DO NOT TRASH TALK MY YANKEES

When the Yankees lost their first game last Friday, I posted a comment on my Facebook wall - a few words of encouragement for my fellow Yankee fans. The response I got was from a FB friend and Rays fan who posted thoughts of how happy he was over the Yankee loss. He went on to tell me Mariano Rivera was too old and was done. This turned into a semi-war of words. He came damn close to being "unfriended"

Of course, when Mo came and earned two saves back to back, I was quick to post a general comment about how those who thought Mariano was finished were WRONG. I have yet to hear back from my friend (color me surprised).

By Sunday night my stomach twisted at the thought of having to go to work on Monday. I am surrounded in my office by Mets fans (who of course won their first three games). Luckily, only one person twisted the knife ever so slightly. I got off relatively easy.

My rule of thumb when it comes to team bashing - I don't do it. I am superstitious and every "your team sucks comment" could lead to bad karma for my guys. That is, unless YOU start the trash talk and then it's on. Poke me with a stick and I will hit you with a branch. I'm a Scorpio and that's just how we roll - especially me when it comes to MY Yankees.

BASEBALL SEASON OFFICALLY BEGINS - OZZIE, CHICKEN LITTLE AND YU MUST BE KIDDING

Well here it is - the first week of the baseball season completed and what a week it was.

Ozzie Guillen, manager of the Miami Marlins, told Time Magazine that he loves Fidel Castro. He goes on to say that you have to admire Castro for remaining in power for so long. Apparently, Ozzie does not understand how a dictatorship works. However the Cuban population, especially those exiled and now living in Miami, do. Ozzie also recently said he gets drunk after every game - win or lose. And apparently before interviews with Time Magazine as well. One has to wonder if he thought baseball fans don't read Time. He found out quickly, they do. The Marlins have suspended Ozzie for 5 games and he flew back to Miami and apologized to everyone. Hopefully that didn't include Castro.

The Yankees lost their first three games to Tampa Bay. The first loss came at the hands of a blown save by Mariano Rivera. The Chicken Littles of baseball came out in droves. The Yankee sky must falling and Mo and the Yankees for sure are done, they said. New York hadn't seen this kind of panic since 1929 and we all know how that turned out. When was the last time the Yankees lost the first three games of the season? Well, it just so happens it was 1998. That year the Yankees went on to win 114 games and the World Series. Not bad odds. Thankfully they won the 4th game. Because honestly, I was out of positive statistics.

We had our first look at Chris Stewart, the catcher the Yankees traded for and who replaced Francisco Cervelli, as the back up to Russell Martin. His stats read as follows: Since his MLB debut in 2006 he has played in 94 games with 212 at bats. In those 212 at bats, he has 13 RBIs and 3 HRs. My question is - whose nephew is he? No wonder Cervelli was upset having to back down to the minors. It was for a guy who basically sucks. Next time Cashman should just pick a seat number and the person who it belongs to will be your catcher. They would probably do just as well and cost much less.

Yu Davish made his first major league start in the majors for the Texas Rangers. He cost Nolan Ryan and friends over $100M ($50m to Japan and $60M over 6 years to Yu). What does one get for $100M these days? A guy who gave up 5 runs in 8 hits over 5 plus innings. If I paid $100M, of which $50M was upfront, for a pitcher, he should be so good that every batter would walk away from the plate wondering if the guy ever actually threw the ball. Nolan should put a hold on the check for the time being.

The NY Mets are 4-0 to start their season. Maybe the Miyans ARE right.

Lastly, a marvelous book came out this week. "Driving Mr. Yogi" by Harvey Araton about the special relationship between Yogi Berra and former Yankee pitcher Ron Guidry. If you are a Yankee fan, I promise this book will not disappoint.

Only 158 games left of the season - Go Yankees!

NICK ADENHART: GONE TOO SOON

On the morning of Wednesday, April 8, 2009 Nick Adenhart was preparing to pitch in a major league game for the Los Angeles Angels against the Oakland A's.  His first start since the previous season where he struggled and was sent back down to the minors. The road to get to this moment was somewhat long for this young 22 year old.  He had already had elbow surgery after being drafted in 2004, he was trying to find control of his pitches, so he worked in the winter following the 2008 season, and he looked and felt good coming into 2009 spring training.  So, tonight was his big chance due to another starter going on the DL.  His father, Jim had flown out from Baltimore to watch the game at Nick's request.  "Something special is going to happen" Nick said to his dad when he asked him to attend the game. 

Nick was right.  He threw 6 scoreless inning and left with a 4-0 lead.  Unfortunately, the Angels lost the game; but Nick had proven he had big league stuff.  After he pitched his last inning, Angels manager, Mike Scioscia, patted him the back.  His pitching coach Mike Butcher went over a few things but overall was really pleased with Nick's outing.  Nick was elated and finally felt like a true major leaguer.  His father said that Nick was walking on air as they parted ways, Nick going out with some friends and his dad returning to his hotel.

Nick was popular in the clubhouse.  Although he had only been there a short time, he made friends easily.  He was notorious for being able to imitate any voice, and was known for having a love of all kinds of music, even suggesting at bat songs for a few of the older players.  He had a smile that lit up a room. 

Sadly, April 8, 2009 would be Nick's final game.  Shortly after midnight April 9th, Nick and three others were broadsided by a drunk driver who went through a red light and hit the the car Nick was in at a high speed, pushing it into a telephone pole.  The driver, Courtney Stewart and passenger Henry Pearson were killed instantly.  Nick and the fourth passenger, Jon Wilhite, were rushed to the local hospital.  Jon Wilhite survived; but Nick Adenhart died as a result of his injuries.  He was only 22 years old.

The Angels mourned the loss of their young player.  The team canceled the Thursday game against Oakland and the players returned home that afternoon.  Nick's dad asked to come to the stadium.  He walked around the field and stood on the pitcher's mound.  He went to the clubhouse and sat in front of Nick's locker.  The players ached for the elder Adenhart.  What do you say to man who has lost his only child?  Jim Adenhart spoke to the team and coaches, thanking them for taking care of his young boy during his short time in the majors.  There was not a dry eye in that room. 

I saw that game Nick pitched that night.  It happen to be a game the MLB network broadcast.  I remember thinking this kid was good.  I was shocked to find out the next morning he was gone.  I have always felt that the fans are a part of baseball's tight knit family.  Without fans, there is no baseball.  So, when Nick was killed, it was like a distant relative had died.  One maybe you had never met but realized after they were gone, how special they were. 

Today, Easter Sunday, is the three year anniversary of that special game Nick Adenhart pitched.  I like to remember the young pitcher coming into his own, rather than how he died. 

Is there a message in this story?  Several.  But you don't need me to tell you what they are.  The purpose of this was solely to remember Nick Adenhart, a talented young man who was gone too soon.

Nicholas James Adenhart (August 24, 1986 – April 9, 2009)

AKA YANKEE GIRL

PRIDE, POWER AND PINSTRIPES

My earliest memory of Yankee baseball is watching them win the 1977 World Series. I was 7 and vividly remember sitting on my bed, fingers crossed under my chin, shouting "c'mon guys, c'mon guys" and then holding my breath waiting for the final out and crowned the World Champions.

 My love for the Yankees was handed down to me from my father. I was 10 the first time he took me to Yankee Stadium and like every child's first trip to this famous baseball Cathedral, I was in awe. He taught me how to complete the box score, explained the numbers assigned to each position and cheered with me as the Yankees beat the White Sox in extra innings. It is memory I cherish to this day.

As I grew older my love affair with the Yankee team never faltered. Players came and went, some were more special to me than others. But ultimately, if the Yankees signed or drafted you - I was in your corner. For my father and I, it was love of team first.  A year after the 1996 World Series win, I met Joe Torre.  He had a way of making you feel like you were the only person in the room when he was talking to you.  As if he was there to meet you.  He had me as a fan for life that night. 

There have been times in my adult life when the Yankees were the only thing that made the rest of my bleak world slightly brighter. Like for so many over the years, the Yankees were an escape.  Something else to focus on beside my professional or personal problems. Who can think about being unemployed or a broken heart when CC is throwing a no hitter into the 7th inning or down a couple runs, the Yankees hit a walk off and someone gets pie? 

>I have spent years with so many defending my love of the Yankees.  I have heard  "Of course the Yankees always win, they have all the money".  To me, it's the chicken/egg theory.  Did the Yankees make money because they were great or were they great because they made money?  

So here we are at the beginning of another Yankee season.  
Hopefully, I will be cheering well into October for my boys in Pinstripes - fingers crossed under my chin, shouting "c'mon guys, c'mon guys" and then holding my breath waiting for the final out so that they could be crowned World Champions - just as I did when I was 7.  Some things never change and I hope they never do.  I make no apologies when I say - GO YANKS!

More random thoughts

Some funny, some serious - All my own...

The JetBlue pilot meltdown reminds us that New York passengers don't play. You make a threat and 5 huge guys WILL tackle and sit on you until the plane lands. I LOVE IT!

Fidel Castro asked to meet the Pope during his visit to Cuba. If I were Castro I would keep my eye out for lightning.

Dick Chaney received a new heart - rumor has it before the operation a nurse asked one of the doctors who the patient was, to which the doctor replied "A bitter, cave-dwelling creature with a heart two sizes too small"

Whatever you think about what happened just remember on that night in February - George Zimmerman went home to his family and Trayvon Martin went to the morgue.

Newt Gingrich is charging $50 for a picture with him. I'll give him $100 to disappear instead. That goes for Romey and Santorum too.

Go Yankees!

Whoa whoa those Wildwood Days

As summer approaches, I am reminded of my family vacations in Wildwood, NJ as a child and the wonderful memories that go with it. My parents and I started going to Wildwood when I was 2 1/2 years old until I was 19. We stayed at the same motel, during the same week every year (I am the product of two creatures of habit). The motel room was nothing fancy, with two double beds, a kitchette and a bathroom..but to me it was paradise.

Certain sounds and smells can instantly take us back to moments of our lives. A window air conditioner humming through the night, mini powdered donuts, a young newsboy, early in the morning, calling out "Philadelphia Inquirer", and the smell of Coppertone suntan lotion all remind me of Wildwood. As I got older those smells and sounds turned into hearing the waves crash at night while you sit on a bench by the beach, the rough feel of a concrete sidewalk on your bare feet and the smell of pizza and funnel cake on the boardwalk.  To this day, all these years later, any one of these sites, sounds or smells transport me immediately to that place in south Jersey.

As we grow older we yearn for the simple days we had as children.  Our worries were as small our hands reaching for that boardwalk ice cream cone.  The world now, both my own and the one in general, is much more complicated.  I long for the days when my biggest concern was how many times we would go to the boardwalk in that vacation week or what rides I could convince my Dad to go on with me (I was and am a lover of roller coasters - my Dad not so much).   I had some of the very best times of my life during those 17 summers. When we started going I was a baby; when we stopped I was on the brink of adulthood. 

All these years later, most of Wildwood has changed.  Gone are the small motels, which have been replaced by high rise condominium.  Like everything else in the world - what was is a distant memory.  People who remember the Wildwood of yesteryear have tried to restore it; but you can't turn back the sunrise (to quote one of my cousin's songs).   Luckily, I have the pictures, the friends who were also there to reminisce with and the memories locked away in recesses of my mind, ready to call up whenever I long for the happy times of my childhood.  Bobby Rydell sang in best in 1963.......



"Headin' down the shore (Wildwood days) to have a ball once more Whoa whoa whoa whoa those Wildwood days, wild, wild Wildwood days
Oh baby, every day's a holiday and every night is a Saturday night Oh those Wildwood days, wild, wild Wildwood days
And then those party lights wild, wild Wildwood nights.
Say baby you'll be mine (Wildwood days) 'cause it's kissin' time (Wildwood days)"
Wildwood Days by Bobby Rydell (1963)

Random thoughts.....

Just some random thoughts on the items in the news recently....


Getting a little tired of the media naming sports players.."Linsanity" "Tebowing".....in the 1920's when someone hit a home run they weren't
"Babe Ruthing"

Tim Tebow coming to the NY Jets...."Holy Roller" meets "Holy Sh*t".    I think before he decided to come to New York he should have talked to Randy Johnson.  One team's shooting star is another team's firework dud.

So Greg Smith quit his job at Goldman Sachs because he found that the company has lost integrity.  Where we suppose to be surprised?  This is the same Goldman Sachs that was the catalyst to the subprime mortgage meltdown.  No integrity?  No kidding!

Jersey Shore's Mike "the situation" Sorrentino is in rehab - I care why?

I just saw Jaclyn Smith on CSI..another actress who has chosen inflated lips and the "joker" smile plastic surgery.  iPad needs an app to show these women what they will really look like after the surgery. 

The Knicks are on a 5 game winning streak since Mike D'antoni quit last week.  They should have lied to Carmelo Anthony and told him he quit two weeks ago.....

A few companies are apparently asking potential employees for their Facebook password in order to be considered for a job.  So, now my personal life truly is no longer going to be mine.  I would be afraid they would see my FB page and realize how incredibly boring my life is....

Hugh Hefner's 21 year old son was sentenced to 52 week domestic violence program after beating up his playmate girlfriend.  Shocking considering he grew up in such a stable, normal household...

Welcome back Andy Pettitte!