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New York Yankees: Opening Day at Tropicana Field

Posted by on 31 March 2012, 8:02 pm

Opening Day in MLBis one of the best days of the season.

Tropicana Field

Tropicana Field (Photo credit: Kwong Yee Cheng)

I don’t know if you have ever been to an Opening Day, but I have been to many at Yankee Stadium and highly recommend going because it is a memorable experience.

The excitement in the air is undeniable, as it is only other game where each player gets announced like it does in the postseason.

The Air Force flies usually planes overhead, or shots are fired by military before the first pitch. Along with a ceremony that pays either tribute to the military or honors something important. This tradition varies at every ballpark.

There is always a live singer to perform the National Anthem, which most fans only experience before postseason games, the All-Star game or if a team is having a special tribute.

Still there is one thing that has never faltered about Opening Day, and that is all teams are considered equal, like a clean slate for both players and fans alike.

The game is mesmerizing like in the postseason but without the intensity, as everyone is just happy to have baseball back again.

2012 OPENING DAY at The Trop:

The Yankees open the season next Friday, April 6th against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

This is a travesty in my opinion because no one should be subjected to starting the season at the Trop, not even the Rays.

The fact that baseball fans in Central Florida don’t run to see the Rays was beyond me until I went to a game at the Trop.

I will cut to the chase by saying the Trop is a total dump. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Opening Day at Tropicana Field’ »

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New York Yankees: 10 crazy predictions you want to read

Posted by on 19 March 2012, 9:25 pm

Is the 2012 season going to be CRAZY in the Bronx?

Am I crazy?

Yes, I am completely out of my mind.

Is this realistic?

In the words of Yankee skipper Joe Girardi, “I should not say never, but no, no, no.”  

Still, even though not one of these 10 predictions will actually come true, there is nothing wrong with having a little fun in the midst of Spring Training.

Please note….#8 could be possible…the action.

  1. Michael Pineda finishes his 2012 campaign not giving up one home-run in the Bronx all season.
  2. Derek Jeter is finally wins his first AL MVP Award in 2012.
  3. Alex Rodriguez is so popular at the end of the 2012 season he made Lin-Sanity look sane. A-rod’s jersey sold more than Lin and Jeter combined. ESPN just ranked him the most popular athlete ever.
  4. Robinson Cano comes in second in the AL MVP but finished the season with a .460 batting average.
  5. Mariano Rivera saves 45 games in 2012 and signed a contract to be the Yankees closer till 2020. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: 10 crazy predictions you want to read’ »

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Maybe New York Yankees Alex Rodriquez respects Ryan Braun herpes

Posted by on 27 February 2012, 5:02 am
Ryan Braun

Image via Wikipedia

Let me be clear by stating that Alex Rodriguez has never said anything about Ryan Braun’s failed drug test having to do with him taking medicine for herpes.

Of course A-rod wouldn’t because he knows better, as Derek Jeter would have failed way before Braun… right?

Kidding again. But now to the point, as this Braun saga is getting annoying but I wanted to weigh in my opinion.

So, there are three things that bothered me after I heard that Braun’s 50-game suspension got overturned last Thursday.

Quick Summary of the Braun Saga (for the readers who live in a cave):

Last Thursday the news broke that Milwaukee Brewers Ryan Braun had beat the system.

Braun’s urine tested positive for a banned substance last October, but he will not serve one day of the standard 50-game suspension given to first time offenders.

It marks the first time an arbitrator has ever reversed a player’s appeal of the embargo set by MLB for a drug testing violation.

Braun’s legal eagles had the 50-game suspension overturned due to a loophole found in MLB’s Drug Treatment and Prevention Program Policies.

His lawyers made the case that the samples were wrongly handled by the authorized CDT Sports Collector, aka the test’s collector, which insinuates that there was possible tampering.

In the MLB Collection Procedures and Testing Protocols, the policy states that the sample is supposed to get to FedEx as soon as possible. Read policy HERE, page 18.

In Braun’s case the collector said that FedEx was already closed so he kept the sample in his fridge overnight and sent it out when FedEx reopened.

And that is the grey area that has won Braun his freedom from suspension, but what about his test results?

1) Braun you talk too much:

Braun finally addressed the matter for the first time last Friday, which was one-day post-verdict, at the Brewers Spring Training facility in Arizona.

To me Braun’s words sounded scripted and angry. He went on and on as if he was persecuted and unjustly framed due to a “fatally flawed” testing system.

He disclosed that the test’s collector did not follow the guidelines set under MLB’s Collection Procedure; there was no mention to whether Braun did or didn’t juice, or if the test was tampered with. He beat the system, but why does this seem to only happen in MLB?

The long-winded explanation triggered that feeling when you know someone is lying because they’re talking too much about why it is not their fault and in the end they come-off looking guiltier.

2) So ultimately Braun’s defensive team won citing incorrect protocol but what about his test results changed?

The answer is nothing.

Maybe you will find comfort in knowing that MLB Commissioner’s Office ‘vehemently disagrees’ by the outcome, but personally I find that a little hard to believe. Continue reading ‘Maybe New York Yankees Alex Rodriquez respects Ryan Braun herpes’ »

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MLB: Steroids Are Still Baseball’s Dirty Mistress

Posted by on 10 December 2011, 11:37 pm

When ESPN reported the news that 2011 NL MVP Ryan Braun had tested positive for PEDs (performance enhancing drugs) it reminded me that baseball still had a dirty mistress.

Ryan Braun

Image via Wikipedia

I knew back on January 11, 2010 that MLB commissioner Bud Selig might have spoken too soon about the end of the steroid era, when he told NY Time’s Mike Schmidt:

“The use of steroids and amphetamines amongst today’s players has greatly subsided and is virtually nonexistent, as our testing results have shown.”

That statement was right after slugger Mark McGuire omission, which sparked me to write an article naming PEDs Baseball’s Dirty Mistress. As Selig seem to be living in denial, when in essence he should have done more years ago.

For now, Braun is maintaining his innocence and plans on appealing the standard 50-game suspension through an arbitration hearing.

So, commenting too much further on the matter is somewhat unfair, as we haven’t heard the entire story yet.

The only fact that ESPN confirmed is that Braun took a urine test during the October playoffs, and was informed before the end of the month of his failed results. The test found elevated levels of testosterone that was later confirmed to not be of the natural kind, meaning that Braun did not produce the testosterone, and that it came from outside his body.

This means that MLB darn well knew they were handing the 2011 NL MVP Award to a player who had just failed a drug test; and in turn that player, Braun, felt no guilt accepting the season’s biggest honor.

Braun had this to say after he was announced the MVP winner:

“I’m not going to pretend like I wasn’t anxious or nervous because I was. I was obviously thrilled, excited. It’s honestly difficult to put into words how much this means to me.”

My question is how big an ego does this guy have? Continue reading ‘MLB: Steroids Are Still Baseball’s Dirty Mistress’ »

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A New York Yankees Fan Take On Mets Losing Reyes To Marlins

Posted by on 5 December 2011, 2:07 am

The New York Mets ownership could take a lesson from the their neighbors in the Bronx.

New York Mets SS - José Reyes

Ex-Met Jose Reyes....Image via Wikipedia

A team doesn’t let their best player go without a fight, but when your owner is broke and too selfish to sell a team he can’t afford, guess who is going to suffer?

The team, and that is exactly what happened to the Mets when the news broke via FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tweet that shortstop Jose Reyes signed a 6-year, $106 million contract with the Miami Marlins, pending a physical.

Mets fans will be livid with this news and knowing that no offer was even on the table to Reyes in the first place, but what could they really expect.

See, when current Mets GM Sandy Alderson took the job last off-season, owner Fred Wilpon was still an upstanding citizen with a lot of money.

Now Wilpon is broke, with a pending lawsuit against him for being involved in his childhood buddy Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

In essence, leaving the Mets and Alderson hogged tied with zero money to spend; but according to a recent article I read on Mets Merized Online this was not a surprise for Alderson, as he knew this coming into the job.

Still, regardless of the Mets financial history, it doesn’t change that their best player has gone to a division rival; along with the promises Wilpon made to give Mets fans a winning team, which is clear by the payroll being lowered to under $100 million.

To a fan this just seems like more lies out of a selfish man’s mouth. Continue reading ‘A New York Yankees Fan Take On Mets Losing Reyes To Marlins’ »

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New York Yankees: Losing But Not The Losers

Posted by on 29 September 2011, 4:01 am

No baseball fan could dream up a better finish to the regular season that is unless you are a Boston Red Sox, or Atlanta Braves fan.

Over the last month we saw the mighty Red Sox go from leading the AL East to destination unknown. It was hard to watch, even as a Yankee fan because truthfully I felt bad, the same way I did for the Mets in 2007.

This was the Red Sox team that Sports Illustrated proclaimed would win 100 games, on route to winning another World Series Championship in the magazine’s annual Baseball Preview issue.

Just try to conceive the mutiny that must be going on at ESPN?

ESPN is the sports equivalent of CNN, and minus my favorite expert Skip Bayless, the kitten caboodle made up of ex-players and the game’s most respected analysts must be in shock. Just Gordon Edes’ bold predictions alone are enough for any network to hang their heads in shame.

And let’s not forget about ESPN’s predicting machine that simulates a full season of 162 games, for all 30 teams and it picked the Red Sox too. Just read my preseason article, ESPN’s Baseball Machine Even Hates The Yankees to see exactly what a robot that was MADE IN BEANTOWN forecasted for this 2011 MLB season.

Truthfully, at the start of this historical Wednesday all my pity and heartfelt sentiments for my Yankees hated rivals had still not completely out the window.  The real moment it did was at the top of the 2nd inning; with two outs on the board and the bases loaded, Mark Teixeira had to go to hit a grand slam of ace David Price. And suddenly the scoreboard read 5-0; and I wanted the Yankees to lose.

Call me whatever you want because I deserve it. Anyone with a brain knows that the Yankees would be better off in the ALCS playing a team who went 7-20 in September, over a hot team like Tampa Bay who went 17-10 respectively; but during this game I did not care. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Losing But Not The Losers’ »

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New York Yankees: Terrible Tuesday

Posted by on 25 August 2011, 11:01 am

It is crunch time in MLB, as teams will battle for a coveted spot in October till the bitter end.

The New York Yankees are right in the mix, but until any team clinches my advice is not to presume anything; as presumption is the mother of all… get it?

So one would think as a Yankee fan all things are good, but unfortunately that is not the case. Specifically, it is three things that have agitated me over the last four days, so thought I would share them:

1) Why I actually wanted the Red Sox to win their last two games?

After watching another discouraging finish in the Bronx last night, I realized that the New York Yankees did not only loss a game to the Oakland Athletics for the second night in a row 6-4. They also lost the series and the lead in the AL East.

While the Yankees were embarrassing themselves again on Tuesday night, the Red Sox taught the Texas Rangers a lesson in Arlington for the second night in a row. In turn, Boston flip-flopped spots with New York but just a game separates the two rivals.

Taking a back seat in the AL East, even by as little as a game normally would bother me but not when beating the Texas Rangers is the alternative. For some reason the Rangers make me cringe, even more than the Red Sox. This has nothing to do with the 2010 ALCS because I have had these uncontrollable feelings of disgust about Texas for about five years now.

It is not as if I was cheering for the Red Sox agreeably, but the Rangers need a good kick in the you know what, mainly because the media is constantly throwing Texas a bone and it drives me crazy.

2) Not A-rod Again?

On Tuesday night, A-rod was not in the Yankees line-up, leaving the Yankees once again without their cleanup hitter. A-rod just made his return a day earlier after spending seven weeks on the DL and supposedly was healed, healthy and ready to help out his team.

Surely all Yankee fans must have been dumbfounded when the TV cameras flashed to A-rod, only to see his left hand thoroughly taped up.

Supposedly this bandage was to protect A-rod’s “thumb jam” that he suffered during his first outing. I have jammed my thumb and all in needed was a good, hard pull and presto…. thumb jam was over.

Whatever actually happened or how hurt A-rod really is will remain a mystery until the Yankees realize that everyone knows they are lying, and covering up the severity of the injury at hand. This is nothing new, as this is the typical approach of the Yankees front office, but that doesn’t mean I ever have to get used to it.

Maybe A-rod is trying to play the sympathy card heading into Friday’s meeting with the Commissioner Bud Selig to reflect more off-the-field antics; this time A-rod better know when to fold’em. Oh wait he can’t because of his newly injured thumb.

Who knows if this is something to worry about, but until A-rod is on the field don’t think all is well. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Terrible Tuesday’ »

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