The Babe Abides

"Hey Babe hows the Hot Dog?"
"Ummm uggle umm."
"Looks good. Hey how many have you had? Twenty? Jeeez Babe ya gotta be kidding me. You are gonna get sick."
"Egggree umm slurp slurp."
"I know you can handle it. Still you might take it easy. You don't want to end up with a heart condition where you can't eat any dogs anymore. That would suck."

The Babe Abides

"We are here with the pitching sensation of the Boston Red Sox the one and only Babe Ruth. Babe how do you think the Sox are going to do in this early going of the 1918 season?"
"Why we are going to the Series keed waddaya think?"
"Well it seems that the Yankees have a good team as do the Tigers so do you really think the Sox can get to the Series?"
"Of course we can whats the matter with you? Are you retarded or something?"
"Babe several of the fellas have been down with the flu in Spring Training. Do you think that will effect the team this season/"
"What a little flu? Why would that be a problem? What are we pussies? I once played the whole season with the clap and my pecker was oozing like a tube of Peposdent that I stepped on when I was fucking that whore on the bathroom sink. A little flu never meant nothing. Besides I hear only them spics get it."
"Thanks Babe for your time."
"Get that to editing. They might have to slice it up a little. Achoo. Damn I think I have an allergy to pine tar or something..

The Captain Abides

The Captain became the second of the Core Four to be elected to the Hall of Fame today. He was a first ballot inductee but he still got screwed. One moron didn't vote for him so it wasn't unanimous as was the ballot for the great Mariano.  Along with Larry Walker in the regular ballot and Ted Simmons in the Veterans Committee bullshit. Another deserving nominee Red Sox asshole Curt Schilling was denied again because he is an out conservative and most sports writers are communists.

The voting for the Hall has always been screwed up as there was a big movement to not put players on in the first year of eligibility. Which is bullshit because you are a Hall of Famer or you are not. You don't magically become more of a Hall of Famer in one year. The other is that people who are definitely Hall of Famers but are denied for reasons other than their performance. Curt Schilling. Pete Rose. Now it is Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. Now I hate Roger like the Arabs hate the Jews but I have to admit his performance demands that he be elected unanimously on the first ballot. The same for Bonds and Rose. Look they always do comparisons with players that in the Hall already.  You have to let in this outfielder or that because Harry Heilman or Reggie Jackson have much worse stats. There are a bunch of people in the Hall who did terrible things including murder. You have to go by their performance not their moral character. At least that's what I think. I would have to swallow letting Clemens in and Rose as well Their performance demands it. You are not in their because of you character. You are there because of you performance on the field.

Now we can wait for Spinelli's rant about how they should never be in the Hall.

By the way I hate that I have to stick up for famous Red Sox assholes like Schilling and Clemens.

Because you know one important fact that negates all others.

Boston Sucks.

You got it right Billy!

A great new book for Yankee Fans

As usual I am reading about four books this week. One is the latest from Eric Flint and the 1631 universe "The Cardinal Virtues." Another is a scifi book about an alternative universe with World War One era troops in another dimension called "The Grasslands." The new biography of Ty Cobb which posits that he wasn't the monster that he is portrayed in most other accounts. And a great new book about the Yankees: Strangers in the Bronx: DiMaggio, Mantle, and the Changing of the Yankee Guard.

It is about the 1951 season which is the only one that the two Yankee Icons played together. DiMaggio was at the end of the string although he was still pretty close to the top of his game. He retired before he became a pitiful joke like Willie Mays in his last years with the Mets. It is tough for athletes. Very few retire on top like Jeter and DiMaggio. Their skills might not be at the top of their game but they were still very good players. It is a very interesting book.

There is a changing of the guard right now with the Yankees. The problem is that we do not have any home grown talent that the fans can latch on to as True Yankees. Bret Gardner just does not cut it. Robbie Cano had a chance to be that guy but he sold out for top dollar and is having a miserable season out in Seattle. So we are going to have to wait a while for the next great Yankee.

I was privildeged to see several All Time Yankee greats play in person.  Yogi in his last year. Mickey and Roger. Thurman. Posada. Pettite. Bernie. Jeter. It will be a long time to someone of that caliber comes up in our system. But I can still revel in our history and remember the good times.

I just wish that I could afford a ticket.

A well deserved recognition of a True Yankee

I really enjoyed the Old Timers Day ceremonies this year. They honored a couple of True Yankees. Willie Randolph for played and coached for the Yankees for many years got a plaque in Monument Valley. It was very well deserved.

I remember when we traded with the Pirates for him and how excited we got someone for second base instead of Horace Clarke. That was one of the most one sided trades that the Yankees ever pulled off. I remember that the GM of the Pirates was watching Doc Medich get hammered in a pre season game and screamed "Doc Ellis is a better Doctor than this asshole!"

It was also tugged at the heartstrings to see Mel Stottlemye who has terminal cancer. I remember going up to the staduim when he was the ace of our staff with nudnicks like Fritz Petersen and Mike Kekich and Steve Kline and Jim Bouton. The Yankees surprised him with a plague and there was not a dry eye in the house.

This is what the Yankees do best. All of the old timers were. The Yankees fly them in and give them a great day in New York. Reggie. Mickey Rivers. Lou Pinella. Chris Chamblis. Ricky Henderson. Cecil Fielder. Charley Hayes. Tino. O'Neil. Pretty much all of the old time guys no matter how obscure.

The widows were there as well. When I was a kid it was Mrs. Babe Ruth and Mrs. Lou Gehrig. Now it is Diane Munsun and Mrs. Murcer and Mrs. Catfish and Arlene Howard. They are part of the family and stand in for their husbands. To get a warm welcome and an ovation once a year from the fans must feel pretty good. Their husbands are remembered. Yankee history and tradition are remembered.

I just wish I could afford a ticket to the game.

A Rod must Go!!!!!!

Spring training is almost here and attention must be paid. The Yankees have a big problem. His name is A Rod.

He is coming back after his suspension. We owe him something like $61 million over the next three years. That's right $61 million. Now the thought was that he would be closing in on the all time home run record but with all the time lost that is not going to happen. He is going to pass Willie Mays and get an eight million dollar bonus because he only needs seven more dingers to make it happen. But how good could he be after all this time off? Plus the Yankees have signed a perfectly competent third baseman in Chase Headley who is going to be their main man this year. So A Rod is the DH and a backup at third and first. I just don't think he is worth the trouble.

Witness the nonsense with his apology note. Handwritten squiggles that are laughably stupid:

Seriously? This is going to be a circus. The Yankees should just cut their losses and take the tax write off. Let some other team take on the circus. They have made some good moves this year. Our starting upside has a lot of questions but a big upside. Our bullpen could be the best in the majors. We have a new stud closer and a bunch of pretty decent middle relievers. Our brittle starters only have to give us a quality five or six innings. The lineup is not full of the prima donna stars we used to have but a bunch of scrappy guys with some vets who if they have bounce back years can really make something happen. We are not the favorites. But in the expanded playoff world we have a chance to get in the mix and then anything can happen.

But first we need to get rid of A Rod. Let's send him to Boston. They both suck. Let them suck together.

You know I hate the dog ass Jets....but

I will always root for Nick Mangold from now on until he retires. He was one of the few NY sport stars who had the balls to support the cops in this time of trouble.

The Yankees stepped up as they always do in these cases. They are covering the college education of Officer Ramos two sons through the Sliver Shield foundation. Founded by George Steinbrenner it has sent hundreds of children of slain policemen to college.

The Mets of course have not been heard from.

True Yankees

Yankee fans have a dividing line when we talk about players. It is if you are considered a "True Yankee." A real representative of the team who buys into the teams concept and traditions. It's culture if you  will.

A True Yankee usually came up from the farm system but that is not always the case. Some people are easy. Jeter. Pettite. Mariano. Posada. Bernie Williams. Thuman. Whitey. Yogi. The Mick. Joe D.

Others earned it. Paul O'Neil. Babe Ruth. Reggie. David Wells. Don Larsen.

Some people will never be True Yankee no matter how long they are on the team or how good they play. Roger Clemens. Wade Boggs. A-Rod. They are interlopers.

I am not all that familiar with the two teams playing in the series tonight. At least the current compilation. I don't pay attention to the National League and I haven't followed KC because we so seldom play them. So I don't know who is the "True Giant" or "True Royal." Who is the guy who personifies the team. I guess it is the catcher on the Giants. But I am not sure. I would love to hear from fans of those teams. It makes it easier to figure out who to root for. Because to be honest I have very little interest in this series.

We miss you Boss!

Yesterday was the celebration of our nations birthday. And the birthday of the greatest owner in the history of sports: George Steinbrenner.

He is hated by so many who hate the Yankees and all that they stand for. Tradition. Pride. Capitalism. Winning. They knock him and spew hate while they copy his business model. Almost every successful baseball operation has an ultra high payroll and big time free agents. Moneyball is a big bag of bullshit as the hapless Met fans are learning with that "genius" Sandy Alderson.

George has been gone for a while now and his family is carrying on the tradition but not in his inimitable style. I mean George would never have stood for A-Rod's bullshit not for a minute. He either would have went full retard in supporting him or he would have cut him loose. Not then namby pamby shit that they are doing. He would have spent enough to get us to the series again. I know he would.

We won't see his like again for quite some time.

For the Yankees the World Series is the World Series.

I would like to congratulate all you little Mets fans for the sweep that your team laid on my Yankees. I know that this was the highlight of your season. Actually of this century. So you should enjoy it because if was a convincing series of wins for youse guys as your pitching held up very nicely.

Of course that means nothing.

You see when the Mets play the Yankees it is like their World Series. They get all hopped up and go crazy. If they win like they just did they are exstatic and coming in their pants.

Of course for the Yankees only the World Series is our World Series. If we don't make it to the Series and win then it is a wasted season.

In the next few weeks we will get back three Hall of Famers as well as a power hitting centerfielder and a slick fielding first baseman. So I am sanguine.

But enjoy your win guy. Nice little team you have there. Hope you can stay out of last place.

See you in October.

Yankees sign Kevin Platypus!

So the Yankees continue their policy of signing stars from other teams that their fans hate just to get us riled up. I mean in the past they had signed Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens and Johnny Damon and Daryl Strawberry and Doc Gooden and Steve Howe and fuckin' A-Rod.

Now they have signed ex-Red Sox third baseman Kevin Platypus!

I mean this fuckin' guy hated on the Yankees. Always had shit to say. Now that A-Rod that fuckin broke his hip like anyother AARP member they got Platypus to fill in at third on a one year contract for 12 million or so.

What a bunch of bullshit.

I know that George loved to do this because he thought it stuck it to the other team but all real Yankee fans hated this. Now his kids are pulling the same shit.

Seriously enough of this shit.

The only good thing I can hold on to is that the Giants would never get a loser like Aaron Rodgers on their team. They shot their wads with Craig Morton and Norm Snead. Never again.

A True Yankee....

Not everybody who plays on the Yankees can be a "True Yankee." They can be pretty good players and good guys and a big part of the team but they don't make it to that mythic state of "True Yankee."

I mean look at Mark Teixeria. Good player. Great glove. Decent hitter. But mainly a bust in the post season. He is like a lot of guys who had decent years as a Yankee but who aren't really core guys. Guys like Tino Martinez. JIm Spencer. Scott Brocius. Danny Cater. A-Rod. These are guys who had great years with other teams and are not "True Yankees."

Other guys might only be here for a little while but remain Yankee hero's because of the way they played in the big games. Fred Chicken Stanly. Horace Clarke. Paul O'Niell. Mickey Rivers. Roger Maris. Bobby Richardson. Billy Martin. Jorge Posada. Derek Jeter.

You know them when you see them.