Posts Tagged ‘Yankee Stadium’
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Playoff Misery 101October 8th, 2008
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Pity the poor fans of the Chicago Cubs. After a great regular season where they were arguably the most dominant team in the National League, they go out and get bounced from the playoffs after only three games. The Dodgers win two at Wrigley and one at Chavez and the loveable Cubbies’ span between World Series titles will be at least 101 years now.
After watching the Red Sox and the White Sox both erase decades-long World Series title droughts/generation-crushing curses, the overwhelming opinion was that it would be the Cubs turn to lose their identity and host a parade. So a baseball nation mourns as the Northsiders losing streak continues. Can any franchise match that kind of futility?
Oh, wait, maybe I can think of one. Read more
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End of the Road for Boston Woes OR Just the Beginning of Boston’s Road WoesJuly 20th, 2008
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A few short months ago a la October, the Angels were basically running away from Fenway’s bombers with their proverbial tails between their legs. After losing two series ending in sweeps to the Red Sox on two separate post-season occasions since the turn of the millennium, the Angels seemed to have their work cut out for them again in 08 if they wanted any chance at another World Series run.
The Angels have been, in their career, weak against the formidable Boston lineup. It is because of this that so many sports writers have criticized the Angels’ management for not acquiring a more fear-inducing bat for the middle of the lineup to back Big Daddy Vladdy. In fact, despite a successful first half, power rankings on ESPN still give little credence to the team and still stress this same overly-repetitive theme: “The Angels are the clear favorites in the AL West despite an offense that ranks 23rd in the majors in OPS and runs scored. Will they make a run at Mark Teixeira or Matt Holliday, or cling to the hope that starting pitching, a great closer and a flair for one-run victories can propel them deep into October?” (Crasnik’s “Starting 9” on ESPN.com). Though that last little statement, ending in a rhetorical question, seems to be rather connotative of a negative sentiment, I beg to differ, and offer up a definite YES. Great pitching > great hitting. Almost always. Read more
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2008 MLB Mid-Season Review: Magic 8 Ball says Cubs Win! Cubs Win! Cubs Win!July 17th, 2008
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Written July 12, 2008
We’ve nearly reached the 2008 All-Star game, where the brilliance of big boppers and showstoppers are expected to deliver on queue. The passionate baseball fan basks in the rays of the perennial favorites: the A-Rods, the Jeters and the Mannys of the hardball world. While the youngsters likely find their new idols in the Sotos and the Longorias rising to meet new acclaim and new expectations in their 1st all-star bash.
It is great time set in an equally great ballpark. The ‘Stadium’ that shone brightly while Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle and Jackson took their game to unparalleled heights. That had Larsen’s perfect game in 1956 World Series. Jackson’s three straight trips to souvenir city in 1977. Whitey Ford’s scoreless brilliance topping Ruth’s in pitching. And 26 times saw the House rock and roll before a new one was built. The passing of an 86-year old comrade that has shared its glory and defined a dynasty. Yankee Stadium will be missed.
Which is why this mid-heaven classic, during Manhattanhenge, is a time to pay homage, and to destine (possibly) whom will be in hunt for October glory. Read more
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Random RangernessJuly 5th, 2008
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A few random thoughts as we move out of June and into July…
The Rangers finally move 2 games over .500, winning Monday night at Yankee Stadium. It’s the first time they’ve reached that lofty height this season following the Great April Wipeout, the Incredible May Recovery, and the June of Treading Water. Since May 22, Texas has bounced between 2 games under and 1 over the break even mark. That is mediocrity not seen since “According to Jim” went off the air. (It did finally, mercifully go off the air, didn’t it?) You keep hoping for that one hot streak that will vault the team back into Division contention. But that’s not the way it ever happens in Texas.
As a child, I came to learn that you could count on the Rangers hanging in there for the first half of the season, and then falling like Skylab right after the All-Star break, scattering players at the trade deadline like debris over Australia. Is this the year that it doesn’t happen? Is this the year that we chase down 2 teams and win the division, using rookies at catcher, first base, third base, the outfield, and a rotation that began the year scattered out across our minor league system? Okay, probably not, but at least we recovered to the point that the dreamers can dream.
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Halfway Point: BoSox Sit Atop The East … BarelyJune 30th, 2008
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Eighty-one games down, eighty-one more to go. Only the Red Sox can say they have played half their regular season schedule as of June 26—just one of the several perks of starting a season a week earlier than the rest of major league baseball.
So faux halfway points be damned. There’s no need to wait until July 15 when the Midsummer Classic bids adieu to the hallowed grounds of Yankee Stadium. The Sox have reached the epicenter of the Marathon, and the battle for American League East supremacy hangs in the balance, with a familiar rival Empire stealthily drawing nearer from the flank, while a new and unforeseen usurper continues to flex their muscle as they seek to dethrone last year’s victor.
Overdramatic much? Hell, yeah! But it’s our natural right, as both writers and baseball enthusiasts, to allegorize and sensationalize this glorified little game of stickball.
