The All-Roid Roster

Title of the blog speaks for itself, doesn't it?
Some of the players may not have been outed yet, but I'm guessing it's only a matter of time...

1b - Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmiero
2b - Chuck Knoblauch
SS - Miguel Tejada
3b - Alex Rodriquez, Ken Caminiti
DH - Jason Giambi
RF - Jose Canseco, Sammy Sosa,
CF - Gary Matthews Jr.
LF - Barry Bonds, Albert Belle
C - Ivan Rodriguez, Paul Do Luca
Bench - Jay Gibbons, Randy Velarde, Juan Gonzalez, Gary Sheffield, Benito Santiago

Pitchers
Roger Clemens
Andy Petitte
Kevin Brown
Denny Neagle
Brendan Donnelly
Eric Gagne
Jason Grimsley

Most of these I just rattled off the top of my head (Is that more sad on my part, or the players'?), and a few through Wikipedia. That list is actually humongous. If anyone comes up with a better name to put in, please feel free to comment. It's kinda sad that 12 of these people just on THIS list are former Yankees.

A-Rod's Press conference

Welcome readers! It's a new year, and even though we still haven't heard about tickets, I wanted to get my old blog going again in advance of it, maybe get a few new readers, and get the number reading actually into double-digits lol. As my last post might have intimated, the past couple of months have been a little rough, to put it mildly, and I haven't really been much in the mood to write about the Yankee Universe, though I have been following everything closely, from the mega-signings, to the departure of poor old Chase Wright (remember him?)

I just watched the A-Rod conference on YES, and am still listening to commentary from both ESPN and ESPNNEWS, which is kind of interesting just in the fact that they had different people doing commentary on the two channels (I don't dare try ESPN2, though I just heard they're doing more at 4:30pm on that channel. There goes any hope of a productive day...)
Maybe I'm a terrible judge of character, but I really thought Alex Rodriguez was pretty forthright for the most part. He was obviously a bit evasive on some parts, and toeing the company line, so to speak, when answering some questions. But overall, I thought he was pretty frank in his admissions and in taking responsibility for his actions.

One of the things he said that no one was expecting was that he used Ripped Fuel while he was in Seattle. One of the commentators (one of the fat, female ones whose idea of sport is who can get to the bottom of the tub of ice-cream faster) made in my opinion an asinine comment about if he was using these "amphetamines"or "greenies," then, how can we expect to believe him for anything else?
I'm literally laughing out loud right now about actually defending A-Rod, but that's SO incorrect and misinformed. And I'm talking about it from first-hand experience.

Slight tangent warning: I myself took Ripped-Fuel, as well Ripped Fuel Extreme, for a while when I was seriously working out for a period of 3-4 years. It's a metabolic enhancer, a stimulant, just like coffee or nicotine. It was sold over-the-counter at GNC and the Vitamin Shop. It didn't make me stronger or anything like that at all. All it did was increase my heart rate a little so I could get rid of the fat a little more efficiently. One of the ingredients was ephedra, which for a while was the latest thing to beat on when some morons didn't take it correctly and died or something. When the FDA banned it, even though there was no conclusive evidence, then the vitamin companies just put in something else to get your heart rate up. So basically, nothing of consequence occurred.

If people are going to get upset about something that has the effect of a ton of coffee and cigarettes without the lung cancer and frequent bathroom trips, then they have really lost their minds, an idiot, or both. If anything, maybe the ESPN anchor stupid enough to say this should have taken some Ripped Fuel before deciding to become a TV personality instead of a radio personality. SLIGHT TANGENT OVER

I really wish if people are going to give commentary, then they should at least have some knowledge about what they're talking about, or at least have an expert on hand to actually explain how innocuous supplements like Ripped Fuel are. If that is considered a PED, then they should ban any tobacco product, Red bull and similar drinks, coffee and Bigelow Green tea. How about Flintstone vitamins, while you're at it?

If Ripped Fuel is considered performance-enhancing or steroids, then I guess I'm a Roidhead too. Funny I never notice myself smelling funny like the other guys at the gym that had forearms bigger than my thighs. I also took a ton of other over-the-counter supplements as well. I wasn't exactly sure what all of them did either, but I just thought it would help in my fitness. That would make me young, naive, and stupid back then too. And actually, I actually believe A-Rod more now than I did before, just reflecting back on my own time of supplement use. I don't think I'm stupid, but I somehow find myself in the same boat as A-Rod, though without the multimillionare thing going on.

It was kinda funny when A-ROD would preface his responses with "Good question, insert reporter's name here." I just smiled as one of the ESPN heads just said almost the exact same thing I said in the sentence above as I finished typing it. They said it gave him time to think about how to answer the question, which I guess is plausible, though I myself was impressed with the quality of the questions, though not really surprised since almost all of the questions taken were from members of the NY media, with the only exceptions I believe being one Tampa paper, TSN Canada, and the one question in Spanish which I just tuned out. Slighter tangent: (I'm not Spanish, though some people might think I'm Spanish for various reasons, like because I yell "hip hip jorge,"or that I have a spanish yankees jersey I got for 10 bucks in Modells, that I can sing most of Robi-Rob's Boriqua Anthem in Spanish/gibberish, or maybe because I just look Mexican.) Slighter Tangent Over

I can not believe I'm actually starting to feel bad for A-Rod.

While some of that stuff was obviously rehearsed and scripted, I think he was pretty candid. Reporters kept asking him about his cousin, and I think I would have responded the same way. Think about what kind of media attention the cousin would get if he gave out his name..

Michael Kay and Joel Sherman are masturbating each other on the radio right now in regards to A-Rod's not knowing what he put into his body. Why don't they bring up the bottles of Grey Goose that A-Rod is surrounded with in that picture from his little vacation down in Miami or the Caribbean, or wherever the hell it was? In their defense, I drink Grey Goose myself, and I know that is some good stuff, so A-Rod definitely knows what he's putting in himself there. Then again, I used to drink John Boone, which gave me terrible nightmares, and vodka from plastic bottles in college. People change. Maybe A-Rod really just wasn't thinking about consequences at the time, and wasn't as careful about what he put in his body. I never thought about it, still kinda don't...

Now ESPN News have Michael Kay and Don Le Greca talking about how A-rod's crying was in the script. Kay guaranteed it was in the scipt. You know, I love that show most days, but there are days that Michael Kay is a jackass, and this was one of them. He really tries so hard to pretend he isn't on the Yankee bandwagon, that it comes off as even more false at times. He's been showing up on ESPN a lot more lately, I wouldn't be surprised if jumps ship completely sometime in the near future.

I'm starting to get pissed enough that I might go buy an A-Rod jersey online now.

When this first came out last weekend, I was really pissed at A-Rod. I didn't think he had done anything, and I really was just looking forward to a good baseball season in the new stadium, and seeing the people from the section, if we ever hear about ticket packages. I was gettting ready to boo A-Rod in his first at bat. I might've taken my Yankees number 13 shirt with Clemens on it, put A-rod's name next to Clemens'name, and put a picture of a syringe on the front of the shirt. Now, I think I'm going to stand up when Bob Shepard calls his name, and just clap.
I think later this week, maybe I'll post an All-Roid team roster up. I'm surprised no one else has thought of it yet, so I better get cracking. Maybe I'll have 2 blogs in one day...

A few thoughts about my dad

Sorry I haven't written so long, I have a lot of Yankee stuff I want to blog about, but I haven't had a chance really, since my dad's been really sick. He passed this afternoon, so I just wanted to just say that I'd miss him here, though that barely describes the emotions I'm going through at the moment. My dad wasn't much of a Yankee fan, but he knew that his son loved them, and at times, tended to hear it too at 2 in the morning in an extra-inning playoff win when the Yanks actually were good =p Those walk off homers and come from behind wins were a killer on my dad's sleep for so many years. He always took the time to ask me how the game was when I went, even though he had no real interest in it whatsoever. While he never saw his son in action bellowing away in right field, he would not have been in the least bit surprised. I went to the last Yankee game, even though I knew it wouldn't be long before the end. My dad would never have wanted to deprive his son of a good time, and if anything, the warmth and cheers from that day kept me from going too crazy from thinking about him.

One quick story about him that I'd like to share. While it's not a Yankee story, it is a baseball story. My first (and only) year of little league that I played, my father took me to Herman's the Sporting goods store to get my gear. We got a bat, a ball, a jock strap (I remember being so embarrased about it) and a glove. I was so excited. The only problem was, when we went to my first practice, I found out that right-handed people catch the ball with their left hand. Oops. He never yelled or anything about it, just took me to the store the next day and got me another glove, one that was for my left hand. While I sucked eggs that year (My team would give a standing ovation if I got a foul ball) , it got me started, on actually becoming a pretty good hitter from BOTH sides of the plate. If my dad had gotten mad about that glove thing, I probably would have never picked up a bat again, and my love for the game would not be what it is now. So even though he knew nothing about the sport, my dad was able to make me a fan. So thanks, Dad. I wish I had gotten to tell that story to him when he was still here, but I know he will know wherever he is now. I miss and love you so much Dad.

Yankee haters really make me sick sometimes

I was perusing Fox Sports and was reading Dayn Perry, who usually is alright. However, he's been going on for over a month how the Yanks are done, and adding snide comments in every article he writes, but this one really "grinded my gears." (Anytime you can say something Peter Griffin said gives you another chance to be more stupid than usual)

Here's the link, if you haven't seen it:
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8522096/In-Big-Apple,-Reyes-has-passed-Jeter-by

Just looking at the title makes me sick. Anyway, here's what I wrote in response:

I usually enjoy your articles, since you are pretty realistic and usually use some stats to support your views whatever they may be. But hopping onto the Yankee-hater bandwagon when they are not going to make the playoffs, and criticizing someone who has been a perennial All-Star, but on the decline of his career is classless at best. It reminds me of how people said DiMaggio was washed up when he hit under 300 one year.

Jeter has lost a step for sure, but I will take his grit, hustle, class, determination, and professionalism over that clown in black and orange over in the next borough. Obviously Reyes has better physical tools than Jeter now, because of the difference in age. Make the comparison when Reyes has a few more MVP awards and a couple of World Series rings. If they had traded places 12 years ago. The Yanks would not have had as many WS rings just because they would have been fed up with his unprofessionalism and after he was benched, he would have been shipped off. How many shorstops have the Mets had since Jeter has been SS? I think that says it better than any other stat you could dig up. Even the Mets fans on here have showed their support for Jeter, which I think would show you how misguided your article is.

I have more to say on this non-topic, but I'll have to do it later, when I have a little more time. I also have to recount the Yankee Stadium tour John got us tickets to, as well as the SI Yankees game we went to as well a little later.

The streak is over...

I wasn't feeling up for the game really, since I hadn't slept the whole night, and only like a few hours the night before. On top of that, the Yanks haven't been playing that great, and so my excitement for the season has diminished somewhat. And I hadn't seen the people from the section in a few weeks, so I sucked it up, and got on the subway to meet John over at the Stadium. We only had 1 beer each, but the way that game went, we needed a whole lot more. Almost no one was there, except a few guys from the Penn St. crew, and Christina's mom and dad, and Adam , with one of his friends. Section 23 was pretty quiet as a result. One guy asked if I was the Hip HIp guy and when I confirmed it for him, he was like "You're so quiet today!" We got a nice "Let's go New Guy"thing going for the new pitcher, who pitched great in the 8th and 9th inning. But the rest of the team sucked it up. A-rod got booed, no surprise, even after the homer in his other at bats. People started doing the wave in the 7th, which we refused to do. So this was our real first loss on Sundays this year. The crowd was subdued for most of the game, like we were just waiting for the end to come.

We're going to the S.I. Yanks game today, courtesy of our friend Vinny's gf, Sandra. Hopefully that will be good. That's preceded with a Yankee tour today at the Stadium. I can't seem to get excited about it though.

More random thoughts

I haven't posted much since my dad has been sick, and a lot has happened in the last few weeks Yankees-wise. So just a few random things:

1. Getting Nady was a good trade. I'd rather have gotten Bay, but the Yanks would have needed to give up more. He's a solid hitter, and I like the lefty right thing they have going with the lineup now. Marte looked like a great trade to fill Farnsworth's role, but he's looked pretty crappy so far.

2. Getting Pudge was ok i guess. Everyone seems to think it was a great trade, but it's hard to learn a new staff so quick. I know he's a good catcher, but the Yanks don't really seem to be doing that much better with him in the lineup, or behind the plate.

3. Too bad for Sexson. I thought he might be good off the bench, but he just has too many holes in his swing. I remember when he was a Yankee killer with the Indians.

4. Justin Christian just got sent down and Matsui just came off the DL. I hope he makes a difference. I liked Christian, but too many blunders on the basepaths last week.

5. Kennedy needs to learn how to talk to the media. Saying your outing wasn't bad when you stunk is ridiculous. Good thing he got sent down. Otherwise he would've been booed probably next start.

6. I'd like to see the new guys play more, and bench ppl who aren't producing. I don't care if someone's making 16 mill. If they don't perform, they shouldn't play. Go NEW GUYS.

7. Mo has been looking old lately. I know it's kinda sacrilegous, but how can you not be able to close games when it's tied?

8. 18 double plays that Jeter has hit into this year. Sigh

9. How about not swinging at the first pitch and popping out every time? That goes for the whole lineup.

10. Lastly, the underachieving on this team is even worse this year than last. Ppl were knocking Torre left and right last year. But I don't see how Giradi's more "stricter"hand has helped. Injuries were supposed to be down since Spring Training was tougher. Yeah, that really worked too.

11. When are they going to let people know about season tickets for next year? They better not pull that seat license crap like the Giants and Jets did.

Reveling in the nonsense

So many things happened at today's game I don't even know where to begin. John and I took the 4 train in (BOO B and D trains) from Woodlawn, but we actually had to get on at Bedford Park after getting on a shuttle bus since the line was closed at Woodlawn. We actually made it to the game before starting lineups and got to say hi to tons of people before the game started. First time we didn't go to the Beers of the World, which was a little odd. But since I had barely slept the night before (maybe an hour or so), and I had taken 2 Hot-Rox Extreme to wake me up (which made me so nauseous I didn't think I could eat or drink), I didn't think of beer really until John ordered some Becks from the beer guy/ They started going down great after that. Mike S. was kind enough to provide beer no. 3 for me, so props to him. (I just got home Mike so I missed Summer Slam sigh)

Everyone was there today, except for Henry and his wife, but John was there instead with Danny, and Karen was there, who I hadn't seen in a while, along with Kristin, who really should have been selected as part of the Knicks dance squad. I don't know what the Knicks were thinking. But looking at their past personnel choices (Frederic Weis, Steve Francis, Isiah), I shouldn't be surprised. Karen said she told Henry we were doing the "Sucks!" after the opposing player being announced, which is always fun. But so many little kids, so I felt bad.

I really thought we jinxed the game by not walking through the tunnel and giving the guy who plays "The Addams Family" a quarter, since Moose got spanked around a little in the first. But the rest of the game totally made up for that. I remarked by the fourth inning that we seemed all cheered out already after 10 runs. Though that really wasn't true =p People seemed to really like the New Guy chants. and a lot of people got into it, which was great. I think Marcie's new officer position is Official New Guy Greeter. And Tom posted a hilarious pic of Melky on a milk carton listed as missing. I feel terrible for Melky, but he really wasn't hitting squat. Our left side of the section was kind enough to let us know they were there with a "hip hip", and the "Jorge!" just automatically came out. I can't believe how much I miss doing that, since I looked forward to days off every once in a while.

I finally got to meet Heather, who has been on our section page, but I hadn't added to friends just because we hadn't been formally introduced =) Also met Brian's other sister Nicole, and their friend Jamie (sp?), which was nice. I thought it was quite amusing when one of them asked, ""You're the facebook guy?"

Christina brought two of her friends to the game, since it was her last one till the last game. Had fun telling them stories about freshman year, since one of them (Sorry I totally forgot names) was going to Binghamton, my alma mater. I already knew Christina was going to Univ. of Tampa, and her other friend was going to Fairfield in Ct., which I always get mixed up with Fairleigh Dickinson, which is on the Island.

Lol Brian spilled beer all over himself and Mike, so it looked like they peed themselves.

One incident which I thought was very cute was one of the little girls sitting in front of me said to me"They should put you on the big screen," which was very nice of her. Knowing John's luck, he would've missed me that time too, just like when I was on the big screen for like 30 seconds and he didn't see me (sigh)

Oh yeah, epic fail on the wave today lol. The Stadium really wasn't feeling it today. It's ok after 8 beers, but not after 3. =p And the D train lost in the Subway Race again (Boo) And they pulled a tricky on the ball underneath the cap again. They totally scam that now.

Lastly, in the top of the 9th, I got Justin Christian and Brett Gardner (2 of the new guys) to wave, and Robbie totally turned around when I called his name lol.

Just an overall great time today, taking my mind off my dad in the hospital, who I went to go see after the game. Did I forget anything? If I did, and you're reading this, let me know. =)