I will never forget the first time my father took me to see Yankee Stadium. It was June 27th, 1987 and I was eleven. It was my first time in a big city. It was my first time at a big league park. It was my introduction to the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry. Everything, everything about that night seemed so huge, so electric, and so magical.
I’ll never forget Don Mattingly’s three run shot over the right field wall in the first inning off “Oil Can” Boyd. (High-fiving dad.) I’ll never forget the crowd heckling Jim Rice every time he took the field. (Dad wishing he could cover my years.) Mattingly, Randolph, Winfield, Righetti, Burks, Boggs, Rice, Baylor. (Dad.) There they were. Not just photos and stats on a baseball card, but playing right there in front of me!
I’ll be reliving a little bit of that magic tonight when I tune in to watch the All-Star Game. Reliving old memories and hopefully making new some ones with my son. Getting one last look at “The Stadium.” Passing baseball - Yankee baseball - down to another generation.
Props to Joba Chamberlain on getting his first career win as a starter last night against the Pirates. He went 6 2/3, giving up six hits, walking one and striking out seven as the Yankees went on to win 10-0. I had a chance to watch his appearance last night and he looked filthy!
I was critical of the Yankees’ decision to move him to the starting rotation. I loved him as a set up man for Rivera and would have liked to see him take over the role of closer once Rivera starts to break down (he does have to break down at some point right?).
But since making the move the Yankees seem to be finding a rhythm. They currently sit 5 1/2 back from the banged up Red Sox coming down the stretch heading into the All-Star break.
One of the reasons I love baseball so much is that every time you watch a game you’re likely going to see something you’ve never seen before. Take this for example…
Ralph Henriquez is a switch hitting catcher for the Brooklyn Cyclones - the class A affiliate of the New York Mets. While switch hitting players are pretty common, what’s not so common are switch pitching pitchers like Pat Vanditte of the Staten Island Yankees. So what happens when a switch hitting batter faces a switch pitching pitcher?
The only thing sweeter than seeing Paul Pierce hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy last night was the absolute beat-down they handed the Lakers to win it. They never took their foot off their necks for one minute. No more talk of Kobe eclipsing Michael Jordan!
Anyone besides me obsessed with checking the scores for the U.S. Open every five seconds?
Tiger Woods is an absolute freak of nature. His chip in on 17, and eagle putt on 18 on Saturday were the stuff of legends. And with a bum knee to boot!
It’s killing me that I can’t watch the playoff right now and have to resort to clicking “refresh” on the online scorecard.
UPDATE: MSNBC is simulcasting the playoff round online!
PORTLAND, Me. – The Buffalo Sabres have announced a new, long-term affiliation agreement with the Portland Pirates, ending a 29-year relationship with the Amerks.
The Sabres and Amerks had the longest running affiliation in the AHL until Tuesday. During that span, Rochester made the playoffs 24 out of the 29 seasons, winning division titles eight times, and three Calder Cup championships.
We were Amerks season ticket holders for a couple years after we relocated to Rochester and have taken in as many games as we could possibly afford over the past couple of years. That being said, this completely freaking sucks.
Having the Sabres move their affiliation to Portland, ME instead finding a way to make it work with the AHL team down the street angers me. The absolute debacle that has become the Rochester Americans organization over the past three years also frustrates me. And now our sole affiliate is the Florida Panthers?
I’d consider a lengthy boycott of both the Amerks and the Sabres over this divorce, just on principle, if I weren’t such a sheep for Western NY hockey.
I don’t know. Maybe RIT will be getting my hockey dollars for a little while. NCAA D-1 hockey is suddenly looking alot better to me these days.
So did anyone else tune in to watch Big Brown flame out at Belmont? Not only did he fail to win the race and take home the Triple Crown, but his jockey Kent Desormeaux pulled him up down the stretch and the horse finished dead last. Lame.
On a related note, Josiah and I made a return trip to the track at Finger Lakes on Saturday. Just before he left his grandmother gave him $2 to bet on a horse. Sure enough, he picked another winner and his $4.20 in winnings went straight into his piggy bank. I went 2-for-3 on the day, and my winnings are in his piggy bank too. If we keep this pace up we just might be able to put him through college!
Paul-freaking-Pierce. When he went down in a heap the entire season flashed before my eyes. That standing ovation he received coming back onto the court was electric! Think he wants this one much?
And boy, when Kobe shoots 30% from the floor is sure is noticeable isn’t it?
Game two is Sunday night. Can anyone explain to me why on earth the NBA is killing the momentum of this series by making us wait three days for the second game? They’re already in Boston for crying out loud! It seems to me that showing Game 2 immediately after ABC’s coverage of the Belmont Stakes would have been a smart marketing move to capture the attention of casual sports fans.
While I was at the Red Wings game on Friday night I grabbed a stack of MLB All-Star ballots. I filled mine out between innings and it brought back a ton of memories of doing the same with my father at the Newark Orioles games when I was a kid. There’s just something magical about filling out that ballot, stuffing it into an envelope and sending it off to MLB.
If anyone out there would like a ballot send me an email with your address at sbertou@yahoo.com. I’ll be more than happy to drop it in the mail for you.
Yeah, you could just vote online. But if you’re anything like me, that experience pales in comparison to the all-surpassing coolness of filling out the paper ballot!
I’m in a sports talkin’ mood today. So let’s start with the NBA Playoffs. Specifically the Eastern Conference Finals.
I can’t figure out the Celtics in this series. After losing Game 2 at home I was worried that they might be in some serious trouble heading to Detroit for Games 3 and 4. They took care of business on the road (for once) in Game 3 but must’ve missed the bus for Game 4 because they failed to even show up in the second half.
I have a feeling they’re going to need some Paul Pierce heroics tonight - ala Game 7 against Cleveland - to get some momentum back.
He will destroy you. In less than 1/3 of an inning last night against the Padres he broke a pitcher’s nose and took out their catcher! Too bad “kills” aren’t a category in fantasy baseball.
Can somebody please tell me what the heck has happened to Ryan Howard? You know … the guy who hit 47 homers and drove in 136 runs for the Phillies last season? The guy who is currently hitting .182?
Has there been some mistake? Is this Ryan Howard playing first base for the Phillies instead? What’s going on here?
It’s the time of year again … the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby!
Two years ago we started a little tradition of having an open contest to pick the winner of the Derby. The first year Timothy Allen Brown was the big winner - he picked Barbaro (RIP). Last year we didn’t have a winner due to a lack of participants.
Here’s how it works. Leave a comment claiming your horse. If you correctly pick the winner of Saturday’s race, you will receive 100 Grand!
1) Cool Coal Man (20-1)
2) Tale of Ekati (15-1) 3) Anak Nakal (30-1)
4) Court Vision (20-1) 5) Eight Belles (15-1)
6) Z Fortune (15-1) 7) Big Truck (50-1) 8 ) Visionaire (20-1) 9) Pyro (6-1) 10) Colonel John (4-1)
11) Z Humor (30-1) 12) Smooth Air (20-1) 13) Bob Black Jack (20-1) 14) Monba (15-1)
15) Adriano (30-1)
16) Denis of Cork (20-1)
17) Cowboy Cal (20-1) 18 ) Recapturetheglory (20-1)
19) Gayego (15-1) 20) Big Brown (3-1)
*Note: Obviously the prize is not $100,000. Do you honestly think that if I had an extra $100,000 laying around I’d just hand it over? It’s a candy bar you dummies.
One of my all-time favorite baseball players will be featured on tonight’s episode of American Experience. Just another reason why PBS is consistently the only television worth watching.
Those planning to see George Clooney’s newest film Leatherheads will also be treated to a little glimpse into Rochester sports history.
The Rochester Jeffersons were one of eleven teams that were members of the American Professional Football Association during its inaugural season in 1920. Two years later the league would change its name to the National Football League, and the Jeffersons would remain a part of the league until 1925.
The film’s plot is similar to the real life story of the Jeffersons. With attendance sagging and the team struggling, the Jeffersons’ owner/coach/player Leo Lyons tried to sign the biggest name out of college to play for his team - Red Grange.
In the movies, Clooney’s character gets his stud. But In real life Lyons was outbid by George Halas, who owned the Chicago Bears. The rest is history - Grange and the Bears went on to football immortality and the Jeffersons folded after the 1925 season.
It’s Opening Day! Spring is in the air, the planets have realigned and once again all is well in the universe.
(And no, those exhibition games in Tokyo last week don’t count - even if they counted.)
Actually, it’s Opening Day for everyone but me. The Yankees and Blue Jays were rained out. A bit of an unceremonious kickoff to their final season at Yankee Stadium. Hopefully it’s not a ominous sign of things to come.
But I am looking forward to watching a few innings of the Cubs game when I get home this afternoon. So far Zambrano and Sheets are lights out in that one, so hopefully we’ve got a little pitcher’s duel brewing.
This should be a national holiday.
(T-minus 11 days and counting until the Red Wings home opener.)
