Category: New York Yankees

sub·lime-  verb
to elevate or exalt especially in dignity or honor (2) : to render finer (as in purity or excellence) b : to convert (something inferior) into something of higher worth

 As the dogs days of August began to grudgingly give way to the promise of September, nary a thought of foreign politics or agendas swirled through my mind as I happily clutched the tickets to Cal Ripken’s final home game at Camden Yards. In just a few weeks, I’d be sitting in the beautiful ballpark right off the Maryland Board Walk giving my appreciation to Baseball history. I counted down the days as they dropped off the calendar with routine ease. September 9… September 10…

The Yankees are a mess.

This news, of course, is about as breaking as Britney’s bun in the oven. But what IS stop-the-presses noteworthy is that the fans- who have thusfar been desperately clinging to a battle cry of “The season’s young!”- are beginning to slowly and listlessly accept this immobilizing truth. That our team, our revered immortal pinstripes, the apple of the eye of the Big Apple, the essence of my being and the blood running through my veins…is a mess.

” The river has many depths…. Let it wash over you.”

 An insightful tagline from a great movie [Mystic River] actually holds some credence for baseball fans nation wide. For if you substitute the word “season” in place of river in this particular quote, one gets a perfect summation for what is the grind of a 162 game marathon. Baseball needs to be watched as it is played, with a cool head and balanced intensity. In other more precise words, baseball can’t be viewed in a football frame of mind. After one game in the NFL season, a fan could get a decent idea about where his team is heading. After one game in the Major League epic, a fan could get a decent idea about well…. Absolutely nothing.

“Yankees suck!” is a popular chant around Major League Baseball stadiums for years. And for 1996-2004, you’d probably be able to argue. But in 2005, your writer, a true, die-hard Yankee fan, would be inclined to agree…..

Baseball churns to life tonight, and not a moment too soon.

I spent the winter cringing at the slowly expanding boil of steroid abuse, a sham of epic proportions that culminated in congressional hearings more reminiscent of my junior high production of Oklahoma than an actual government inquiry. What’s worse, since I witnessed the spectacle of a spectacled Mark McGwire whimpering, I’ve had the taste of boiled cabbage in my mouth. I’m hoping the Yankees-Red Sox game tomorrow night at least starts the process of cleansing my pallet.

If you’re the Yankees, you shouldn’t have a horrible 7-10 record in Spring Training. With injuries aplenty marring March hope, we know that George and his merry men can’t wait to leave Disney for Yankee.

I’ve been kept awake thinking of how to write about the latest round of prepubescent bitching between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.

Some naysayers in the city of not-so brotherly love (aka New York), have been saying that maybe George Steinbrunner made a mistake getting the Big Unit instead of Big Carlos.
Sportscolumn’s Alex Ferguson argues his case for the mulleted one…

By Alex Fitzsimmons

Fresh off a massacre that left all of New York battered and bruised, the most lucrative and thriving sports franchise in all of sports history desperately needs to be rebuilt. As I sat in my living room watching ESPN while simultaneously listening to sports talk shows, the latest buzz seems to be that Houston outfielder Carlos Beltran is the missing piece the Yankees need. People just don’t seem to get the drift–if the Yankees sign Beltran, next season will be a mirror image of this one, a season marked by defeat.

Derek Jeter has been one of the only reasons the Yankees have been winning lately–and he’s the reason they’ll keep winning in the playoffs.

Over the past few months, and in the last weeks especially, the Boston Red Sox have challenged the New York Yankees for the AL Division title that the Yankees have held since 1998. And in an atmosphere where every game is crucial, one Yankee, like so many times before, has proven to be a leader–a player who has put the team on his back and led them to victory when they needed it most: Derek Jeter.