And Then There Were Two

So it all comes down to this. The Tigers and the Cardinals in an epic battle for baseball world supremacy. Yippee. (Enter sarcasm here). I'm not terribly excited about this matchup. It's definitely not the matchup I was hoping for when the playoffs started. But it's baseball. I love it, so I'll watch. Now get off my back Lasorda. You had me at hello.
I was going to call this post "Beat The Mets" as I can't help but laugh in the face of the throngs of Mets fans out there who were so quick to dog the Yankees and their fans after their first round loss to Detroit. So much for planting that Mets flag at the top of the mountain, eh? That's why it doesn't pay to gloat. Right now, the Mets are no different than the Pirates. Both are losers. At least the Yankees lost a team with more than 90 wins. The Cardinals won a ******** 83 games this year, and they took down the mighty Mets. The Yanks at least lost to a team for the large majority of the season played head and shoulders above the rest of the league. The Mets lost to the Cardinals. Blah hah hah hah. (Enter excessive laughter here). What is it about third baseman in NYC that causes them to perform so poorly in the playoffs? Wright was such a non-factor, it wasn't funny. And Beltran? Way to swing the bat there buddy. I have to admit that last night's game was a great, classic baseball game. How could you not be glued to the set? Suppan gets all the credit there. He was rightfully named the NLCS MVP.
The one thing that cracks me up come October is the countless number of crowd shots they make showing the fans when they know it's pretty much over. The hands up to their face as if their praying to Jesus. The sad looks. The "Believe" signs. It was nice to not have to see the "Believe" signs written out in that ever-so swanky Boston script, wouldn't you agree? I don't know what it is about the looks on people's faces that cracks me up. I think it's because I feel as if they are getting their just desserts, and I don't really know why. Perhaps it's because it usually happens to a team whose fan base I am not particularly fond of. I'm not sure. I mean, I don't know these people. I can empathize being a sports fan. But something about it just makes me laugh at their pain, even though I know what that pain is like. It's weird. Am I the only one that gets this way?
Congratulations to the Cardinals and the Tigers for winning their respective division pennants. It was a tough road to the top, and you bypassed everybody else on your way to the apex. And like the Highlander, there can be only one. And call it a hunch, but I'm thinking it'll be the Tigers. But, I'll be watching to find out who survives. So again Lasorda, leave me alone already. Geesh.
J

Return Of The Boogie

So it's understandably been a few days since I've blogged. If you checked out my last post, you'd know why. The good news is we got our power back Sunday night. The bad news is that there are still a lot of people out there without power. I was calling my home phone all weekend when we were without power, hoping that the answering machine would kick on. Finally it did, and my wife's voice never sounded so sweet. I don't know how those without power are making it without the simple luxuries. TV. Internet. Lights. Heat. I don't know how they did it back in the old days. I definitely couldn't do it. I've wanted to post the last few days, but work has been kicking my tail. 12 hour days are no fun. I've said it before, work and I don't get along. But let's talk Yankees.
So the Cubbies are interested in A-Rod? Someone tell me why that's news? We know this, don't we? Aren't most of the teams out there interested in Alex. Why wouldn't they be. They'd be stupid not to be interested. But we all know that Alex isn't going anywhere, which is why I wonder why this is a story? Unless it's lip service, both Alex and Brian Cashman have made it clear that Alex is staying in Pinstripes, and I applaud that decision. I don't think you can replace that bat in the lineup. But at the same time, if in fact Alex ever does get traded, it's not going to happen unless it's bettering the Yanks, and I don't see that happening. The only thing right now I'd like to see happen is for the Yankees to get some pitching, and I think that can get done without trading Alex. The Yankees are in position to free up some cash this off-season. First, get rid of Sheffield. Boom there's some money. But out Jaret Wright's contract. Boom, more money. Do everything you can to get out of Carl Pavano's contract. Mo money, mo money, money. And finally, resign Mike Mussina, but ONLY at a much reduced rate. The highest paid pitcher in baseball should win more than 14 games, am I right? I don't know their collective salaries, but it's a lot of money. A lot of money that can be thrown at some quality free agent pitchers. And then you keep the lineup in tact, and your staff gets better. Brian Cashman is a smart guy. Anything he does, I find it easy to get behind. He's not out there trying to hurt the Yanks chances to win #27. Which brings me to this......
A few weeks back, Jonathan over at Red Sox Nation Daily, posted that if anyone from the Yankee organization needed to go, it was Brian Cashman. I consider Jonathan to be a pretty smart guy, and one of the more realistic Red Sox fans. Jonathan's contention was that Cashman had made some poor signings, which I'll agree with in hindsight. Guys like Randy Johnson, Pavano, Dotel. He faulted Cashman for fielding a team with a $230 million dollar payroll that could only muster one playoff win. Fair enough, but I had to disagree with his assessment of Cashman. I left these comments on his blog in response to his post:
" disagree with you that Cashman needs to go. If anything he should be applauded for what he didn't do, and that's trade Cano, Wang, Hughes, or Cabrera when Matsui and Sheffield went down, or even at the deadline. He didn't make any rash moves that could have mortgaged the future as well.
As for the signees you mentioned, though they may not have panned out as hoped, I think you can go around the league and tear apart many bad signings or trades. Jason Johnson. Rudy Seanez. Javy Lopez. Julian Tavarez until the end of the year. If you go the Randy Johnson route, you can throw David Wells into that boat. I know you're a realistic Sox fan, so I'm not thinking you'll defend Theo on his moves, or better yet on his lack of moves, specifically at the deadline."
To reiterate my point, Cashman could have panicked and dealt guys like Melky, Cano, Wang, and/or Hughes to bring in bigger named talent, but he didn't. Think of what could have been. Wang wins 19 games for another team. Robbie doesn't finish 3rd in the batting race. Melky doesn't fill in for Matsui and we don't have "the catch." Hughes gets dealt and we never know what could have been. Cashman should be applauded for his efforts, and his actions. I had said at the beginning of the season that the most important offseason move the Yankees made in 2005 was re-signing Brian Cashman. I still feel that way today. The guy does wonders. I have confidence that any move he makes is going to better the ballclub. I don't think trading A-Rod is the answer, but if it ever happens, good things will only come of it.
Peace, love, and Pinstripes.
J-Boogie

10,000 And Counting

I'm still a little shocked by yesterday's tragedy, so I'm going to keep it light today. It snowed like a **** here today in Buffalo. It had to have dropped a few inches. No unnecessary travel they're advising. Man, I love October..
The hit meter finally went past the 10,000 mark. Now I know in comparison to some other MLBlogs it seems pretty light, but there is a reason for that. I have my counter set up so that it only counts a visit 1 time if you've been to this site within like a 6 hour period. So I can log on to my blog 15 times a day, and it counts one time. There are some sites out there that if you hit refresh on the site, it goes up every time. If you visit a blog, click on the comments section, sign, and then post a comment, that counts as 4 hits on the counter. I don't want to roll like that. It just doesn't seem right.
I stumbled onto a site yesterday that a lot of my fellow bloggers might be interested in. It ranks sports blogs. Don't ask me how, I couldn't quite figure it out. The Boogie Down was #10 on the list of Yankee blogs. It was out of 76 or so. Today, I'm 11th and it's only out of 47. It also has an overall ranking. Out of 788 blogs, the Boogie Down came in at a respectable # 115. There are a lot of us on there. Give it a look. It's kind of neat, but I don't put any stock into it. I'm not really writing this for anybody but myself.
I celebrated birthday #33 on Tuesday. I got a really sweet Yankee jacket from my in-laws, and the wife dropped a 60GB iPOD on me. I've been playing with that thing all night. I love me some music.
I'm still pretty shocked about the untimely death of Cory Lidle. Luckyleftie put it well when he likened it to getting punched right in the gut, and having the wind and life taken right out of you. I feel so sorry for his wife and son. It's very tragic and I still don't really believe it happened. It just seems like a really bad dream that you can't wake up from.
Have a good night. Think of me in the morning when I'm shoveling out my driveway.
J

Shell Shocked

Like the rest of the baseball world, I'm still in a state of utter shock over the untimely death of Cory Lidle. It's hard to believe that a mere 5 days ago I watched him pitch. It's mind boggling. I was all set to write a post tonight on the recent Yankee happenings, but I just don't feel right doing it in light of these unfortunate events. If anyone has an XM radio, I would recommend that you tune into the baseball channel. They've been speaking with a lot of people that knew Cory, teammates and such, and they are all sharing memories of him. It's pretty cool. He seemed to be very well liked by everyone. If you have XM, I highly recommend tuning in.
The Yankee thoughts can wait. Right now my thoughts and prayers are with Lidle's friends and family.
Godspeed Cory.
J

RIP Cory Lidle

They are reporting on XM Radio that Cory Lidle was the registered owner of the small plane that crashed into an NYC apartment building. They are reporting that Cory was piloting the plane and has been pronounced dead, and it's been confirmed by various new sources, one of which is ESPN.
Wow. I don't really know what to say.
J

the Reason?

I keep having these random thoughts about the Yankees and where they've gone wrong. This thought is totally off the map. And while I know it's not possible, it's just odd. It parallels along the lines of "The Curse of the Bambino." If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know sometimes I buy into jinxes and things of that nature.
The Yankees have never won a World Series championship with my all-time favorite Yankee as part of their organization, and I'm talking about Donnie Baseball. Think about it for a second. Don Mattingly's last season in Pinstripes was 1995. The next season, the Yankees win it all in and go on to have similar successes through the 2000 campaign. Since Mattingly became hitting coach in 2004, the year of the "collapse," the Yankees have failed to make it to the World Series. In Mattingly's 8 year absence from the Yankees, they went to the World Series 6 times. added on 10/9: To further this, I failed to realize that prior to Mattingly joinging the Yankees in 1982, they did make it the '81 series, losing to the Dodgers. Thanks to a comment left over at Pinstripe Pride for helping me to add to the theory. I missed that.
Could Mattingly, arguably the most popular Yankee ever, be cursed? I shudder to think.
J

Truer Words Were Never Spoken

I thought I'd share something that Geoff, one of my fellow Yankee bloggers, had to say in an entry over on his blog, Bleeding Pinstripes. It's a great paragraph that eloquently sums up pretty much what the Yankees and their fans have to go through.
"The Yankees and their fans are never eliminated as an afterthought. They are always taken down in a public execution. They are led to the gallows to the raucous cheers of the gathered crowds. They are read the charges of high crimes and misdemeanors against them, and they are always the same. Their misdemeanor? Gluttony. Their high crime? Nobility. And then they are very publicly hanged while the throngs roar with approval. The masses will not be denied their opportunity to watch the mighty fall. And that’s okay. It’s part of what we Yankee fans sign up for. Some of us make a choice. Some of us are born into it. But all of us wouldn’t trade it for the world."
You can hate all you want. It's not going to change anything. Like Geoff said, it's part of what we signed up for.
Great job Geoff. Here's to 2007.
J

The Morning After

It still hurts.
Reports are that Torre is out and Pinella is in. Not sure what I think of that yet. The head is still a little cloudy.
J

The End Of The Road

So the Yankee season is officially over. I love this time of year because of October baseball, but at the same time, this time of year always gets me a little down, and I think you all can relate. And this has nothing to do with the loss and that the Yankees won't win #27 this year. I can live with the loss. I have no problem with that. I think any Yankee fan that lived through the collapse in 2004 can make it through this, or any loss for that matter. And like Felix over at The Life Of A Yankee Fan, despite this, I am and will always be, a Yankees fan.
What gets me down is that the season is over. No more Yankee baseball, and soon no more baseball at all. It's like when your best friend moves away. Or when the college semester ends and everyone goes home for a few months. You know you'll see them again someday, but you immediately start to miss them, and it hurts and it weighs on your mind. Here are these people that you spend every day with for almost 7 months. You experience the ups and downs, the highs and lows, the good times and bad, and then poof, they're gone just like that. If you're a serious fan of a sport, or a sports team, I think you know what I mean. Hopefully my analogy makes sense.
I'm going to get sappy for a moment and quote some Boyz II Men lyrics because they kind of apply. "Although we've come, to the end of the road, still I can't let you go. It's unnatural. You belong to me. I belong to you." Metaphorically speaking, the Yankees do belong to me and I belong to them. The Yankees are in a way a part of me. They're in my heart and they have my heart. If they weren't, I wouldn't be here in the MLBlogosphere. Again I think as a fan of a team you catch my drift. Excuse me, but I think my loafers just got a little lighter. *chuckle*
Winning would have obviously made the offseason and the "time apart" a little more bearable. Thankfully, I know I'll see my friends again someday soon. If only someday were tomorrow. But I'll see them, in February for another welcomed go-around. So take care fellas, I'll see ya in a few months.
I only wonder who'll survive the carnage. It should make for some good offseason posts.
Peace, love and Pinstripes.
J-Boogie

Mission: Failed

Bummer.
J