(Long pause…….deep breath…) Is there really anything else to discuss when witnessing destiny, except well, destiny? As I watched the greatest sports franchise in the history of sport win its 27th world championship, all I could really see was the dark cloud finally lifting as the World Series trophy made its way back to the city, the team, the place where it truly belongs.BANZAI MATSUI-SAN!!!!!
Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon might not both stay with the Yankees next year. And I have a feeling that Matsui wants to return to Japan a conquering hero with not only a World Series ring, but the MVP award as well. Giving the award to a DH is not the norm, but .615 3 HR 8 RBI are sick numbers for sure. If it has to come down to a decision, Damon still has some speed in those wheels and a decent glove, where as Matsui just doesn’t play the field well anymore. I have a feeling that he goes home, and he has earned the right to either go out or stay as he pleases. If he comes back primarily as a DH, he should be welcomed, even though I know the team wants to develop the younger guys at the DH spot like Shelly Duncan or just bring up some new guys in general like Ramiro Pena or Juan Miranda. So “Sayonara”…umm maybe.
THE HOUSE THE FOUR BUILT
New stadium, same result. Yes the Yankees spend a lot of money, but at least they put that money on the field. It was only fitting that they won their first world series of the new Yankee Stadium era in well, the new Yankee Stadium. Who knows? Eventually maybe it will feel like home. For a team that has long been accused of buy teams to win, maybe it has gone unnoticed that their core of players for over a decade have been home grown, as is their up and coming talent like Melky Cabrera, Robinson Cano, Joba Chamberlain, and Phil Hughes. Maybe for this newer generation of home grown players it will be home, but for the four guys who originally won it all in 1996 and are still there, the old place will certainly be impossible to shake off. It was those four however, that brought winning back to the Bronx. Let’s not forget that it had been 18 years since the Yankees had won a World Series, till four guys who came up in 1996 full time helped make it happen… 
Andy Pettitte had no business in Houston, even he knows that. 18 post season wins is the greatest ever, and it happened right here. Derek Jeter will go down in history as one of the greatest post season Yankees ever with a .321 World Series average, with 27 more at bats than Babe Ruth and 38 more than Lou Gehrig. Jorge Posada cemented his place as one of the greatest Yankee catchers ever, a difficult table to sit at with the likes of Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, Bill Dickey and Thurmon Munson already there. Ah yes, and then there is Mariano Rivera. Not only the greatest closer ever, but the greatest post season closer as well, and my favorite Yankee. Wanna know his World Series ERA? .099 in 36.1 innings. Yeah that’s in another world. Jeter and Rivera are in the Hall of Fame for sure, Pettitte has 229 wins, and if he gets to 250 wins, with 5 rings and being a lefty, he has a legitimate chance at the Hall of Fame although the ERA is a bit high. They will all be there in pinstripes.
AND…
Say what you will, but after all the growing pains it took for this guy to finally earn his pinstripes, Alex Rodriguez deserves this ring just as much as anyone. From the steroid controversy, to the hip surgery, to years of disappointing post seasons and never seeming to gel with this team, he truly has come a long way. It’s time to stop booing the 3 time MVP and cut him some slack. He had an amazing post season (finally), he bonded with his teammates, particularly the younger guys and he is a big reason why the Yankees even made it to the World Series.The Los Angeles Lakers, North Carolina Tar Heels and now the New York Yankees, I think this is the first time that 3 of my favorite teams all win championships in the same year. I’m doing well.
Not to beat a dead horse, (ah, why not) but at this point is there any doubt that George W Bush is by far and wide, the worst President in the history of the United States? On his watch (besides the obvious) the Yankees did not win any World Series titles, and the Boston Red Sox actually won 2. Now, we have a competent president, a recovering economy, and the New York Yankees are once again champions of baseball. Order has been restored to the Universe…
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ReplyDelete- My rallying cry this season was "Send Matsui home with a ring!" and while I'm happy for it coming to pass, I'd like him to return next year. (Damon, too.) But you make a great point: for Matsui to return to Japan as a WS champion and MVP would be huge.
Shelley Duncan is a 30 year old, non-hitting outfielder w/no speed and questionable defense. He has no future in pinstripes, not even as a DH.
- Alex finally got his ring. Awesome.
- Don't forget: the Yankees won the 4 previous championships during the Clinton administration.
They have hung on to Duncan for a while so if he is useless that's the first I've heard of it. He just can't get a break, but he can certainly hit. However there are guys chomping at the bit. 30 is not old for a DH. The DH has had more than one player continue a career into their 40's actually.
ReplyDelete"Don't forget: the Yankees won the 4 previous championships during the Clinton administration" - Don't forget? That was kinda my point to begin with.
Duncan did very well in the minors this year; he was his league's MVP if I'm not mistaken. The Yankees brought him up to the big team as a reward. But he was either a fluke or been unable to capitalize on his talent in The Bronx. I would assume the team is holding on to him in the hopes he can finally break thru and be of use to the team, either as a DH or as trade bait. Let's see...
ReplyDeleteBtw, your boy Ari Fleischer--heh, heh--admitted in a NYT OpEd piece how his party is bad for the Yankees' winning ways and not only cites the championships won in the Clinton and Obama administrations, but also during those of JFK and Jimmy Carter. (No dice during Ford, Reagan, Bush 41 and 43.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/opinion/08fleischer.html
The Post-Mantle Nixon years were pretty lean as well.
ReplyDeleteThey did win during a Republican administration when Ike was president in the 50's
Ari Fleischer is an asshole. Would you belive he once called Helen Thomas, sacred cow of the White House Press Corps, out over asking George W Bush a question he wasn't ready for? OK what question WAS he ready for? Which end of the crayon is up?