Yeah, poor old Boston, struggling by on a payroll of a measly $123 million, the second highest in the major leagues. I don’t even know how they manage to stay competitive on such a paltry amount. :rolleyes:
Seriously, i cheered like hell for the Red Sox last year, and i’ve spent most of the second half of the season hoping that they would hold off the Yankees and finish in first place. But when Boston fans start with the “woe is us” crap, it’s really pretty pathetic.
The Marlins and their 2 World Series Championships have no room to complain. Long time Cleveland fans like me (you want to see my autographed picture of 1972 Cy Young Award Winner Gaylord Perry?) do have the right, and believe you me we’ve exercised it, but to hell with complaining. It’s a pennant race! Who’s got time to complain?
As for Raffy, I never warmed up to him and could never quite believe that a guy who hit .275 or so with so so power his first couple of years could turn out to get 3000 hits with that many homers. Now he’s a ratfink too. What a guy.
That’s what I mean. Hell, after the weekend I spent in Cleveland where the Yankees came in and took four of five in three days, at the mistake, there’s no way I’m going to complain about the Colon trade.
But the Giles trade? Don’t get me started.
I don’t get the notion of Indians fans only being willing to see a winning team. We’re not freaking Yankee fans fer chrissakes.
I didn’t agree when I posted, but hearing other people talking about it and looking at the numbers, you’re probably right. They’re up three on Boston with nine to play.
White Sox…92 61 [C]
Cleveland…91 63 [-1.5] [wc]
Yankees…90 63 [-2] [E]
Red Sox…89 64 [-3]
When you consider that one East team, one Central team, and one of the other two teams has to make it… yeah, the White Sox still have pole position. And the Red Sox have a better shot at the East than the wild card, since Cleveland has games with Kansas City and Tampa Bay left.
He’s dragging down the whole sport, does that count?
Yes, it counts, but on the newly introduced **Raffy the Rat ** scale where **Raffy ** is a perfect 1, I guess **Bonds ** is only a 2. This is assuming the high end of the scale has players like Jeter, Varitek, **Tori Hunter ** as 10’s for playing the game extra hard and the right way and being good ambassadors for the game at the same time. (no slight to the other great players, I just picked the first 3 that came to mind)
Yankee note: Chacon looked great last night. He went back to get the ball, throw the ball. I hate when pitchers take for ever between pitches.
Everyone in the AL race won last night except Oakland. They are close to done.
All right, let’s be fair. It isn’t Yankee fans’ fault that they’re front-runners. When your team’s always running in front, that’s what happens. (This dispensation does not apply to my friend Lee from Mississippi, who is both a Yankees’ fan, a Notre Dame fan AND a Dallas Cowboys’ fan, an unlikely combination if I ever heard one. )
As for the Tribe’s attendence I think BobT is correct as usual. Clevelanders have others things to do, the city’s economy is one of the poorest in the country, and local people and the media were fixated on the Browns and their new coach for the first part of the Indians’ current unbelievable hot streak. At the 100 game mark when the Indians were just poking around .500 if you’d told me that they’d be 1.5 games up in the Wild Card and only 1.5 games behind the ChiSox at this point I’d never had believed you.
I’m a die Hard Yankee fan by Birth (in the Bronx Thank You)
I started rooting during the worst dry spell (1969 on)
One of my ealiest memories was July 4 1969. Watching Mickey Mantle Day on WPIX and my Dad pulls his little son over and goes “You see that player, you’ll never see as good a player again” Damn, he was right.
I lived and died with the **Thurman Munson ** Bronx Zoo Yankees.
I stayed loyal through the **Mattingly ** years and honestly rejoiced the day **Jeter ** showed up because there was something special about this kid and he’s going to lead us back to the Promised Land. (Besides **Scooter ** pretty much said so).
All that said; when I went to a Mid week game in 1990 there was only 20-30,000. Now there is 48-55,000. There are a lot of Front runners, and also a lot of tourist now. The Stadium has actually become a major must see for all those businessmen who are in town for a few days. Not to mention that Hideki packs in an extra 2-3000 Japanese fans daily from what I can see.
How can you not like a guy who got to have a cameo in a Godzilla movie?
I remember the 80s. I remember Reggie, and when he went out west. I remember the dry spell, and I remember “Save The Yankees. Trade Steinbrenner.”
I remember Billy Martin bitching out everything standing including his boss. Getting fired for it. Getting back in. Bitching out…
How’s this for a coincidence? I remember watching the Indians/Yankees game on TV in Cleveland that day. I had to look it up on www.retrosheet.com, but Cleveland and the Yankees played a doubleheader that day with the Yanks winning the opener and my Indians winning the nightcap. I just saw some of the first game. I remember the date even though I was only 7 at the time because there was a hellacious thunder/windstorm that evening that postponed the town’s fireworks show.
I love Hideki Matsui. Now that Bernie Williams is on the downslope of his career I think Matsui is my favorite non-pitching Yankee. Not that I don’t like Sheffield, Jeter, A-Rod etc. but I like the way Matsui unobtrusively produces.
Oh, I have been a fan since the strike year of 1981 which was really a bizarre time to become a fan, in retrospect. I also vividly remember how upset everyone was when Thurman Munson died.
…although I just saw a replay where my man butchered a sacrifice fly in left field for and error and a run scoring…they’ll never make the playoffs playing like that.
That’s cool, you remember a lot more of it than I do. I was really little. OF the entire 1969 year I really only remember the Ceremony for Mickey, The First walk on the Moon and Sesame Street. Lots and lots of daily sesame street.
I was just 3 at the time. It is strange what sticks in your mind as a little guy.
Laughing Lagomorph: The Day Munson day I was in complete shock. I can honestly say I was numb the rest of the season. The Spark and the life went out of the Yankees and the Yankees fans that very sad day. He was our Captain and my hero. My favorite player by far.
Todays game was bad. Arod blew 2 chances to try and cement his MVP bid and Giambi couldn’t catch up to the fast ball. Defense killed us.
I hope Torre realizes Wright should be in the Pen and Small in the Rotation.
Redsox Lead 4-2 and threatning more in the top of the 9th. Looks like back to a tie for division.
Yankee back up by a game and a full game over Cleveland also.
Arod get the early Solo Homer and a Key Defensive play in the game.
Chacon pitched another great game and Gordon & Mo were great.
Jeter got the Game winner.
Arroyo looked terrible (well as bad as Moose last night).
Now we just need to win tomorrow and we’re in good shape for the weekend.
In case of a tie, playoff game for Yankees-Redsox is in Yankee Stadium this year.
And the White Sox have all but clinched the Central Division, meaning it’s now the Yanks, Sox and Tribe playing for two spots. Every game is so huge at this point for everybody.
Yankee’s win Game 4. Clutch running by the Yanks. Solid Pitching and Lieter gets his 2nd post season win. Both in relief, go figure.