Got to the new Stadium

Last night I got the chance to get out to the new Yankee Stadium. Now that I've gone there, I can call it Yankee Stadium, removing the new out of most references. For all of the hate I hear and read about, the place is beautiful. Of course there are some draw backs, it can't be perfect, but overall I can't wait to go back.

Now the game on the other hand, was pretty disappointing. Watching Tex hit is unbearable at this point, and when he's up with 2 outs it's a good indication to start heading towards the bathroom if need be, or to the concession stand. He needs to have a very productive week on the road if he wants everyone to stop booing him hardcore after every at bat. He's now back on the Interstate at .198, maybe it's time to fetch Tino out of retirement.

Cano is swinging at every first pitch again. He needs to accept the fact that he's not a .380 hitter, and stop pressing as a result of chasing that. Cano has been playing solid second base this season, and is still at .319, but since May 2nd he's 1 for 21, and in his last 15 games, he's walked once. Once. That is horrible.

Pena came out to a Beyonce song and I was like "wtf". Pena was much better than Ransom though, but thank god A-Rod is coming back tonight. Manny put up a nice smoke screen for the return of Rodriguez since he was caught taking on a banned substance and recieving a nice 50 game suspension. Bill Simmons wrote an EXCELLENT piece after Manny's test went down, which you can read here "http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090507&sportCat=mlb" . It's about the Red Sox 04 championship, and how it appears so many players on the team were on something.

But back to the game, Pettite gave up more HR's then ever before in his career. Rivera gave up back to back HR's for the 2nd time this season. It's a sad thing when Mo can't finish the 9th inningI'm starting to buy into the wind pattern stuff at Yankee Stadium. There were 7 in last nights game. 7. And yet Swisher, hasn't had a single shot at the Stadium, which is incredibly odd. Even his AVG has dropped to a season low .267, and he hasn't had a hit since April.

43,769 people were definitly not in attendance last night. The Mets became a joke last year with announcing attendances that were clearly wrong, and the Yankees are quickly following suit.

Last but not least, Johnny Damon is the man.

Vote Swisher Update

Good afternoon out there. A quick update on the Vote Swisher movement as of 3:30 PM on Cinco De Mayo:

Facebook Group Members : 96
http://twitter.com/VoteSwisher : 16 Followers

Articles: 1 -
Star Ledger : http://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2009/05/nick_swisher_new_york_yankees.html



I've emailed bloggers and writers of a number of newspapers, Yahoo Sports, and ESPN in hopes to gain some additional media exposure. Hopefully the fans start pouring in even more.

Vote Swisher!

Swisher for All Star Team

Guys, we're in a bit of a pickle here. No, we're not caught in a run down between 2nd and 3rd, but it is quite serious. Nick Swisher has been left off of the All Star ballot!

However! There is a write in portion you can fill out to ensure that the most productive Yankee so far this season makes it to St. Louis!

The MLB voting also makes it very easy and quick to vote 25 times in about 4-5 minutes. I did it myself this morning, so I know that claim is not a fallacy.

Visit the officially Nick Swisher endorsed page http://voteswisher.com for more information.

If you're on FaceBook, join the Facebook group! : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nick-Swisher/113837095155?ref=ts#/group.php?gid=183596965127&ref=ts

For the twits out there : www.twitter.com/voteswisher

And to visit Nick Swisher's official webpage : http://www.nickswisher.net/

GO VOTE!

Softball Update

So yes, I play on a couple of softball teams. I actually had played for years since I was 15, but was forced to take it easy following tearing my ACL in March 07 at a tournament, and having ACL reconstruction surgery that summer. I played a few games last season as a sub here and there, but was determined to get back on to the field full time.

For now, I've taken on 2 teams:
Wednesday night - Brookhaven League - The Bronx Bombers
Sunday morning - Island Softball - The Americans

Both teams had it's first doubleheaders this past week.
Weds: Game 1- Lost 8 - 14 Game 2- won 18-17 (8 innings)
Sun: Game 1 - Forfeit (had 7 players) Game 2 - Won 20-10 (10 run ruled, fielding 8 guys)

A decent start to both seasons.. sucked having to forfeit a game, but to come back and win the 2nd with only 8 guys (in softball you field 10 normally).. that was pretty impressive.

Yankees Sox / Nick Swisher

So tonight the Yankees(13-11) Sox(15-10) feud continues, at the house that Cano is building.

Yankees current record vs the Sox this season : 0-3

Pitching matchups:
Monday Night - J. Lester (1-2) vs P. Hughes (1-0)
Tuesday Night - J. Beckett (2-2) vs J. Chamberlain (1-0)

I think it's great that we have Hughes and Chamberlain heading to the mound for this 2 game set, and that Girardi decided against skipping Hughes in the rotation after yesterdays rain out. Hughes had an excellent outing against the Tigers in his first season appearance, a 6 inning 2 hit 0 ER performance. Chamberlain's last outing was his first decision of the season, a win, after giving up only 1 run in 6 innings pitched.

I'm hoping for a Swisher return tonight. He currently leads the Yankees in HR's (7), 2B's (8), OBP (.436), and slugging (.714!!). (And obviously OBP+Slug.. 1.150).

There is a movement going around twitter and facebook to vote in Swisher for the All Star team, as a write in. Unfortunitly, he is not on the ballot (as he should be), so it's going to take a hell of a lot of write in votes to get him there. Be sure to join the facebook group here , and spread your support for Swisher!

A-Roid

Selena Robert's is about to release her new book, detailing all of the wonderful things A-Rod has done since being in High School. The book is full of accusations, alleged statements, and quotes from unnamed sources. To me, she sounds like a bad reporter trying to make some money and a name for herself.

As seen in the the New York University Journalism handbook (take from : http://journalism.nyu.edu/ethics/handbook/human-sources/ ), "Anonymity: The faculty urges students to avoid using unidentified sources whenever possible. In recent years, The New York Times, to name one media outlet, has come under fire for reporting stories largely based on anonymous government sources promulgating a particular point of view, and this practice undermined the Times' goal of covering news impartially -- "without fear or favor," in the words of its patriarch, Adolph Ochs."

Basically, if you're afraid to name your sources, the odds that you are skewing information in order to prove a point is raised, and level of objectiveness falls. To me, someone who can write an entire book without naming sources is a sham, and doesn't deserve to be published.

Selena will go on to become popular to many A-Rod and Yankee haters in her efforts to destroy one on the best players of all-time. I'm sure she'll make plenty of money doing such. Just remember back to the Duke rape case, where she slandered the Duke players who later were to be found innocent.. http://www.timeswatch.org/articles/2007/20070326114135.aspx if you need a reminder.

Is April < or = September?

Warning: The following blog entry may use examples from the New York Mets



So this past Wednesday was a bit of a hectic day for me. Had to wake up early, drive to Philly (a bit over 3 hours away in no traffic), do some work, drive back, and get to a softball double header by 7:30. While driving back home, me and my uncle listened to the Mets game, and tuned in to the Mike Francesca show afterward.

The 9th inning had went as follows, with the Mets going in trailing 3-4:

- G. Sheffield hit for F. Rodriguez

- G. Sheffield walked

- C. Beltran walked, G. Sheffield to second

- D. Wright struck out looking

- R. Church grounded out to first, G. Sheffield to third, C. Beltran to second

- F. Tatis hit by pitch

- O. Santos hit for R. Castro

- O. Santos popped out to shallow left center

A big discussion came up weather or not Wright should have bunted over Sheffield and Beltran over. Wright's power numbers had been pretty weak in April (1 HR, 8 RBIs) for what he's been expected to produce, leaving on runners all of April. I had come to the quick conclusion he should "swallow his pride" and move the runners over via a bunt. That gives your next 2 batters a man on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. A fly ball ties, base hit takes the lead.

Wright went on to strike out as seen above, and the Mets eventually failed to capitalize on this potential rally.

While listening to Francesca, he adamently agreed with Wright not bunting the runners over, citing that since it's April, you need to let hitters hit more, and you shouldn't really pull manuvers as such with your good hitters until September, where the game's count more.

What?

Yes, Francesca made a point that it's more important to win a ballgame in September as opposed to April. This drove me nuts, if my phone wasn't dead I would've made my first call in to his show. I don't see how games in September are worth more than the ones now. Did a memo go out saying wins later on in the season are worth 1.5 or 2 in the W column? I would think the Mets, who've choked the past 2 years, would do anything it takes to win at every opportunity, giving them less pressure later in the season. Now I'm not saying the Mets win, or even tie the game if Wright moves the runners over. That would be the perfect example of "the fallacy of the predetermined outcome", but they certainly set themselves up to at least tie with a fly ball or ground ball to the right spot. I was just a bit surprised that Francesca would deem games now not as important as later. Maybe I'm used to watching the Yankees, where unless they preform well all year the AL East will be very difficult to win.


"This is what's great about sports. This is what the greatest thing about sports is. You play to win the game. Hello? You play to win the game. You don't play it to just play it. That's the great thing about sports: you play to win, and I don't care if you don't have any wins. You go play to win. When you start tellin' me it doesn't matter, then retire. Get out! 'Cause it matters."

- Herman Edwards. After being asked if the Jets had the ability to win after losing to the Browns and going to 2-5 back in 2002. People laughed at the quote, but the Jets went 7-2 after this and won the AFC East.

Maybe Manuel needs some help, and Francesca needs to get back to basics.