to pretend we’re something we aren’t. I’ll stick to building ships.”
randy l
January 3rd, 2009 at 9:33 pm
“Control wasn’t necessarily my best skill as a pitcher.”
hey, it worked for ryne duren.
————————————————————
Ryne had a couple extra feet on his fastball, though. The batters always caught my fastballs and threw them back at me….usually harder than they came towards them.
The funny part was him saying he ran around the bases fast so Clemens wouldn’t think he was hotdogging it and wouldn’t hit him with a pitch. Clemens then hit him anyway.
……………………………………………………
i was there wen he hit his first homer of roger clemens it was a saturday day game on fox hes seems like a preety nice gu i actually got to talk to him we were chatting by the third baseline close to the dugout cuz one of his former coaches was attending the game so i was being noisy and den started a convo
pat m-
i call it the dick rhyan move.
i haven’t thought of dick in a while and i googled him after telling you about his lesson to me and found out he died of a heart attack last january.
dick was a very tough guy who could stop you with a look, but i can’t think of any coach i’ve ever paid more attention to. they don’t make em like him anymore.
once when i was about 240 out and flew a high 5 iron into a long par 5 surrounded by water, as the ball rolled off the green into the pond on the left , he looked at me and said “you are the dumbest m#$###% f#$$##er” i’ve ever seen”.
dick had a way of getting his point across.
i don’t remember ever doing that again.
definitely old school.
but no one hit a ball like he did.
cute.
Geez Randy I, 240 is a 5 wood for me….And it has to be a clean hit…..Monster Randy….
Jeff and Gayle – I am a full season ticket plan holder and I got my new seat locations and confirmed and paid close to a month ago and I believe I had to make the decision and let them know roughly a month ago as well so they should have the other stuff sorted out as well by now.
pat m.
do dick rhyan proud tomorrow with his move and no snowmen like pete’s ( 8′s) ok. lol
There’s always a triple bougie lerking around when I hit dogwood left par 5….I am looking foward to hitting a small bucket before I tee it up…..Thanks Randy I ….
Gayle and Jeff: I’ve got a partial season and haven’t heard yet.
I believe what they are working on now are full season ticket holders who declined their original given seat relocation and asked to be put back into the pool for other seat options.
Basically I am off the belief that I should just take whatever they assign me and try to work my way up or over or out as years go by. The idea of putting myself back into the pool worries me a bit that I wont get anything better than what is assigned to me to begin with being as they do it my where you sat previously (closer to HP etc) and the tenure you have on your plan. I uave been a licensee since 2004 so I have a feeling there are plenty of peeps in front of me as well.
I am just bummed in that the seats I have had for the past 4 years wont e nearly as good as I was right on the field (left field) and those seast are not even available to partial season ticket holders anymore.
RE: Pete Abe’s request to be nice to PH’s
I also think we should be nice to the pinch hitters, and I also appreciate their contributions to this blog. BUT, people RIPPED the first two bloggers, and we are only getting the lecture today? I don’t want to accuse anyone of anything, but I’m just wondering, are we assuming the male writers can fend for themselves but the women need protection?
The only good thing about having to return to work on Monday is…… our new First baseman should be introduced shortly after.
arod- give me a break. The attacks that were written today were personal and vicious. It had nothing to do with male or female.
I jjust popped an extra 10mg of Ambien by mistake. I am 20mg down and I swear to god I am hallucinating. The screen is melting and reforming back into shapre. I highly recomeend a con trolled ambien over dose. Very trippy.
I wonder if you’ll remember this post tomorrow….I take the 15 mg…And when ever I take an extra pill the night before is a virtual blank….I’ll remind you tomorrow that you posted …..
Congrats PAT M, 2 for 2 on the home dogs. Colts were too sloppy all night long.
Doris from Rego Park: repent now, before it’s too late.
S.A.-Brian “The Ninja” Cashman: Showing free agents lots of love January 3rd, 2009 at 1:39 pm
OT-Picks for this weekend of football:
Colts
Ravens
Falcons
Eagles
—————————————–
Yup. I sure know how to pick em!
I have a feeling I’m gonna go 0-4 this weekend
i may buy those Obama commemorative coins tonight
It’s amazing that people can’t understand the difference between critiquing an article’s content and personal attacks regarding appearance and generally just being an obnoxious a hole.
Maybe this is where the anonymity of the internet fails us. I’ve been going to the Digg site lately which is a community where members vote for the best stories, it’s sort of gang mentality, but it’s effective. Makes me wonder if future blogs can institute some sort of rating of posters to drown out the riff raff. Hmm, maybe I should go patent that?
Nick in SF….Colts didn’t play as crisp as one would expect come January…..Chargers are peaking at the right time, much like the Giants last year…..I only lost one game during the playoffs last year ( Seattle )…..
when is the mark tex press conference scheduled for?
my computer is gglowing
Chargers will lose next week to the Steelers.
Polamalu and their D will be smart enough to know that Sproles runs to the sidelines every time.
Still, SD looks like the team they should have been all season.
PAT M: what are your picks for tomorrow? Your track record is a little better than S.A.’s.
Blah!
Doris-
The jokes a little overplayed, get some sleep.
Nick in SF…I like the Dolphins at home ( + 3 1/2 ) …Afternoon Philly at Minn, I’m going with The Eagles and lay the points….
Very cute snowman!
Seriously, re-signing A-Rod is such an awful move. He’s not a good baseball player. He also doesn’t deserve a big contract. He really does suck in the 20 or so playoff games that Yankees fans have seen him in. That means he also must suck in the 700+ regular season games that he’s been a part of. Oh.
U am now a Dwight Freeney fan