Author: mw2828

Matt Waters is a screenwriter currently living in New York. He has been writing about sports since age seventeen, about the time when it became painfully apparent that his athletic dreams would go unfulfilled, due to terrible luck and an obscene lack of talent. His favorite movie is “The Thin Red Line”. His favorite band is “Modest Mouse”. His favorite sport is baseball! With an exclamation point.

General Sports

The Tempest

Of course it matters. This is Hank Aaron we’re talking about here, enduring proof that greatness can be discovered within consistency, Hank Aaron, class act, a hero in this and future generations, transcendent of the vicious scorn that compromised his time. This is Hank Aaron, baseball’s all-time home run king, a living legend.

This is his mark, what he earned. That is the symbol of a bygone era, what could have existed that never came to pass, what should have been but never was.

It’s an idea, a fantasy, for those who wouldn’t quit dreaming.

Tags barry bonds, espn, gary sheffield, MLB

General Sports

Legends of the Fall: Part V of V

Post author By mw2828
Post date June 11, 2007
2 Comments on Legends of the Fall: Part V of V

It had been a competition, and circus all the same.

And now, the 2003 American League Championship Series would be decided on one game, on one night.

Pedro Martinez had his legacy to protect, damaged in Game 3.

Roger Clemens had his dignity to fight for. It was common knowledge that Clemens would dive into retirement immediately following the ’03 season. He couldn’t be remembered as a loser, defeated by his successor.

Tags Boston Red Sox, MLB, ny yankees

MLB General

Legends of the Fall: Part IV of V

Post author By mw2828
Post date June 10, 2007
No Comments on Legends of the Fall: Part IV of V

The fourth contest was washed away by rain, leaving the tabloid vultures to pick at the carcass of Game 3.

Everyone would have a say.

There was New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, suggesting that Pedro Martinez, now known as an enemy of the elderly, would have been arrested if he pulled his shenanigans at Yankee Stadium.

There was Pedro, the man himself, maintaining his intent to gently push Zimmer aside.

There was Red Sox manager Grady Little, displaying little tact in declaring the Series a battle upgraded to war.

Tags Boston Red Sox, MLB, ny yankees

MLB General

Legends of the Fall: Part III of V

Post author By mw2828
Post date June 8, 2007
No Comments on Legends of the Fall: Part III of V

The A’s had fallen, tortuously, in the playoffs once again. The defeat offered zero consolation. There were no moral victories.

In their shattered clubhouse, Billy Beane lost it, railing about the payroll disparity separating the two teams.

But on the field, they had been so close.

So close…

As the Red Sox raucously celebrated that night, ready to challenge the New York Yankees, ready to spit in the face of history, one lingering, exhausting thought couldn’t have been far from their minds.

They had survived.

Tags Boston Red Sox, don zimmer, ny yankees

MLB General

Legends of the Fall: Part II of V

Post author By mw2828
Post date June 7, 2007
4 Comments on Legends of the Fall: Part II of V

Spring bowed to summer before summer submitted to autumn, and the most marvelous postseason in Baseball history postseason began.

In the American League, the 101 win Yankees, champions of the American League East, were matched with the determined Minnesota Twins, a team consumed with reaching the World Series after falling one step short against Anaheim a year prior.

Tags billy beane, Boston Red Sox, Oakland A's

MLB General

Legends of the Fall: Part I of V

Post author By mw2828
Post date June 6, 2007
4 Comments on Legends of the Fall: Part I of V

Sports couldn’t exist without opposing forces. Here is the story of two teams destined for no greater glory than to define each other. Here is one legend of the fall, among many others.

Tags 2003 alcs, Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins, ny yankees, Oakland A's

New York Yankees

Fear and Loathing in the Bronx

Post author By mw2828
Post date May 24, 2007
No Comments on Fear and Loathing in the Bronx

The Stadium is teetering, Mo’s bridge burning down, Torre’s magic touch dissolving. The boss blusters, Abreu is flustered… too many problems need solving. And while chaos ensued, and the denizens booed, there wasn’t a game left to save. We are left with the ghost of memory, and whoever else decides to stay.

And I wonder:

What’s the point of worrying again?

Tags yankee stadium

New York Yankees

Strange Daze

The Yankees appear dead as Christopher Moltisanti. I gulp an overflowing glass of rum and coke, attempting to ignore their latest disintegration. It’s May 11th, which doesn’t stop me from worrying.

Bottoms up.

Tags crisis of faith maannn, ny yankees

MLB General

Next: The National League

What’s the price of instant gratification? The Arizona Diamondbacks were an expansion team in 1998, propelled on a fast track by relentless manager Buck Showalter and an aggressive front office, participating in postseason play by 1999, winning an epic World Series in 2001. It was a whirlwind, a winning tradition instilled within infancy, the antithesis of Tampa Bay. But nobody stays on top forever. The team’s foundation gradually cracked, and the Diamondbacks finally kissed abyss in 2004, collecting an abysmal 51 wins.

MLB General

Next: The American League

Sure, the bitterly biased Yankee devotee within me reveals a practical grouch when a columnist, or innocent bystander, dares compare limitless Jose Reyes to Hall of Fame lock Derek Jeter, or even, gasp, the chosen one, Alex Rodriguez.

Honestly, it’s quite frightening. It only seems a second ago that Reyes was a rumor, the mysterious jewel of the Mets’ farm system during the bygone Steve Phillips era.

Scary thought, time.

Tags baseball, prospects