Yankee4Life

Well, of course. You're in trouble if you start seeing things the way I do.

Updated to 4-5 ...It's opening day! Two games on the schedule today with the Dodgers at the Giants and tonight Atlanta visits the Champion Phillies starting at 8 pm on ESPN. Bad news- John Miller and Joe Morgan will be there and Joe will be sure to tell stories about his time with the Phils in the early 80's. ...That Morgan comment I just made really made me miss that website "Fire Joe Morgan." That was one of the funniest sites I've ever visited. I just loved when they made fun of Morgan because he always used the word consistent to describe just about everything. ...Tomorrow the rest of the openers start including the one that matters in Baltimore where the Yankees open up their season. Let's hope they get off to a good start. ...Having a sneak glimpse at the new Yankee ballpark left me very impressed. This is one beautiful Stadium and it's going to be a great place to watch a ball game. ...Even those people who live in that particular region in a certain part of the country who root for a certain team will certainly admit (certainly not out loud) that this is a beautiful ballpark. I'm certain of that. ...I got a big kick out of the Red Sox President/stuffed shirt/blowhard Larry Lucchino whining that they were worried that the Yankees were going to make a lot more money now that they have a new ballpark and the additional revenue that would bring in. He conveniently forgets to mention that the Red Sox, had they gone ahead and built a new ballpark like they were going to in the 1990's, would have already had a newer park way before the Yankees got theirs. But they never did this because they caved in to public crying and panic and decided to remain in Fenway Park. It's their fault. ...The result of such a decision? Renovations on the existing place. That's why the Monster Seats were put in above the Wall in left field for example and why additional work was done or is being planned. So if any whining about a new place for the Yankees is heard from by this team or their fans you can point out to them that they had their chance for their own park. You can re-paint a garbage can and make it look really nice but in the end it's still going to be a garbage can. ...Can't ignore Citi Field either. That one looks wonderful too and I hope Mets fans enjoy it. ...I don't make predictions. I'm too busy watching the Yankees to care what other teams do. I just want them to win. It's been a long time. ...For those complaining about a salary cap, like the guy two posts above me, what the hell for? I'm quite sure if this were your team you would not be crying about it. Now go away and go play 2k9.

Not really. That guy was a head case when he was playing. You got a good deal. Look at what Golf Galaxy is selling them for.

Updated to 3-29 ...Just watched my first movie on blu-ray last night. I could not believe the detail. There were some scenes where I was too busy looking around to watch what was going on. Im-press-ive! ...Can it be that Opening Day is a week away? Or I should say Opening Night, since there's no such thing as tradition anymore. ...Baseball in my opinion should start each year in Cincinnati with a day game. ...Maybe if Bud gets a little kickback, next year this can happen. ...I had a lot of fun playing those series of games in the Total Conversion thread a few days back. ...Derek Jeter hurt his pinkie in a game and it's big news. If Alex Rodriguez would have done the same thing they'd have said it was his fault and he was clumsy. ...I wonder who gets the center field job for the Yanks? After Melky's snooze job last year, should he get another chance? Glad I'm not deciding this. ...Like Thome said, you can always count on Fuzz popping up this time of year. Truth is, I wish he was here every day like he used to be. ...By the way, great job on your PS3 wallpapers Thome. I plan on saving the Yankee one you are going to make and I haven't even seen it yet. ...Did you ever notice that when you are in a hurry to get somewhere the person ahead of you that you can't get by seems to know this and drives even slower? ...Went to Barnes and Noble yesterday with the intent of using a gift card I got from Christmas. Wrong day to do it. It was packed and there was also a group of kids that were singing songs for some reason. They sang, I left. Maybe I'll just use the gift card online.

2008 continued Brandon Moss homers to right field off of Webb. Skipping past the first baseman for an error. Felipe Lopez is hit by a pitch. The Diamond backs rally. Ryan Doumit hits an opposite field single. Seventh inning stretch in the desert. Working a walk. This fly ball to Eric Byrnes ended the game for Arizona. That's it. I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did. It was fun looking at all these season mods again. Don't sell Mvp baseball short. It's still a great game.

Finally we come to the very last mod that will be featured in this thread, the 2008 Season and that can be downloaded right here. To install this mod correctly, you will need the latest version of the Total Installer Thingy or TiT for short to install this mod right. Some people have had problems with the smaller pitching meter that was put into this mod and Kraw has provided a fix for it in case you would like to have a bigger pitching meter for the 08 mod. I covered this mod in this thread last and I did this with a purpose. This mod shows how far this group of modders have come since we found out that EA lost their rights to produce another MVP baseball game. Because before there was Mvp Baseball 2008, we had the first season mod produced by the modders in MVP 06: MLB for the PC. That was their answer for the loss of the EA license and it was one of the hottest downloads during that time period. Before Mvp 06 came out, all we were doing back then was updating our original Mvp 05 game with the latest mods. Someone would make a new stadium, we'd put that one in the game and get rid of the bland and dull EA one. Hory would release team portraits like the machine he was and we'd import the new player photos in the game with EAgraph. Before long, each team was updated. When 06 was released, it gave this game a huge facelift and once we played the 06 mod, it left the EA version in the dust. After that, the 2007 season was released and that season can still be downloaded right here. MVP 07:MLB for the PC saw more improvements and updates from the 06 version. New uniforms, stadium and roster updates and more cyberfaces. It was another mod everyone had to have at the same time. It was like having a brand new game and the success of that mod made everyone wonder what was in store for the 2008 version. The 2008 version did not disappoint. It was released much later than originally said, but as Krawhitham told me last year "every time he was going to finish it up, there was something else to add in there." Fine by me. One thing you learn is not to rush modders because they take pride in their work, and the work on these three season mods by the combined efforts of many people in here and on Eamods was sensational. There's going to be an update for this 2008 season mod that will be released when it is ready. There will be updated uniforms and things like that. More information about this update can be found in this thread. The Diamondbacks turn a tough double play against Pittsburgh. Ian Snell of Pittsburgh. He got roughed up by Arizona but hung in there. Brandon Webb catches this in self defense. Close game so far. Justin Upton takes his hacks. This blooper to left field drove in a run. Getting greedy and it cost him. Adam Laroche collected two hits off Webb in this game.

WBC Caribe 2009 continued This bouncer up the middle eluded both middle infielders. Peng of Chinese Taipei legs out a triple. This bloop hit seemed to ignite the Taipei ballclub. This run scored via a groundout extends Taipei's lead. Taipei's bullpen shut down South Africa in the late innings. Throwing out a speedy South African hitter. This pitcher just barely tags the runner out as he tried to drag bunt his way on base. Chinese Taipei walks off with the victory.

Next up, the WBC Caribe 2009 mod which can be downloaded right here. This mod features the sixteen teams that were in the recently completed World Baseball Classic that was won by Japan. So if you want to try your luck playing against the very good Japanese team or lead them to the World Baseball Classic title yourself, this mod is for you. The modders who made Mvp Caribe 08 are the ones who created this mod. The current version for download is version 1.2. You do not need the previous versions of this mod to have this mod work correctly. While this is a Caribe team project, the Latin flavor is not present in this mod as it is in Caribe 08. You do have the opportunity to install the game and have the menus in Spanish, but this option is for the core users over at the Caribe website. The jukebox music chosen by the modders fits in perfectly here and the stadiums made for this mod are outstanding. Try playing a game in the Tokyo Dome and you will see exactly what I mean. Once again, as with the Caribe mod before, the love of the game of baseball is very clear by this talented group of Latino modders. Welcome to the World Baseball Classic mod by team Caribe. Chinese Taipei bunches a few hits together in the early innings for a quick lead. Just beating the throw gives the Taipei team a 1-0 lead. The professionally done look of the WBC mod. South Africa gets on the board with a homerun to right. This single gave South Africa the lead. The third baseman for South Africa had a strong arm. Here, he recovers quickly after temporarily bobbling the ball to throw out the Taipei runner.

Your comment has a lot to do with the making of this thread. I don't want to sound here like I am putting down 2k9 because I won't. My experience with 2k9 only has to do with the demo they released of the game and I could not get that to run well on my old computer. When I got this new computer I had every intention of purchasing 2k9 and trying it out after I installed the season mods for Mvp. For $19.99, why not? In fact, I even said I was going to do this when the game came out because of the low price. But then it seemed to me that day after day in here I would read about some new bug that someone found. And when you pile bug upon bug upon bug, you can't enjoy the game or really get involved in it because you know darn well something's going to happen to mess it up. That's what I've been reading. The complaints about this game have outnumbered the positive reviews by a wide margin. After awhile, I changed my mind and didn't care to buy the game anymore. For the people that do like this game, I hope that when a patch is released it will take care of ALL of the problems and not just some of them. To me that is what a patch should do. With that aside, it does sadden me too that Mvp 2009 will be the last update for this game, even if it is just going to just be a small upgrade from 08 with the updated cyberfaces and uniforms. If that is what they want to do, then I just have to accept it. It is my hope that there is a renewed interest in updating this game for the 2010 season the way that it was done for 06, 07 and 08. But that would have to depend on a few things like if there's a desire for it and an interest and also how much the 2k9 game improves after that patch is released. I think it would be very interesting to me to see how much of a hold 2k9 would have if the patch that they are working on doesn't satisfy everyone. At least we can be happy about them wanting to still continue the classic conversions for Mvp.

MVP Caribe 08 continued Going from first to third on a base hit. He got all of this one. Mendoza of the NavoJoa team pitched two good innings of relief. Perfect hit and run. Nice looking between innings overlay for the Caribe mod. Safe on the attempted pickoff. Even the umpires are distinct here as they are special Caribe umpires. This dropped ball by the second baseman allowed the Santurce team to stage a ninth inning rally. That's it. The NavoJoa manager has seen enough. From a 10-3 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, it's now 10-5. One more run scores to make it 10-6 as this Santurce batter drives it in with a triple. The game ended with NavoJoa winning by that score. more later on.

Next up is the MVP Caribe 08 mod which can be downloaded right here over at the MVP Caribe website. The latest version for this mod is version 1.1 and to download it you must register there. The Caribe team has successfully created a mod that fully captures the Latin flavor of baseball. They love their béisbol down there and it shows in every aspect of this game. The jukebox music, the in game music and the screens shots bring you right in the action of Caribe baseball. As soon as you start this mod you hear "Caribe! Caribe! Caribe!" and you will be drawn in. This mod features unique uniforms for all teams that you will not see in any other mod plus stadiums exclusive only to the Latin America game. It is a great mod and the people over at the Caribe website are always helpful and friendly when you have a question. Welcome to Mvp Caribe. This Navojoa hitter doubles to the left center field wall. The outfielder overruns the ball but no harm was done as the runner did not advance. This Santurce runner is caught in a rundown. Heading to his dugout after a home run. Going in hard at second. The Santurce runner advances to third after the Navojao third baseman's throw sails into right field. There was only one play on this well placed bunt and it was to first base as the runner advanced.

Where the hell is that and how did I miss it? :(

Total Classics, Best of the 70's and 80's continued Diving play by Rick Manning to prevent a Tiger hit. Manning was one of the few bright spots in the Indian lineup in the mid 1970's. Right through the legs of second baseman Duane Kuiper. Most people when recalling Mark Fidrych remember that he talked to the ball when he was pitching. They overlook one thing. This guy had a good mound presence and he had a great arm with an explosive fastball. He was a good pitcher. Tiger Stadium, former home of the Tigers. I like this one better than Comerica. Cleveland is where Dennis Eckersley started his Hall of Fame career. He remained with Cleveland until 1977 and was traded to Boston. Finally Oscar Gamble is out. He went 3 for 3 with 1 stolen base but Detroit still won 3-2. More tomorrow.

Next up, Total Classics, Best of the 70's and 80's which can be downloaded right here. This is the second "spin-off" as I like to call it of the Total Classics Phase 9 mod. While the previous mod Walk Through History focused on the early teams of the 20th century that were in TC9, this mod here features the teams from baseball's recent past. You don't have to be a baseball historian to play Total Classics or any of these other two mods, you just have to be a baseball fan. But I guarantee you, if you get curious enough and you want to learn more about Mark Fidrych (who is featured here in this game) you'll end up looking him up on the Internet and your baseball knowledge is going to grow. The Tigers stage an early rally against Cleveland in the first. Mark Fidrych of the Detroit Tigers. He was a one year wonder only because he got hurt in spring training the following year and never was the same. Oscar Gamble steals second. Gary Sutherland drives home Detroit's first run. Getting greedy and trying to stretch a hit isn't advisable when you are slow in the first place like Aurelio Rodriguez was. Rick Manning charges the ball in center. Detroit gets its second run of the game... ...as catcher Alan Ashby throws to second to try and get the lead runner who took too far of a turn.

Total Classics Walk Through History continued Gus Mancuso doubles down the right field line. Carl Hubbell on the mound working against the Reds. Mel Ott over runs the ball in right field for a two base error. JoJo Moore's diving play here saved two runs from scoring and it also ended the Reds threat in the 6th inning. Beautiful Crosley Field in Cincinnati. This was the Reds home until 1970. Reds pitcher Bucky Walters singles here. He had a tough outing as the Giants hit three home runs off of him. The Reds stage a rally in the ninth. Here, a single gets it started. Pinch hitting for Cincinnati, Vince Dimaggio. The Giant third baseman throws the ball into right field as the Reds load the bases with two out in the ninth. This error did not prove to be costly as the next batter popped up to end the game. More games later.

Next up, Total Classics Walk Through History and this mod can be downloaded right here. I describe this mod as a "spin-off" of the Total Classics Phase 9 mod. The teams are very similar in both mods, although this mod includes the 1933 Champion New York Giants, a team not in Total Classics 9. It's an historical perspective of the 20th century as evident of the interesting loading screens and time period music. Another fun mod to play. Example of one of the loading screens in Total Classics Walk Through History. Somehow the Reds runner was called out on this double play. Giants Blondy Ryan hits one off the glove of the Red firstbaseman but pitcher Bucky Walters backs up and makes the play. Ernie Lombardi hits a double. Lombardi was known as probably the slowest player in all of baseball. He never got any leg hits. Every hit he got, he earned. And that he did because he won two batting titles in his career. This guy is in no man's land at third base. JoJo Moore makes a leaping catch at the wall in left field. This ball is just off the glove of Hughie Critz and goes for a single. Mel Ott homers and Bucky Walters knows it's gone. Bill Terry, first baseman and manager of the Giants. He lead the team to the '33 series but the next year was knocked out as the Gashouse Gang Cardinals won it. His comment about the Brooklyn Dodgers at the beginning of the 1934 season "Is Brooklyn still in the league?" did not sit well with the Dodgers or their fans. Brooklyn got its revenge against Terry in late September of 1934 as they beat the Giants to eliminate them from the pennant.

Total Classics Phase 9 continued Satchel Paige strikes out a Chicago batter. Chicago ties the game for a second time. And Chicago takes the lead. Eddie Cicotte had a rough day, but so did Satchel Paige in this slugfest. The ball is not even at first base yet and already Cool Papa Bell is past the base. No way did this double play have a chance to be completed. The winning run by Chicago here in the ninth inning. The Crawfords rallied in the ninth but fell short. Here a failed squeeze ends their best chance to tie the game.

Total Classics Phase 9 Gold continued Joe Jackson makes this diving catch off of Cool Papa Bell to make sure he stays off the bases. Chicago's Eddie Collins singles. The great Shoeless Joe Jackson. Chicago ties the game off of Satchel Paige. Excellent arm extension. The result? A souvenir for a lucky fan. Satchel Paige hits a bloop double that lands in fair territory near the right field foul line. Another diving catch by Shoeless Joe to prevent a run from scoring.

Next, Total Classics Phase 9 Gold which can be downloaded right here. This is the ninth version of the popular Total Classics series and each time a new version is released, it makes the mod even better. And that is quite an accomplishment to do since this mod is great to begin with. But with each new version, more is put into this mod and it always leaves you wondering what else are they thinking of for the next version? Because no matter what it is, it's going to be a hit. Cool Papa Bell singles in the first inning off of Eddie Cicotte. Base hit to left field over the head of White Sox third baseman Buck Weaver. Josh Gibson doubles to right center field. The Pittsburgh Crawfords get on the board first. Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. You may also notice in the overlay that all the White Sox are assigned uniform #0. That's because in that time period no teams wore numbers on their backs. The Yankees were the first in the 1920's. Joe Jackson is too fast to be thrown out on an attempted double play. This ball gets past the Crawford first baseman for an error.

1994 continued Caminiti slides into third base with a triple. The Astros scored four runs in the final two innings and ended up winning by one run. Here, Ken Caminiti scores from third base. Astro outfielder James Mouton steals second base. Mouton was a prize prospect at that time but never panned out and was out of baseball by 2001. Montreal never gave up. Here Larry Walker scores on Moises Alou's double. And this is how the game abruptly ended for Montreal. A line drive to shortstop to double off Alou who was too far off the bag to get back.

1994 continued The Astros are pumped up as they take their first lead of the day. Ken Hill is hit in the chest by this hard hit ball but recovers in time to throw the batter out. He remained in the ball game. Ken Hill was 16-5 for the powerful Expo team in 1994. It was also his last year playing in Quebec. Darrin Fletcher gets into one. Ken Caminiti. A good hard nosed ballplayer who had more than his share of off field troubles.

Next up, the 1994 season which can be downloaded right here. The 1994 season was a huge disappointment for all of us who lived through that season but this mod created by Hory is the exact opposite. It shines in every aspect of the game. I believe that Hory said it took him about eighteen months to complete the mod and be satisfied to release it for download. All I can say is that it was worth the wait. In case this is not included in the 1994 season version 2.01 release, I'll provide links for additional files for this mod. I am only giving these links just in case any of you do not have the latest update for this mod. (Hory released this mod and soon after that released an update.) Here is the link for the 1994 version of Yankee Stadium and here is the link for the 1994 version of Comiskey Park. Lastly, here is a link for the batter walk up music, 1994 style. Ken Hill of Montreal covers first on this grounder and almost misses touching first base. He ended up recording the out. Craig Biggio hits a gapper that the Expos outfielders have to run down. The Astros barely get the force out at second base. Expo pitcher Ken Hill bunts and is safe at first because of a wide throw. Houston gets on the board as Steve Finley drives home a run as the throw to the plate is late to get the runner. Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Also notice the different font style that Hory decided to use here. I personally think it looks great. There goes Craig Biggio again with another extra base hit.

1951 continued Sphan picks off a Browns baserunner. Sherm Lollar of St. Louis got a hold of this one and hit it over the scoreboard. Throwing the ball back in to hold this Browns to a double. This was a perfect bunt that went right down the line. Star outfielder for the Braves, Sam Jethroe. He won the Rookie of the Year in 1950 for Boston. The Browns second baseman was in the middle of three double plays today and also played an errorless game. Here he goes far to his right to field a grounder and was able to throw out the runner by two steps. St. Louis wins. They only did that 52 times in the 1951 season.

Next up is the 1951 Season which can be downloaded right here. This is a very unique mod as compared to the rest of the season mods out there in that this is the only mod that we have at this time that features the original sixteen teams in major league baseball. I was very surprised when this mod came out because I made a thread over two years ago suggesting this season for Total Classics. After I heard nothing else about it, I quietly dropped it and went on my way. I thought to myself that creating a mod with only the 16 teams would not have been possible. I don't think anyone was as surprised and happy as I was when this was released. The Boston Braves turn a double play against the St. Louis Browns. Down on strikes. Warren Sphan was very effective against the Browns today. Braves Field in Boston. Boston's Bob Elliot singles to right field. Warren Sphan makes the play at first on this groundout. The Browns pitch out just to check if the Braves have a play on. Strong arm here on the Braves shortstop as he bobbled the ball briefly, but recovered to make the play.

1969 continued Seaver is dejected after giving up a homerun. Tommy Agee steals second base. Nate Colbert has to jump off the bag to catch this errant pickoff throw. Ollie Brown homers, San Diego begins to celebrate. Ron Swoboda of the '69 Miracle Mets. He was one of many heroes for the Mets in the World Series against Baltimore that year. More games tomorrow.