I Never Went to (Any) Yankee Stadium

Back on Lakewood Avenue in Schenectady, NY, one of the neighborhood dads took some of the kids to Yankee Stadium on a yearly basis, but it always seemed to be when my family was traveling during Dad's time off. I have to believe Yankee Stadium is "all that" in its 3rd incarnation, because let's face it, you SHOULD be able to get a real palace for a billion and large change. (Congrats in advance for what I expect will be a championship in the new stadium's first year.)

While only briefly mentioning that I'll stand by my prediction of a six game Series with Jeter or A-Rod as MVP (oh my, out on a limb with those guys!) I had a little flashback about karma last night watching several batters foul pitches off. There are a couple types of fouls: those that are grounded outside the lines, some that squib into the dirt around home, long drives that drift off, pop ups, and then those hissing ones that come when the batter undercuts a fastball. I only made it to one Charlotte Knights baseball game this summer, and karma wound up looking like the lattermost foul.

(Continue to Baseline Shorks)

World Series Game 7, Guaranteed

This may be illogical, this may be naive, or this may just be a home town Phillies fan wishing his positive thinking helps his team fight back in the World Series...but I GUARANTEE a Game 7 will be played in the Bronx this Thursday.

Cliff Lee has pitched better than anyone over the last 3 months and tonight he takes the mound against an overrated A.J. Burnett. Yankee fans should be cheering for Lee to win any way so they can see their beloved bombers "win it all" (cough, cough...it won't happen) in the new Yankee Stadium on Wednesday against NYC's number one enemy, Pedro Martinez. That is the story book ending for Yankee fans ... but there is always a twist.

Pedro will win Game 6 in the Bronx on Wednesday, get the last laugh once again, and walk off the field into the sunset as a bigger legend than he already was.

(Continue to Philadelphia Sports Scene)

The Empire Strikes Back

With Halloween two days away, it looked like Pedro Martinez would bewitch the bats in the Bronx but AJ Burnett was able to do just a little bit better, tricking Phillie hitters all night long.

Phillies went down 1-2-3 in the top of the first after A.J. Burnett threw a first pitch strike to each batter. Pedro started off by striking out Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon while Yankee fans obnoxiously chanted, "Who's your daddy."

Let me comment on that chant by the way...Pedro came up with it and it does not bother him so please be quite. Come up with something original. The Wolf Pack, Duck Pond, Howard's Homers, Coste Guards, Padilla Floatia, Cole Miners, Burrell's Girls, RAAAAUUULLL, and the Philly Phanatic are all original ideas New York Yankee fans cannot possibly conceive by themselves.

(Continue to Philadelphia Sports Scene)

Pujols' Words Sweet to Cardinals

Cardinal first baseman Albert Pujols told the St. Louis media he wants to remain a Redbird for life.

Okay, Cardinal fans you can breathe easier now. That a joke by the way.

Cardinal nation was abuzz about mixed messages Pujols apparently gave in a recent interview about a week ago. The key word there was apparently. I believed all along Albert would remain a Cardinal.

Basically what Albert said in the latest interview is that his contact status (two years) is not a concern and he wants lifetime Cardinal status.

(Continue to Paul's Redbird Report)

World Series Nostalgia

I imagine there are children in New York City in the 8-10 years old range who are loving this World Series appearance by the Yankees. It's new for them - they've heard all about these world champion Yankees of the past (decade) and they're probably very excited about their team playing for a championship.

I remember when I was one of those kids.

The 2000 World Series came at a time that I didn't live in New York, but more importantly, during my first full year in the workforce. As such, I was transitioning from someone who cared only about sports to someone who had other things on his mind (a new relationship with the woman who would later become my wife, an entry job in what I thought would be my career). I worked nights, so I saw the games, but I don't have a distinct memory about that post-season.

It's 1986 that comes back to me whenever the World Series rolls around.

I remember being in the schoolyard after school and people from the Daily News were handing out scorecards (I still have them) for the NLCS. A very cool book - 7-10 newspaper pages with spots to keep score of every game. I remember taking them home and my parents being very suspicious about how I got them. I had to convince them they were free handouts. To this day, though, it's strange to me why they were handed out at an elementary school.

(Continue to 200 Miles From the Citi)

Yanks Haven't Won Anything Yet

This has been one terrific postseason run by the Yankees so far.

They took care of the Twins with ease, and defeated the Angels, the team they have had the most difficulty beating over the past 10 years, in six games.

The Bronx Bombers have been led by a resurgent Alex Rodriguez, who has quieted the critics who said he can’t do it in the clutch, along with the usual suspects, such as Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. There were questions about C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett and their lack of postseason credentials, but they have delivered as well.

All of which is great for Yankees fans. There is one other sobering thought, however, and that is this: the Yankees haven’t won any thing yet.

(Continue to New York Minute)

It's Like 1950 All Over Again

Here's the deal, so that you never have to read me go through it again - from now on, whenever I write about this, I'll just link back to this page (the day of Game 1 of the 2009 World Series) so that you can refresh your memory if need be.

The 2009 baseball season is dead to me.

If the Mets aren't in the World Series, I start rooting for matchups that have never happened before. So the Angels would have been a great fit in the 2009 World Series - they have only been to the World Series once before, and they didn't play the Phillies.

The Yankees? They've been, many times...and they've already played the Phillies.

So this season, in my crazy, muddled mind, becomes a waste. (Not like I didn't see that coming after watching the Mets play in April and May.)

(Continue to 200 Miles From the Citi)

Yankee Haters Raise Your Hands

Enough Already: The Yankees win the pennant again

Photo: Associated Press

It was the bottom of the eighth in Sunday night’s closeout game of the ALCS and the Yankees were tacking on some extra runs on the way to another World Series appearance.

With Mariano Rivera coming back out to shut down the Angels in the ninth and preserve the victory, I was coming to the realization that my dream would not come true – that the Angels would actually take Game 6 and I would be able to say, "The Yankees lose … The Yankees lose … Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yankees lose." No such luck.

The great American pastime, the World Series, begins Wednesday night, and I’ll be watching every pitch like every year. And you guessed it, I’ll be rooting for the Phillies. Sorry.

(Continue to DMA 7-22 Sports)

Yanks' First Series Without Scooter

The Yankees will play in a World Series for the first time since his passing. He has been gone a little more than two years now, but I can still hear his voice calling from the past, from some time in the late 1960s.

I hear the sound of so many of my baseball summers over the crackling static coming through a transistor radio in the back yard on a lazy July or August afternoon that seemed to last forever. No cares; just a boy, a radio and a baseball game.

I began listening to Phil Rizzuto when I was eight years old and he became a huge part of my life for the next 30 years. But even Scooter couldn’t live forever, though I actually thought he might.

The voice finally was silenced on August 13, 2007, a few weeks shy of his 90th birthday and 11 years after he retired. His 40th and final season as a Yankees’ broadcaster in 1996 coincided with the rookie season of a fellow shortstop named Derek Jeter.

(Continue to Bob Birge's Irish Eyes Are Smiling)

Black Mark Still on McGwire's Silence

He's supposedly coming back from his self-imposed hell, a place far removed from the limelight, the TV commercials and the public adulation he enjoyed during most of his baseball career.

He went there to get away from his final seasons, but he couldn't shake free of those years or the rumors that trailed him there. Whoever figured Mark McGwire would return?

He is coming back, though. He's coming back to baseball as manager Tony La Russa's hitting coach with the Cardinals, which causes hell for Major League Baseball. Its officials know what McGwire's return will mean: more talk about steroids.

(Continue to Justice Is Served)

Anything But Yankees-Phillies

I was really looking forward to a Game 6 of the ALCS Saturday night - the night I could actually stay up to watch a game. Now I need to either set myself back entirely for the week by staying up late for a Sunday night game, or miss the late innings.

I really have a lot riding on the outcome, too. There are a few reasons I want the Angels to pull this series out, none of which have anything to do with rooting against the Yankees just because.

One thing is, I'd like to see the Angels win Game 6 so that there's a Game 7. That would be exciting. Secondly, it has been a long haul for the Angels this season. As I've mentioned before, they have the best story this post-season - no one would have blamed them if they had mailed their season in after the early-season Nick Adenhart tragedy. But they've come this far, it would be a shame if they fell short of the World Series.

Finally, though, I don't want it to be a Phillies-Yankees World Series. There are two reasons for this. One is that this is a repeat World Series, and I would feel like we wasted the year if there wasn't a new matchup in the World Series. Secondly, this is the baseball equivalent of the Super Bowl a couple of years ago when the Giants beat the Patriots.

(Continue to 200 Miles From the Citi)

Lovely Impression on Valentine's Day

Bobby Valentine got nostalgic. He sat with journalists Thursday inside Progressive Field and reminisced about the glory days of Cleveland baseball. Valentine remembered those days, as does any person who calls himself an Indians fan.

He relished an opportunity to bring those days back. That was the reason he was in Cleveland talking baseball. He was making a case to GM Mark Shapiro to hire him as the next manager of the Indians.

“I had a great day – a great day,” Valentine said. “I talked to baseball people – talked baseball. I couldn’t be happier with that.”

(Continue to Justice Is Served)

Phillies in the World Series, Baby!

Fighting back from behind in clutch situations...jumping out ahead early on...forgetting mistakes and making the next play...this Phillies team has done it all this postseason.

They removed the hearts of the LA Dodgers for the second year in a row and have shown the character of a championship team.

This team has captured the hearts of the city of Philadelphia and their chemistry is unmatched--even by the New York Yankees which is basically a team of mercenaries, free agents with big contracts and low levels of loyalty...(Damon and Boston...A-Rod and his wife and the integrity of baseball...Teixeira and the Braves/Angels/Texas...Burnett Blue Jays...Sabathia Brewers).

(Continue to Philadelphia Sports Scene)

Can D-Backs Recapture Winning Ways?

Finishing a season 70-92 and 25 games out of first place in the National League West division is miles away from the Arizona Diamondbacks' 2001 World Series Championship form. It's steps behind their playoff teams of 1999, 2002 and 2007.

Making the playoffs--and eventually winning the whole thing--is the reason why teams play the games. And of course, it's the Diamondbacks' ultimate goal.

But after such an abysmal year, how do they return to form?

The Arizona Republic had an interesting article on just how the Diamondbacks can once again become a contender. It was a four-step plan with began with picking up pitcher Brandon Webb's 2010 option.

(Continue to Arizona Sportspage)

Give Cashman Credit, Too

There has been a lot of discussion about the personnel moves made by the Yankees over the past few years in their bid to get back to the World Series.

What a lot of commentators have missed is the one move the Yankees didn’t make.

Back in 2007, after the team parted ways with manager Joe Torre, there was also a lot of conjecture on the future of general manager Brian Cashman.

The team lost to the Cleveland Indians in the Divisional Series, and Cashman’s contract was done. More than a few teams were interested in having Cashman come work for them.

(Continue to New York Minute)

The Dreaded Bases-Loaded Walk

Ryan Madson's bases loaded walk to give up the go-ahead run in Game 2 of the NLCS reminded me that it was 10 years ago that Kenny Rogers did same for the Mets in the NLCS.

The stakes were higher in Rogers' case - it was the bottom of the 11th of Game 6, and the run not only won the game but also clinched the series for the Braves. I can't imagine a more anti-climactic event than a series-ending bases loaded walk.

The bases loaded walk has been the bane of my existence this past decade or so - it just drives me nuts every time I see it - throw a strike! So with tomorrow being the 10-year anniversary of Kenny Rogers' becoming my number one baseball enemy...I turn to prose for therapy:

(Continue to 200 Miles From the Citi)

What's Up with Albert Pujols?

Memo to Cardinal fans. Take a deep breath. It's going to be okay.

Albert Pujols apparently stirred some controversy this week when he said that he wasn't concerned about a contract extension with St. Louis. There are also questions about his troubled elbow.

St. Louis media are also upset that Albert wouldn't talk to them following the division playoffs.

For what it's worth, here's my take on Pujols' situation.

(Continue to Paul's Redbird Report)

It's CC's Time to Grab Glory

The Bronx in October, baseball under the lights tonight. The Yankees had been here countless times over the decades. It was on these nights, in this month and in this part of New York City where Yankee legends are made.

Think Jeter and Williams. Mantle and Maris. Or the Babe and Gehrig. Does anybody believe Reggie Jackson would be revered today as "Mr. October" if he had played for the Cubs?

No Major Leaguer puts on those white Yankee pinstripes without expecting to win championships somewhere along the way.

(Continue to Justice Is Served)

Cardinals Need Mark DeRosa

The Cardinals have a number of free agent concerns this off season and most people centered their discussion on Matt Holliday.

I agree that Holliday's signing would become a valuable addition to the free agent mix, but I believe Mark DeRosa has more value to the Cardinals.

So I say, sign the guy first, then worry about Holliday and others.

(Continue to Paul's Redbird Report)

I Guess I Love L.A.

First of all, I want to take this opportunity to officially throw the 200 Miles From The Citi endorsement behind the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Not only are they my only hope for a non-wasted baseball year (read: no repeat matchup in the World Series), I really like them. Especially this year - they're my feel-good story. So go Angels!

That said, time for my predictions...it's kind of an L.A. story:

ALCS - Angels vs. Yankees

I don't have much solid evidence to back up my rooting for the Angels here...other than the fact that I'm still not 100% buying the Yankees this year.

If the Minnesota Twins could run the bases without looking like the New York Mets, they could have pushed the Yankees to four games...possibly even a fifth...but they just couldn't figure out New York this whole season.

The Angels, on the other hand, match up well against the Yankees.

(Continue to 200 Miles From the Citi)