A trio of memories
Posted by: Sam Borden - Posted in Misc on Dec 31, 2009 
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There are a ton of people who have been around baseball much, much longer than me, but working in New York has given me the opportunity to see some pretty memorable things. I started covering baseball in 2002 so I missed out on the 2001 World Series insanity, but as we head towards the new year, I couldn’t help but make a list of the few moments from this decade that I a) witnessed in person; and b) will always, always remember. What are yours?
Below are my top three (in reverse order):
3. The celebration after the last out of this year’s World Series: It was the first championship for a New York team that I covered and the joy coming from everyone – players, executives, clubbies, staff, fans – was just overwhelming. I remember watching Brett Gardner rummaging through the stack of Champagne bottles until he found one, holding it up giddily like a little kid with a birthday present and then running over to soak someone. The happiness in that room was amazing.
2. Aaron Boone: You know how people talk about how the old Stadium would shake? If you weren’t there that night, you’ve got no idea.
1. This. It wasn’t scripted, it wasn’t expected, it wasn’t what anyone thought was going to happen.
It was still perfect.
Be safe tonight and we’ll see you in 2010.
Happy New Year.
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.....5122685718
Aaron Boone ALCS 03 home run
Let’s talk about Chapman.
If he signs a ML contract for 25M for 5 years and 10M of it is a bonus, doesn’t that still count as 5M AAV towards the luxury tax which means it’s going to cost the Yankees 7M per season with the 40% tax rate added on?
Game 5 of the 2001 World Series. I was in the bleechers right under where the 911 was waiving. From the “Paul O’Niell” chants to the Brocious homer… It was amazing.
Happy New Year Sam! You’ve done a fantastic job with the blog (along with Chad and Josh). I look forward to a full 2010 season with you guys
O’Neill wiping the tears from his eyes was one of the special moments, no doubt.
’21′ should have been retired!
I was at that Aaron Boone game too. I brought my brother-in-law for his first Yankee game as a life-long fan living in central Pennsylvania. It was the most incredible sports event I have ever witnessed in person. I will never forget it.
“Just wait until May and Melky’s burning through the NL while Gritty Gutty leads the team in almost beating out grounders to short”
I can envision Melky burning through Atlanta’s thriving adult entertainment industry.
I think the most amazing feat of the decade was Alex’s HR v. Fuentes.
Sam (and Chad),
You guys have been great!
i look forward to a full season with you both.
I hope that 2010 brings you all good things that let you realize your dreams.
RS
YOu Rock Sam
Happy New Year to You
Happy New Year to you all! (Even GGBG)
G. Love
December 31st, 2009 at 3:13 pm
If the Yankees make Bret the LF’er, it’s because they believe in him. Whether he lives up to that or not is what they play the games for.
True! And if he works out great! I just don’t believe he will and I also think that the Yanks are looking for someone else as well. Perhaps Hoffman is the darkhorse here.
This Melky Gardner debate is absurd. They both still have some upside, but Melky is not even close the defender Gardner is. if any fielding statistic says otherwise it only shows why the Fielding statistics are absurd. Gardner covers FAR more ground than melky who actually is too slow for CF. Gardner caught balls that Melky would have been playing off the wall. Melky is too slow for a CF’r and doesn’t hit enough for a corner OF’r in my opinion.
Gardner is a great defensive CF’r as he can cover wall to wall and save hits a week with his speed.
Melky has a better arm, but anyone who understands the game can see that melky takes FAR too long getting rid of the ball and that is why he doesn’t throw out many guys. his arm is strong but when you take 5 steps to throw (this is not an exaggeration as I showed this time and time again to people) you better throw harder and with more accuracy.
As overall offensive players, they were very close last year with Gardner turning singles into doubles with SB’s making him slightly better.
Girardi was playing the wrong guy in OF and if Gardner didn;t get hurt (making a catch that Melky would have played off the wall) he would have stayed our CF. But, don;t mistake Girardi playing the wrong guy with who is the better guy.
When you take defense into account, Gardner is the better player NOW.
Sam, I can’t argue with any of your picks…..and Jeter’s speech was so wonderful. The Yankees had finished strongly the last week or so of the season, but of course it was meaningless as they were already mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. I’m not sure that I’ve ever felt more hollow after a game than I did after the last game at old YS. It was like ” now, what”? We’ve had our share of devastating playoff defeats, but I just felt so empty after that game, knowing that we were going home with no shot and redemption in the playoffs. Jeter’s speech made me feel better – it was a real tribute to the fans, to YS and to the organization. I really loved the team as much as I ever had up to that point.
Even though we lost the 2001 WS, games 4 and 5 were truly magical moments. When I see the higlights of those games, I don’t think about game 7, I just enjoy those moments for what they were.
Jeter’s flip to Posada to catch Jeremy Giambi…..Jeter’s dive into the stands against the Sox (yes, I know what happened in 2004)……Alex’ HR against Baltimore in his return (still the most amazing moment from this season)….when Straw hit a HR in his return to Shea and the apple went half-way up before it realized that Straw was not a Met anymore. Everything in 1998 – the most incredible team I’ll ever see. Charlie Hayes catching the pop up in 1996 – my dream of winning just ONE WS in my lifetime coming true. Mattingly hitting a HR against the Ms in the 1995 ALCS, showing that he would be just as good on the big stage. I still refuse to watch the last play in that series, Junior chugging on home. Despite the subsequent championships, it’s a painful, painful moment for me.
I think LF is less about whether or not Gardner starts and more about an earlier post by Chad or Sam about how they felt the team would NOT trade Brett or Melky because they would then have no outfield depth, on the 40-man or in the minors, if they did. Now that they have, we have our starting three plus a Rule 5 draftee in Hoffman – clearly not enough.
So I think without question Cash will go out and get another OFer, and then it will be about Gardner, Hoffman and that guy battling it out to start – just like with Brett and Melky last year. May the best man win…
Craw:
Regarding Chapman, you have it right.
1) O’neils at bat against Benitez in game 1 against the Mets. The series basically ended there. This is my best memory because it ends with a Yankee WS victory and a Mets collapse – there is nothing any sweeter.
2) WS Game 5 in 2001. Deja Vu all over again. Including O’neils last game in NY with the crowd chanting his name.
3) WS Game 4 in 2001 – Hello, Mr. November
4) Boones HR
5) Anytime Mo enters a game.
6) Anytime Jeter busts it out of the box on a groundball to the infield, which of course is every time he hits a groundball to the infield.
NJ Steve
December 31st, 2009 at 3:59 pm
As overall offensive players, they were very close last year with ***
Gardner turning singles into doubles with SB’s making him slightly better.***
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So right you are. Gardner turned 6 singles in to his 6 total doubles. Unless you were referring to how many singles that he turned into doubles on defense.
John Sickles top 20:
“1) Jesus Montero, C, Grade A: I know that his position is up in the air, but I love this bat so much that I’m going to give him a straight Grade A. This is a Mike Piazza/Manny Ramirez type bat.”
http://www.minorleagueball.com.....-prospects
GreenBeret7:
“Unless you were referring to how many singles that he turned into doubles on defense.”
Good one! Ouch!
GreenBeret7
December 31st, 2009 at 4:24 pm
NJ Steve
December 31st, 2009 at 3:59 pm
As overall offensive players, they were very close last year with ***
Gardner turning singles into doubles with SB’s making him slightly better.***
————————————————————
How many times did he get put in as a pinch runner to steal second and ended up just standing at first base, never making a move?
Austin Romine’s bat is “not bad”? Boy, talk about a left-handed compliment. Thanks for posting, but I’m so tired of these scouts always killing our farm system. Sickels is undoubtedly no different – I didn’t read past Romine, lol
I just did read the article – it seems fair, but I’m not the best judge. Phil, what do you think?
When I think “useful”, I think of a player that can have success, but is limited. It seems like Sickels thinks we have a lot of potentially “useful” players, but no real stars outside of Montero
He lost me when he said we lost impact pitching when we traded Vizcaino because all our pitching depth is in the lower minors.
Where was Vizcaino? AAA? No he was in rookie ball. Good lord!
Mike, I too was there for game 5 in ’01…without a doubt was the most amazing thing I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing/hearing in person, between the O’Neill thing and the home run by Brocious, and the fact that the same exact scenario had played out just 24 hours prior, just wow!!
They got alot of strip joints in ATL, much, much more than NYC. Melky is gonna be worn out by July 1st.
Oh, and any minor league experts besides Phil, I’d love to hear your views as well.
Gardner might get the benefit of the doubt here more than any Yankee not named Jeter.
I know little about Hoffmann but I am rooting for him to get the LF job and keep it so the Gardner conversation can stop.
I don’t know about my top three memories of the decade, but I can tell you my top three guys of the moment are Sam, Josh, and Chad. What a great way to transition to the next decade!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL. Be safe.
XOX
WHO CARES?! This is a news site, not a personal blog sight Sam.
About this blog
Thoughts and discussion on the 27-time World Champion Yankees.
Every time I hear Jeters’ name or see his face or mention is made of him. I can only wonder how or if its possible to ever come close to replacing not only his skills but what he has meant to me and yankee fans around the world. sigh
Tom on NJ
Chat has turned out to be ok. but with sam at the helm this place has taken a serious nose dive since Pete left. There is zero credibility to this blog.
Chad, rather.
A Piazza or Manny type bat… Sounds good to me..
Imagine it’s the summer of 1947. There’s a Yankee player who just completed his rookie year. He came to the plate 293 times, eeking out an OBP of .310 with an OPS of .775. He looked terrible at the plate with no sense of the strike zone, lunging at everything in sight. He was ridiculously bad in the field and fans, writers and other players wanted to ride him out of town on the rails. Fans on the LoHud Yankees blog stopped just short of calling for his head. (Sorry, couldn’t resist; I made that last line up!) His initials are YB. Guess who it was.
John, you are entitled to have an opinion.
I am entitled to have my opinion, in that you are mistaken.
Chad & Sam,
You have done an excellent job. Pete Abe got the ball rolling but you too have really set the standard with your insight and care. I like knowing about the minors Chad so please keep us informed.
Happy New Year everyone. May you all flourish and prosper.
John,
Don’t think I’ve ever seen you here before. Is that you, Pete?
I love Sam, Chad, and Josh, and think they are doing a great job. And Sam’s pancakes for the table was one of the greatest ideas ever written on this blog.
Happy New Year’s everyone.
Ppl here have short memory
Do you remember the catch gardner made in CF in the WS melky would’ve never made it (without that catch the yanks would’ve lost the game -most probably- & maybe the series)
Melky was a great LF(the catch against manny) but in CF gardner was far better, so now imagine how good GGBG will be in LF
betsy,
so way agree with your 4:19 post. it’s like those are my best memories, too.
sam, chad, josh,
you guys are great. please don’t listen to the trolls.
“Just wait until May and Melky’s burning through the NL while Gritty Gutty leads the team in almost beating out grounders to short”
I can envision Melky burning through Atlanta’s thriving adult entertainment industry.
———————————————————-
And isn’t Georgia the peanut state?
Happy New Year Sam and Chad and of course all of my fellow LoHud bloggers.
I will always remember the 2001 playoffs and World Series. Like Betsy posted earlier, not for the outcome, but it helped to bring some sense of normalcy back to life after the horrors of 9/11.
And the Yankees winning the 1st World Series of the decade and the last.
Chad and Sam
You two are the best bloggers/professional sportswriters that I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Your professionalism is that of a true New York Yankee.
Just think, 15 years from now, you two could be known as the Jeter and Mariano of Yankees blogging…. But which one would be the closer?
“Mike
December 31st, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Game 5 of the 2001 World Series. I was in the bleechers right under where the 911 was waiving. From the “Paul O’Niell” chants to the Brocious homer… It was amazing.”
Amazing as it was, I have never watched those games again, to this day, as it is just a reminder of the tragedy that hit NY and the U.S. and the secondary tragedy of losing after 2 of the greatest wins of all time.
Happy New Years to all! On to a new year, a new year in which Number 27 will be hung from the NYS and hopefully Number 28 will be attained.
Let’s see what would be my favorite memories of the last decade??
I guess they would be a bit different from most of you guys.
Just wanted to take the opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year.
One of the great things about being a Yankees fan is having so many great memories to choose from.
This blog is another great thing about being Yankees fan.
To all of you out there, have a very happy – and safe – New Year’s Eve and a Happy 2010! Let’s plan on celebrating Number 28.
Let’s Go Yankees!
Betsy,
Enjoy New Year’s Eve. Stop living and dying by whether writers have good things to say about the Yankees and their farm system.
One guy is just one guy, even if he has a microphone.
Jay
December 31st, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Ppl here have short memory
Do you remember the catch gardner made in CF in the WS melky would’ve never made it (without that catch the yanks would’ve lost the game -most probably- & maybe the series)
Melky was a great LF(the catch against manny) but in CF gardner was far better, so now imagine how good GGBG will be in LF
————————————————————
You must have a shorter memory. What about the PS plays that he froze in his tracks as the play went for a triple and another that he turned the wrong way…twice?
Happy New Year Sam … blog is fabulous … you guys are doing a remarkable job!
GB,
Hope you are doing well. Happy and healthy new year to you.
Happy New Year to All of You!
Thanks, Sam, Chad & Josh and I look forward to your shepherding this blog into the new decade.
We just got back from the city. Great lunch at Becco’s and a fantastic show in “Jersey Boys.” I’d see it again and again. We just had a wonderful, wonderful day. And now we’re home safe, sound and warm, in the comfort of our home, where we’ll likely fall asleep long before the ball drops in Times Square. The City was just starting to fill up as we left. And after an “iffy” start weather-wise to the day, the air felt a lot less chilly and no precip, so I hope all who decide to spend their time in the City will really have a good time.
My husband went to one of the playoff games between the Yankees and Red Sox at the Stadium in 2004 – one of the games they won. He called me during a particularly great time during the game – I’d never heard him so ecstatic. That’s a good memory.
Moving home from Chicago in 2000 just in time to witness the Yankees beating the Mets and getting to watch the parade. We pretty much missed the ’98 and ’99 seasons in the midwest – no Lohud back then! – so we didn’t have the day-to-day experience of that incredible ’98 team.
Here’s to a better year ahead for all of us. I wish you all health, good times shared with good people, and peace.
I was scanning the posts and had to grin at the war going on about Gardner. So once again I will quote from a Boston blogger comparing Ellsbury and Gardner and horrors praising Gardner.
Thing is, that’s not a one-time deal for Gardner. There’s this play and this play and this play — all examples of his ability to come in on shallow fly balls. He even, in a nice little twist of irony, robbed Ellsbury at Yankee Stadium in September.
Yes, Gardner plays more shallow than Ellsbury. That’s made fairly obvious by all of the above highlights. But Gardner plays shallow because he still can range into the gap or go up and get a ball that’s going over his head.
http://oneifbylandsports.blogs.....chive.html
GB7- Have a great new year. A fresh start. I wish you well.
Gardner is an excellent defensive player. I don’t understand how people can watch baseball and not see this.
ray (sox fan)
December 31st, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Let’s see what would be my favorite memories of the last decade??
I guess they would be a bit different from most of you guys.
Just wanted to take the opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year.
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you are a rs fan with top shelf class
HNY
Thank goodness for Sam and Chad and Josh. We have an incredible opportunity to gain insights on the Yankee prospects, the clubhouse and the senior mgmt motives. Plus we get intelligent insights on the league and ah yes an appreciation of the big picture which too many of us lose sight of. I wish Pete all the best in beantown and hope this idiots up there stop hammering him as if he is the enemy up there. They are fotunate to have Pete up there!
We had a swell year in 2010 with memories to cherish for a lifetime. Someday we will think about how special our run was in 2009, all the walk offs and pies, big time clutch hits by A-rod in the playoffs, Matsui and how he slayed Boston and the Phillies. Andy’s remarkable World Series..so mnay good and wonderful Yankee moments.
Here’s to the 2010 edition, I think it will be exciting right down to the wire. I ask for everyone who particpates in this great blog a happy, peaceful, healthy Yankee New Year!
Artie A
Happy New Year to you too, Stuckey. I’m not worried about the farm – I just like learning about our kids. I’m settling in to watch the Twilight Zone marathon; compared to the characters in those shows, I have no worries whatsoever, lol.
Ray, Happy New Year to you, too. I think Yankee and Sox fans are both very lucky to be part of such a fantastic rivalry. It’s not even just limited to on the field activities; watching the off-the-field maneuverings is almost as interesting, with each team keeping an eye on the other. I’m not sure if they are paranoid or what, but it makes for great drama!
I meant those Boston idiots in beantown.
Yankee 1B/3B prospect that tore up the AFL this year Brandon Laird arrested with his brother Gerald Laird (DET).
Doreen, I’m so happy you loved Jersey Boys!
What? Oh brother……..JK, what were they arrested for?
Fran (the original) and OPPC member
December 31st, 2009 at 6:25 pm
GB,
Hope you are doing well. Happy and healthy new year to you.
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Thank you, Fran. All is going well. Thank you for asking. Hoping that you and your family have a great holiday and a new year. If all goes well, NYY will make 2009 look like a struggle. I’m hoping that in each game, the Yanks score 10 runs in the first inning and slowly pull away.
I can’t image how well informed Yankee fans will be in 2010 with Sam, Chad, and Josh on board for the quest of No. 28.
A happy 2010 to all ……
Daveinmd
December 31st, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Gardner is an excellent defensive player. I don’t understand how people can watch baseball and not see this.
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Enough with the Brett Gardner is a legendary defensive center fielder stuff. He’s pretty good, but a long way from being great.
Betsy,
They were in a fight and also assaulted security guards or police
http://www.bronxbaseballdaily.com/?p=1569
Here’s the link……..what a jerk. Suddenly I’m not overly interested in him anymore
Boys being boys
Report: Detroit catcher Laird arrested
Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) – Detroit Tigers catcher Gerald Laird was reportedly arrested Wednesday after a brawl at U.S. Airways Arena.
The Arizona Republic reported Laird was cited for assault following the Suns- Celtics game. His brother Brandon, a prospect in the Yankees’ system, was arrested and cited for disorderly conduct.
The report said arena security addressed a group of men about loud behavior in the arena lounge, and the brawl happened after the conversation. A Phoenix police officer told the paper the Lairds interfered with and assaulted security as they tried to arrest a suspect for disorderly conduct.
http://www.seattlepi.com/score.....eID=271952
JK, thanks……….I don’t think the Yankees are going to be too happy about this. How immature…….sheesh
Adams 2B, Romine C & Laird 1B/3B are their best AA position prospects… this sucks
Yikes. Yanks prospect Brandon Laird and brother Gerald Laird arrested in a brawl during the Suns-Celtics game. They were arrested at a club located in US Airways Arena.
http://www.azcentral.com/commu.....l#comments
Green Beret-He was excellent as a defensive centerfielder. Toward the top in the league in uzr. He be off the charts good in left. The upgrade from Melky and Damon to Granderson and Gardner will save a bunch of runs.
GB7
The best of the New Year
I see that you are still on the old axiom “You gotta live till you die” or my favorite “Non Illigitimi Carborundum”
Glad you’re still smoking (without cigarettes)
I’m hoping that in each game, the Yanks score 10 runs in the first inning and slowly pull away.
******************
GB,
Sounds good to me
I guess this won’t affect his 2010 season, but it calls into serious question whether this kid has what it takes to play professional baseball……..especially in NY.
Gerald Laird is the one that was arrested for assaukt. Brandon Laird was arrested for disorderly conduct. Brandon Laird’s could be nothing more than yelling or cussing at the security guards. I suggest waiting until the reports are in.
I don’t think the Yankees are going to be too happy about this.
**********************
Betsy,
Or the Detroit Tigers. Really stupid on the part of the Laird brothers.
Adams 2B, Romine C & Laird 1B/3B are their best AA position prospects… this sucks
Adams really shone when promoted to Tampa. Hitting HR in Tampa is really tough. Romine was named Player of the Florida League, where does this suck?
JK (Unique Perspective)
December 31st, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Betsy,
They were in a fight and also assaulted security guards or police
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get it straight. Only Gerald Laird was arrested for assault.
Cashman really really likes Gardner and always preferred him over Melky. They also had more hits on Gardner than Melky @ the winter meetings. 4 teams wanted to trade for him & internally alot of the player development people think he can be close to Ellsbury on the major league level (less average & more obp) with better defense. That being said, Cashman doesn’t want to have to depend on him to produce.
Bronx Born
December 31st, 2009 at 6:33 pm
GB7- Have a great new year. A fresh start. I wish you well.
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Thank you for the well wishes, Bronx. It’s much appreciated. best wishes to you and your family for a great year ahead.
GB, let’s say that this is true – it doesn’t speak very well to Brandon Laird’s maturity level. They were probably drunk.
Fran, no definitely not the Tigers either.
People ease off on this
A lot of these Rent a Cops are over the top. This needs some further information on who did what.
“Let he who is without sin”
Bo Knows
December 31st, 2009 at 6:55 pm
GB7
The best of the New Year
I see that you are still on the old axiom “You gotta live till you die” or my favorite “Non Illigitimi Carborundum”
Glad you’re still smoking (without cigarettes)
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Thanks for the well wishes and thoughts, Bo. I really appreciate that. I never thought I’d get this far along with just one cigarette (going on 20 days). Best of wishes to you and yoyr family for the new year and beyond.
I was there the night Boone hit the homerun. There isn’t much that could top that moment. It was incredible and you are right if you weren’t there you have no idea! Happy New Years!
Betsy – Romine wasn’t built in a day
December 31st, 2009 at 7:05 pm
GB, let’s say that this is true – it doesn’t speak very well to Brandon Laird’s maturity level. They were probably drunk.
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He was arrested for disorderly conduct. Not a big deal. As far as whether he was drunk or if it makes him immature, I’ll just wait. My God…if everyone was considered immature because they got drunk, the whole world would be wearing diapers. It’s not a big concern. He wasn’t driving, he didn’t hit anyone. Apparently, he did nothing but get loud.
He, most likely, yelled at some rent a cops.
Apropos of nothing, I was planning on partaking of that demon Rum, (Appleton Estate thank you), tonight. I might even get to kiss some nice lady with the New Year’s best wishes. Then get the disorderly conduct routine when we get home. I’ve always been puzzled “Why does the guy have to take the couch”? Who set up those rules? Unfair.
I don’t want to downplay Brandon Laird’s behavior, but I don’t want to overreact, either. I say forgive the young fellow, and see where he goes with that.
I’ll try to remain open-minded about this and not judge him too harshly – it’s disappointing, though.
It sure is, Betsy. I hope he does not disappoint us further.
Gardner covers FAR more ground than melky who actually is too slow for CF. Gardner caught balls that Melky would have been playing off the wall. Melky is too slow for a CF’r and doesn’t hit enough for a corner OF’r in my opinion
=========================================
I’d suggest you see a new optometrist.
If Brandon walks on the disorderly charge, maybe he’ll realize the value of a walk, start taking more and become a terrific prospect!
Melky is gone…some people need to move on
Doreen
Becco is my secret weapon.
The thought of having Sinfonia di Pasta there gets my husband to agree to see shows that aren’t tops on his must see list.
Glad you had a good day.
For anyone that does not have the Yankees 2009 DVD set, MLB Network is replaying the World Series games from Sunday Morning at 5:00 am running until 11:30 p.m.
Well, on the bright side of things, I will not judge Laird at all.
For all we know, he may have been goaded into it!
HNY!!!! The year of 28!!!!
Phil the Thrill
December 31st, 2009 at 7:39 pm
If Brandon walks on the disorderly charge, maybe he’ll realize the value of a walk, start taking more and become a terrific prospect!
————————————————————
How many 21 year old minor leaguers do you know that walks a lot in their 2nd year. how about letting them get their swings in and worry about the walks later.
pat -
We realized we’ve been to Becco more than 6 times now, and we don’t go into the city all that much! I was looking to see what other places we could go, and then we decided that for today, why mess with success??
We had the sinfonia di pasta the last couple of times, so this time we ordered off the menu. Perfecto.
Betsy -
Jersey Boys was even better than I was expecting, and I was expecting a lot!
If you don’t learn plate discipline at an early age, you aren’t likely to suddenly develop it later. See Soriano, Alphonso.
well, merry new year to all on this blog.
don’t post much, but read religiously. i appreciate your posts—the personal, the minor league, the outrageous trade proposals, the sane reality checks, all of it.
many thanks and all good wishes for the new year.
Doreen,
I loved Jersey Boys. Glad you got to see it. Happy New Year to you and your family.
muffin stump, are you the same commenter who used a variety of funny handles to enter GTLU to commedic effect?
Either way, Happy New Year to you and the rest of the LoHudders out there.
2010 should be another great year to be a Yankee fan (or Other) in our little community. Best wishes to all.
GB,
plenty of the really good players walked or had good walk ratios in the minors. One of the reasons they are great is because they realize the value of not making outs and getting on base. We have too many kids in the system, Nunez, Romine, Laird and other who would be much better bets if they took their walks.
nick sf,
no, unfortunately, that wasn’t me. i’ve been posting under muffin stump since the hilarious discussion re muffins early last summer. before then (from 2005), i occasionally posted under “j2″ until someone else started using that and/or impostoring in what i thought was a negative way.
regardless, happiest of new years to you and yours–as well as all the posters and readers here.
cheers!
Random thought
Has Mark McGwire held off on meeting the media until they get their HOF ballots submitted?
Happy New Year all.
This coming year also marks the 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America.
Fran -
Thanks.
Happy New Year to you, too!
More info…..
http://www.azcentral.com/commu.....31-ON.html
Ugly…..
Time for end-of-year grades (personal opinion, only, of course)
Sam, Chad & Josh – A (Everything from Winter Meetings to Minor League coverage, with Live Chats, too)
May all who post here, or who just stop by to read the excellent coverage, have a truly splendid 2010, and an exciting time watching ‘The Hunt for 28′ (even better than ‘The Hunt For Red October’)
Oh, and GB7 gets a B+ (Sorry, but you let yourself have that one cigarette!)
Cheers, everyone….
It’s good to have a brawler or four in the system, they can’t all be choir boys. Some Celtics fan was probably at fault anyway.
muffin stump, no worries and sorry for the mixup — especially if this isn’t the first time I’ve asked you about that.
Again, Happy New Year everybody!
December 31st, 2009 at 3:52 pm
“Just wait until May and Melky’s burning through the NL while Gritty Gutty leads the team in almost beating out grounders to short”
====
Don’t know whose original comment this was, but just LMFAO.
Hilarious and likely, prescient.
Great night and New Year to all.
By September Gardy and Grandy will be recreating Mantle and Maris in `61, but this time with TRIPLES!
Happy New Years Yankee people!!
Happy New Year everyone!!
crawdaddy – Let’s talk about Chapman.
If he signs a ML contract for 25M for 5 years and 10M of it is a bonus
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The BONUS is ALSO Taxable at a prorated rate.
So the annual cost will be $7m + $2.8m(40%) = $9.8m/yr
NJ Steve
As overall offensive players, they were very close last year with ***
Gardner turning singles into doubles with SB’s making him slightly better.***
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Green Beret Wrote:
So right you are. Gardner turned 6 singles in to his 6 total doubles. Unless you were referring to how many singles that he turned into doubles on defense.
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You may want to try and reread what I wrote…he turns his singles/walks into doubles by stealing bases. In roughly half a year he stole 26 bases and was caught 5 times. That is the equivalent of 16 walks/singles turned into doubles. It also doesn’t mention the fact that pitchers tend to throw more fastballs to the batter when blazing guys are on base as well as possibly missing their spots a little bit because of a slide step or loss of focus. Of course pitch outs help the batter as well.
December 31st, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Gardner covers FAR more ground than melky who actually is too slow for CF. Gardner caught balls that Melky would have been playing off the wall. Melky is too slow for a CF’r and doesn’t hit enough for a corner OF’r in my opinion
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akamgkrebs
I’d suggest you see a new optometrist.
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Some people just don’t understand the game. How is it possible that someone can’t see the incredible disparity of ground covered between Melky and Gardner? Mind boggling…
I wasn’t at the Stadium for too many HUGE games, but watching the Yankees beat the Red Sox to win the Division in 09′ was pretty special for me.
Happy flip of an arbitrary method of counting time to everyone.
Put in my vote on Melky’s side. I’d have to say I’ve seen them both do dumb things in the field, and I wanted to fine Melky $1000 every time he slid into first base. I think that Melky’s got a better jump, certainly a better arm, and right at this moment he’s more developed than GGBG.
…Given what I just wrote, my personal nickname for GGBG is “Guaranteed Stolen Base.”
Guess there is something wrong with my eyesight. Can’t see Gardner having an upside over Melky, other than speed Granted it was his rookie year, but to me he played like a rookie.
Also, Ellsbury had 70 stolen bases last year which I can’t see Gardy match in the next few seasons.
Looking forward to seeing the new players in ST and can hardly wait for the regular season. The Yankees will have a great season in 2010.
Also, I will sneek peeks at Melky and Matsui play for their new teams. Good luck, fellas. Your play as a Yankee was appreciated by many.