Yankee4Life

Dennis it was my pleasure and I completely understand you not being here. Your family and son come first and I hope the little boy enjoyed the party you gave him. Just think, by this time next year you'll have taught him to make his very first uniform. That kid's got a future! 👏 😀

Oh good Lord. It is less than a week and I am back here writing in this thread. Trust me, I am not complaining because writing about the Total Classics mods is a true travail d'amour, a labor of love. The respect I have for the men who make these mods for us is something I can never put into words the way I really want to so I make sure I give them the thanks and admiration they deserve. And if I can give more attention to these mods with this little thread that I started ten years ago then I am happy to do so. I have watched Total Classics grow since the beginning when Boss Fuzz created it. The first mod he made can still be found in Total Classics Phase 10, the jewel of the Total Classics family. We've had a lot of people create these season mods including notables such as stecropper, Jim and Dennis James and now Kyleb. He has released two classic mods in the past, the 1995 and 1997 mods but this mod here, the 1948 season mod is the first one he has done out of the steroid era and from the look of this mod one can only hope he continues to make mods from this time period. The download page for this mod gives a very good summary of what happened in 1948. What is most remembered about that year is the one game playoff in Boston that decided the American League pennant. Ted Williams lead the league with a .369 average. I only bring this up because Stan Musial of the Cardinals hit .376 and won the National League MVP and he did all that virtually unrecognized for the entire season. This was the last year that both champions of each league challenged again for awhile. Cleveland won a pennant in 1954 while the Braves won their next one in Milwaukee in 1957. Both Chicago teams finished in last place so it must have been easy to get tickets that year on the north and south side. Now let's get into the mod. You install it just like you would any other classics mod. Have a clean copy of Mvp 2005 with no mods, no nothing installed on it. This clean copy should be the installation you get right out of the box. When that is done you install the mod over it and a minute or so later you have the 1948 mod. Everything in this mod takes you back seventy-one years. Crosley Field, Briggs Stadium, Griffith Stadium, they are all here and when you play a few games in these parks you almost get the feeling that watching baseball back then was a lot more fun. The background images and loading screens are very well done and look great. Before I play the game that I use as my featured game I like to explore the mod a bit to see what's what and the more I looked the more I liked this mod. The uniforms look like a Dennis James special. In other words they look great. Sharp, accurate and they look good. Now for the all important music. I've heard some of these songs in various movies that I've seen but I'm, not familiar with all of them of course. But I listened to all of them as I am accustomed to do when I review the mods and they all have that 1940's sound to it. As an added bonus the Legends of the Booth mod is included here just so you don't have to listen to Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper. In the exhibition game that I played I had the New York Giants traveling to Boston to play the Braves. Screenshots Welcome to Total Classics 1948! Middle innings here in Boston and the Giants are shutting out the Braves. By now the veterans of the Total Classic series of mods should be used to seeing this particular overlay. It looks good, doesn't get in the way and tells you only what you need to know. There are a lot of overlays in our download section but this one holds up to any of them. However, if I was given a say I would change the color of the teams and inning display to a lighter one that is easier to see.

Well damn, how do you like that?? Great job man. I think it is safe to guess that none of us has seen that before.

Well folks, they did it again. The undefeated team of Jim825 and DennisJames71 sprung another wonderful season mod on us and what can I say except that we are lucky to have two guys so involved and devoted to classic baseball for the Mvp 2005 game. Only these two guys could make this particular season fun to play and spend time in. If you've played any of their previous collaborations you'll understand what I mean immediately. The mod itself can be downloaded right here and when you arrive at that page you'll see a brief history of the season and the ever-important installation instructions. I knew this mod would eventually be made and when it did it would bring back the memories that I had on that early August day when I first heard the news that to this day still upsets me when I read or hear about it. That is when baseball took a back seat for the remainder of the year. When the 1979 season is mentioned Thurman Munson is always the first thing I think about. But even before the tragic death of the Yankee captain on August 2nd the Yankees were a lethargic team. There were no comebacks for them in store this year and that started with the late April fight between Cliff Johnson and Rich Gossage that caused him to miss twelve weeks of the season. Ron Guidry, all-world in 1978, volunteered to go to the bullpen to help the team until the intimidating reliever returned. That didn't even help because Baltimore was running on all cylinders all season long. Like the rest of the American League East the Yankees had no chance. The National League belonged to Willie Stargell as he led the Pirates with his bat (32 home runs and a .281 average) and the way he inspired his team. He introduced the giving away of small stars to other Pirate players that became known as Stargell Stars. These were given for game-winning hits, well pitched games, saves, good fielding plays, etc. Players would take a lot of pride with the amount of stars they had on their hats. It obviously worked since they won the World Series. Anyhow, those are some of my memories of the '79 season. At least it ended well with Earl Weaver's team losing in seven games. To install this mod is very simple and easy. Once again you need a clean (unmodded) copy of Mvp 2005 and you let the installer that Jim has included in the mod do all the work for you. It installs quickly and you will be up and running in no time. The stadiums here in this game bring back a lot of memories and are very well done. I've almost forgotten how many stadiums in the National League had artificial turf but play a few games in the senior circuit and you'll see what I mean. Dennis James made the uniforms for the game. Do I really need to say anything else besides that? If you don't know by now how skilled this man is when he makes a uniform then you either are brand new to this website or you have not played Mvp in a few years and have forgotten how good he is. Dennis has taken uniform making to an art form and I appreciate his work very much. The loading screens looked great and I liked that it showed the player's baseball card in the picture. The overlay was nice too. A simple looking overlay always works in the total classic mods and this one with ABC Sports fit perfectly. ABC did a hell of a job covering baseball. The music in the mod? Oh good Lord. Now I got to confess that I sent Jim and Dennis some songs from 1979 and Dennis already had some in mind but how can I explain this? The music from the 1970's was terrible. Hippie music at the start of the decade and disco music as the decade came to a close. So what Jim and Dennis did here was make songs from Sister Sledge and The Knack a big part of the sound of the game. It worked, it really did. I want to thank Jim and Dennis for making me appreciate 1980's music even more after I played a few games in this mod. The game I played was the Minnesota Twins visiting Baltimore. It was a very close game and Dennis Martinez and Jerry Koosman (a twenty game winner in '79) were locked in a pitching duel but like they did so often that year, the Orioles chipped away and won the game. Thank you Jim and Dennis once again for another wonderful total classics mod! Download TC '79 today! Screenshots Welcome to Total Classics 1979! We are scoreless in Baltimore with the heart of the Orioles order coming up. Another perfect classic overlay, this one of ABC television. They did an outstanding job broadcasting baseball during this time.

Mel Stottlemyre A baseball lifer, Mel Stottlemyre burst on the scene as a midseason call-up for the New York Yankees in 1964, helping the club win its fifth consecutive pennant and starting three games in the World Series. One of the most underrated and overlooked pitchers of his generation, Stottlemyre won 149 games and averaged 272 innings per season over a nine-year stretch (1965-1973) that corresponded with the nadir of Yankees history. Only Bob Gibson (166 victories), Gaylord Perry (161), Mickey Lolich (156), and Juan Marichal (155) won more during that period; only Perry tossed more innings, and only Gibson fired more shutouts (43) than Stottlemyre’s 38. Just 19 years old, the unheralded Stottlemyre began his professional baseball career splitting his time with the Class-D Harlan (Kentucky) Smokies in the Appalachian League and the Auburn (New York) Yankees in the New York-Penn League in 1961. A combined 9-4 record and 3.27 ERA in 99 innings earned him a promotion to Class-B Greensboro in 1962. Described by sportswriter Moses Crutchfield as the “hottest prospect” in the Carolina League, Stottlemyre relied on a fastball, slider, and sinker to post a 17-9 record with a stellar 2.50 ERA in a league leading 241 innings, including a stretch of 28⅔ scoreless frames early in the season. “His biggest asset,” wrote Crutchfield, “is his ability to keep the ball low.” That quality turned out to be Stottlemyre’s calling card to the big leagues. The Yankees brass was impressed with Stottlemyre’s unexpectedly quick progress. He was invited to participate in spring training in 1963 as a nonroster player and was subsequently assigned to the Triple-A Richmond Virginians (International League). The youngest player on the club, Stottlemyre struggled against seasoned competition, posting a 7-7 record and splitting his time between starts (16) and relief appearances (23). The Yankees, fresh off a 104-win season that ended in a drubbing by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, did not invite the 22-year-old to spring training in 1964. Stottlemyre began the season in the bullpen for Richmond, but the lanky righty scuttled those plans by tossing a shutout in a spot start on Memorial Day. He worked his way into the rotation and won 10 consecutive decisions, earning a berth on the league’s All-Star team. While Stottlemyre was leading the IL in wins (13), ERA (1.42), and shutouts (6), the Yankees were in a tense, three-way battle with the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox for the 1964 pennant. When longtime ace Whitey Ford went down with a hip injury in late July, New York called up Stottlemyre, who arrived on August 11. Stottlemyre’s debut on August 12 was “movie script stuff,” wrote New York sportswriter Til Ferdenzi. The rookie tossed a complete-game seven-hitter to defeat Chicago, 7-3. In what developed into a refrain heard over the next decade, hitters pummeled Stottlemyre’s sinker into the ground all afternoon. “He sure knows how to serve up those grounders,” said batterymate John Blanchard as the Yankees recorded 19 groundouts. Stottlemyre’s fairy tale continued throughout the regular season. On September 17 he recorded his seventh victory in nine starts to give the Yankees a psychological boost by pushing them into first place, tied with the Orioles and White Sox, for the first time in almost six weeks. Nine days later, he blanked the Washington Senators at Griffith Stadium on two hits (his first of seven career two-hitters) and tied a big-league record for pitchers by collecting five hits (four singles and a double). The Yankees’ most effective hurler, Stottlemyre finished the campaign with a 9-3 record and a team-best 2.06 ERA in 96 innings. Most importantly, Stottlemyre stabilized a shaky staff and helped the club win 34 of its final 52 games and capture its fifth consecutive AL pennant. Stottlemyre’s success is often attributed to his sinker, which Yankees coach Jim Hegan compared to that of his former batterymate with the Cleveland Indians, Hall of Famer Bob Lemon. They both threw the sinker overhand, whereas most throw it side-arm or three-quarters because of how difficult a pitch it is to control. Said Stottlemyre, “When [the wind] blows in, I may be a bit faster, but my ball straightens out. When the ball blows out, my ball sinks.” Cerebral and reflective, Stottlemyre also succeeded because of his ability to adjust over time. Around 1962 he took pitching coach Johnny Sain’s advice and began gripping the ball with the seams instead of across them in order to get a bigger break. This change made his fastball as effective as his sinker. “I created some movement with my delivery and the way I held the ball, but mostly it was just natural.” Often touted for his good control (2.7 walks per nine innings in his career), Stottlemyre himself admitted, “I couldn’t throw the ball straight if I wanted to.” People regularly praised Stottlemyre for his character, sportsmanship, and unassuming leadership. “He doesn’t moan when you don’t get him runs,” said Houk, “[or] when they kick ones behind him.” Quiet and self-effacing, Stottlemyre rarely sought the spotlight or chewed out his teammates. He was seen as “old school” before the term was common, an embodiment of Yankees style more reflective of the 1940s and 1950s than the mid- to late 1960s and early 1970s. “In the second-division days around the stadium,” wrote beat reporter Jim Ogle, “Stottlemyre is one Yankee who retains the old championship aura and class.” Stottlemyre’s outwardly quiet demeanor belied a passion and desire to succeed. Said one-time Yankees backup catcher Bob Schmidt, “He works like a machine, never showing his feelings. Inside he’s thinking and fighting and planning to win.” A quiet, unassuming player and a dedicated, well respected coach, Stottlemyre spent almost 50 years in Organized Baseball. He lived his final years in Washington state and died after a long battle with bone marrow cancer at the age of 77 on January 13, 2019, in Seattle.

Updated to 12-23 ...Well today's the 23rd and that means Christmas is almost over and not a moment too soon if you ask me. I am not someone who hates Christmas but I sure as hell don't embrace it anymore. Over time this holiday has somehow taken over the last two months of the year in preparation for the big day. And if by any chance that anyone needs a reminder that there are only two shopping days until Christmas each store and restaurant you go into until the 25th will be playing holiday music. You'll be so fed up with listening to favorites like Jingle Bells and Winter Wonderland even listening to the best of Taylor Swift would be a better option. Same for the Christmas movies. How many times can you watch the same ones over and over again? In my case I reached my limit five years ago. That was the last time I watched White Christmas and I don't miss it one bit. It snows at the end and Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby get back together. Sorry if I spoiled it for the remaining three people in the world who haven't seen it yet. Christmas for me is all about family and friends and not about a Walmart special. It's not going to be a good one for me because this will be the first one for me without my mother. It's going to take me quite some time to get that Christmas spirit back again but every so often I can still feel it inside me. I just wish she was still here. ...Ramsey Bearse, the former Miss Kentucky pageant winner in 2014 was recently arrested and charged with sending nude photographs of herself to a fifteen-year-old boy who happened to be a former student of hers when she was teaching at a Charleston, West Virginia middle school. She admitted sending four topless photos of herself via Snapchat to him from August to October of this year. The boy's parents found the photos on his phone and told police about them last week. Now as soon as I found out how the parents found these pictures I had a good idea what went down. This kid gets a set of topless pictures dropped in his lap from one of the hottest teachers he is ever going to hope to have for his entire school career and he couldn't keep his mouth shut about it. Chances are he told one or two kids who were jealous of his good luck and they told their parents until word got back to his folks who then found the pictures on his phone. Bearse was charged with four counts of distributing obscene materials to a minor, which is a felony. If I were her I would object to the word "obscene" because one look at her in a swimsuit will prove to anyone that there is absolutely nothing offensive with this woman's body. Trust me, I looked. 😉 ...That SOB Manny Machado let everyone know that he is not going to make his decision on where he wants to play until the new year arrives. This means for the entire Christmas week it will be in the back of mind that he could be a Yankee next year. I just hoped that the meeting that the Yankees had with him did not go well and that there was something, however small that it was, that will influence the Yankees not to sign him. I just keep going back to what the Orioles have said and not said about him. Above anyone else Baltimore should know best on what kind of person Machado is. However noteworthy his talent is on the field off the field he seems to be the complete opposite. I feel that the Yankees have a good chemistry right now and their future will be even better without someone like Machado. Sure he'll win some games but at what cost? Didi Gregorius will be back sooner than we realize. So let Machado make a big announcement after the new year. I think he will look wonderful in a Phillie or White Sox uniform. ...Now for the other selfish SOB who has been rumored to be going to the Yankees just because they are the Yankees. Even though the Yankees have enough outfielders; in fact they have so many that one of them didn't play at all last year and he wasn't even missed. Despite that Bryce Harper has been rumored to be going to New York to play first base notwithstanding that he has only played one game at first during his entire seven year career. Whomever came up with that little scenario should next time be sure to sleep it off before coming up with something like this. Harper is another guy that I have never heard say he was a good teammate. It's easy to see his talent out on the ball field. Even his fiercest detractors will grudgingly admit that. But like Machado he gives off the feeling of aloofness that many fans do not like. But thanks to the Dodgers and the Reds the "you never knows" about Harper going to the Yankees may finally have been put to rest due to that seven-player deal two days ago. The Dodgers traded Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig and two others to the Reds for Homer Bailey and some prospects. Bailey will take his 1 - 14 record and a 6.09 ERA to the west coast where his goal will be to win at least five games. Kemp and Puig are talented but could be used as trade chips by the Reds to get younger and cheaper players. Besides, Puig would never fit in in Cincinnati. As a Dodger he can lick his bat all he wants because no one cared. In Cincinnati they expect you to act professionally which is something Puig has never done since he joined the Dodgers back in 2013. ...I have not missed one episode of the reboot edition of Magnum, P.I. that started back in September. I like this one as much as the Tom Selleck version as I saw all those shows during the eight years they were on. It also doesn't hurt that the show is filmed on location in Hawaii because if there is any place in the world that is meant to be seen on an HDTV it's Hawaii. While the new show is faithful to the original there is one very big difference. On the first one the role of Higgins was played by a man, English aristocrat Jonathan Higgins. In the reboot Higgins is still English but then things take a big turn. It's Juliet Higgins now instead of Jonathan as the role has been taken over by a woman (Perdita Weeks) and she is just as resourceful and perceptive as John Hillerman was in the part. It's not a bad show and I hope it stays on for a few years. The big difference for me occurred in the first few minutes of the pilot episode when I first laid eyes on the new Higgins. This Higgins was hot, and if I would have said this when the 80's show was on people would've looked at me like I was nuts. ...Is there any woman that Cubs shortstop Addison Russell has been with that he hasn't beat up? If he doesn't watch out he will out of a job and probably out of the league too. His one saving grace could be in Boston where players like him are appreciated by the fans because their actions mirror themselves. ...I don't think I have seen anyone more resolved and relieved to be going to prison than Michael Cohen. And he's going away for three years! When prison life is more appealing than working for that guy that is really saying something. I don't feel sorry for the guy at all since he put the gun in his hand, so to speak, but I got to admire the way he came clean. ...I read a lot of funny comments about my blood pressure during the baseball season because of my lack of patience towards the Yankees when they do something stupid, which for them begins on the first day of spring training. The truth is my blood pressure holds up pretty well despite the workout that you all seem to think I give it for six months. Baseball is a wonderful game that draws you in each spring and holds on to you until the last out in the World Series is made. That's what it does to me because I pay more attention to this sport then all the others combined. At the same time I welcome the break because while I still enjoy spending time watching it like I always have I don't love it as much as I had in the past. I blame it on rule changes and FOX. Those two combined make it painless for me each winter to take a break and walk away from baseball and what gets me really worried is this is getting easier and easier for me to do. Pretty soon after they add more teams and extend the season and post season I won't recognize one name on the Yankee roster. That is of course if I bother to look. ...Laugh instead of crying, Dept: Its been another dispiriting season if you are a fan of the Oakland Raiders. People sometimes laugh when I tell them I am an Oakland fan because most of the ones who do the laughing were not even born when the Raiders were the class of the NFL. These days I have to settle with the rare win that they get on Sundays and rejoicing in the failures of teams that I can't stand. So far this year there's been two games whose endings were so shocking mainly because they both ended up in last-second defeats for two teams that in my opinion have been overrated for years. The first one I am talking about was when the San Diego Chargers made that two point conversion with four seconds remaining in the game at Kansas City to beat the Chiefs. What a fearless call that was especially in Arrowhead where all the calls go the Chiefs way. Those farmers were so mad at the end of that game that they were shooting at street signs and knocking over mailboxes until the early hours of the morning. The next game was down in Miami where the Dolphins executed a perfect double lateral sixty-nine-yard touchdown with no time remaining to beat the New England Patriots 34 - 33. Any time a Boston team loses is cause for a celebration for me but this one was special. It was just as good as the catch David Tyree made against them in Super Bowl XLII. That catch and Plaxico Burress’ wide open thirteen-yard touchdown reception that won the game for the Giants compare to what Miami did to the darlings of the NFL back on December 9th. I realize these are just minor victories for me to appreciate and it is no substitute for a Raider season to be proud of but I'll take what I can get, especially when with tomorrow's Monday Night game against Denver it could be the last time the Raiders play in Oakland, which is a tragedy in itself. ...Before I sign off for another year I want to wish everyone here at this wonderful website a very Merry Christmas. I think we had another good year and a lot of mods were released for two games that have been out of circulation for a while now. It's the credit to our modders that if you want to buy Mvp '05 or MLB 2k12 you are going to have to pay a lot for it from eBay or Amazon. I hope you all have a relaxing Christmas with your family and friends and that you are where you want to be. A great many of our service people are all over the world and won't be able to make it home so if any of you know of someone who is in the armed forces let's salute their service and appreciate what they do for us all. Christmas, and I mean the real Christmas, is not a gift you can order online or pick up at a store. The real Christmas is still something that the commercialization of it that we see all around us can not touch. That is what I wish for you and your families. Merry Christmas and also have a safe and healthy 2019.

You posted in a four-year-old thread. Even though you are from Germany you should have noticed that the previous post from yours was from 2014. Many of the people who have posted in this thread are no longer here. However, if you read the first page of this thread KC has a remedy for this. Search the forums.

Updated to 11-18 ...For those of you who have thought I have been bemoaning the Yankees loss in the A.L.D.S. last month you must not have been reading my shoutbox posts since the start of Opening Day. There wasn't one day that I was sold on this team. Sure, they had that hot streak in May but that ended and so did the last time they played consistently for the rest of the 2018 campaign. When other people saw nothing but all those home runs I saw weak starting pitching, inconsistent hitting with runners on base along with too many strikeouts game in and game out. It's like the entire team didn't know what the hit-and-run play was about. All they knew was the hit a homer and trot play and when that didn't happen that's when the strikeouts became a problem. The Yankees struck out 1,421 times. Only the White Sox and Rangers were worse. Giancarlo Stanton struck out 211 times all by himself. Just knowing that the Yankees have this guy under contract for the next nine seasons should cause a sleepless night or two during the off-season for their fans especially with rumors that Manny Machado may or may not be Bronx-bound. Pitching should be the main focus from now until pitchers and catchers report in February. The Yankees employ enough people that spend most of their time striking out and they don't need Machado to make one more. At the end of the end of the 2000 season Baltimore's Mike Mussina and Cleveland's Manny Ramirez were free agents. The Yankees knew Ramirez could hit but they went after pitching because they felt in the long run it would make them a stronger team. They need to do the same thing this off-season. You stay, you go and get lost Dept: It didn't take long for the Yankees to make their first questionable move as the Hot Stove League season approaches. Before the calendar turned into November they brought back outfielder Brett Gardner on a one-year deal. Gardner's a guy who plays well up until the middle of July and as soon as the All-Star game is done it's like his bats immediately stop working until spring training the following year. Now if I had my way (and I don't and I am not going to pretend that I do) I would have bought out his contract and told him to scram. Same goes for C.C. Sabathia. The Yankees brought him back too so maybe after these two klunkers they'll stop resigning guys that were past their prime six years ago. I'd get rid of Gary Sanchez too but who the hell is going to take him? Sanchez is the typical Yankee prospect who is full of hype and unlimited potential until you let him play and you see for yourself that he's not the second coming of Yogi Berra but rather Yogi Bear. I would keep Greg Bird around another year just out of curiosity. I'd like to see what injury he can come up with next to keep him out for two months. I liked Jacoby Ellsbury but if the Red Sox had the sense to release Hanley Ramirez back in May then the Yankees can do the same with Ellsbury. The other guys on the team I can see keeping around but who knows who is going to be used as trade bait? Pitching should be the first concern for them. If they don't get the pitching before Opening Day next year I can only see them having more of the same kind of year they had this season. 100 wins was good but it didn't measure up to a Boston team that had career years out of everyone including the ushers. They are already going into 2019 worse than they did this year because Didi Gregorius will be out half the year and his glove and bat will be missed. ...One thing I forgot to mention in the last random thoughts I posted in here was something that I kept on noticing when Masahiro Tanaka is on the mound and Gary Sanchez is catching him. Have you seen these two guys be interviewed by the press? Both of them have to have interpreters next to them to translate but when Sanchez goes out to the mound to talk to Tanaka they both have no problem understanding each other. I am sure that they can understand some English words like "fastball" "curve" or "passed ball" but Sanchez is yapping away at Tanaka and he seems to discern every word. Just something I was wondering. ...The only thing I am going to miss about Mike Scioscia retiring is the confused look he has on his face when he throws his hands in the air after a call goes against the Angels. Other than that, no. ...Thanks to Boston being there and having the games on FOX I did not watch a lot of the World Series. I just couldn't take long periods of Joe Buck praising the Red Sox for everything they did. I don't know if he is intentionally annoying or that it just comes natural to him. Either way he's Joe Buck and as long as he and FOX are around October baseball will be hard to watch. ...Oh, and did you happen to catch the new thing that they did during the series? As the catcher threw the ball back to the pitcher they showed a commercial while at the same time allowing us to keep our eyes on the game. They did the same thing when a batter was walking up to the plate for his turn at bat. Instead of these people trying to somehow improve the telecasts of the games they had the idea to add more commercials. ...I don't know who the Red Sox fan was that hit Alex Cora with a beer can when the team had their victory parade but whoever it was I wish they had a better aim and would have hit him right in the head. ...Doesn't it seem that the Christmas season gets longer and longer every year? To me it does especially back on November 2nd when I saw a lady wear a red Santa hat when I was driving home. ...Gravity always wins, Dept. An Indian couple who lived here in the United States fell to their deaths recently in California's Yosemite National Park when they were trying to take a selfie. Their family said that the couple was known for taking risks when they took photos from dangerous locations. The couple fell almost 800 feet in an area surrounded by steep terrain and rescuers had to use a helicopter to recover the bodies. Their phones were also found near the area where they fell and after a quick inspection were given the last rites also. This is not the first time this year that an accident like this happened at Yosemite. Not too long ago an eighteen-year-old kid from Israel was hiking in the park and decided to take a break because he had the bright idea of taking a selfie at the edge of Nevada Fall, a place that has an 820 foot drop, which was 819 more than this kid bargained for. There are signs all over the park that tell visitors to watch their step. They're not to be taken as suggestions. They should be taken as serious as a sign that tells you to not walk on train tracks or not to drive the wrong way on a one way street. One thing is for sure though. These three people are not going to make the same mistake twice. ...The happiest people in the world have to be Ariana Grande's parents after she told them that she would not be marrying Pete Davidson. Watching those two has been like watching a couple of high school freshman. I've had head colds that lasted longer then those two were together. ...A little boy from Arizona was going to be turning six years old and his parents invited his entire class to a pizza party to celebrate. As it turned out only he, his mother and father and a waitress bothered to show up. His mother took the opportunity to take a picture of him sitting alone at a table with a sad look on his face and then she promptly posted it to Facebook so everyone could see what took place. And they did. This story got a lot of attention and soon people from all over the world were sending this boy gifts to help cheer him up. Now the mother is saying that she wishes she had never shared the picture and in no way wanted all the attention it received or the gifts that were sent to her son. Wait a second. Now she didn't want the attention? Then who gave the media her address to send the things to? I am sure that Good Morning America and the Today Show had to have her blessing to give out their address on the air. Good going Mom! At the expense of your young son you got your fifteen minutes of fame. ...Of all the things that I did not need to happen to me, having additional knee pain would be near the top of the list but, like having to sit next to a person on a plane that insists on telling you their life story, sometimes your luck is so bad you can't figure out what you did to deserve it. It all started with a pile of leaves that the wind blows up to my garage and for the past week or so I have been looking at it as it sat by the mailbox waiting patiently for me to pick them up. I took the bait on Monday and twenty minutes later I had them bagged up and thrown away. After patting myself on the back for five whole minutes I discovered that there was something seriously wrong with my left knee. Laying down for a few hours did not help and it didn't get any better the next day or as the week went on. The longer I have had this pain the more terrified I have been. I've had knee surgeries before and I have another one scheduled in February on my right knee but this pain is something I've never experienced. I am not walking but I am rather limping along holding on to chairs or walls or tables just so I can get from one place to the other in my home. I never appreciated the gift of walking without pain until the right one started acting up and now with this one I am afraid I am not going to be able to ever again. I called on Friday to try to see my knee doctor but I won't be able to get in until November 28th. I ended up going to an Urgent Care place and I did get urgent care since I was the only one there. X-rays were taken and it showed that I have a left knee strain and a knee effusion, whatever that is. My hope is that it heals up and I don't need surgery. I already have one of those on my calendar and I don't need another. ...The story of actor Geoffrey Owens is a rare as far as social media is concerned. Usually when an actor or well-known person finds him or herself displayed on celebrity websites without their knowledge or consent it is because they did something that they shouldn't have done and usually it's pretty embarrassing. Owens was on the Cosby Show in the 1980's but when that show ended he was not receiving steady work. Which in turn brings him to a few short months ago. To make ends meet for his family he took a job at Trader Joe's, a national grocery store chain. It helped pay the bills as he continued to get some acting jobs on the side. And that is how it was for him until one day a woman came into the store and saw Owens bagging groceries and snuck a picture of him as she was cashing out. She said later on that she used to watch Cosby when she was younger and she looked up to him when he was on the show. It's a good thing she thought so highly of him because if she hadn't there would have been no telling what she would have done. Her excuse for doing this was that "everybody does it." Quite a thing to say for someone who is fifty-years-old and should know better. If this woman has kids all I can say is God help them. Or us. This woman was denounced on social media, the same place she wanted the attention of being the one who took his photo. She began to get hate mail to her own social media accounts from both normal people and celebrities, accusing her of “job shaming.” As for Owens things took a turn for the better. Acting gigs have become more steady now. Recently he did a guest spot on NCIS and is finishing up working on two movies. I have nothing but respect for a man who doesn't think himself above any job. Working at that grocery store just showed that he has his priorities straight. As for that woman, maybe next time she'll think twice about taking someone's picture because the only one she made look bad was herself. ...Every time it's time for me to think about the Thanksgiving football games on TV I am always reminded about a guy I used to work with. His wife would not let him watch any game all day long. And he never said a word year after year. I don't know if they are still married but if they aren't I don't blame him. Anyway, for the rest of us who are allowed to look at the TV here is the schedule for Thursday the 22nd. The first game is the Chicago Bears at the Detroit Lions. The NFL should give their fans a gift next year by removing the Lions from the Thanksgiving schedule until they become serious contenders in the NFC North, something that won't happen until at least 2026. The next one is in Dallas as the Cowboys host the Washington Redskins. This one is going to be on FOX and while this game sounds good because it brings back memories of some classic games between these two teams don't be fooled. The Redskins are the only team in the division with a winning record and they are to put it mildly, a mediocre team. The Cowboys at 4 - 5 still can go on a run but they don't have it in them. Finally the evening game will be the Atlanta Falcons visiting the New Orleans Saints. It's going to be on NBC and they are going to be taking a financial bath on this one because no one outside of those two states will be paying any attention five minutes into it. Football on Thanksgiving is a great way to pass the time or take a nap. It sure beats watching Christmas movies on Hallmark. ...As I close I would like to wish everyone here at Mvpmods a very happy Thanksgiving. And that goes for everyone around the world even if you don't celebrate it yourself. Wherever Trues is I wish him and his family a wonderful day and also to the rest of the staff here. And I have a request to the people who have kidnapped KcCityStar. Just let him go so he can come back here. Have a good holiday and a good weekend everyone. Take care!

Mike Schmidt Mike Schmidt was a second-round pick out of Ohio University in 1971, one pick after George Brett was selected by the Royals. Signed by legendary Phillies scout Tony Lucadello, Schmidt didn’t spend long in the minors, making his major league debut on Sept. 12, 1972. Because of that, he took some lumps as a rookie in 1973, hitting just .196/.324/.373. But Schmidt turned things around in a hurry—making the All-Star team in 1974 and never looking back. Schmidt was a 12-time all-star during his career. Home runs were Schmidt’s calling card at the plate. He led the National League in homers eight times during his career and his 48 home runs in 1980 set the Major League record for a third baseman, which he held for 27 years until Alex Rodriguez broke it. On April 18, 1987, Schmidt became the 14th member of the 500 home run club and finished his career with 548. Along with the power, Schmidt also led the National League in strikeouts four times and retired with the third-most strikeouts in major league history. However, Schmidt drew walks almost as often as he struck out. In the field, Schmidt was a graceful defender at third base and was occasionally the Phillies’ emergency shortstop. Schmidt was a 10-time Gold Glove Award winner and won six Silver Slugger Awards. He was voted the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 1980, 1981 and 1986. The Phillies won the World Series in 1980, beating the Royals in six games, and Schmidt was named World Series MVP.

That's exactly what I said when I first saw this!

Nap Rucker Nap Rucker was one of the Deadball Era's top left-handed pitchers. Brooklyn's winning percentage was an even .500 when the hard-throwing Southerner got the decision, but without him the Superbas played .430 ball, losing 175 more games than they won. "The Rucker appendage is the only thing that has kept Brooklyn in the league," wrote the New York Herald, while the Brooklyn Eagle lamented that "the fates have tied him up with an aggregation that has steadfastly refused to make a bid for championship honors." Still, the gentlemanly Rucker loved pitching for the blue-collar borough. "It's got New York beaten by three bases," he told a reporter in 1912. "You can get a good night's rest in Brooklyn. You meet more real human beings in Brooklyn. Your life is safer in Brooklyn." The son of a former Confederate soldier, George Napoleon Rucker was born on September 30, 1884, in Crabapple, Georgia, just north of Atlanta. In 1909 Rucker set a career-high with 201 strikeouts, and on July 24 of that season he struck out 16 St. Louis Cardinals, tying the modern record that stood until Dizzy Dean broke it in 1933. (Nap always claimed that he fanned 17 that day, but a lackadaisical official scorer whose name he still remembered--Abe Yager--forgot to record one of them.) Once again he was the best pitcher on a terrible team, going 13-19 despite a 2.24 ERA. His record improved to 17-18 in 1910, the year he led the NL with 320 innings pitched, 27 complete games, and six shutouts. Rucker started 1911 with six consecutive losses--during which Brooklyn scored a total of 10 runs--but rebounded to post the only 20-win season of his career, finishing at 22-18. In 1912, however, he reached the 20-loss plateau, going 18-21 despite a 2.21 ERA, more than a full run better than the league average. All the strikeouts, no-hit bids, and low ERAs brought Rucker acclaim as one of the NL's fastest pitchers. On October 6, 1912, he and Walter Johnson became the first to have their throwing speed scientifically measured when they submitted to testing at the Remington Arms Plant in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Using copper wires set up several feet apart, the rudimentary test measured the amount of time it took the pitches to travel a given distance. It almost certainly underestimated the pitcher's speed: Rucker tested at 113 feet per second (77 mph), Johnson at 122 (83 mph). When not subjecting himself to speed-throwing experiments, the Brooklyn lefthander spent his off-seasons as a typesetter for the Marietta Free Press, a newspaper owned by a cousin. To his managers' dismay, he also spent much of his winters eating peanuts and ice cream. Never one for vigorous training, Rucker routinely reported to camp weighing 210 lbs., though by Opening Day he was usually down to his playing weight of 180. On August 1, 1916, Rucker pitched 5.2 innings of scoreless relief against Cincinnati to earn the 134th and final victory of his major league career. The win evened his lifetime record at 134-134, with 28 percent of those victories coming by shutout (the second-highest percentage in history, behind only Ed Walsh). His career 2.42 ERA was 85 percent of the league average, which was 2.85 over the same period. To honor its best pitcher of the Deadball Era, Brooklyn held a "Nap Rucker Day" at Ebbets Field on October 2, 1916. "I will not monkey around with baseball any more," the veteran southpaw said on the occasion. "I have had my day, and it has been a long one, in which I have made money and gained thousands of friends." Knowing that Rucker would retire after the season, Wilbert Robinson allowed him two innings of mop-up duty in Game Four of the 1916 World's Series. Rucker pitched scoreless ball, striking out three Red Sox in his swansong.

Damn man, you're my hero!

Gary Sanchez went deep for a staggering 479-foot blast over the Green Monster, his second of the game for a three-run home run as the Yankees defeated the Red Sox in game 2 of the ALDS on October 6th, 2018.

What the heck, it can not hurt to try. Thank you.