Catching Up From The Weekend

Greetings everyone. I hope you had a great weekend. Please forgive my absence. My home PC got sacked with a nasty virus on Thursday night and it took me all weekend to fix it and deem it healthy. I was trying to find a "crack" or a "serial key" for a program and must have clicked on something I shouldn't have because the next thing I know my web searches were being redirected and I couldn't get any of my virus/security programs to load. The system was freezing and wouldn't reboot properly. But I think it's good to go now. Enough about me, let's talk Yankees:

• Joe Girardi named Brett Gardner the Opening Day starting CF. That decision ended up being a no-brainer. Gardner definitely earned the spot. He had a great spring and deserves the nod. I will give Melky some credit though. He had a much better spring than I would have imagined. Melky's spring average is now up over 300 and his OBP is about 400. I didn't see that coming. I still think Melky should be traded but I doubt it's going to happen.
• CC Sabathia is getting the ball on Opening Day. He's also going to start the home opener. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. CC was brought here to be the #1. He's definitely the best SP on the roster and the more starts he gets the better.
• Girardi has also decided to flip-flop Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon in the lineup, batting the Captain in the leadoff position. I can get down with that. Jeter hits into a lot of DPs and that number is going nowhere but down if he's batting leadoff. I also like having a lefty in the 2 hole. Having a lefty batting 2nd should cut down on DPs and should also move the runners over more. A grounder to the left side usually freezes the runner on 2nd. If Damon grounds to the right side, like he should, that runner on 2nd will get to move over to 3rd. It's a wise move by the Yankee skipper. Even though both Damon and Jeter are moving out of their ideal lineup spots, it should work well. Very well.
• We're now a week away from Opening Day and I'm getting very excited. It's been a long spring and regular season baseball can't get here soon enough. I'm tired of not getting to watch these guys play. Not enough games are on TV and the radio doesn't really do it for me in the spring.
• I'm not sure how everyone fared in their NCAA March Madness pools, but I totally flamed out over the weekend. I was cruising and well on my way to cutting down the nets, but in typical J-Boogie fashion, I couldn't "Mariano" it. I had a final four of Louisville, Memphis, Pittsburgh, and Oklahoma. None of them won. At least I did better than last year. I finished 2nd to last. Ugh. I have the worst luck.

Make sure you check back later today. I'm going to be giving away another 5 copies of the Essential Games Of Yankee Stadium DVD box set. I'm going to tie it in with the 2 exhibition games this weekend against the Cubs. The contest details will be up later today. For those not familiar with the box set, it's 6 classic games on DVD:

• 1976 ALCS GAME 5 VS. KANSAS CITY ROYALS: Chris Chambliss' walk-off home run sends the Yankees to their first World Series since 1964.
• 1977 WORLD SERIES GAME 6 VS. LOS ANGELES DODGERS: Reggie Jackson's historic three-home-run-game propels the Bronx Bombers to another World Series Championship.
• 1995 ALDS GAME 2 VS. SEATTLE MARINERS: This 15-inning drama ended with Jim Leyritz's walk-off home run and featured home runs from Don Mattingly, Paul O'Neill, and Ruben Sierra. With 3 &1/3 innings in relief by a young Mariano Rivera who notched the win.
• 1996 WORLD SERIES GAME 6 VS. ATLANTA BRAVES: After New York lost the first two games of the 1996 World Series, they won the next four and finished with a Game 6-celebration that shook Yankee Stadium with delight.
• 2001 WORLD SERIES GAME 4 VS. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS: History unfolded when Tino Martinez hit a 2-out, bottom of the 9th, two-run homer to tie the game. Then in the 10th, "Mr. November" Derek Jeter's game-winning home run ended another remarkable victory.
• 2003 ALCS GAME 7 VS. BOSTON RED SOX: With a World Series appearance at stake, aces on the mound, and white knuckles everywhere, Aaron Boone stroked the game-winning home run to seal the Yankees' 11-inning victory.

I'll also be giving away some copies of the New York Yankees Perfect Games & No-Hitters DVD box set in the future. So check back for that as well.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie