World Series, Game 6, live bloggin'...from 5th inning thru end..

5th inning begins…

9:44 – need another beer to go w/ my wine.

9:47 – sweet hit by Jeter. Fuck, he is awesome. Nice bunt, gets Jeter to third.

9:53 - wow, we really don't have one pitcher from our bullpen that can come in and just take care of business. not a one. not this series anyway.

can you tell I'm a little bored?

10:02 – this game is over. Time to watch some DVR’s comedies and WSOP!

10:11 – what point was Joe Buck just trying to make, when he said: “many people criticize the Yankees for buying championships, with C.C., Burnett and A-Rod totaling about $500 million dollars, but them you have Pettitte who only makes $5 Million…” What the hell was that? Yes, Steinbrenner buys championships. Literally. It’s why Yankees are the most-hated sports team in the world.

10:39 – Top of the 7th, 7 to 3 Yankmees. Time to switch to the other World Series. The World Series of Poker. Fuck the Yankees.

10:51 – still here. Utley did NOT go all the way around on that check-swing. Ridonkulous call by the 3rd base ump. Friggin idiot.

11:07 – falling asleep….

11:53 – Yankmees win. And they STILL suck. Fuck ‘em. Now, more than ever….

World Series, Game 6, live bloggin'...pre-game thru 4th inning

All times PM, except when it becomes AM.

7:53 - For the record – and as seen here on this blog several posts ago - my prediction was Yankmees in 6. Do I hope I’m wrong? Fuck yeah!

Is it true Yankees stadium hasn’t sold out once this entire year?

7:56 – doing dishes and singing Jesus Christ Superstar, in order. I have sung – and can sing – every lyric to this rock opera, several times in my life. Pretty awesome. Got the double vinyl in 7th grade, from Columbia Record Club, 7 records for a penny. The other records I got in that bunch?

-Shaun Cassidy’s first solo record.
-Steve Martin’s “Wild & Crazy Guy”
-“Endless Summer”, killer Beach Boys comp
-“Back in Black” by ACDC

…yes, the double-vinyls counted two records…

8:00 – the Flyin’ Hawaiin’s on base! Shane Victorino is from Hawaii and cliff dives from as high as 60ft.

I am concerned about Pettitte. He’s been the model of consistency this post-season, and pitching well.

8:05 – and here comes Pedro!

Good inning. 1 down. He’s gotta watch it though, 2 well hit balls (for outs) dropped just short of the home run fence.

8:14 - Ryan Howard is BE-yond due! He’s trying too hard.

8:22 – wow, so regular season seats, 10 rows behind the dugout, are $600 a game, I heard. Gonna have to check w/ Lee Mazzola on that one, see if it’s tru or not. Friggin insane.

8:27 – is it wrong to walk Gay-Rod? I don’t think so.

Does anyone have a direct ph. number to FOX sports producers? Someone needs to tell them to leave their damn stats/graphics up on the screen for longer than TWO SECONDS! Am I the only one that has noticed this? The most they’re up there is three. No bullshit. Usually, it’s two seconds. It’s ridiculous. Even just a pitch count/balls/strikes graphic is difficult to read in that short amount of time, much less the other long-winded stats baseball is known for.

8:34 – Christ, Pedro serving it up….on a silver platter, for Splat-sui.

8:45 – what a sweet hit and even better base running on a triple by “Chooch!” WOOT-WOOT!

8:53 – that’s great, the NY post front page, and the poster inside – even bigger – of Pedro in diapers. Actually, it’s stupid as hell, but it’s great that Pedro was showing it off in the locker room and thought it was funny as hell. I guess it’s so stupid it’s funny.

9:00 – BULLSHIT UMP. That pitch that walked Damon (great at bat by Damon by the way) was a STRIKE!

What is Pedro doing?!?! Holy crap, he’s hanging it out over the plate for Gay-Rod, w/ bases loaded! (after hitting Duh-Chera w/ the first pitch)….

NICE! Pedro struck-out Gay-Rod looking on a 3/2 pitch, that was definitely a ball. Guess there are make-up calls in baseball. You owed us one UMP!

9:15 – Wow. Guess Spalt-sui is Pedro’s daddy.

9:33 – End of the 4th. Yanks 4, Phills 3.

Yankees history lesson/Phillies inspiration from Chip D., heading into game #6 tonight!

"I'm sure you don't need reminding, but in 1926, Grover Cleveland ("Pete") Alexander entered Game Seven of the World Series for the Cardinals against the Yankees. The Cards were up 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, but the Yankees had two on and the dangerous Tony ("Poosh 'Em Up") Lazzeri at the plate....

...Alexander was at the tail end of a Hall of Fame career, unpredictable, but still able to flash a little of the old magic? Alexander struck out Lazzeri, killing the rally and quieting the Yankee Stadium fans. He then retired the side in order in the eighth, got the first two Yankees in the ninth, and then walked Babe Ruth on a full count. Ruth ... Read Morepromptly got himself thrown out trying to steal second, and the Cardinals won the World Series.

Pete Alexander had begun his career as a Phillie. In fact, until 1980, he was the only Phillies pitcher to win a post-season game, winning Game One of the 1915 World Series against the Red Sox. Let's wish a little of that mojo on Pedro "Petey" Martinez tonight." - Chip D.

"...KILL.....THEMMmmmm..ah!!!"

"...game #6...AWAITS!"

wrap-up, etc from yesterday's cra-zee...

-so the reason there weren't more posts from both games yeterday, is because there were 60,000 people in the same location trying to use their network services: everythign was jammed, most of the day.

-NY Smackdown, Act II: Yankmees took it to us again last night, and quite simply, they're beating the Phillies in every facet of the game. Sucks, but it's the truth. I have more disdain for Yankmee fans than I ever have, after having to put up with their arrogant, elitist, fairweathdom, in person, at last night's game. If I could punch people in the face and get away with it, I'd have done it at least 4 times last night. Yanks are the easiest team in the history of sports to like and follow, because for better or worse, they win all the time. I can understand why so many people like them. I also understand that their fans - by and large, not all of them! - are weak people, and not able to like a team that actually struggles from time to time, because they are simply to fragile to deal. Yes, I'm stating most Yanks fans are front-runners.

-Eagles smackdown of Giants was quite impressive (40-17), but let's not lose sight of why they won: Andy Reid decided yesterday he wanted to run the football. Our offensive play calling was split, exactly 50%/50%, between running and passing. That's precisely why we won, period. Reid will do this once or twice a year, and it's so successful, that he goes back to passing 65% of the time, by the very next game, and gets right back on the "struggle-train," resulting in the losses and failures we're more used to seeing. Like I've been saying for years now: "Fuck Andy Reid. Now, more than ever." The guy sees what leads us to success. And then proceeds to not do it; cosistently. It's more than annoying to witness, but more than that, it's just terribly bad coaching. And it's ruining our beloved Eagles. Year in, year out, Reid undoes the moderate success he's brought to the team, with his insolence. And unfortunately, we have an Owner in Jeff Lurie, who simply doesn't care enough about winning to fire Reid's sorry ass. Fun stuff!

-

live posting/pic alert: Philly vs NY x2 this Sunday, Nov. 1!

For anyone who cares, is interested, or just plain bored to fucking tears...I will be posting some pics & thoughts on what I'm seeing, feeling, and thinking, this Sunday, Nov. 1st, directly from the South Philly sports complex, where I am lucky enough to be attending both the Eagles/Giants game in the AM, and also game #4 of the Phillies/Yankmees world series, in the PM. Tailgate for the football game begins prompty at 9:45AM. First post approximately 10:00AM. I'm planning on about one very small post per hour. Who knows what will actually happen. Happy Halloween All!

the Yankee hating continues!

Chip D. continues offering up tips, reasons and pointers on Yankee-hating, based on three decades of oft-bitter experience! Tune in all week for more! - sj

Reason #4: Joba Chamberlain

Only in the Bronx does a bean-balling sack of excuses get the "First Name Only" treatment. Chamberlain may learn to harness that 100 mph fastball. He may go on to be the next Mariano or the next Roger. But right now, he's a kid with half a year as a promising setup guy who has failed to transition to the rotation. This does not stop the Yankees's relentless PR machine -- known as the national baseball media -- from promulgating nonsense that leads to barbarities like the phrase "Joba Rules." For the love of Allah! Every Little Leaguer is on a pitch count -- how does Chamberlain's rate its own special, precious little name?

Speaking of Allah, it should also be clear that the heavens no longer smile upon -- or, more like it, chose to overlook -- the Yankees's shenanigans. The celestial signs have been bad for New York baseball since the yawn-fest World Series of 2000. But two particular omens suggest that, these days, finally, Whom The Gods Would Destroy, They First Put In Pinstripes. First, on the night of the Red Sox championship-clinching game of 2004 (exactly five years ago today), there was a lunar eclipse that turned the full moon Red Sox-red. This omen provided not just the almighty imprimatur on the Sox victory, but signaled that the higher powers were again giving adult supervision to MLB post-season results. The White Sox victory in 2005 -- also extinguishing a unreasonably long drought -- and the Phillies' triumph of 2008 continued the string of mercifully Yankee-free World Series. However, no clearer sign of divine displeasure has ever shown itself than in Game Two of the 2007 divisional series, Yanks vs. Indians, Yanks up 1-0 in the eighth, Chamberlain on the mound. Suddenly, a swarm of bugs -- midges -- descended on Chamberlain's neck. He lost his concentration, walked Grady Sizemore, threw a couple of wild pitches -- the second scoring Sizemore -- and the Indians went on to win the game and the series.

As with A-Rod, the failures and disappointments of Chamberlain do not give me joy on any personal level. On another team, in another city, this hard-throwing young man with the confused, hard-scrabble personal life might be an object of sympathy, even admiration. He might be Zack Greinke if he pitched in Kansas City. But most people don't even know who Zack Greinke is, much less his story -- and the national press sure as hell doesn't call him "Zack." Rather, Chamberlain is -- and by a justice larger than all of us ought to remain -- just another guy on the team on whom the midges descend.

'tis the season for yankee-hating! Chip D. supplies the road map!

Chip D. offers up tips, reasons and pointers on Yankee-hating, based on three decades of oft-bitter experience! Tips (or are they reasons?) #2 and #3 below! Tune in all week for more! - sj

Tip #2: The "New" Yankee Stadium

Let's imagine the Vatican choosing to demolish St. Peter's because there were too few luxury pews. That's what the Steinbrenners happily did to baseball's St. Peter's. Then they made the old right field dimensions even sillier -- imagine reducing the number of Commandments from 10 to eight in order to make Sunday services more thrilling to the casual worshipper.

Weren't you pleased in April when the Yankees couldn't move their $2000 per game seats? Weren't you hoping that there was at least one Wall Street kleptocrat using his last shred of decency to resist purchasing those seats when the Yankees dropped the price to a more recession-friendly $1000? Doesn't anyone in New York find this temple of vanity to be a insult and desecration to baseball fans everywhere -- which is to ask, are there no baseball fans left in New York?

It is entirely fitting that the fidelity-challenged Rudy Giuliani attends, and gets himself photographed, at every home game.

Tip #3: Alex Rodriguez

Remember the 2000 Seattle Mariners? They were under-achievers, finishing second in the AL West with only 91 wins, despite the gaudy numbers of their free-agent-to-be shortstop, the 24-year old Alex Rodriguez. He hit 41 homers, drove in 132 runs, walked 100 times -- then left for the Texas Rangers and a quarter-billion dollar contract. However, the Mariners not only improved, but improved by 25 games! The 2001 Mariners racked up 116 wins. The only thing they had in common with their former-All Star was a knack for disappering in October. The Mariners spit up the ALCS to the Yankees that year, 4 games to 1. Randy Johnson, instead, became the former Mariner to take out the Yankees that year, teaming up with fellow Yankee-killer Curt Schilling to deprive the Bronx Bombers of their apparent birthright -- a fourth straight World Series title. Neither the Yankees nor A-Rod have won the World Series since.

Their fates became entwined. A-Rod wearied playing in front of lackluster crowds in a baseball backwater. He yearned for the big time, when he wasn't experimenting with steroids. The hollow, empty numbers bored even the guy putting them up. He joined the Yankees in 2004 where he became the bewildered face of a muscle-bound team. Jason Varitek kicked his butt when he whined about getting hit by a pitch -- "We don't throw at .240 hitters," Tek said to the slumping Rodriguez. In the post-season, he led the Yankees to the most embarassing October collapse in baseball history when the Red Sox came back from a 3-0 deficit to win the ALCS in seven. The picture of A-Rod girly-slapping the ball from Bronson Arroyo's hand became the icon of this defeat.

His fall from grace even lacks the gravity of tragedy. Rather, it is comedy or farce -- passing out during his wife's delivery of their child, later his abandonment of that wife for (wait for it…) Madonna, still later the admission of steriod use. I take no joy in this tale: for a moment in the late 90s, it seemed we were watching the blossoming of the greatest player of our time. During the moronic homerun derbies fueled by Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, one had to hope that 1) A-Rod was clean and 2) he would render their phony records moot. Instead, like Bonds, he has become the joyless warehouser of statistical trivia, the unlovable butt of late-night jokes, the befuddled celeb on the back page of the tabloids. In short, he has become the appropriate face of this decade's New York Yankees. In a just universe, the drought for both would continue.

Tips & Pointers on Yankee-Hating!

"I know I'm unloveable; you don't have to tell me.
Oh, message received; loud and clear.
...I wear black on the outside,
because black is how I feel on the inside." - Unloveable, by the Smiths.

My friend Chip D., a hardcore BoSox fan, offers up tips and pointers on Yankee-hating, based on three decades of oft-bitter experience! Stay tuned for more, hopefully! - sj

Tip/Point #1
They spent half a billion dollars to buy this year's pennant. Sabathia, Teixeira, and Burnett collected $500M in contracts last off-season. Remind Yankee fans that their team is a collection of mercenaries owned by a ruthless convicted felon. Envision your joy if - when! - the Phillies defeat them - like Washington bravely crossing the Delaware to take out that frat-party of complacent Hessians.

miscellaneous thoughts..

"Some of my best friends are yankees fans!" Look, I don't "love to hate the Yankees," or as I often call them, the Yankmees. I know a lot of people who hate the yankees. tons. none of them "love to hate the yankees," or "like to hate the yankees." Who "likes" to hate something? We would simply prefer the yankees go away and to never hear about them again. I don't like their arrogant players, I don't like their big, sloppy egos; I don't care which celebrities they're screwing, and so on. do I need to say this? I don't like their talent or their century of winning championships either. By and large, I find their fans equally annoying. Yes, I have plenty of friends who are diehard yankees fans. I don't find them annoying; they're my friends. but most yankee fans I meet throughout NY, America and the world, are annoying asses. that's just what I find. I take no pleasure whatsoever in immensely disliking the Yankmees and their fans. It hurts a little actually. And let's be honest, part of the hurt, comes from realizing that Yankee fans, do, to some extent, get a little joy out of knowing how much us 'haters' despise them and their team.

Fergie, singer from Black Eyed Peas, with the terrible voice and excellent figure must've just recently, gotten a lot of work done to her face. I saw her on one of the new Direct TV ads, and didn't even realize it was her at first (until I heard her singing). She doesn't look right in the face, yo.

The movie Anchorman. Look, people, I was underwhelmed the first time I watched it. But I have never, in my life, seen a movie, that got SO much better and funnier, w/ repeated viewings. And there are MANY hilarious scenes in that movie. They just went by me the first viewing, due to the seriously quirky schtick of Will Farrell, and the entire premise of the movie, and the fact that there are bad jokes scattered throughout, that the writers should've either kept out completely, or edited much better. But there are lots of comedies like that recently. Tropic Thunder comes to mind. There are def stupid - and nothing more - jokes in both of these movies; but they really do pale in comparison to the perfect blend of witty/absurd/hilarious jokes and scenes that dominate these movies. I've had this discussion before w/ people, and I can tell you, I am not the first to bring up the 'repeated viewing = way funnier' concept with regards to viewing Anchoman. Same thing happens w/ Big Lebowski (ALL Coen Bros. movies, for that matter). Watch it again. Let me know if I'm wrong.

Oh, one last thing: could republicans be any worse Americans?

More funny from Lee's Steez blog!

funny post from last month on Lee Mazzola's blog, Lee's Steez. - sj

Sunday June 14th, 2009
Mets 6, Yankees 2

Got to spend most of the day with Lee Jr, which was awesome. Had a mild panic attack when the boy almost took a header off the jungle gym at Totlot 116.

The Mz got home around 3pm, and I left for the game soon after. Kinda weird, but I went to the Subway Series myself this year. I guess that's part of being a season ticket holder-- you reserve the right to say "Fuck it, I'm going myself today."

3:27 In the five minutes it took me to walk up to the bus stop I went from "eh, it's not so bad out" to "better put on my jacket" to "Jesus, it's pouring out!" This is the same continuum one follows when listening to any post-Lovesexy Prince album for the first time (from "hey, this is pretty good" to "jeez..." to "turn this fucking shit off!").

3:44 An unbearable stench of unknown origin was present at the 125th St subway stop. People were gagging, covering their noses, and frantically walking around in hopes of getting away from the stink. Either somebody died somewhere or someone was about to.

3:50 A gaggle of tragically underdressed girls got on at 145th, wearing navy blue short shorts and tank tops. They were literally freezing their asses off.

4:09 Took the express elevator up and immediately picked up a cup of Guinness right across from the stairs to my seats. It's a wonderful stadium.

4:10 OK, not the best pour I've ever had, but still hitting the spot.

4:12 Hey, Luis Castillo's leading off!

4:14 Even in the pouring rain, my seats are as dry as Don Henley's snare drum.

4:16 My section is pretty lame: cadavers and Met fans. Seriously, the average age for at least five rows is about 63. Not sure if it makes me feel younger or older.

4:25 TRIVIA #1: Name all the Muslim major leaguers in history.

4:26 This is looking like a long afternoon here. Maybe I should leave right now and catch the 5:00 showing of The Hangover.

4:38 Why hasn't there been a remake of Bachelor Party? Or maybe there has?

4:39 We've certainly lost the intimidation factor here at Yankee Stadium-- it's about as threatening as Epcot Center.

4:41 Two couples just got booted out of their wrong seats, which are right in the middle of the row. The wives had that classic "we sat here because our husbands told us to" look on their faces. The husbands had no look on their faces because they were staring straight down.

4:42 Now this is exactly how I thought Pettitte would pitch this year-- 50+ pitches and still in the 2nd inning.

4:49 God, I can't wait to upgrade my seats.

4:52 NOT EXACTLY TRIVIA: Rank the four major professional team sports in order of average player IQ, from lowest to highest.

4:55 Kinda drunk after just one imperial pint of Guinness. This doesn't bode well for next Friday night.

5:03 I wonder what the most ridiculous name is that they'd actually put up on the giant $100 Yankee Fan Marquee... Karl Dingleberry, perhaps? I gotta try that this year.

5:05 Our billion-dollar stadium allows us to see the lyrics to "I Wanna Rock" on a 5000 sq. foot screen.

5:09 TRIVIA #2: How many players have won World Series as both Yankees and Mets?

5:15 So much for the pristine rest rooms. There's a giant splat of snot and blood on the top of the urinal I'm peeing in (on? into?).

[I decided to go find KumoD and his friend. We watched the rest of the lousy game together and parted ways.]

The Yankees' Field Of Screams

Now THIS... "will make you think" (and scream and hurt). This is an impressive piece of investigative reporting. This is what good journalism can be.-sj

April 16, 2009 at 10:51 PM
Thomas B. Edsall
Huffington Post

"Wall Street bankers supposedly back the Yankees; Smith College girls approve of them. God, Brooks Brothers, and United States Steel are believed to be solidly in the Yankees' corner... but, as they say, who can fall in love with U.S. Steel?"
- Gay Talese in "There Are Fans... And Yankee Fans"

On Thursday afternoon, some 48,271 New York Yankees fans took a break from the drumbeat of lost jobs and looming tax hikes to take in the season opener, forking over anywhere from $95 to $2,625 for a seat with a view.

As these good folks tried to get relief from endangered paychecks and rising property assessments, at least a few suffered envy and anger as they thought about the millions, perhaps even $1 billion-plus, in public subsidies that went into building the brand-new stadium.

The beneficiary of all that cash is one of the most lucrative sports operations in the country, Yankee Global Enterprises LLC, the franchise George Steinbrenner bought for $8.7 million in 1973 and turned into an empire with a value pegged, last year, at $1.2 billion.

Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg did not blink at this transfer of money to the deserving rich - George Steinbrenner and his two sons, Hal and Hugh.

Not everyone shares the Giuliani-Bloomberg view of how to spend taxpayer dollars.

Westchester County Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, the Don Quixote of sports politics, has been conducting a one-man assault on the financing of Yankee Stadium, but, so far, has little or nothing beyond few headlines to show for it.

In a series of lengthy, detailed and footnoted reports, Brodsky has tried to prove that the construction of the new stadium is, as he told the Huffington Post in characteristically moderate New York language, "the most outrageous and dishonest a deal as has ever existed," engineered by Yankee executives who are nothing more than "bullies and thugs."

Brodsky, chair of the NY Assembly Committee on Corporations, Commissions and Authorities, found that "inappropriate and secretive lobbying by highly paid and politically connected procurement lobbyists, inappropriate hiring of politically connected former government officials, disposition of public property for less than its true value, [and] interference with investigations of such behavior" produced a deal with a "total cost to taxpayers and savings to the Yankees [of] between $585 million and $826 million."

The Mayor's office, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and the NY City Industrial Agency (IDA) dispute Brodsky's calculations, and, using different accounting methods - method some challenge -- argue that the city emerges from the deal a net $59.7 million ahead.

In fact, as the baseball season starts in earnest and the basketball and hockey seasons wind down, New York got what might be described as one of the "least bad" deals in negotiating who will pick up how much of the tab for new facilities -- in the face of team owners armed with a single trump card: the threat to leave town.

Smith College economist Andrew Zimbalist, a critic of most public spending on stadiums and other sports facilities, wrote a January 22, 2006, New York Times op-ed in which he declared, "the crucial public policy question here is whether there will be a net benefit for residents of the Bronx and the other boroughs. The answer is yes."

Neil deMause, author of "Field of Schemes," a book which weighs in against sport arena financing, strongly opposes the Yankee Stadium plan. On his Website, deMause calculates that the new stadium will cost the city $691 million, NY state $115 million, the NY Metropolitan Transit Authority $53 million, and the federal government $327 million -- for a combined taxpayer bill of $1.19 billion, nearly double the $671 million cost to the team.

"The Yankees deal actually manages to be both the largest team expense on a stadium in history, and the largest public expense on a stadium in history, somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 billion," deMause told the Huffington Post. "The city gets no part of the new revenues the Yankees will reap from the stadium; the jobs created are virtually all part-time, and largely cannibalized from other stores and restaurants in the surrounding area; Bronx residents lost their only large neighborhood park [until the old Yankee stadium is demolished and replaced by a park], for at least five years; and fans got more expensive seats with a lousier view of the field. All this, so that the Yankees wouldn't move out of New York - something that was never going to happen anyway, since the entire value of the Yankees franchise is wrapped up in where they play. I'd call that a pretty lousy deal."

The New York Times, in turn, has become increasingly skeptical of the deal: "Seats for $1,500 a game? Suites fit for the royal family? A scoreboard fit for the Big Board? A fabulous steakhouse and granite ramps (no ordinary cement for this crowd)? This $1 billion-plus pavilion and park financed with a lot of taxpayer help is beginning to sound like something fit for the Wizard of Oz," the paper editorialized on January 14 .

"Mayor Bloomberg has - rightly - had to cut city budgets and increase property taxes and explain to residents how times are bad and how we all will have to share the pain. It is time for Mr. Bloomberg to make that same pitch to the Yankees. If the Yankees can sign megamillion-dollar contracts (C. C. Sabathia just landed one for $161 million over seven years), they should be flush enough to contribute more toward their new stadium and to the parks for people living nearby."

The political facts of life, however, dictate that the stadium is a done deal. Property taxes are going up, jobs are down the chute, and the Yankees will play in their new palace. If the team wants to retain support in brutal economic times, their performance Thursday afternoon is not going to help.

The Cleveland Indians crushed the richest team in baseball 10-2.