Yankee4Life

Updated to 8-29 ...It's August 29th and that's just sad. Another summer has zoomed by and already at night around here it is getting cooler. Another baseball season is about to go into the final home stretch. Why does time fly by so fast? ...I'll be home alone today because my wife is going to the New York State Fair in Solvay, NY (suburb of Syracuse) all day long with a girl she works with and the girl's mother. Did I want to go? No honey, you go and have a good time. I don't want to hold you back because of my knees and back. I want you to have a great time. I love you! Are you kidding? Do I want to go? So I can drive 90 miles to get there in a cramped little car? So I can walk around all day with a bunch of little five year olds running into you all day long? Yeah, let me grab my hat. I'll be right there! ...You all hear that the Phillies fans got themselves in the news again? This time it was an incident with Washington's Nyger Morgan where the drunken lot out there in the bleachers were making fun of him. Should this surprise anyone? These people are by far the worst fans in baseball just like they are the worst fans in football. Philadelphia fans deserve nothing but the back of everyone's hand. They are trash. ...Thank you Johnny Damon. And thank you Dan Johnson of Tampa even though I don't even know who the hell you are. ...Oakland quarterback Jason Campbell got injured last night in the Raiders 28-24 preseason loss to the 49ers. They said he got a "stinger." I'm not really sure what a stinger is and when I watched the replay of it, it looked to me that stinger meant that he got sacked really hard. ...For any of you who are New York State residents like myself, do you understand why we are getting new license plates that are going from white to dark yellow? If this state is complaining that they do not have money and they have to do cutbacks, etc, etc, why have this unnecessary expense? ...Ok Cincinnati Reds. There's a month to go in the season. You have a 4 game lead in the NL Central. You guys are my "pick to choke" team this year down the stretch. Come on now, don't disappoint me! ...Javier Vazquez is unhappy he is being passed over on his start today in Chicago and instead rookie Ivan Nova will be on the mound today for the pitching starved Yankees. Oh really? And like you deserve to be out there again Javy with the way you have been pitching? You are lucky that you can give the Yankees one productive inning. Damn I can't wait until you are off this team. ...ZERO. That's how much patience and faith I have left for this Yankee team. Zero is also the number of games A.J. Burnett has won for the Yankees in the month of August (0-4 with a 7.80 ERA.) How is that for a big money free agent pitcher? ...Say what you want about Boston GM Theo Epstein but at least this guy wasn't the one who signed Nick Johnson over the winter. ...Finally, some observant users around here may discover there are now two JoeRudi's running around here. Your eyes are not playing tricks on you because the second Joe Rudi is JoeRudi26's son, who just joined up yesterday. So say hello to him and make him feel welcome!

Never have I heard someone scream like this for such a stupid reason. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klCSyq0Ii14&feature=related

Updated to 8-22 ...I know it is only pre-season but I am loving this Raider team. I can't wait for the season to start up. ...George Carlin, the late, great comedian said it best. "If you are driving behind an old man wearing a hat you know you are going to go slow." And damned if that didn't happen to me twice last week. ...I sure wish someone would tell the Yankees that this year's Seattle team is way below .500 because when they play against them they make them look like the Mariner team that won 116 games in 2001. ...But this year the Yankees are making every team look good. They lack the spark and pitching depth. And laugh if you want because right now they still have the best record in baseball, but they are no lock for making the playoffs. ...And even if they do make the playoffs I see a first round exit. What do you expect when you have to throw out someone like AJ Burnett, who has been consistently bad all year and Javier Vazquez, who has been even worse. Again, I don't want to be doom and gloom here, but I just don't see how they can expect to win with this personnel. ...Look at Jeter for example. He looks like he aged five years over the off season and if the Yankees give him anything more than a three year contract when his current one runs out then they are insane. ...Hey did you see the Pirates signed a 16 year old pitcher? By the time the kid turns 18 they won't be able to afford him and they'll have to trade him. ...I would not be surprised if the Nationals shut down Stephen Strasburg for the rest of the season after an MRI on his forearm showed a strained flexor tendon. ...Being that I am one of the charter members of the Dennis James fan club I'd like to remind everyone that The Lord of Stadiums has released the 1970's versions of Dodger Stadium and Busch Stadium. And there's more coming. ...Haven't commented on Hazel Mae in a few weeks but that doesn't mean I've forgotten about her. The worst part of watching things on the MLB Network is when she happens to be on the air and pretends she knows baseball. Makes me wonder how she got her job. Put it this way...whomever hired her must have her put out three times a week to keep her job.

I ought to sue! That's me every time Jorge Posada comes up to bat.

Bobby Thomson Bobby Thomson hit what is perhaps the most famous home run in baseball history. His dramatic "shot heard 'round the world" on October 3, 1951, a three-run, ninth-inning homer off Brooklyn pitcher Ralph Branca, capped the Giants' historic comeback to win the NL pennant. Thomson also hit a sixth-inning homer off Branca in the opening game of the playoffs, which erased a 1-0 Dodger lead. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, the Staten Island Scot hit 24 or more homers six times in his seven full seasons with the Giants. A key to the 1951 pennant was Thomson's switch to third base, allowing Willie Mays to take over centerfield. Following the 1953 season, Thomson was sent to the Milwaukee Braves in a trade that brought future 20-game winner Johnny Antonelli to the Giants. Thomson broke his ankle in spring training with the Braves in 1954, and that injury kept Hank Aaron from being sent to the minors. Later that year, when Thomson was in the lineup, Aaron pinch ran for him and broke his ankle. A nice , likable guy, known as a good low-ball hitter, Thomson had a comeback season for the Cubs in 1958, when he hit 21 homers and collected 82 RBI while batting .283. In 1969, Thomson was named to the Giants' all-time outfield along with Mel Ott and Willie Mays.

Hey thanks a lot man. I love learning new things. That name just seemed a little odd to me and that's why I asked.

Updated to 8-16 ...Just thought I would start out this week's edition of Random Thoughts with a shameless plug for thespungo's satirical news blog that you can see for yourself right here. I don't know about you but it's impressive and it's funny. And spungo, you know what? You got a good point. What the hell ever happened to those Planters Cheez Balls? Those things were addictive. ...Alex Rodriguez hit three home runs in last night's game at Kansas City. That's great. Now maybe he'll wake up for the rest of the year and start hitting and hopefully Derek Jeter will decide to do the same thing. ...My God even Jorge Posada homered. Can you all imagine if this guy actually contributes for the rest of the year? Oh no. I'm getting too ahead of myself here. ...Frankie Rodriguez rejoined the Mets yesterday after being arrested for beating up his father-in-law. Damn I'd love to be a fly on the wall for Thanksgiving dinner at their house this year. Word is all dad-in-law said to KRod was "why the hell did you leave the Angels to go to a team like this?" Seems like a reasonable question to me. ...Wasn't online last night because I went to see my second and last baseball game of the year. The Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs were in town. I'd like a kind user out there to tell me what in the hell an Iron Pig is. It was a good game. Great weather, not too hot, plenty of action. Fireworks after the game (big deal) and there was an Elvis impersonator after the game because today (the 16th) is the 33rd anniversary of his death. I wonder who thinks of these promotions? ...Isn't it ironic though that the King of Rock and Roll and the man who was Baseball's Home run king (Babe Ruth) both died on the exact same day? ...Did I read this right? The Oakland Raiders won a preseason game? Get the hell out of here. ...This is just a personal observation so don't shoot me for it. But ever since 2k9 was released last year we have had a different breed of users join here than we had in the past. These people come in here and demand just about everything be done for them and get all offended when you don't jump when they say so. Doing actual work like searching for something is out of the question. Not every new user who has joined during this time is like this. Anyways, that's just how I see it so if you don't agree with it take it out on me and not the website. ...Five Arby's roast beef sandwiches for five dollars. Good deal. The dollar menu at Burger King and McDonalds. Good deal. Buy one get one free. Another good deal. And one of the best deals on the internet if you are a PC baseball gamer is right here on this website. For five dollars you can buy yourself a year's subscription on this site and download to your heart's content. For ten dollars you can do the same thing -but it doesn't expire after the year is done. In fact it never expires. How can you beat that deal? You can't. ...Do you really want to laugh? Go to youtube and type in this keyword golf course airhorn. The past few days I've been watching these videos and these guys are driving those golfers nuts by blowing the airhorn. They go crazy when they mess up their swing! :lol:

Mark I better plead the 5th here if you don't mind.

Oh yeah?? Why I ought to...wait I can't.

Hell yeah!

Wow is she hot. And the dumb SOB didn't even give her the ball. I also would have left the ballpark early with her to take her home to "apologize" to her...for the rest of the night.

Yeah, right. Tell me another. :)

I'm fine, and I hope you are too. I just googled it. I don't believe this! Funny stuff.

Updated to 8-8 ...Thank you to JoeRudi26 for bringing up this idea for a Mvp baseball 2011 and here is hoping this idea sprouts wings and takes off because we really need an update from Mvp 2008. ...And I will not go further in this week's edition of Random Thoughts if I did not thank Mr Jim825 for releasing his latest gem, the total conversion mod for the 1974 season which I will be very happy to provide the download link right here. ...I like when the Yankees play day games because that means guys like MarkB can get a decent night's sleep, provided of course if he ever slept. ...You are never too old to learn things and if you keep your eyes open you can learn something new every single day here and I have to thank the shoutbox crowd earlier this week for this eye opener that almost got me into serious trouble with my better half. Only because of a bad phone connection at her work (they have been installing a new phone system this week at her work and sometimes the connection is not that good.) I avoided some serious trouble because I called her up before she came home for lunch to ask her if she knew if anyone she worked with had a wizard's sleeve. How the God damn hell am I supposed to know what it really meant?? I swear before God himself that before that a wizard's sleeve was well, a wizard's sleeve. The work on those phones last week bailed me out because they thought I was talking about some Harry Potter stuff. So did I...until I googled it when I got off the phone. ...This is why when Mark and other people tell me to stay away from a website called 4Channels I do it. They make it sound like if I go there my eyes will melt. ...Hey, I don't want you to think that I don't know things on the Internet but the things that I know those guys already know so why should I bring them up if they already know them? In other words...ah hell let me change the subject here. ...I heard some talk from some Red Sox fans in here like SeanO that the season for the Red Sox is over for the year. And as much as I want that to be true I won't believe it until it is mathematically true. I've seen too many comebacks over the years. You think the Mets have forgotten that they blew a seven game lead with two weeks to play a few years back? That ballclub still has not recovered from that. Or look at what the Twins did last year. They came on like gangbusters in September. Yeah, that team has had a lot of injuries but I don't turn my back on anyone until the door is officially closed on them. ...Baseball is such a fascinating sport because you can never understand why certain things happen in baseball that really have no explanation. Like this: The Orioles, the team with a 36-74 record, who are 32 1/2 games out of first place as of this writing, swept the Los Angeles Angels recently in a three game series. This is the same Angels team that always pushes around the Yankees every year. Go figure. And if you do figure it out, get back to me. ...Poor Lance Berkman. He finally got a hold of one yesterday -even though it was in batting practice- and unfortunately hit Alex Rodriguez in the leg. Now if he had done the same thing and KO'ed AJ Burnett he would have got a standing ovation. ...It's strange seeing the Cincinnati Reds in first place this late in the season because usually around the beginning of August that team is making their plans for the winter. ...The Whiner of the week award goes to Joe Maddon, manager of the Rays. He cried this week because the a ball hit by a Twins player hit the catwalk and fell in fair territory, helping the Twins beat Tampa. Now, he is pushing for a rule change just in case the Rays make the playoffs. Of course, he was very very quiet when the same thing happened in April against the Yankees. But in that case it was the Rays who got the hit and not the other team.

Not a new video but it is funny as hell. Triumph the Wonder Dog interviews Star Wars nerds Part One http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugk37TvIR8E Part Two http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCtz4trJr_g&feature=related

1974 Continued Pinch running in late innings is reserve outfielder Rowland Office. Office did not score. Boog Powell hits a long foul off of Phil Niekro but ended up grounding out. Niekro's knuckler kept the Orioles off stride all game as he pitched seven innings of 6 hit ball and only gave up one run. He did not get the decision. Coming in to pitch for Baltimore, righthander Wayne Garland. Davey Johnson of the Braves. There were four future managers playing in this game today between the Braves and Orioles. Johnson, Dusty Baker and Johnny Oates from Atlanta and Don Baylor of the Orioles. Mark Belanger shows why he was one of the best shortstops of his era as he makes the long throw from shortstop. Well they could not keep him down forever. Hank Aaron was 0 for 4 before he stepped up to the plate in the 11th inning and then he promptly hit a two run double as the Braves held on to win 3 - 1. Bobby Grich grounds out second to first to end the game.

Another total conversion mod has been released by Jim825 and this one is the 1974 Total Conversion mod which can be downloaded on this website by following this link. It should be very obvious to everyone right now what Jim is doing here and if you still can't see it I will fill you in. Jim makes his season mods his way. He takes his time doing them and he covers everything that needs to be modded in a TC mod in his own unique way. Because he's made so many of these now I do imagine that the steps needed to complete this task is committed to his memory now and making this mod was a bit easier than working on the 1951 mod for example. Also, if you noticed, no announcement was made during the weeks and months it took him to finalize this 1974 mod. Basically there are two reasons for it. First of all, there are some of you out there that if you knew about this mod being made you would be bugging this guy for a release date and you would not let up. Dshibshm may be gone from this website but some of you still display his mannerisms. Secondly, the surprise of announcing a new mod like this is always nice for the creator of the mod because the people that really love and respect what Jim does here are always sure to let him know how much he is appreciated. And Jim, you really are. Thank you once again for giving us another huge reason to stick with Mvp baseball. Once again to avoid any problems please read the instructions Jim provides in his mod. Please have a fresh install (clean copy) of Mvp 05 and install this mod right over that. This mod captures the 1974 season and how baseball was in the early 1970's. The uniforms in this mod are extremely well done and getting into this game brought me back to players I have not thought of in many years, like Jim Mason for example, who was the Yankee shortstop that year. All you got to do is look at his three year stats for the Yankees from 1974 to 1976 and you will see why I haven't thought of him. The overlay for this game complements this mod perfectly. Nothing flashy or outrageous. It just provides you what you need to know and it doesn't take up too much of your screen. The ABC Sports logo really makes this overlay stand out. The jukebox music is taken from the CD of the greatest hits of 1974 and there is walkup music featuring the Jackson Five among other artists. The selections that Jim chose for his jukebox were very diversified and they did capture perfectly what America was listening to in 1974. Please trust me on this. Because I have a confession. While I did grow up in the 1970's I am of the firm belief that that decade produced some of the worst music I have ever heard. I believe I only bought two albums in the entire decade, Van Halen in 1978 and Van Halen II in 1979. So, when I first got into this 1974 mod and heard this music I said outloud to myself "Jim, you made the game sound exactly like 1974 was," which of course is what he had in mind all the time. If you are looking for another fun mod to play with familiar players on each and every team, this latest history lesson released by Jim825 disguised as a classic baseball season is the way to go. Video: Hank Aaron just misses his pitch and flies out to right field. Screenshots: Welcome to Total Classics 1974! Ralph Garr gives the Braves an early 1-0 lead via this sacrifice fly that scored Phil Niekro from third base. The Orioles got the bottom of their order coming up. Hank Aaron makes this spectacular running catch to rob Boog Powell that ended the fourth inning for the Orioles. Now it is second baseman Marty Perez's turn to flash the leather. Here he stretches out as far as he can to rob Brooks Robinson of an opposite field single. Aaron's at it again in left field. Rich Coggins has just singled and in his attempt to take the extra base is thrown out by a strong and accurate throw from Aaron in left field. Mike Cuellar pitched very well today as he struck out five Braves including Dusty Baker right here. Rich Coggins rounds third base in the sixth inning and scores on Bobby Grich's single that tied the game at 1 - 1.

I'll ask Trues. EDIT: PM sent to Trues about this.

Mark, I have read your "Big, Nasty, All-encompassing Faq List!" on more than one occasion and it is very helpful. Also the support forum is just as good. But when I jump in threads like this it makes me think that you just wasted your time making that FAQ list for some people because they don't read it anyways.

Well, here we are. A new month is here and it's time for another baseball game on the radio. This month we see the New York Giants visit the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. The date is August 31st, 1957 and this game was the middle game of the final three game series the Giants would ever play in Brooklyn. New York Giants vs Brooklyn Dodgers Retrosheet boxscore of the game. Batteries: For the visiting Giants, righthander Al Worthington and catcher Valmy Thomas. For the hometown Dodgers, righthander Sal Maglie and catcher Johnny Roseboro. Enjoy! Part One. Part Two. Part Three. Part Four. Part Five. Also, this month there is an added bonus. Here is the story of the 1967 Impossible Dream Boston Red Sox team. This is not a baseball game but it is a review of the 1967 Red Sox season narrarated by Ken Coleman that has a lot of highlights taken from the radio broadcasts. It's very well done. It is not that long to listen to because this was originally released on an LP record. In fact, here is the cover of the LP: And, here is the LP... 1967 Red Sox Impossible Dream Season.

Updated to 8-1 ...Well the trade deadline came and went and while the Yankees did make some moves they didn't make a blockbuster one that took a big bite out of the farm system. Which, of course, was very strange to see coming from them. ...Ok, I can understand getting Lance Berkman. We need someone to replace Nick Johnson who is having another one of his fine years on the injured list. And Austin Kearns, a right handed bat. But Kerry Wood? Why? He's 1-4 with a 6.30 ERA. Don't we have enough people on the staff already with numbers like his? Like Joba? ...Speaking of Joba, he must be ecstatic with the acquisition of Wood. Wood was the only pitcher doing worse than he was this year on the mound so maybe the fans will start getting off his back the next time he comes in to pitch because they know there is someone even worse than he is out in that pen. ...Nick Johnson's excited about the trade for Kerry Wood too. Wood's been on the disabled list 14 times in his career so now Johnson can honestly say there is someone even worse than him on the team. WOW!! What a trade. ...Poor Cub fans. Their team trades a decent lefthander in Ted Lilly and a good, hustling ballplayer in Ryan Theriot yesterday but they still have that statue out in left field and nut job out in the bullpen. You see Cubs, the idea when you make trades is to try to improve your ballclub and not make it worse. ...Let's hear it for the Pittsburgh Pirates because they actually held on to their most talented player in Andrew McCutcheon instead of trading him off for four Double A pitchers and cash. Good for them. ...Finally, what the hell are you thinking Atlanta Braves in trading for Kyle Farnsworth? Of all teams you have no excuse because Farnsworth actually played for you a few years ago. You should already know what you are getting. So when he blows a lead in August and September -and he will...don't look shocked. ...Anyone see what's going on down in Tampa this weekend? They are playing in front of sell out crowds. Don't let it fool you though. Rays management is letting people in for free. That's the only way they can pack the place. ...I have had it up to here visiting The Sporting News website because every time I click on an article to read it they have audio commercials on each page that pop up automatically to sell Lexus LS automobiles. ...Hey Derek Jeter. It's August now. Don't you think you should start hitting the damn ball? Just asking. ...Finally, R.I.P. to a great Oakland Raider, Jack Tatum. Tatum was one of the best defensive backs in the NFL back when you were actually allowed to tackle people without getting a penalty. Most people remember him for one sad incident in a pre-season game, but he was much more than that. He was a truly great player.

Chances are that this guy is not going to get a refund for his ticket. And I am all for it. And not because of his right to express himself or anything like that. He wore that jersey with one thing in mind -and that was to have people notice him wearing it and to provoke a reaction from them because he knows well enough that city is still smarting for the way Lebron James left town. The Indians management escorted him out of the building for two very important reasons: first off because they wanted to prevent a riot starting in left field that could have easily branched out to other parts of the ballpark. The safety of the fans involved in this incident and the ones not involved in this were at stake as well as the ballplayers. And secondly, they got that guy out of the ballpark for his own good before someone got brave and was able to administer bodily harm on this person. This guy got what he wanted and that was attention. I would have no doubt that somewhere on the Internet today is a blog update by that guy bragging about what he did.

You're amazing. You're quoting yourself here. You are the kind of guy who can start an argument in an empty room.

Ramble on as much as you want in here Jay. That's what this thread is for. Consider it a little sound off thread if you will. Come by any time you want. As for you being a Pirates fan, I admire your loyalty. It really is tested and for quite a long time.