Yankee4Life

Lefty Gomez Remembered mainly for his colorful personality, Lefty Gomez was also one of baseball's greatest winners, ranking third in Yankee history in regular-season wins with 189. His 6-0 World Series record gave him the most wins without a loss in World Series history. His three victories in All-Star Game competition (against one loss) also are a record. Gomez's zaniness set him apart from the decorous Yankees of the 1930s. He once held up a World Series game, exasperating manager Joe McCarthy (as he did with some frequency), to watch an airplane pass by. Gomez got away with needling his buddy, Joe DiMaggio, because DiMaggio, like everyone else, enjoyed the Gomez wit, which produced such statements as: "I've got a new invention. It's a revolving bowl for tired goldfish." The Yankees purchased Gomez from his hometown San Francisco Seals in 1929 for $35,000. Two years later he won 21 games for them. His smoking fastball belied his slender frame. He was a nail, with a whiplash arm and a high leg kick. Gomez and righthander Red Ruffing formed the lefty-righty pitching core for the great New York teams of the 1930s. In 1934 he led the league in seven major categories, including wins (26), ERA (2.33), and strikeouts (158), the pitching equivalent of the Triple Crown. He led the league again in the top three pitching categories in 1937. Arm miseries hounded him throughout his career. As his fastball lost its effectiveness, Gomez moved from power pitcher to finesse pitcher. "I'm throwing as hard as I ever did," he quipped, "the ball's just not getting there as fast." Gomez fooled hitters and made a beautiful, slow curve work for him. He had a great comeback in 1941 (15-5) after a 3-3 mark in 1940, leading the league in winning percentage (.750). Gomez threw a shutout in 1941 while issuing 11 walks, the most walks ever allowed in a shutout. And though a notoriously poor hitter, he produced the first RBI in All-Star history and singled home the winning run in the 1937 World Series clincher. After pitching one game for Washington (he lost) in 1943, Gomez retired, later to hook up with the Wilson sporting goods company as a goodwill ambassador. He was asked on joining Wilson why he had left his last position. Gomez, who never took himself seriously, responded that he left because he couldn't "get the side out."

I can't believe Ruth or Gehrig were not covered in here before. :facepalm:

Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig Lou Gehrig was the greatest first baseman ever and a key component in the Yankee legend. Gehrig's record of 2,130 consecutive games played perfectly reflected his steady, dependable character. Because he was also handsome, a native New Yorker, and eventually a tragic figure, he became as glamorous as a retiring "mama's boy" could be. Born in a German neighborhood, Gehrig began his legendary career at Columbia University. Freshmen weren't eligible for varsity play, but in his sophomore season Gehrig set multiple school records, most notably season marks of seven HR, a .444 batting average, and a .937 slugging average. Also a pitcher, he still holds the Columbia record for strikeouts in a game, fanning 17 Williams batters in a game he lost. It is rumored that Columbia coach Andy Coakley, a former major leaguer, was paid $500 by the Yankees to convince the youngster to sign with the Yankees. By the way, although Gehrig did hit some prodigious shots at Columbia, he never hit one through a window in the athletic office in Low Library, as depicted in The Pride of the Yankees - nobody could. It was in 1927, when he was moved to the cleanup spot and had Bob Meusel protecting him in the order that became known as Murderer's Row, that Gehrig put up big numbers for the first time. He won the MVP award (then given by the league and not awarded to repeat winners) and led the AL with 175 RBI, 52 doubles, and 447 total bases. He finished behind Ruth with 47 HR, 149 runs, a .765 slugging average, and 109 walks. His .373 batting average also ranked second. Ruth and Gehrig carried the Yankees, but there were some years when they just weren't enough. Connie Mack's Athletics won three straight years, 1929-31, before the Yankees came back in 1932 for another World Championship. In the following seasons, it became clear that Ruth was fading. In their last year together, 1934, Gehrig won the Triple Crown with 49 HR, 165 RBI, and a .363 BA; in 1935 he dropped off to .329 with 30 HR and 119 RBI. He was also bothered more and more by lumbago; in 1934 he had suffered an attack on the field and had to be carried off. He was quite aware of his consecutive games streak, as were manager Joe McCarthy and the writers. The next day he was penciled in the lineup as the leadoff hitter, listed at shortstop. Hardly able to stand, he singled, and Red Rolfe pinch ran for him and finished the game at shortstop. He kept his string going through the years despite a broken thumb, a broken toe, back spasms, and lumbago, stoically, in fact proudly, playing through the pain. The arrival of Joe DiMaggio in 1936 made enough of a difference that Gehrig had his last two great seasons in 1936 and 1937 as the Yankees won World Championships. The Giants managed something no other team had done since 1926: they won a World Series game from the Yankees. But Gehrig homered in close contests in Games Three and Four. He was always a good World Series hitter, with 10 HR lifetime, including a record-setting four in the four-game 1928 WS. The Yankees repeated in 1938, but Gehrig dropped below .300 for the first time since his rookie season. In 1939 he was obviously enfeebled, and on May 2 he took himself out of the lineup. He was hitting just .143, and was quite clumsy afield. Many players were afraid he would injure himself, but nobody would suggest that he sit down, not even manager McCarthy. Gehrig had to take the initiative himself. He never played again, and although, in his capacity as team captain, he continued to carry the lineup card out every day, eventually even that proved more than he could handle. He was diagnosed as having a rare, almost unknown, and incurable disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, forever after known as Lou Gehrig's disease. It was not announced that he was doomed, although many suspected it and Gehrig knew. On July 4, 1939, Lou Gehrig Day was held at Yankee Stadium. It may be the most famous ceremony in baseball history, with Gehrig's assertion that "today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth" an unforgettable statement. The waiting period for the new Hall of Fame was waived, and he was admitted the year it opened, in 1939. He spent his last two years of life working for New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, and died on June 2, 1941.

George Herman "Babe" Ruth Born George Herman Ruth was born on February 6, 1895, in Baltimore, MD. Died August 16, 1948, New York, NY Batted: Left Threw: Left Nicknames The Bambino,The Sultan Of Swat Also known as "The Colossus of Clout," "The Wali of Wallop," "The Wazir of Wham," "The Maharajah of Mash," "The Rajah of Rap," "The Caliph of Clout," and "The Behemoth of Bust." Ruth was first called "Babe" by teammates on the Baltimore Orioles, because of his boyish face and his young age. "He was a circus, a play and a movie, all rolled into one," said teammate Lefty Gomez. "Kids adored him, Men idolized him. Women loved him. There was something about him that made him great." Babe Ruth was more than a great baseball player, he was an American hero who became a legend and an icon. Long after his last home run, his name has come to signify greatness and strength. Early in life it was not evident that George Herman "Babe" Ruth would be a slugger of legendary proportions. He was an awkward-looking young man from the streets of Baltimore, where he grew up in the care of his father, a saloon-kepper, and later in a boys home, after his parents gave up trying to keep him out of trouble. It was in the boys home that Ruth learned to harness his great energy and play the game of baseball. He signed with the mionor league Baltimore Orioles in 1912 and by 1914 he was in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox, as a pitcher. The Red Sox were the best team in the American League, and a perfect place for Ruth to learn to be a major leaguer. In 1916 he got his first chance to pitch in a World Series and made the most of his one appearance. After giving up a run in the first inning, he drove in the tying run himself, then held the Brooklyn Dodgers scoreless for the next eleven innings until his team could score the winning run. In the 1918 World Series he continued his pitching heroics, running his series record to 29 2/3 scoreless innings, a mark that stood for forty-three years. With the talented Sox, Ruth went 18-8 in 1915, 23-12 (with a league-leading 1.75 ERA and nine shutouts) in 1916, 24-13 (2.01 ERA) in 1917, and 13-7 in 1918. He was the winningest left-handed pitcher in baseball from 1915-1917. The Red Sox won the World Series in 1915, 1916 and 1918. Ruth's pitching mark was 89-46 with the Sox, but his booming bat was too loud to be heard only every four days. Red Sox manager Ed Barrow, at the suggestion of outfielder Harry Hooper, began playing the Babe in the outfield in-between his starts. In 1918, Ruth led the American League with 11 home runs, despite playing just 59 games as an outfielder. The next season he started just 15 games on the mound and led the loop in homers again, with an unheard of total of 29. He was gaining attention with his home run trot, rounding the bases with what one observer noted were tiny "debutante" ankles. In 1919, he played 130 games and was now an everyday player. He seemed poised to lead the Red Sox to the top of the league for years to come. But, despite Ruth's obvious value as a slugger, he was dealt to the New York Yankees prior to the 1920 season, in a deal that haunted Boston owner Harry Frazee for years to come. Over the next 15 years, Ruth would hit hundreds of homers while helping the Yankees to the World Series seven times. The Red Sox did not win another World Series title for 86 years. Crushed by his sale to the Yankees, Ruth was unsure of his future in New York. But his doubts failed to affect his performance in 1920. Ruth's 54 homers surpassed every other team in the majors except one. That same season, Ruth slugged an astonishing .847, a record that stood for more than 80 years. In 1920, the Yankees, coincidentally, became the first team to draw more than one million fans to a ballpark, more than double the attendance of any other club. As Yankee manager Miller Huggins said, "They all flock to see him," because the American fan "likes the fellow who carries the wallop." Jail Stripes to Pinstripes On the morning of June 8, 1921, Ruth was arrested for speeding in New York City. Sitting in jail while he arranged for his release, Ruth was allowed to change into his uniform in his cell. He arrived at Yankee Stadium in time to play in New York's 4-3 victory over Cleveland. Babe Ruth died of cancer at 8:01 p.m., August 16, 1948. He was only fifty-three years old. Over 100,000 fans paid their respects at Yankee Stadium, where he lay in rest. Grieving fathers held up their sons for a final look at the face of the greatest player in baseball history. Ruth's old teammates volunteered as pallbearers and the flag at Yankee Stadium flew at half-mast. Ruthian Feats Three home runs in a World Series game twice... The Babe hit 340 solo home runs, 252 two-run shots, and 98 three-run taters. He also slugged 16 Grand Slams... 51% of his homers came with a man or men on base... He hit 16 homers in extra-innings, 10 inside-the-park variety, and one as a pinch-hitter (in 1916 with the Red Sox)... 459 of his career regular season homers came against right-handed pitchers, or 64%. 219 times he blasted a circuit blow off a lefty... In six seasons with the Red Sox he hit 49 homers, 11 in Fenway Park, 38 on the road. With the Yankees in 15 seasons, he slugged 659 long blows, 334 at home, 325 on the road... Ruth hit at least one home run in 12 different ballparks... 72 times, Ruth slugged a pair of homers in a game, a major league record that still stands. He connected for three homers on May 21, 1930, with New York, and with the Braves on May 25, 1935, including the final homer of his career, off Pirate Guy Bush... His 686 home runs as an outfielder are the most by any player at any position. He hit 15 long balls as a pitcher... Collected RBI in 11 consecutive games in 1931... Stole home 10 times... Won two legs of the Triple Crown seven times (1919, 1920-1921, 1923-1924, 1926, 1928)... First player to hit three home runs in a single game in the AL and NL... 11 consecutive games with at least one extra-base hit (August 28 to September 8, 1921) the second longest streak in major league history... Holds the all-time single season record for most total bases (457 in 1921) and times reached base (375 in 1923)... Three times he had 4 extra-base hits in a game... Ruth had six five-hit games in his career... Scored five runs in a game twice... On April 20, 1926, he drove in eight runs, his career high... Collected more RBI than games played in six seasons. (1921-27-29-30-31-32).

Bill Dickey The premier catcher of the late 1930s and early 1940s, the lefthanded-hitting Dickey was the soul of the Yankee dynasty bridging the Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio eras as a player, and the Mickey Mantle era as a coach. He was a keen handler of pitchers, especially the erratic Lefty Gomez, as quiet as his roommate, Gehrig, consistent, setting a major league record for catching 100 or more games in 13 straight seasons, and never played another game at another position. He was the first Yankee to find out about Gehrig's illness and was the only active player to play himself in the Gary Cooper movie "Pride of the Yankees." The Yankees retired his number 8, but ironically Dickey didn't wear that number at the start or the end of his Yankee days. When Dickey first came up, Benny Bengough wore number eight. When he came back to coach, Yogi Berra was wearing it. Dickey's quiet demeanor off the field belied fiery behavior behind the plate. On July 4, 1932 he was suspended for 30 days and fined $1,000 for breaking the jaw of the Senators' Carl Reynolds with one punch, after a collision at home plate. In the 1934 All-Star Game, Dickey broke Carl Hubbell's strikeout string with a single. After six straight .300-plus seasons, Dickey dipped to .279 in 1935, but came back the next season with a fury. From 1936 to 1939, Dickey, who had never hit more than 14 homers in a season, belted 102 in four years. He had a career high of 29 in 1937, including grand slams on consecutive days, August 3 and 4. His batting average bloomed as well, with a career-high .362 in 1936, followed by a .332 mark in 1937. Dickey continued his batting onslaught in the second game of the 1936 World Series against the crosstown Giants when he hit a two-run homer and knocked in five runs. On July 26, 1939 he slammed three straight homers against the Browns in a 14-1 win. In the four-game World Series sweep that year against the Reds, Dickey slammed two homers and drove in five runs, including the winning run in the bottom of the ninth in Game One. Dickey also caught more World Series games than any catcher, 38. Both Dickey's average and power dropped drastically in 1940 and 1941, totaling only 16 homers in two years. In 1942, Dickey caught only 82 games, and only 85 in 1943, but drove in the only two runs with a homer in the fifth and final game of the World Series against the Cardinals, avenging the Yankees' loss the year before. At the end of the season, at age 36, Dickey enlisted in the Navy. He came back for a final go-round in 1946, but appeared in only 54 games. Midway through the season, he took over the managerial reins from Joe McCarthy, who had gone to manage the Red Sox. He guided the Yankees to a 57-48 mark, but resigned right after the season. He came back as a coach under Casey Stengel from 1947 to 1957, passing along his knowledge to Berra. He scouted for the Yankees in 1959 before retiring.

Eddie Collins Edward Trowbridge Collins, Sr. (May 2, 1887 – March 25, 1951), nicknamed "Cocky", was an American second baseman, manager and executive in Major League Baseball who played from 1906 to 1930 for the Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago White Sox. At the end of his career, he ranked second in major league history in career games (2,826), walks (1,499) and stolen bases (744), third in runs scored (1,821), fourth in hits (3,315) and at bats (9,949), sixth in on base percentage (.424), and eighth in total bases (4,268); he was also fourth in AL history in triples (187). He still holds the major league record of 512 career sacrifice hits, over 100 more than any other player. He was the first major leaguer in modern history to steal 80 bases in a season, and still shares the major league record of six steals in a game, which he accomplished twice in September 1912. He regularly batted over .320, retiring with a career average of .333. He also holds major league records for career games (2,650), assists (7,630) and total chances (14,591) at second base, and ranks second in putouts (6,526). Under the win shares statistical rating system created by baseball historian and analyst Bill James, Collins was the greatest second baseman of all time. Collins was part of the Athletics' so-called "$100,000 infield" (and the highest-paid of the quartet) which propelled the team to four American League (AL) pennants and three World Series titles between 1910 and 1914. He earned the league's Chalmers Award (early Most Valuable Player recognition) in 1914. In 1914, the newly formed Federal League disrupted Major League contract stability by luring away established stars from the AL and NL with inflated salaries. To retain Collins, Athletics manager Connie Mack offered his second baseman the longest guaranteed contract (five years) that had ever been offered to a player. Collins declined, and after the 1914 season Mack sold Collins to the White Sox for $50,000, the highest price ever paid for a player up to that point. The Sox paid Collins $15,000 for 1915, making him the third highest paid player in the league, behind Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker. In Chicago, Collins continued to post top-ten batting and stolen base numbers, and he helped the Sox capture pennants in 1917 and 1919. He was part of the notorious "Black Sox" team that threw the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds; Collins was not part of the conspiracy and played honestly (his low .226 batting average notwithstanding). He was the playing manager of the White Sox from August 1924 through the 1926 season, posting a record of 174-160 (.521). He then returned to the Athletics in 1927 and retired after the 1930 season. In 1931-1932, he served as a Philadelphia coach and, from 1933 through 1947, as the general manager for the Boston Red Sox. Collins finished his career with 1,300 runs batted in. Collins is still the only player in history to play for two teams in at least 12 seasons each. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.

1927 Continued Any conversation about the '27 Yankee ballclub starts with this man here. The Babe gets his second hit of the day, this one a double to death valley. Here's Yankee Stadium. In 1927 this ballpark was only five years old. White Sox third sacker Willie Kamm again. Kamm had a lifetime average of .281 and had 1,643 hits. He was regarded as one of the top third baseman of his day. Lou Gehrig makes the putout on a close play to nip this speedy Chicago runner. No coverage of this mod should go without a notice to this guy here. Simply put, he was one of the greatest Yankees ever. Here comes George Pipgras to close out this game in the '27 mod. The big difference between the first version of this mod and this one here is this version I won't be deleting as soon as the game was done. This mod has a permanent home on my system. Some videos from the 1927 mod. Babe Ruth hits a triple to center field. Lou Gehrig hits a sacrifice fly that proved to be the winning run in today's game.

Next up is a revisit of the 1927 mod. This will be a first in this thread by the way - another review of a mod that has been covered here previously. But you will soon see that there is a very good reason for it. The first version of the '27 mod didn't go over so well and I explained the reasons for it. But version 2.0 that was updated by Jim825 give this mod and entire new look and feel. The 1927 mod, version 2.0 can be downloaded right here. Among the number of improvements added to this version that the first one either lacked or did not contain at all are correct and accurate rosters as well as the 1927 season schedule. The uniforms are correct in this version as well as updated stadiums and player audio. And Trues contributed a overlay for this version that gives this mod a touch of class because this is a year that is very historical as well as sentimental for baseball fans to this very day. A list of all the improvements can be read on the download page. From audio to time period music to cyberfaces, this here is a major update and well worth having. So, let's check out version two of this mod and see what we got. Screenshots Here's part of Murderer's Row, lead by Lou Gehrig. The Yankees won 110 games that year. Again, the proper time period uniforms are available in this version. This was not here in the previous one. Here's Trues' 1927 Classic Overlay for this mod. If any of you have some time, check out how many overlays that he has in the download section. This one has to be in his top five because it fits so perfectly in this mod. The starting pitcher for Chicago today is Ted Lyons. Lyons had a 21 year career in baseball, all with the White Sox. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1955. The ball gets away briefly from the Sox catcher but Tony Lazzeri does not advance. Waite Hoyt records one of his strikeouts on the day. Bob Meusal singles off Willie Kamm's glove in the sixth inning and reaches first safely.

I think there is nothing wrong with this wallpaper. Heck, if I was a Rays fan this would be my desktop right now.

And when did I apologize? Because I didn't. Let's get this thread back on track.

I'm just trying to review a mod here and while doing that I was just looking at everything about this mod. I looked at what was in this mod and since some early reviews were posted before I did this, I looked at those too. If you can't deal with that then I blame you entirely. I'm not going to defend every word I say in here and have some joker accuse me of stirring up trouble. If it isn't you it will be someone else. It does get quite boring you know and maybe you should just quit while you are behind. Also, don't respond to this in this thread. This thread is about reviewing all Total Conversion mods that are available for download on the site. This isn't going to turn into a debate thread between you and I because this thread is not going to be taken off on a tangent like that.

1998 continued The Expos break up a double play. Wade Boggs drives home the Devil Rays' sixth run with this broken bat RBI single. Any chance of an Expo rally in this inning was thwarted when Fred McGriff made this unassisted double play. Here's Vladimir Guerrero of the Montreal Expos in his pre-bad back days. Fittingly, Miguel Cairo makes the last play of the game via this diving catch.

Next up in this thread is the 1998 season mod which was made by andy82. This mod can be downloaded right here. This is the first season mod that andy82 has made and by just taking a quick glance at the feedback in the support thread for this mod you can tell he did a great job. This mod delivers the look and feel of major league baseball just twelve short years ago. And by just spending some time in this mod you realize how much has changed in baseball over this short time span. For instance, many players have long since retired and one team (the Expos) are not even in existence anymore. About the only gripe I read about this mod from the support topic thread was from a Red Sox fan who complained about the choice of introduction video chosen for the mod. The Yankees, if you remember, were the best team that year as they won 114 games in the regular season and swept the World Series in four games over San Diego, thus justifying the choice of intro video for this mod. Ignoring this, you can see that this mod has been very well received. And the real issues with the mod (some cyberface questions and a small overlay mistake) can be easily fixed via a patch. Screenshots Welcome screen for Total Classics 1998. Andy82 did a very nice thing here as he credited the people who have in the past help with their talents in contributing to these season mods. It was a very nice touch to this mod. However he forgot one very, very important person here and that was Fuzzone. It was Fuzzone who created the very first Total Classics mod for Mvp Baseball 2004 and in the early editions of the Total Classics series, he was the one who was a huge part of it. But Fuzzone was very scarce around here by the time Andy showed up and therefore it is understandable that he was not familiar with Fuzzone's contributions. Also, homer813 and Homer are in fact one in the same person. When Homer first joined the site here he did not have the same screen name as he does now. Again, Andy would not know this. Wade Boggs of the Devil Rays. Boggs was winding up his long big league career with the expansion Tampa Bay team and will retire one year later. Olympic Stadium in Montreal. No more baseball is being played here these days. Even though the Expos were chosen for this game, Washington is still shown in the overlay. Kevin Stocker can not dance out of the way from this pitch and is hit. Miguel Cairo had a career day for the Devil Rays as he went 5 for 5 in Tampa's 6 - 1 win. Tampa catcher John Flaherty is caught in a rundown between second and third as he tried to stretch his hit into a triple.

Updated to 1-3 ...There is always a sense of relief when the holidays are over with. ...When midnight struck on January 1st the first thing I said after "Happy New Year" was "Spring Training starts next month." ...I also immediately thought of my little dog who I lost back in September. I'll never get over her. ...I don't make New Year's resolutions because I don't want to end up disappointing myself but if I had to be forced to do one, I'd get 100% better from this surgery I had. I'm not even close yet. ...Thank you so much to the little child who hacked the site on New Years. Now go play on the railroad tracks. ...Total Classics 1998 is now available and ready for download. Grab it and you won't be sorry you did. ...Any movie with Jackie Chan in it I will watch. ...While I'm at it, same goes for Tommy Lee Jones. ...I got 100 dollars worth of gift cards for Amazon.com and I don't know what to get. Now if I didn't have them I'd find some stuff I'd want. ...Sent back my new laptop I got for Christmas so they can fix the DVD drive. God knows when I will get it back. Wish me luck. ...By the way, this is not my own personal thread in here. Everyone's welcome here.

Next up is a book called Dawn of a Dynasty: The Incredible and Improbable Story of the 1947 New York Yankees and it was written by Frank Strauss. This book can be found on Amazon right here and they have new and used versions of this book for sale. There are a lot of books written about the Yankees and there are a lot that concentrate on one particular year of that team and this book captures perfectly the story of the 1947 Yankee team. If you listen to certain people on this website (and I will come out and say it here- they are Red Sox fans) they will have you believe that the Yankee teams of this era had it so easy that all they had to do was walk on the field and they had the game won. Just reading this book will show you that this lie that these people perpetuate on this site is as far from the truth as you can get. Going into the 1947 season the Yankees were predicted for nothing higher than a third place finish and the Red Sox were once again favored to win the pennant in the American League. But at the end of the '47 season it was the Red Sox who finished in third place, 14 games behind the pennant winning Yankees. The Yankees overcame a lot of injuries during this season to just about everyone on the team. Joe Dimaggio (the MVP of the AL that year) missed parts of the season with various injuries but still hit .315 for the ballclub. This book details the rookie year of Yogi Berra, Bobby Brown and pitcher Spec Shea. Notable things while reading this book was seeing once again how pitchers were treated back then. This was the day of no pitch counts and complete games. And it did not seem to me that these pitchers from this era were no worse for wear. Some other things that stood out (among other things) ...The Yankees played a game that season in one hour and thirty minutes. Try that today. ...The doubleheaders that this team had to play that year were a lot. ...The Yankees had an old timers day that year and it was scheduled for the final weekend of the season. It had a game against the Yankee Old Timers that were managed by Joe McCarthy against the American League Old Timers, managed by Connie Mack. ...The 1947 season was the first season that the World Series was televised, and three local stations in the New York area shared game coverage.

Updated to 12-27 ...All together now: "Thank God Christmas is over!!" ...My wife got me a nice new laptop with Windows 7 on it. Trouble is, it will not read any DVD data disks that I have and I have no idea why. It's always something, isn't it?? ...Of course, what I got her (some Amazon.com Kindle thing) works perfectly. ...Raise your hands if you were forced to go to the stores the day after Christmas to return things. Yeah, I had to. ...The main thing is I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you got everything you wanted and for those of you who are home this week (like me!) enjoy your time off! ...I would like to take the time here to thank the Washington Nationals for signing Jason Marquis. Rumor has it that the Yankees were maybe interested in signing this "pitcher". I mean why not? They've already made so many stupid moves this off season. What's one more? ...Which brings me to the King of the Off Season Stupid Moves. Javier Vazquez. I got to admit, it would have been funny if it happened to any other team. But when the Yankees re-acquired this loser I did everything but laugh out loud. ...I like that NFL Network because they had a great game on Christmas night. If any of you guys don't have that channel you should really look into it. ...One of the best endings to a movie that I ever saw was in Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith. In the last few minutes of that movie not one word was spoken because nothing needed to be said. It was George Lucas at his finest. ...Well, it didn't take long. After having a blu-ray player with our HDTV for less than a month now, I have become a blu-ray snob. All my future movie purchases will now have to be on blu-ray or else it will be no way. :)

This looks excellent Andy!

Here's some dogs decorating a Christmas tree and putting presents underneath it all by themselves.

Next up is a book called The Greatest Game: The Yankees, the Red Sox and the Playoff of '78 and it was written by Richard Bradley. The book can be viewed and purchased right here at Amazon.com. If this game was not the greatest game ever played, it sure has come close to it. A lot of us in here are very familiar with baseball history. We all know about Babe Ruth's called shot in 1932, Bobby Thomson's Shot Heard 'round the World against the Dodgers in 1951, Roger Maris' 61st home run in 1961, etc, etc. This game that was played in Boston on October 2nd, 1978 is right up there with those other famous games. What makes this '78 playoff game different for me as compared to the examples that I just gave you is that I saw this game on TV and I lived through the 1978 season. And by reading this book it brought me right back to that year and to that game. The author, Richard Bradley details every inning and every at-bat. But he did it in a way that let you know what the players were thinking during that point in time in the game. So, in the bottom of the ninth when Carl Yastrzemski came up with two outs facing Rich Gossage, you learned that all Yaz wanted to do was hit a ground ball between first and second. He was telling himself not to do too much against Gossage, just meet the ball. And you'll also find out why Gossage's last pitch of the game was also his best pitch. The book briefly covers the history of the two teams, but it mostly dwells on the '78 season and how both of these teams ended up in Fenway Park that day. You'll learn how the Red Sox looked unstoppable at the beginning of the year and how the Yankees were just happy to stay close despite all the injuries that they accumulated. You'll find out how people that were not even in Fenway Park that day had an influence on the game. Take Billy Martin for example. The Yankees talented but paranoid manager resigned in July and was replaced by Bob Lemon, who was a calming influence on the team. Many players said that if Martin was still there, there would not have been a one game playoff. Another guy who had a hand in this was Seattle pitcher Mike Parrott. You may have not heard of him but Red Sox right fielder Dwight Evans has. Evans was hit by a Parrott on the 29th of August behind his left ear that left him with a bad case of dizziness that left him practically useless for the month of September. His dizziness was so bad that he could not step off a curb without losing his balance. There's a lot of inside stories included in this book about all the players who either played in that game or who were on one of the two teams. Ron Guidry for example almost quit and went home to Louisiana back in 1976. Bucky Dent did not know who his parents were until later on in his life. This book was 257 pages long and the pages just flew for me. I highly recommend this.

This auto installer is a huge help!

Updated to 12-20 ...All I can say is thank God that it is only five days until Christmas. Then all these Christmas commercials and movies and TV specials will be put away for another year. My wife has been driving me nuts because she has been watching a Christmas movie every single day since Thanksgiving. ...Already next year's NL Championship has been handed to the Phillies because of the addition of Roy Halladay to the team. Do you think the games should be played first? ...If there was a Yankee fan on this site that said the same thing about the Yankees for next year, he'd be roasted by the Yankee haters in here something awful. I say this because this is the truth. ...One thing I am curious about this whole Halladay affair is where were the Mets in all this? ...And if anyone thinks Toronto made out in this they are delusional. The Blue Jays were offered horseshit for Halladay and they happily accepted whatever Philadelphia offered for the best pitcher in the American League. ...I'm really going to miss Hideki Matsui on the Yankees. And I don't know why he was not resigned for the DH spot. How is Nick Johnson better than Matsui? ...I'd rather have the Yankees sign Justin Duchscherer instead of Ben Sheets. With Nick Johnson already on the team we already have a clumsy ox who is going to get hurt in some stupid way next year and that is all Sheets is good for. Let him stay in Milwaukee. Those people over there wouldn't know a good pitcher if they tripped over one. ...Just when you think the Seattle Mariners are serious about improving their team for next year they go out and get Milton Bradley in a trade. How is this time going to be different for this idiot? No matter what team he is on he ends up causing problems. ...Thank you Dallas Cowboys for beating the Saints last night. Now all I am waiting for is for them to fall flat on their faces again in the playoffs. ...My pros and cons list of getting a PS3 are just about even. This is a tough decision for me. The main thing is I only want this console for one game (The Show) and really not anything else.

What is the difference between versions 1.0 and 1.1?

Can't believe this has not been sold. Then again, a price has not been given.

Updated to 12-13 ...Jim825 was right. When we got our HDTV hooked up with DirecTV this week, all we did was compare regular TV to the High Definition and it looks amazing. Looking at sports on this is like looking at it for the first time. I keep switching between the NFL Network and the MLB Network to see how good everything looks. It's a good thing that we got this hooked up last Tuesday (the 8th) before the snow got here or else we would have had to wait. ...I don't like watching many of the Christmas movies out there because they are so predictable, but I always enjoy watching A Christmas Carol or any version of that story. That was one of my favorite books. ...One of the first clues for Tiger Woods' wife about his messing around was when he bought her lingerie from Victoria's Secret was that he insisted on bringing home the girl that was modeling the items in the store. ...It doesn't matter that Woods is taking an "indefinite break." It's never going to be the same for him again. ...If the Red Sox do not re-sign Jason Bay it will be what Mr. Branch Rickey used to call "addition by subtraction." Meaning that getting rid of a player will make your team better. ...Thank you Milwaukee Brewers for signing Randy Wolf. Now someone sign Jason Marquis before the Yankees do something stupid and do it themselves. ...I'm still not sold on the Curtis Granderson trade but at least Granderson isn't 42 years old with a bad back like Randy Johnson was. ...Who the heck is Jamie Hoffmann? ...Offer Johnny Damon two years and if he and Boras don't like it, tell them to get lost. ...Peter Gammons is moving on to the MLB Network now. That will only make that Network better and believe me, they need it. With no-talent hacks like Harold Reynolds and Hazel Mae getting a lot of air time, it's good that a real pro will be added to the mix. ...I love watching NFL Films highlights especially the older ones with John Facenda doing the narrating. That guy had a golden voice.

Jim, how about if I do this for you. I'll grab some songs that I see on the newsgroup and listen to them and then I will zip them up and mail them to you so you can have the final say if they are to go into this mod?