The Loathe List - Hates a strong word, so I’ll go with Loathe.

For a little change of pace, here are the 10 sports related people I really loathe right now. We'll change this up from time to time.

1. Bud Selig - How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways. We had the tie All-Star game. Now we have the All-Star game determine home field advantage in the WS instead of best record. You embarrassed yourself and the game of baseball with your handling of the steroid issue in front of congress. You created a pyramid scheme called the World Baseball Classic and are passing it off as a way to spread baseball throughout the world. You seemingly overlook lopsided trades that don’t include the Yankees. How come the money changing hands in trades always gets approved? Your hair is 2nd only to Donald Trump - okay that has nothing to do with baseball, but really.

2. Terrell Owens - You disgraced yourself, your team, and athletes in general with your constant whining and greed. You’re a great receiver, but you’re an idiot.

3. Curt Schilling - Spring Training hasn’t arrived yet, but the media whore is already talking about the health of his ankle and how great he’ll be and yada, yada, yada.

4. Anna Benson - Hey Anna, guys love hot chicks. Semi-hot chicks who are self-described sluts - not so much. Stop being jealous of the attention your husband gets and disappear.

5. Jeffrey Loria - Prototypical scumbag owner. Granted, the fans don’t exactly turn out for Marlins games, so how do you respond? By watering down the product. They won’t give you a new stadium, so how do you respond? You’ll move. Your team should have been the one contracted not the others that were rumored to be.

6. Barry Bonds - Steroids, ego, full of sh*t. Don’t worry Barry, I’m sure you’ll move up once the season starts.

7. Jeremy Roenick - JR, such a tough, great player. Such a tremendous jackass. Hockey’s version of Curt Schilling. First we had you tell the fans to go ‘f’ themselves about the NHL player’s strike. Then you said that if you weren’t added to the US Olympic hockey team, you would root for the Canadians. Gee, I’m sure that had the members of the USOC quaking in their boots. Time you were put out to pasture.

8. Kobe Bryant - 81 points is quite an accomplishment. You’re a great basketball player. You suck as a person. I’d take LeBron James over you any day.

9. Herman Edwards - Terry Bradway and the Jets front office - This is a shared spot. Herm, you lied about wanting to stay with the Jets and Terry, you lied about wanting him to stay.

10. Scott Boras, Drew Rosenhaus and every other lowlife sports agent. You ruin every sport you touch.

Honorable Mention - The Minnesota Vikings for disgracing themselves.

Yankees vs. Red Sox - The Paper War (Part I)

The Yankees will meet their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, 19 times during the 2006 regular season with a possibility of up to another 7 games in post-season play. While we are still 2 weeks away from the start of Spring Training, fans and the media are already talking about the number of changes in both camps.

The Red Sox said goodbye to Johnny Damon, Edgar Renteria, Kevin Millar, Bill Mueller, Doug Mirabelli, Mike Myers, and hello to Coco Crisp, Mike Lowell, Mark Loretta, Josh Beckett, Alex Gonzalez, JT Snow, Julian Tavarez, Josh Bard, John Flaherty, David Riske and Rudy Seanez. David Wells or Matt Clement could still go and there will be speculation all year long about Manny Ramirez.

The Yankees jettisoned Kevin Brown, Tom Gordon, Tino Martinez, John Flaherty, Ruben Sierra, Felix Rodriguez, Tony Womack, and brought in Kyle Farnsworth, Octavio Dotel, Johnny Damon, Mike Myers, Kelly Stinnett, Ron Villone, and Miguel Cairo (Al Leiter was signed to a minor league deal, but it unlikely to make the team - God willing). There is a possibility that Carl Pavano could be dealt as well, and the Yankees aren’t necessarily satisfied with Jason Giambi, Andy Phillips, and Bernie Williams as their 1B/DH triumvirate.

The two most important acquisitions of the post-season may have been the Yankees re-signing General Manager Brian Cashman and the Red Sox, after months of turmoil, bringing back Theo Epstein as their GM.

Okay, time to look at the position by position breakdown - as well as a Yankee pre-Spring Training preview. We’ll start today with the infield.

First Base


Jason Giambi vs.
JT SnowKevin Youkilis

Jason Giambi - 2005 was a strange year for Giambi. First there was the apology for nothing - well at least nothing that Giambi would publicly admit to. Then he was close to being sent to the minors (if not for his contract, he could have been released) after hitting just .231 with 6 extra base hits through May. Giambi’s only saving grace was a .345 On-Base Percentage (OBP) as he drew 21 free passes in the first two months. As the baseball coroner was about to pronounce him dead, something suddenly happened as the warm weather arrived in June. Giambi started getting hits. June’s singles (he still only had 5 extra base hits in June) turned into an explosive month of July. Giambi hit 14 of his 32 home runs, batted .355, with a .974 slugging percentage, and a ridiculous OPS (On-Base + Slugging) of 1.498. Over the last 2 full months, Giambi only hit in the .250s, with a combined 13 home runs, and continued to get free passes at a high rate, with 49 combined walks. A very disconcerting stat was just 3 doubles in those 2 months, and only 14 for the year. Giambi is a liability as a 1st Baseman. He’s an adequate fielder, who is pretty good at scooping throws out of the dirt, but is a bit “Knoblauchian” with his own throwing ability. The Yankees are going to count heavily on Giambi returning to as close as possible to his steroid enhanced form. Whether the 35-year old can achieve that remains to be seen.

JT Snow - Although the former Yankee prospect hit .327 in 2004, he’s not counted on any more to be a big run producer. That being said, his OPS the last 3 years has been .806, .958, and .708, and the Red Sox are probably counting on the soon to be 38 year-old to play 140+ games at 1st Base - something has not done since 2002. Snow, who had a rough off-season with the passing of his Dad, football great Jack Snow, has a sparking .996 career fielding percentage.

ADDED 2/15 - Terry Francona has decided to split time between Snow and Kevin Youkilis. This may be the first real chance for Youkilis to show what he can do. He's a high on-base percentage guy with average power. He'll be turning 27 during Spring Training, so this could be his last chance to prove himself with the Sox.

Advantage - Giambi - Giambi gets the hitting advantage, Snow the defensive advantage, with Giambi taking the overall edge because he can be the difference maker with his bat.

Second Base

Robinson Cano vs.
Mark Loretta

Cano was a huge surprise to the Yankees in 2005. After being rushed to Columbus in 2004 to showcase him for a trade (the failed 2004 Randy Johnson negotiation), Cano was recalled in May, 2005 as the Yankees slumped and looked for some spark. They found one in Cano. After struggling at the plate and with his nerves through May, Cano forced his way into Rookie of the Year talk with an outstanding summer. Save for a .207 slump in August, which probably cost him the award, The Cano Kid hit .336 for June, July, and September, with 11 home runs and 44 RBI. He saved his best for the stretch run in September, hitting .381/5/16 with a 1.040 OPS. Cano also didn’t shrink from the spotlight, driving in 3 runs in his first post-season game. In 2006, The Yankees will look for Robinson (I refuse to call him Robbie, so there) to improve on his .252 home average, his glove work, and his mental approach, both at the plate (only 16 walks last season) and in the field (too nonchalant at times and forgetful of the fundamentals).

Mark Loretta was acquired in a steal of a deal from the San Diego Padres for veteran catcher Doug Mirabelli. The 34-year old missed 57 games with a heel injury last season, but did manage to hit .280 with a .360 OBP. Finally getting the chance to play full-time, Loretta put together back-to-back career years in 2003 and 2004, averaging .325 with 14 HRs and 74 RBI. If he can return to that form, this could become one of the best deals the Red Sox ever made.

Advantage - Even. Cano is up against the sophomore jinx and Loretta is coming to a new league and coming off an injury plagued season. Too early to call a winner.

Shortstop

Derek Jeter vs.
Alex Gonzalez

(This is based on today’s report that Gonzalez has agreed to a 1-year deal with the Red Sox.)

Derek Jeter - The Captain. Some stat driven Yankee fans complain because Jeter has not put up the same numbers he did from 1998-2001, coupled with his big contract. First off, since when does a Yankee fan care about what a player is getting paid? If they do, they should go root for the Kansas City Royals. He was still criticized by some uninformed fans last year. All he did was go out and hit .309/19/70 with 122 runs scored, 77 walks, and an .839 OPS…as a leadoff hitter! Yes, he doesn’t steal as much since he destroyed his shoulder on opening night, 2003, and he still strikes out way too much (117 last year), but whether hitting leadoff or 2nd (probably will return there with Damon’s acquisition), Jeter will give you everything he’s got, every inning, every game, every season. Those who disagree can kiss my ever-widening ass.

Alex Gonzalez - The career National Leaguer (not to be confused with the other free agent Alex Gonzalez) brings a .245 career batting average to the Red Sox, along with some potential pop (23 HRs in 2004), and a pretty slick glove. Gonzalez has spent his entire 8 year career with Florida and will have to adjust to AL pitching. Then again, with the depth of the Red Sox line up, he shouldn’t have to be counted on to produce too much offensively. His biggest adjustment may have to be the lousy Boston infield. No, not his teammates, but the actual infield. The Red Sox and their opponents both complained about the condition of the Fenway playing surface that could have accounted for Edgar Renteria’s career high 30 errors last season. Barring any changes, Gonzalez will have to make the same adjustment.

Advantage - Easily, Jeter


Third Base

Alex Rodriguez vs.
Mike Lowell
A-Rod is coming off an MVP season. He finally relaxed at the plate, hitting .321 with 48 HRs and 130 RBI. In addition, he scored 124 runs and stole 21 bases. Yankee Stadium is tough on right-handed hitters, but A-Rod was oblivious, hitting .351 with 26 dingers, 69 ribbies, and a 1.113 OPS. Rodriguez struggled in the field in the early going as he let the ball play him more often than not. He excelled over the final months though, with just 12 errors overall, and could compete with Eric Chavez for the gold glove this year. Where A-Rod needs to improve is in the post-season or despite the regular season numbers, he’s useless. The Yankees could have just sent a hologram to the plate against the Angels in the ALDS. That’s how invisible Rodriguez was. He had just 2 hits in 15 at-bats, with 1 extra base hit and no RBI. A-Rod needs to find some way to relax this season as well as cut down on the often long swing (he struck out a career high 139 times last season), or he will never truly be accepted by the Yankee faithful.

Mike Lowell, like Snow a one-time Yankee prospect, suffered through a season long slump that saw his offensive numbers plummet like the stock market in ’29. There have been reports that a bad back was the cause, though Lowell has downplayed it. Despite having 500 at-bats, Lowell managed to hit only 8 home runs and drove in 58 runs. He also hit a career low .236. As Yankee fans know from watching the decline of Don Mattingly, a chronic bad back can nearly or completely destroy a career. From 2000 - 2004, Lowell average 24 home runs and 94 RBI. Lowell still played reasonably well in the field, but he has a huge question mark on his back as he brings his questionable health and big contract to Boston. If healthy, this could turn out to be a huge move (remember, this guy came back from testicular cancer). If not, the Red Sox will try Kevin Youkilis and anyone else they can think of to man the hot corner.

Advantage - A-Rod


Tomorrow - Outfield and DH

A Goose In Every Pot

I was quite happy when this past November 9th came around. Why? Because all of the elections were over. No more listening, or rather, turning off, countless television and radio ads. No more hearing bullshit, no more mud slinging, etc..not until well in 2006.

How could I forget so quickly. It’s time for the annual baseball hall of fame balloting -- which means it’s time for what has become the annual Goose Gossage, “I belong in the Hall of Fame” campaign. Over the past couple of weeks, Goose has appeared on the radio sports talk shows, internet broadcasts, in every tri-state newspaper, talking about how he deserves to be in the MLB hall of fame.

Goose will ramble on about how guys like he and Bruce Sutter revolutionized the closer’s role. To paraphrase, “no knock on Mariano Rivera, he’s great, but we had to pitch 2, 3, or more innings to get a save”. On and on it goes.

Don’t get me wrong, I agree with the Goose, he does deserve to be a Hall of Famer. That being said, Goose…please…STOP THE CAMPAIGNING! It was bad enough when Gary Carter did it. I didn’t like him period, but Goose was one of my guys back in the late ‘70s, early ‘80s with the Yankees. Now he has become as annoying as any congressman running for re-election.

The results of this year’s voting by the Baseball Writer’s Association (BWAA) will be on announced shortly. We can only hope that Goose is included so that we don’t have to look forward to another “Goose December”.

The System

Speaking of the BWAA - why are these guys the sole selectors of who belongs in the Hall? Most never played the game or not at a high level. Once players are rejected and no longer for election via the conventional way, they can still be elected by the Veterans Committee. At that point, former players have an impact on what players are elected/bypassed. Why not combine the two committees right away? You’d have a better mix of players/writers that have covered/watched the eligible players. You’d also have less of a chance of the writer’s shutting out a player because they don’t like the way that player dealt with them (e.g. Jim Rice). I’d also like to see the “friendly” vote stop. More precisely, writer Joe Blow stops giving a Hall vote to some garbage player just so they can say they received a Hall vote. To me, that’s just watering down the whole process (the Hall itself has become watered down, but that’s a whole other story). If only those deserving get in, then only those deserving should get a vote.

Belated Happy New Year!

On New Years Eve, I thought back to December 31st, 1974. Went to the movies with a bunch of relatives to see Freebie and the Bean (imdb.com link). When we came out it was snowing and was nearing Midnight. We had the news on the radio (my Dad can never get enough news) coming home, when they announced that the Yankees had signed free agent pitcher Catfish Hunter to a contract.

What an awesome feeling. The Yankees had pretty been the dregs of the American League for most of my childhood, but some guy named George Steinbrenner bought the team in 1973 and promised to turn things around. Signing Catfish was the first step in that process.

Though he only had one really big year statistically (25 wins in 1975) as a member of the Bombers, he was a big game pitcher, a winner that had a great influence on young pitchers like Ron Guidry. Catfish’s arm was pretty much shot for most of his Yankees career after ’75, but he went 6-1 down the stretch in 1978 as the Yankees rallied back against Boston. If I had to select one guy to pitch a game with everything on the line, I’d have no problem selecting a healthy Catfish Hunter. May he rest in peace.

Doumoarigatou Mr. Roboto

Anyone who knows me knows how much I am against the upcoming World Baseball Classic. That’s why I was relieved to hear yesterday that Hideki Matsui would NOT be playing in this contrived tournament. I know it had to be a very tough choice for Hideki as he is very loyal to his native Japan and he had to say no to the team’s manager, Sadaharu Oh, the Babe Ruth of Japan. But I applaud Hideki for his choice. He knew the travel between the US and Japan would be quite wearing, and could effect him during the season. I do wonder though if his being overpaid in his current contract might have influenced him. I just hope if it comes down to it Mariano Rivera makes the same decision. We don’t need Mo blowing out his arm in March for a meaningless game.


Banzai Godzilla!

I know there are many people out there in countries outside the US that don’t consider the WBC a bunch of meaningless games. These games are much more important to them than it is to the American baseball fan. I would not be opposed to these games if they were played after the World Series. Major league baseball’s, or should I say varmint-head’s, argument has been that the season is long enough and the players will be too worn out by then. HELLO! In March, most players are barely ready for the start of the season. So now you’re going to jeopardize their health, their MLB teams, by throwing them into a highly competitive situation before they’re physically ready?


Damn! It bit me

What this comes down to as does just about everything else in sports, is money. Money does make the world go around, and varmint-head loves that clinking-clanking sound as much as anyone. This tournament will not increase baseball interest in the US, and to be quite frank, I really don’t care about the impact it has on other countries. Instead of playing this ridiculous tournament, help establish baseball schools in Latin America and abroad.

On top of everything else, the US government has to stick its nose into this as well. They have denied Cuba’s right to participate. Hey, Fidel Castro may be a scumbag, but is he any more of an outrageous figure than other world leaders whose countries may participate? Did we not learn from boycotting the 1980 Olympics in Moscow? Is the government going to deny China from playing or other countries who quell their citizen’s human rights? My thinking is that it is more likely the US has a fear of losing to the Cubans.
If anything, Cuba is the one taking the risk here since there’s always a chance a player(s) will try to defect.


I for one will not watch this tournament and I implore others to do the same.

Tis' the Season

For freezing my behind off and for giving. The Yankees personified the latter last Tuesday night when they agreed to give free agent centerfielder Johnny Damon, a 4-yr, $52 million contract. Props to the Yankees though, especially Brian Cashman. Cash stood his ground as supreme scum/agent Scott Boras demanded a 7-yr deal for Damon. Boras’s demands started to shrink as did the demand for Damon. Boras went from commanding a 7-year deal to a 6-year deal to a 5-year deal (another variation with an option for a 6th) to a 4-year deal with an option for a 5th. Each time, Cashman said, “no”.

The Red Sox had a standing offer on the table of 4 years for 40 million and weren’t budging off of it. The only other team in the mix was the Dodgers, who dropped out when they signed veteran Kenny Lofton to a 1-yr deal. There were rumors of the Orioles becoming involved, but nothing concrete was ever revealed. Once Cashman saw this he overspent to seal the deal with Damon and Boras. Thirteen-million a year is definitely overpaying, but in a year when there were no other attractive free agent centerfielders, and teams were asking for too much (you’re to blame for that George) for average players like Juan Pierre, the Yankees really had no choice. The deal is really a similar situation to the Mets signing of Pedro Martinez last off-season. Too long, too much, but it fills a need. Damon will probably be broken down by the end of the deal, but he should provide plenty of offense until then.

The greatest concern for the Yankees outfield right now is their defense. Damon can still track a ball very well, but his arm makes Bernie Williams’s arm look like a cannon. At the very least he should be able to get to those balls in right-center that Gary Sheffield can only glance at these days.

The Yankees introduced Damon to the crowd on Friday, a pre-Christmas gift to the fans. Unfortunately for Damon, he was quite nervous and pretty much stumbled through his press conference. Of course, there was nothing wrong with the idiot reporters whose best questions were about his haircut and shave. All in all, it was a pretty dull press conference. Though nothing new usually ever comes out of most press conferences these days. Now get me a 1st Baseman!

Nomar or No More?

One of the most intriguing possibilities of this off-season has been the Yankees adding Nomar Garciaparra to the mix. That’s right, an infield of Nomar (1st Base), Derek Jeter (Shortstop), and A-Rod (3rd Base) in the same infield and it’s not even an All-Star game. The much heralded “Big 3” shortstops have seen a lot of changes the last few years, especially Nomar and Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod moved over to 3rd base to work a deal to the Yankees and Nomar’s body has steadily broken down with one injury after another.



Now comes talk that the Yankees are one of four finalists that Nomar and his agent are deciding on (the others are Houston, Cleveland, and possibly, the LA Dodgers). Times have certainly changed for Garciaparra since he mistakenly turned down a 4-year, $60 million deal from Boston. Now he can’t even get a single year deal in double digits. Nomar’s supposedly looking for a one year deal for eight-million. Much like the deal he signed with Chicago last year in hopes of getting a long term deal in this off-season. A shredded groin ended those hopes. That’s where my concerns come in.


Nomar is a great athlete, whose time may have passed. We’ve seen the best careers cut short or their quality lessened by injuries (see Don Mattingly). I am not opposed to giving Nomar a one year incentive laden deal, but I am concerned about his ability to be in the lineup on a consistent basis. Also, a combination of Nomar and Jason Giambi at first base doesn’t fill me with visions of gold gloves. For those of you thinking Nomar in centerfield, please STOP right there. I am tired of that talk. (Give me a guy out there who knows what he’s doing -- but that is a discussion that has been done.) The idea of the 1999 Nomar in the lineup is awesome, except if he were the 1999 Nomar we’d have no shot of getting him.

I’d really rather see a Travis Lee/J.T. Snow type backing up Giambi, but I do recognize that pickings are slim. Hopefully, if the Yankees land Nomar he’ll spend more time on the field and less time in ER.

I can be Centerfield

John Fogerty sang it, and he has as good a chance as anyone else to play Centerfield for the Yankees on opening day. Getting a full-time centerfielder has been a long and boring process this winter. Brian Cashman has tried to give us the biggest snow job of the season by stating he’d be comfortable with Bubba Crosby in centerfield. Yeah and why not let Jason Giambi play shortstop. Okay, so maybe the idea isn’t as drastic as that, but to be honest I don’t even want Bubba on the team. I’d rather have an extra outfielder who can hit more than the average National League pitcher.


Bernie Williams. I love Bernie Williams -- in a beer drinking, ass-scratching kind of way. Bernie has had a superb Yankee career. He’s been a model citizen in addition to being one of the best players during his era. He’s been here so long; I can't even remember who the last regular CFer was before him. Okay, now I am embarrassed. I actually to look at baseball-reference.com to remember it was Roberto Kelly, or “Bobby” Kelly as Hawk Harrelson used to like to call him. The point being is that Bernie has been a Yankee great, but now he’s learning more towards has-been. It really hurts to say that. I’m somewhat glad Bernie is coming back for 2006, but I am concerned that Joe Torre’s loyalty is going to lead to Bernie playing too much CF. Bernie can still get some clutch hits, but his tracking ability is not what it once was, and his arm never was.

The choices out there are few and far between. Early in the off-season we heard rumblings of a Robinson Cano for Torii Hunter deal. It was more rumor mill than anything else. Thus far the Yankees have been unwilling to part with either Robinson Cano or Chien-Ming Wang -- how times have changed. There were rumblings about Juan Pierre, who gets mixed reviews, before he was ultimately shipped to the Cubs. Johnny Damon is out there, but he has super-scum Scott Boras wanting a 7 year contract. Boras will probably get Damon a guaranteed 5 years, but does any team really want to invest that much money in Damon? I don’t. This morning’s NY Post spoke of a 4 year deal being put together by the Yankees. That’s about the limit I would go. For that matter I wouldn’t go more than 3.

Can Johnny hit without his hair?

I am more than willing to look for short-term help and go looking for a better CF option next year. I like Brad Wilkerson, Brady Clark, or Gary Matthews for such cases. One solution with a longer impact would be Laynce Nix.

I’m not convinced that Melky Cabrera cannot be the Yankees eventual CFer, but I was very angry at the way this kid was rushed to the majors last season. It made no sense. He never played above ‘A’ ball, but they start him at ‘AA’ Trenton, which was fine, but then rush him through Triple-A and into the bigs. He was clearly overmatched. So much so, that he ended up back at Trenton after a brief, poor showing at Columbus. Hopefully he forgets about it and works hard this winter and comes out solid next year. Hopefully he’s watching a capable centerfielder manning centerfield for the Yankees.

Introduction

Christmas is a mere 2 weeks away, which means Spring Training is about 8 ½ weeks away. Not exactly around the corner, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel. It’s an especially comforting thought with temperatures getting ready to dip into the single digits this evening. Spring Training and baseball for me, means New York Yankees baseball. It’s in my blood -- from Father to my brother, my sister, and me. Through osmosis, if that’s what you want to call it, to my wife. I was born in 1961, the year of the great Maris-Mantle chase at Babe Ruth’s single season home run record. Though the very first game I went to was actually Reds-Mets at Shea Stadium in 1969 (hey I was 7 1/2, tickets were free…I didn’t know any better), I have been a Yankee fan as far back as I can remember. My first game was Yankees-Twins in 1970. The image of Thurman Munson scampering after a wild pitch still is vivid in my mind.


Bobby Murcer was my favorite player growing up, though I held The Mick in extreme awe as well. One of the worst days of my childhood was when the Yankees sent Murcer to the San Francisco Giants for Bobby Bonds. In those days Eyewitness News on Channel 7 used to have a headline board behind the anchors. One read, “Bobby for Bobby”. I remember saying “uh-oh” out loud. It was too true. Happy would be an understatement to describe how I felt when the Yankees reacquired Bobby in 1979. That was tempered very quickly by the tragic passing of our captain, Thurman Munson.

1977 brought the first World Series win in my memory (I couldn’t grasp what was going on in ’62). Reggie’s three home runs, Sparky’s magnificent pitching, Nettles’s incredible glove work at third, and just a balls-to-the-walls attitude for the whole team.

1978 was the great comeback. 14 ½ down to the hated Red Sox in July, only to comeback, take over 1st place, fall back into a tie, and ultimately win the division on the 163rd game of the season, October 2nd, 1978. Bucky “bleeping” Dent hitting his 3-run shot into the monster breaking the hearts, once again, of “those” fans. Goose Gossage walking the tightrope as the Sox battled back to trail 5-4, and then Mr. Red Sox, Carl Yastrzemski popping up to Nettles to end the game.
1978 was also the year of the Gator, Ron Guidry. He had the greatest single season pitching performance I have ever witnessed. 25-3, with a 1.74 earned run average. Gator won his first 13 decisions before losing to Mike Caldwell and the Milwaukee Brewers (ironically, Guidry lost his 3 games to pitchers all named Mike - Caldwell, Flanagan, and Willis). Guidry also blew away 18 California Angels one summer night that started the tradition of fans clapping when there were 2 strikes. There were many “Holy Cow”’s from the Scooter that night.


Then the dark and darker days came. Munson’s death in 1979, winning 103 games in 1980 only to be swept in the playoffs by Kansas City, and George Steinbrenner making one of his many poor decisions by firing manager Dick Howser. There was the strike shortened season in 1981, with a World Series loss to LA to boot. Then the drought came. The Yankees went without a championship for the first 15 years of my life. They would go another 18 between Thurman Munson catching Ron Cey’s foul pop to end the 1978 series and Charlie Hayes’s grab of a Terry Pendleton foul pop in 1996.

The 1980s were horrible. We, the fans, were constantly reminded by Steinbrenner how the Yankees had the most wins in the decade. Big deal Georgie Porgie, series titles are the only thing that matter. The 1990s didn’t start much better until Steinbrenner got suspended for the 2nd time by MLB (the first time was for illegal campaign contributions to that other crook, Richard Nixon). Seems that George hired a scumbag by the name of Howie Spira to get some dirt on George’s nemesis Dave Winfield. During the ensuing suspension, Gene Michael took over the day-to-day operations and put the house back in order. Young players like Bernie Williams were kept, hard nosed players like Paul O’Neill were brought in, and egos like Mel Hall were sent packing. The Yankees were on the brink of returning to the playoffs in the summer of 1994 when yet another player stoppage halted the game. We all thought they would be back. We never thought that the owner masquerading as commissioner would cancel the season and the World Series. We were wrong. 1995 brought renewed promise - once the labor situation was finally resolved. Don Mattingly would finally make it to a playoff, though it would end in heartbreaking fashion.


The Joe Torre/Derek Jeter Era was ushered in to the Stadium in 1996 with the first of four world championships, and six pennants. Yankee fans grow impatient again though. When October of 2006 rolls around it will have been 6 years since the last championship. Is this just a quick blight or another declinasty?
This blog is to chronicle the journey to next October. To discuss my beloved Yankees and the game that I love so much. I hope you enjoy what you read. You may not agree with it, but I hope it makes you think and appreciate everything that is Pinstripe. And if you’re not a Yankee fan, go **** yourself...only kidding….kind of ;)