The season began on a cool night in April, Melky Cabrera hit a home run and made a nice catch in the Yankees 3-2 victory on opening night. It would all go down hill from their..
The injuries began to pile up, the largest being Chien Ming Wang getting hurt running the bases in June. The Yanks would constantly be looking up to the Rays and the Red Sox in the standings, and that's how the season ended, with the bombers in third place.
At the time I was disappointed that the last game at Yankee Stadium would not be a playoff game, but as I reflect it seems much more appropriate that the final game was a set date, that being September 21, 2008. The Yankees were able to give the stadium they called home for 85 years a fair send off, having tons of former players at the event. I rather they close out the old stadium that way, then possibly a loss in the playoffs. Only other way I would want to see the Yanks leave the stadium was holding title 27.
As it is the failures of 2008 lead to the 2009 World Series championship, and a season that will always lay dead in Yankee fans hearts. The Yanks went out and got CC, Teixiera and Burnett, had they won it all in 2008 the Yanks could have gotten sentimental and re-upped with Jason Giambi instead of Tex. I love Giambi, but Tex is the better player and the pitching is what won the Yanks a title in 2009.
From River Ave Blues : "Via Erik Boland, lefty reliever Damaso Marte underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder last Friday, and won’t begin to throw again until after the 2011 All Star break. Marte was afraid he’d never be able to pitch again, so he took this as good news. For all intents and purposes, consider him out next season. He won’t start throwing until after the break, nevermind facing batters and stuff.
Damaso is under contract for under $4M next season, then the Yanks will buy out his 2012 option (another $4M) for $250,000. Since signing his regrettable three-year, $12M contract after the 2008 season, Marte has thrown just 31 innings with a 6.39 ERA. The ERA’s skewed by the ass kickin’ he took before going on the disabled list in 2009, though. He did hold lefties to a .136/.205/.242 batting line over the last two seasons (73 plate appearances), which is what he’s supposed to do. We’ll always have the 2009 playoffs, Damaso."
::Sigh:: As many may know I am a huge Marte fan. Was it the fact he was excellent vs lefties? Was it his funky delivery? Was it his 2009 Postseason, when he was in beast mode? Yes those are of of the many reasons, I loved the Dominican lefty. It should be known that I blame this on the World Baseball Classic, since that is where Marte supposedly got hurt.
Doesn't look as if we will have the chance to see Marte in a Yankees uniform again if he is out until mid 2011. The Yankees would be insane to pick up his option, only way I see him back is if they sign him to a minor league deal.
Well the Yankees have only played three games at Target Field this season, and won two of three. Hopefully tonight and tomorrow the Yankees will create a memorable moment in the Twins new park. But until they do just that, the video below is my favorite moment to happen there.
If your a bit tense before watching tonight's game one, I hope that made you smile. Last season I was alot more confident in the Yankees and was more excited for the playoffs. This year I am still really excited but coming of the 2009 championship, it is hard to compete. This postseason I'm much more nervous, and that could be because of the September slide of the Yanks.
Two years ago yesterday the Yankees closed out the old Yankee Stadium with a 7-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. At the end of the game Derek Jeter gave an emotional speech about how things wouldn't change the next season at the new ball park. That old stadium, where Yankee icons had played for 85 seasons was always called "The house that Ruth built", but in 2009 the Yankees would be playing across the street in "The house that George built".
When George Steinbrenner passed away in mid-July, I remembered reading that ESPN was going to have a documentary about his life later this year. I had forgotten about it completely until this past week, when again it was mentioned in a newspaper article this time talking about the monument Steinbrenner received Monday.
My first complaint about the documentary which was an ESPN 30:30 presentation , was that it aired the same night as the Yankees played the Rays. Most Yankees fans I know would rather watch the two teams face off then to watch the documentary. Lucky for myself the show aired again on ESPN2 at 11pm, after the Yanks had beaten the Rays.
The show starts with the 2009 Yankees championship parade down the canyon of hero's in New York City. It shows the joy of the fans and players, along with some footage of how the 2009 championship was for the boss. But before it gets too in depth about the Yankees championship run it flashes back to September 21st,2008 , the last game ever at the old Yankee Stadium.
Barbara Kopple gets great footage of fans visibly upset that the old building is coming to a close and talks to many sad fans who are sad to see the old park go. During the entire time that the show was being filmed the Yankees gave Kopple complete media access to the players along with access to the old stadium while it was being torn down.
So far most of this review has been about the stadium, and that's because most of the show seemed to be about the old and new Yankee stadiums. Sure they mentioned George Steinbrenner and had the chance to talk with Hal Steinbrenner, but when it came to footage on George , Kopple does a poor job. Most of the interviews seen during this documentary are old interviews that I had seen clips of in the past , nothing that was original or not seen before.
The most enjoyable part of this film was seeing the workers taking down the old Yankee Stadium and how many of them were also Yankee fans who were sad to see the place come down. When it came to footage about the old ballpark Kopple did a great job of talking to fans and filming various parts of the ballpark being dismantled.
Towards the end of the film, Kopple is outside the new Yankee Stadium before the first regular season game interviewing fans. The fans react in different ways, some saying how they love the new park and they thank George for it, while other fans hate the new park and miss the old stadium. A few fans even say that although George wanted to build the new park , that if he was still around and healthy enough the prices would be lower and it would have been more fan friendly.
If you have an extra hour in your life that you want to spare I would recommend watching this. The film does a nice job of getting footage about the two ballparks, including the death of the old one and the birth of the new one. But if you plan to watch this in hopes of learning a little bit more about George and the Steinbrenner family, well then your looking in the wrong area. Kopple had a good idea trying to blend the two together, but for me it didn't work well.
I found a few clips from the show on youtube interviewing Hal Steinbrenner :
It was the bottom of the third inning and the Yankees were leading the Phillies 2-1 in game 6 of the 2009 World Series. Derek Jeter had just singled to give the Yanks a runner on first with one out, Johnny Damon came up to face Pedro Martinez for his second at bat of the game. Damon worked the count full before drawing a walk to give the Yankees runners on first a second. Damon would move to second once Mark Teixeira was hit by a pitch. Following an Alex Rodriguez strike out Hideki Matsui singled to center scoring Jeter and Damon to give the Yankees a 4-1 lead. The bombers would tack on three more runs, and win the World Series but that walk and run scored by Johnny Damon would be his last inning wearing the pinstripes in a game. Damon was forced to leave the game after that inning with a strained calf.
After becoming one of the few players to win a World Series with the Yankees and the Red Sox, Damon became a free agent. Represented by Scott Boras, Damon was looking for a four year deal. Damon had come off one of his best offensive seasons of his career, but age and poor defensive skills had the Brian Cashman and the Yanks looking for a shorter deal. Both sides couldn't come to an agreement, and Brian Cashman took it upon himself to go out in the meantime and get DH Nick Johnson. Johnny, then came back to the Yanks and said he would take a smaller deal to stay in the Bronx but it was too late.
So the question is what will the reception be like for Johnny Damon ? Earlier this season Hideki Matsui came back and received a huge ovation during the ring ceremony. Matsui also received a warm reception each time he came up to the plate, each game he played at the stadium. So will Damon receive the same ?
Lets remember that Hideki Matsui had played with the Yankees since 2003, had a huge game 6 of the World Series and was named MVP of the series and had wanted to come back to the Yankees in 2010 but the Yanks had no interest in signing him. Damon on the other hand had been a Red Sox prior to coming to the Bronx, and became greedy when negotiating with the Yanks this past off season.
But when it comes down to it, I feel Damon should and will get a nice hand from the crowd. Even though he may not have left on the best terms, when it comes down to it he accomplished what he was brought in to do. Damon won a championship, helped lighten the mood in the clubhouse and was productive during his four years in pinstripes. When the Yanks signed Damon to a four year $52 million deal, many around baseball felt it would be a good deal in the first two years, but his production would have dropped off during the final two. But Damon proved the critics wrong and during those four years his worst offensive stats were hitting .270, 12,63,.351 all of those stats coming in 2007 when Damon was battling depression symptoms, out of shape and thinking of retiring. Other then Damon losing a step in center field, and being forced to move to left field, Damon was worth every dollar of his contract especially when you think of all the clutch hits he had gotten over the years.
The Yankees have used Damon's bat at times, this is possibly why they went out and got Lance Berkman. Of course looking back on it, many Yankee fans wish the bombers had signed Damon instead of Nick Johnson, who struggled when he was healthy and then did what he does best, got hurt. This season Damon has put up solid numbers but nothing compared to last season. The new Yankee Stadium is perfect for Damon's swing, and that is what helped him have such a great season in 2009. But Brett Gardner is younger and has done a great job playing left field (although they have comparable throwing arms ) and reminds me of Damon at times with the way he fouls off tough pitches.
When Damon steps up to the plate for the first time at Yankee Stadium wearing a Detroit Tigers uniform expect to hear cheers. I know when I'm at the game Wednesday I will cheer for him, but then again I cheered for Matsui and even Jose Molina (What can I say I think hes a great catcher ). Its doubtful but following this season Damon's deal with Detroit is over, and if the Yanks need a DH and someone who could occasionally play left field I think they will know where to turn.
My favorite Johnny Damon moment : The two stolen bases, on the same play in game four of the 2009 World Series. The Yankees were tied with the Phillies in the top of the ninth when Damon went to steal second base. After making it successfully to second Damon stood up and began to run towards third. I immediately began to scream and think what is he doing ! But with Mark Teixiera up, the Phillies had put on a lefty shift, so nobody was covering third base. Damon made it to third base easily and would eventually score the go ahead run for the Yankees on an Alex Rodriguez double.
