MLB 2011: Epic Beyond Measurable Proportions

I've been sitting here for 20 minutes trying to write this blog post but I'm truly at a loss for words. I think that speechlessness accurately expresses what I witnessed last night. Mind blowing. The best night of baseball I've ever seen, and I don't think I'll see anything quite like it ever again.

The collapses of the Boston Red Sox and the Atlanta Braves are unprecedented. No team in MLB history has blown a 9-game lead in the month of September, and on September 28, 2011 TWO teams did just that. Now, it's no secret that I am a diehard Yankees fan to the maximum, you won't find a bigger fan. So needless to say, I wanted to the Red Sox to lose. In fact, I found myself in the interesting position of very badly wanting the Yankees to lose (if Mark Teixeira doesn't hit in the ALDS, I might lose my mind). But this is beyond just my own personal satisfaction with the epic demise of my least favorite team in sports. Objectively, as a baseball fan, this was the best night of baseball I have ever watched.

The Rays were down 7-0 and I'm thinking, the Orioles have to come back or the Sox are the AL Wild Card. As much as I wanted the Rays to come back, I didn't even consider that to be possible. Allow me to go on a tangent, but the Yankees by no means surrendered this game-- I WISH THEY DID! The criticism I've heard about the Yankees not playing their starters into extra-innings two days before the ALDS is simply unfair. The Yankees had a 7-0 lead in a game that meant nothing to them and were starting the playoffs two days later, not to mention they hadn't had a day off in two weeks. Girardi brought in two relievers, Luis Ayala and Cory Wade, with sub-2.00 ERA's going into last night's game, two relievers that will be on the postseason roster, and it was those two relievers who gave up the runs that put the Rays back in the game. So as much as the Yankees may dislike the Red Sox, this game was by no means thrown.

I can only imagine how the Red Sox felt, watching the Rays comeback just minutes before taking the field again after a rain delay in Baltimore, with a 3-2 Sox lead in the 7th inning. The rest goes something like this: Papelbon struck out the first two batters, followed by two doubles to tie the game, and a single by Robert Andino that Boston's $142 million dollar left fielder Carl Crawford couldn't come up with. Just minutes later the Red Sox, in their clubhouse, watched Evan Longoria's second home run of the game hook inside the left-field foul pole for the walk-off win that ended the Red Sox 2011 season and completed arguably the worst collapse in baseball history.

My final point of all this: MLB is seeking to add a second wild card to each league. With this addition, this night would have never happened. The Red Sox, Rays, Braves, and Cardinals would be lining their players up in preparation for a one-game playoff and the incredible 162nd games of the 2011 season would have been absolutely meaningless.

POSTSEASON BASEBALL HERE WE COME!

Football days are here again

After a long CBA-filled offseason, the NFL is finally back in action, and Week 1 certainly wasn't lacking in the drama department. While I love a good defensive battle, I think Thursday's opening game was exactly what us football fans were looking for. Super Bowl MVP Quarterback vs. Super Bowl MVP Quarterback.. is it really shocking that the score reached a 76 point total?! And with the final play at the goal line, you couldn't have written a much better script to launch the NFL season.

Unfortunately, Week 1 didn't leave me with much to smile about. I spent all offseason trying to forget about the Giants late season collapse, fighting to erase that ice cold December 19th game from my memory. The Giants floundered in the offseason, failing to resign TE Kevin Boss and WR Steve Smith--2 of Eli's favorite targets--not to mention the DELUGE of injuries during preseason that left the Giants looking rather limp. But the team still has many strong points, strong enough to beat the Redskins right? Wrong. The Giants depleted defense looked lost, making Rex Grossman look like a good quarterback (let's be real, he's not). And while the offense looked promising to start the game, they quickly declined as the Redskins defense simply owned them.

While the eventual returns of star defensive ends Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora should ignite the D, this performance from Big Blue making it very difficult for us Giants fans to be optimistic. Here's to hoping they'll prove me wrong!

Jeter's Return

I've observed over the last 24 hours, the Yankee Twitterverse has been hyper critical of #2 and I am struggling to understand it. Without even touching on what he's done for the franchise throughout his career (which is A LOT), why is the guy getting criticized after one game off the DL?? My dad and I strategically purchased tickets to the Yankees last game before the All-Star break hoping to see the big DJ3K, with the assumption that it might take Jeet a couple days to get back into the swing of things, pun intended. He had only 2 rehab games after a calf injury.. not saying it wasn't enough, but I certainly wasn't expecting a 4-4 performance fresh off the DL. And I know there are solid arguments that can be made for why Jeter should be moved down in the batting order,  but honestly, do you really think it would make a huge difference one way or the other? I personally don't think so.

Maybe I'm biased because of my extreme loyalty to my hero, but I think last night's game was lost because of AJ being AJ, not Jeter leading off.

Stat & Melo

NBA playoffs, this is new territory for me. I don’t remember the last time I watched the playoffs with real rooting interest. The addition of Amare Stoudemire (M.O.T.) caught my interest and the team began the season looking semi-competitive. With the mid-season addition of Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks now have a foundation of 2 real stars to build off of.. and don’t count out my boys Landry and Toney (and Chauncey’s not chopped liver either!). They actually have a real shot to pull a big upset and make it through the first round—after all, beating Boston isn’t an unusual occurrence in the Big Apple. But whether they survive the first round or not, this team has a future and I’m looking forward to see what’s yet to come for my Knickerbockers. NYC BASKETBALL IS HERE TO STAY!



One of these things is not like the others.



7pm Sunday night. Think Spike is making the trip up to Boston?

ps. The Red Sox are 2-10. I know we’re talking basketball but it just had to be said.

The day I met the guy who runs the Yanks.

I walked into the back room at WFAN's Breakfast with a Champion event when an average-height, middle aged man with big blue eyes shook my hand and said, "Hi, Brian Cashman."  ...as if he needed any introduction. A surreal moment, shaking hands with the man who is not only a hero of mine but has probably shaken the hands of all of my heros when welcoming them to the greatest franchise in the history of sports.

Brian Cashman and I

You would expect a Yankees executive to be rather intimidating and standoffish, but Brian was nothing of the sort. He was extremely friendly, kind, funny, and honest. Cashman passed around his STUNNING 2009 World Championship ring, took pictures, and shared many different stories with us in those 30 minutes in the back room, from memories of George to thoughts of the players to the jokes he likes to tell his kids. (He didn't seem to be such a fan of Kei Igawa--I don't blame him.) During the event, Cash and Mike Francesa discussed many different aspects of the Yankees. He was very honest the entire time, and even though it may have gotten him in a bit of trouble with the press later on, I really appreciated it and enjoyed it greatly.  (also, fascinating how a small hypothetical comment can turn into headline news.)

Cashman seemed very calm for a guy with such a high pressure job. Brian Cashman may be the General Manager of the New York Yankees, but he's also just a regular guy. No act, no BS.  Just a real, genuine, nice, and clearly very intelligent guy.  And for the record, Bill Madden doesn't know what he's talking about, Cashman refuted everything said in that article.

I certainly hope that Cashman will stay in New York for many, many years to come. Meeting him was an honor and a great experience, and I hope to meet him again some day sooner than later.

To win or not to win.. is this really a question?

In dramatic fashion, the AL East will be decided in the final days of the season.  The Yankees and the Rays neck and neck, the division title is for the taking.  With an ugly loss for Tampa and a rainout for the Bombers, the Yankees are currently a half game up on the Rays.  The Rays have a game today and tomorrow with the Royals and the Yanks have a double header with the Sox today and one final game tomorrow.  The Rays have the better head to head record so their magic number is down to 3, meaning the Yankees need to win one more game than the Rays do.

But with both teams already guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, does it really matter?  I change my mind every 5 minutes, but right now I'm going with yes. but I'll play a little devil's advocate and look at both perspectives:

On one hand, the Yankees will be playing October baseball (the real kind) no matter what.  If they don't win the division, they will not have home-field advantage at all during the postseason and will face the Twins.  Though the Twins have a better record and have been much hotter lately than Texas, the Yankees actually play the Twins pretty well.  Potentially facing the Twins doesn't really scare me...I mean their number 2 starter is CARL PAVANO for crying out loud.  However, what DOES scare me is the thought of possibly facing Cliff Lee twice in the ALDS.  Accepting the wildcard now could allow older players to get their rest and be fully prepared for a long postseason run.  After all, the division title won't matter without a World Series Championship.

But this is the New York Yankees we're talking about, and we want it all.  There's no holding back in New York, no accepting defeat of any sort.  To quote the wise DJ Khaled, all we do is win, win, win, no matter what.  It's a shame that the rain had to spoil the game last night because Girardi had the Yankees top lineup ready to play.  With the doubleheader today, it will be hard for Joe to justify having 35 year-old players in 18 innings today and another 9 tomorrow.  But whoever is playing in each of these games better be playing to WIN.  With the Rays loss last night, the ball is in our court, and this is our division for the winning.

Ultimately, in these two big games today for the Yanks, my focus won't be as much on the division as it will be on Andy and AJ.  Seeing good things from them today would make me feel so much more confident going into the postseason, even as the wildcard.

Ahhhh October Baseball, my favorite time of year.

"Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing."

On July 13, 2010, the greatest owner in the history of team sports passed away.  George M. Steinbrenner III.  In the eyes of many, that M could stand for Mean, Maniacal, Manipulative, Materialistic, Mouthy or Menacing. And while George certainly fit those descriptions at times, he was also Majestic, Marvelous, Masterful, Merciful, Mesmerizing, and Matchless.  Matchless in the way that no Hal or Hank or anyone else could ever compare to the greatness that was The Boss.

I was a spoiled young Yankees fan as I grew up in the 90s and believed that the Yankees always won the World Series.  Every Fall there was Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and another World Championship for the New York Yankees.  I remember staying up way past my bed time on a school night in 7th grade, November 4, 2001, as I cried my eyes out watching the trophy slip through the finger tips of my beloved Yanks and Mariano Rivera, who I thought was nothing less than invincible.  The Yankees were not the World Champions, and I thought the world was coming to an end (and thinking of that heart-wrenching night still pains me as if I were 12).  Little did I know how blessed I was.

I was fortunate enough to be at the stadium a week ago for the memorial ceremony for George, and watched all of the players of today march out to Monument Park along with the Steinbrenner family and various Yankee greats including Yogi, Reggie, and Donnie Baseball in a truly beautiful and sacred moment.  But what really got to me was when Tino Martinez and Joe Torre's faces appeared upon the ginormous screen in centerfield, taking me back to my childhood that took place during one of the greatest eras of Yankees baseball, bringing tears to my eyes.  In that moment it was clear: it was all thanks to The Boss.

As the boys head into the last week of a hard-fought season, with the magic number of a playoff spot down to 1, I bet you George is looking down upon us, with fire and compassion in his eyes, thinking... "What the hell are you doing?! Win the goddamn division already and then bring number 28 to New York!"  I couldn't agree more.

Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing.  Breathing first, winning next.