Detroit Tigers pitcher Ugueth Urbina's mother, Moura Villareal, who disappeared Sept. 1 from her home in Urbina's native Caracas, Venezuela, and held while kidnappers demanded $6 million ransom, was rescued Friday night.
She was rescued from a countryside home in Estado Bolivar in southern Venezuela…
Overjoyed to hear this nightmare is over, and I'm glad it all worked out for Ugie and his family.
That's easy... the one where they're playing the game!
...really, I've been trying to think... I like our park but it's just too dang hot most of the time! I liked your park for the aura, etc.. but the sight lines were sometimes bad... same with Candlestick... PacBell (now SBC) was nice, for the indoor ones, I liked The BOB... I haven't "met" one I don't like (well, maybe the humptydome)... I think my favorite though is the minor league park in Omaha... heck, just about any minor league park... you're so close and comfortable... it's like home...
mstar i asked him for his autograph and he said no and i told him it was for my little brother (who standing right next to me) and he still refused. was a real snot about it
oh mstar ! i am dying. thanks for the clip. i knew drew barrymore was in a new movie (is that her real life boyfriend). i had no idea what it was about. i can't believe it. ohmygod you have to go see it on the first day it comes out.
It's Jimmy Fallon the Saturday Night Live guy as Drews love and typically obsessed Sox fan.. It was being filmed all last year, and was supposed to be about the Red Sox coming up short again-as they always had--
..The entire movie had to be rewritten over and over as the Red Sox refused to die. I am pretty sure me and half of New England will be there on opening day..as it documents part of the 2004 Sox through their love story...
Yea this should be interesting--there are angles behind angles in this investigation...but the good news is spring is coming, the season is starting soon, and I have RedSox/Yankee tickets in hand -- all is right with the world... well... except for the poverty, starvation, disease and wars
Gotta check in to my other favorite tread...Real life and real baseball takes it's toll...
I'm kinda letting the 'roids story play itself out...Baseball will prevail over this,but it was getting too goddamn popular and corporate,anyway...Hopefully,I good scandal will drive off some of the fair-weather,star-struck fans that contribute to the high ticket prices...
I don't think there'll be any asterisks and such,but the cat is already out of the bag,and as long as this generation of baseball fan is alive,the nineties up to the odd-fives will be remembered as the era of ballooned numbers inflated by steroids...Hopefully,a lot more highschool and college kids will abstain from taking them to get their shot at getting noticed...Like the young girl who becomes anorexic,or boulemic,jeopardizing their long-term health for a chance as a big-time model...I'm more concerned with the impressionable kids getting started on steroids...to hell with the pro players...they should know better...
The 'mantle' has officially changed in my household...Instead of me giving my son pointers at the batting cage on hitting,he's now giving me hitting instructions..I impressed him the other day,smacking the 70 mph pitches with authority(well,at least for me,anyway)...I told him I oughta join an adult baseball league...He said,"Why don't you then,instead of just talking about it?"...That punk....Who is he to talk to me that way?....Hmmmm
Why can't they be like we were --- Perfect in every way---Whats the matter with kids today?
Welcome back Simon--how has spring training been going down there? Are the Cubs looking good? Sure you can hit, can you still make the long throw from the hole?
I'm a little concerned about the Sox-they are reminding me of Apollo Creed in Rocky I this spring. They all seem busy doing endorsements or commercials, doing guest slots for "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy" or testifying to Congress -I hope that they remember that a smooth 6-4-3 double play and a well executed hit and run is part of the formula.
It seems to be a little too relaxed but what do I know.
Its a entire new outlook and way of looking at baseball after last year miracle, the Red Sox universe has extraordinarily alterred and tipped completely on its axis so I don't know quite how to feel---Its great going in as defending champions but it certainly is a different way to look at things.
Well,I'm happy as a pig in slop....My boy's been mired in a bad hitting slump,still batting leadoff,but his timing's been off...Today we were playing our arch-rivals,tied 10-10 in extra innings,and he smoked a two out walk-off gapper...Tomorrow,he'll be pitching for varsity,so he's good to be around again...
I know the feeling about the Red Sox this year....The way you're describing them sounds more like Rocky's attitude in the first fight w/ Mr. T... That's what happened to the '85 Bears...They should have won about three or four Super Bowls,but lost their focus...They say the hardest thing to do in sports is to repeat as champs....We'll see...
I've been too busy to really go to any spring baseball out here...I read about it,but I tend to get more in the know when the season gets underway...I love when the first hitting and pitching statistics shows up in the Sunday sports page,after like 10 games into the season...Some guy will already have seven homers and 15 rbi's so you project in your mind(lessee,at this rate,over a 162 game schedule,he should end up with 113 homers and 243 rbi's)...
I'm a little leary of getting too excited about the Cubbies this year until they show me something...They should have been in the playoffs last year...I don't want to go through that disappointment again,but I know I'll still be watching....
Hi everyone its me the Dodger fan. I don't know what the Dodgers will look like this year after they lost or got rid of some of the best players, but I shall go oh yes I shall go.
I'm a 3rd generation fan of thiers starting with my grandpa in good ole Brooklyn.
And IMHO every one after Rodger Maris broke the Babe's home run record were on steriods, Rodger and "Babe" did it the hard way WITHOUT DRUGS. But hey who am I to say so, I'm just a very proud mom of a great little er big now baseball player "baseball Bob", and thank God he's never done drugs to build his body, he's a slim but muscular kid, he goes to the gym and does it the hard way with weight training. :D-->
Hi,again Dovey...What's your boy up to now?...Last year you mentioned something about him playing in highschool and other tournaments...Is he still hitting the cover off the ball?
Hi Dove --have fun watching Derek Lowe (the paranoid android) this year, he is one of the best groundball pitchers I have ever seen and is on and off a great pitcher. I wish the Sox still had him. His downfall is that he is like a kid and gets flustered easily-you can see it in his body language on the mound -which can get humorous its so readable at times, but if he is focussed there is no on better...
Good to hear your kids having good time Simon, I think after this long, long winter Im going to move to a more baseball friendly warm place next winter--Its too damn cold and long without baseball...
This cracked me up--
quote:
Some guy will already have seven homers and 15 rbi's so you project in your mind(lessee,at this rate,over a 162 game schedule,he should end up with 113 homers and 243 rbi's)...
as I have always done the exact same thing--
Its interesting you mentioned being leary, thats sort of the rub for me--Its sort of a built in response to be leary and cynical as a Red Sox fan, to look for holes and mistakes, and to be very very careful about giving yourself over to them. Its a built in response built over my 49 years--I don't know exactly what to do now--they overcame all the odds and didit-I am adjusting my entire worldview and I'll see how it irons out.
Can they just start playin' already?
Red Sox and Cubs are playing Wrigley in June, You up for a road trip?
Hi Simon, Yes he is still hitting the ball, and is catching coach at our local college and is helping teach a friend of ours in pitching by catching and teaching him to pitch, Bobby is also a very good pitcher himself. He took a year off from college, but they want him to go full time so he can catch or pitch with the team instead of coahing and volluntering. Thanks for asking about him too, I didn't know anyone remembered him or me.
did anyone see the segment on "Real Sports w Bryant Gumbel" about how we're ruining the youth of today's future chances at the big leagues? starting them throwing curves way too early, playing year round, etc...
the orthopedist they had on said he's doing Tommy John surgery on 10 to 12 year olds now... wants a national referendum on pitch counts and outlawing the curve ball in every league under 14 or 15... the umps can throw them out... it was interesting...
my nephew's (J&P's son) is in one of those year round traveling leagues... kids need a break, they need to play other sports... of course, year round baseball works pretty good for the island boys...
...as for the other stuff... well... I'm not here to talk about the past...
I didn't see that,Tom,but I was talking to another pitcher's dad about some of the same stuff today...I don't think you can legislate overzealous dad's living vicariously through their sons trying to push them to the next level and outdoing their peers...Even at the youth level there's plenty of time and games for the kid's to show what they got,and I think a lot of parents and coaches do these kids a disservice by pushing them at 12,13 to try to get an edge on their competition...
My son plays year-round ball,but doesn't do alot of pitching in the off-season...mainly infielding...But I guess the upside is,(and I don't know if anybody really knows exactly when a kid is throwing too many pitches,or is too young to throw a curveball)that most kids will not go on to play major league ball,and if they throw their arm out,usually it just means that they can't pitch any more,and they know in themselves that they pushed themselves to their limit...We had two kids at our school that required arm surgery,but one of them wasn't even a pitcher...Sometimes,it's just a risk you take,like in dirt-biking,skateboarding,girl-chasing....
pitch counts for kids? the surgeon on the program (he's the Red's doctor) suggested pretty firmly that "6 times the kids age" is a good limit... so keep an eye on young Simon Junior and his tell the other kids dads...
my brother was scouted through high school... was a great pitcher... and then a high school coach ended it for him... it wasn't his elbow, it was his shoulder, and the coach kept making him throw to "work it out"... the continued "work" ended his dreams... and he was good...
Maybe I'm just getting old. I'm one of a rare breed that grew up rooting for both the Yankees and the Red Sox. While I was always a Yankee fan, I rooted for the Sox when they were in the series, and feel that last year was a great 'storybook' achievement from them.
But I'm sick of the whole thing. I know it's only some fans, but whenever I see close ups of fans in Yankee Stadium or Fenway, it makes me wonder what the hell I'm doing being part of it. The incident with Sheffield last night crystalized it. While it was not the worst infraction I've seen a fan make, it was an intentional swipe at Sheffield, which is something I've rarely seen at any game. The ensuing shouting match was a study in human nature, bordering on hatred in the faces of some of those yahoos.
It's never smart for a player to acknowledge a fan. I was at the Dodger game last year when Milton Bradley went ballistic, and threw the bottle that was thrown on the field back in the stands, and while it was 'exciting' for a couple of minutes , it really put a wet blanket on the game.
Anyway, I'm finding that I just don't enjoy these Yankee-Sox matches any more, and it's got nothing to do with who's winning. It's just ugly,like going to a Raiders game when they were in LA.
OK I've vented. So I'm an old fart who wishes things were better. I know this crap has been going on forever, I just don't have any use for it anymore.
I'm one of a rare breed that grew up rooting for both the Yankees and the Red Sox.
Now that has got to be the rarest of a rare species...
I watched the game last night and still don't know exactly what to think....The fan reached over the wall ( yea thats wrong) and it looks like his arm brushed up against Sheffield (not exactly the uppercut that was portrayed in the papers and on Sportscenter), while Sheffield was fielding the ball.
Sheffield, with the ball still in play, takes time to push the fan before throwing the ball in, playing Variteks double into a triple. Then returns to yell at the fan with security jumping in.
The fan got ejected for interfering with play but not arrested. Its hard to tell from the video if he did anything outlandish (which if he did ban him for life), or if Sheffield overreacted from being taunted all night by the rightfield fans.
Ive been watching these games (Sox vs Yankees) for about 40 years, there is alot of emotion, alot of history, some bad blood, some great baseball and more than a few real idiots in the stands both in Yankee Stadium (Riot Police during last years playoffs) and Fenway. There is very real electricity and excitement in the stands and wannabee fans and bandwagoners (usually well juiced)get carried away
I can understand why people in other places are getting tired of the over hype by the national media that has jumped on the bandwagon the last few years, which to a certain extent fuels the fire...
I don't know what the answer is...I have taken serious abuse in Yankee Stadium for wearing a Red Sox hat....banning alcohol sales during these games might be a start....at least in the stands...
I dont think you can take away 100 years of history, or competitiveness on the field quite so easily.
Try not to get too turned off in spite off all that, it is still great baseball-its only April 15th and 3 games have already been decided in thye ninth
This has had a few days to blow by now -Ive watched the video's (heck you can't get out of the way of them) and the shame of the thing is that it overshadowed a great game...
....and the media focusses on the occurences that happened for about 3 seconds...There were no blows exchanged, unless you count Sheffields push or the one idiot reaching over the fence...the vid shows the fans and security getting between Sheffield and House and stopping anything before it got out of hand.
I think part of it, a great part of it, is that the national media (ESPN in particular) has jumped so much on the RedSox/Yankees bandwagon the last few years, that they will go to great lengths to promote it and create a story even if nothing much exists, and that is what can be sickening.
The part they missed and haven't been reporting on is that the Red Sox played well, beat Randy Johnson, and hit 3 homeruns in the process of doing it, which has alot more implications than a short shouting match.
I didn't think that whole thing was a big deal at all,Mstar...I have to admit,as a fan,I think the last thing on my mind would be taking a swipe at a guy chasing a live ball,but if it was like a White Sox-Twins game,I doubt it would have been so blown out of proportion..
On a lighter note,I see Steinbrenner is really ....ed about the Yanks 4-8 start...My God,you would think it's a Yankee birthright to be in first place or something..It's still too early yet to tell who's going to be good and who is simply off to a good start...Like,I don't think the Marlins will be able to keep up with their pace of complete games that their pichers have been throwing...Nomah...Where are you?...You're wearing a Cub uniform...batting third,according to the box scores...Isn't there a bat in that dugout to your liking?...
I was wondering if that was some sort of record Steinbrenner going ballistic and its only the second week of April...
I think that they start too early. When I was a kid it seems they didn't start until the 10th or 15th and filled the middle of the year with Sunday doubleheaders....this April 1st business--then everyone has an opening day Hollywood like ceremony--while they are still basically getting into shape makes the opening 2 weeks sort of a circus...glad that's all over and we can get back to baseball.The Sox seem to be settling in with a 4 game ministreak--with the new guys Wells and Clement picking up their first wins here
I'm home, playin hookey watching MLB's only morning game of the year (11AM start), Schilling has struck out 10 through 5--I guess that heroic ankle is healing up OK.
Recommended Posts
Top Posters In This Topic
858
673
1658
1014
Popular Days
Oct 24
38
Aug 12
34
Aug 18
31
Oct 22
29
Top Posters In This Topic
hiway29 858 posts
Rocky 673 posts
mstar1 1,658 posts
Tom Strange 1,014 posts
Popular Days
Oct 24 2007
38 posts
Aug 12 2008
34 posts
Aug 18 2008
31 posts
Oct 22 2006
29 posts
Popular Posts
kimberly
I missed the LLWS. The boy had baseball practice 4-7. Playing in a USSSA tournament this coming weekend. The new season has just started. Can ya'll believe we are in September of the ML baseball s
mstar1
Dont scare me like that Bolsh--the way you posted I wasnt sure if it was a done deal--I had to go check....Im on the fence whether to go for Halliday or not---I'd love to have him but I'd hate to give
hiway29
I love those fan trades where players you don't care about, plus a 'prospect', are offered up for a major player. Yeah, the Jays will jump at that deal.
Posted Images
mstar1
Are you gonna tell us the Thurman Munchkin story? He was rude to more than a few people regularly brawling with Carlton Fisk in the 70's.
Words are already flying between the World Champion Sox and the Yankees and its only the second day of spring training.....
In the good news department:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1994812
Overjoyed to hear this nightmare is over, and I'm glad it all worked out for Ugie and his family.
The news is worth an Ugie fist pump:
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tom Strange
...really, I've been trying to think... I like our park but it's just too dang hot most of the time! I liked your park for the aura, etc.. but the sight lines were sometimes bad... same with Candlestick... PacBell (now SBC) was nice, for the indoor ones, I liked The BOB... I haven't "met" one I don't like (well, maybe the humptydome)... I think my favorite though is the minor league park in Omaha... heck, just about any minor league park... you're so close and comfortable... it's like home...
Link to comment
Share on other sites
excathedra
mstar i asked him for his autograph and he said no and i told him it was for my little brother (who standing right next to me) and he still refused. was a real snot about it
Link to comment
Share on other sites
mstar1
pffffftttt to Thurman Munchkin....
on the other hand here'e a clip from next years sure Oscar winner
Link to comment
Share on other sites
excathedra
oh mstar ! i am dying. thanks for the clip. i knew drew barrymore was in a new movie (is that her real life boyfriend). i had no idea what it was about. i can't believe it. ohmygod you have to go see it on the first day it comes out.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
mstar1
It's Jimmy Fallon the Saturday Night Live guy as Drews love and typically obsessed Sox fan.. It was being filmed all last year, and was supposed to be about the Red Sox coming up short again-as they always had--
..The entire movie had to be rewritten over and over as the Red Sox refused to die. I am pretty sure me and half of New England will be there on opening day..as it documents part of the 2004 Sox through their love story...
For Best Actor In A Movie About The Red Sox:
Jimmy Fallon
Link to comment
Share on other sites
jardinero
Well, they're talking baseball on CNN....Jose, Sammy, Mark and more...
CNN is covering opening statements right now before the House Committee regarding steriod use.
Count on Jose and Mark to be pleading the 5th a lot....
Developing....
J.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
mstar1
Yea this should be interesting--there are angles behind angles in this investigation...but the good news is spring is coming, the season is starting soon, and I have RedSox/Yankee tickets in hand -- all is right with the world... well... except for the poverty, starvation, disease and wars
Link to comment
Share on other sites
simonzelotes
Gotta check in to my other favorite tread...Real life and real baseball takes it's toll...
I'm kinda letting the 'roids story play itself out...Baseball will prevail over this,but it was getting too goddamn popular and corporate,anyway...Hopefully,I good scandal will drive off some of the fair-weather,star-struck fans that contribute to the high ticket prices...
I don't think there'll be any asterisks and such,but the cat is already out of the bag,and as long as this generation of baseball fan is alive,the nineties up to the odd-fives will be remembered as the era of ballooned numbers inflated by steroids...Hopefully,a lot more highschool and college kids will abstain from taking them to get their shot at getting noticed...Like the young girl who becomes anorexic,or boulemic,jeopardizing their long-term health for a chance as a big-time model...I'm more concerned with the impressionable kids getting started on steroids...to hell with the pro players...they should know better...
The 'mantle' has officially changed in my household...Instead of me giving my son pointers at the batting cage on hitting,he's now giving me hitting instructions..I impressed him the other day,smacking the 70 mph pitches with authority(well,at least for me,anyway)...I told him I oughta join an adult baseball league...He said,"Why don't you then,instead of just talking about it?"...That punk....Who is he to talk to me that way?....Hmmmm
Link to comment
Share on other sites
mstar1
Why can't they be like we were --- Perfect in every way---Whats the matter with kids today?
Welcome back Simon--how has spring training been going down there? Are the Cubs looking good? Sure you can hit, can you still make the long throw from the hole?
I'm a little concerned about the Sox-they are reminding me of Apollo Creed in Rocky I this spring. They all seem busy doing endorsements or commercials, doing guest slots for "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy" or testifying to Congress -I hope that they remember that a smooth 6-4-3 double play and a well executed hit and run is part of the formula.
It seems to be a little too relaxed but what do I know.
Its a entire new outlook and way of looking at baseball after last year miracle, the Red Sox universe has extraordinarily alterred and tipped completely on its axis so I don't know quite how to feel---Its great going in as defending champions but it certainly is a different way to look at things.
Opening day will help me sort it all out.....
anyway good to see you back...
Rest In Peace
Dick (The Monster)Radatz
1937-2005
Link to comment
Share on other sites
simonzelotes
Thank you,Mstar...
Dick died much too young...
Well,I'm happy as a pig in slop....My boy's been mired in a bad hitting slump,still batting leadoff,but his timing's been off...Today we were playing our arch-rivals,tied 10-10 in extra innings,and he smoked a two out walk-off gapper...Tomorrow,he'll be pitching for varsity,so he's good to be around again...
I know the feeling about the Red Sox this year....The way you're describing them sounds more like Rocky's attitude in the first fight w/ Mr. T... That's what happened to the '85 Bears...They should have won about three or four Super Bowls,but lost their focus...They say the hardest thing to do in sports is to repeat as champs....We'll see...
I've been too busy to really go to any spring baseball out here...I read about it,but I tend to get more in the know when the season gets underway...I love when the first hitting and pitching statistics shows up in the Sunday sports page,after like 10 games into the season...Some guy will already have seven homers and 15 rbi's so you project in your mind(lessee,at this rate,over a 162 game schedule,he should end up with 113 homers and 243 rbi's)...
I'm a little leary of getting too excited about the Cubbies this year until they show me something...They should have been in the playoffs last year...I don't want to go through that disappointment again,but I know I'll still be watching....
Link to comment
Share on other sites
wyteduv58
Hi everyone its me the Dodger fan. I don't know what the Dodgers will look like this year after they lost or got rid of some of the best players, but I shall go oh yes I shall go.
I'm a 3rd generation fan of thiers starting with my grandpa in good ole Brooklyn.
And IMHO every one after Rodger Maris broke the Babe's home run record were on steriods, Rodger and "Babe" did it the hard way WITHOUT DRUGS. But hey who am I to say so, I'm just a very proud mom of a great little er big now baseball player "baseball Bob", and thank God he's never done drugs to build his body, he's a slim but muscular kid, he goes to the gym and does it the hard way with weight training.
:D--> 
Link to comment
Share on other sites
simonzelotes
Hi,again Dovey...What's your boy up to now?...Last year you mentioned something about him playing in highschool and other tournaments...Is he still hitting the cover off the ball?
Link to comment
Share on other sites
mstar1
Hi Dove --have fun watching Derek Lowe (the paranoid android) this year, he is one of the best groundball pitchers I have ever seen and is on and off a great pitcher. I wish the Sox still had him. His downfall is that he is like a kid and gets flustered easily-you can see it in his body language on the mound -which can get humorous its so readable at times, but if he is focussed there is no on better...
Good to hear your kids having good time Simon, I think after this long, long winter Im going to move to a more baseball friendly warm place next winter--Its too damn cold and long without baseball...
This cracked me up--
as I have always done the exact same thing--
Its interesting you mentioned being leary, thats sort of the rub for me--Its sort of a built in response to be leary and cynical as a Red Sox fan, to look for holes and mistakes, and to be very very careful about giving yourself over to them. Its a built in response built over my 49 years--I don't know exactly what to do now--they overcame all the odds and didit-I am adjusting my entire worldview and I'll see how it irons out.
Can they just start playin' already?
Red Sox and Cubs are playing Wrigley in June, You up for a road trip?
Link to comment
Share on other sites
wyteduv58
Hi Simon, Yes he is still hitting the ball, and is catching coach at our local college and is helping teach a friend of ours in pitching by catching and teaching him to pitch, Bobby is also a very good pitcher himself. He took a year off from college, but they want him to go full time so he can catch or pitch with the team instead of coahing and volluntering. Thanks for asking about him too, I didn't know anyone remembered him or me.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tom Strange
did anyone see the segment on "Real Sports w Bryant Gumbel" about how we're ruining the youth of today's future chances at the big leagues? starting them throwing curves way too early, playing year round, etc...
the orthopedist they had on said he's doing Tommy John surgery on 10 to 12 year olds now... wants a national referendum on pitch counts and outlawing the curve ball in every league under 14 or 15... the umps can throw them out... it was interesting...
my nephew's (J&P's son) is in one of those year round traveling leagues... kids need a break, they need to play other sports... of course, year round baseball works pretty good for the island boys...
...as for the other stuff... well... I'm not here to talk about the past...
Link to comment
Share on other sites
simonzelotes
I didn't see that,Tom,but I was talking to another pitcher's dad about some of the same stuff today...I don't think you can legislate overzealous dad's living vicariously through their sons trying to push them to the next level and outdoing their peers...Even at the youth level there's plenty of time and games for the kid's to show what they got,and I think a lot of parents and coaches do these kids a disservice by pushing them at 12,13 to try to get an edge on their competition...
My son plays year-round ball,but doesn't do alot of pitching in the off-season...mainly infielding...But I guess the upside is,(and I don't know if anybody really knows exactly when a kid is throwing too many pitches,or is too young to throw a curveball)that most kids will not go on to play major league ball,and if they throw their arm out,usually it just means that they can't pitch any more,and they know in themselves that they pushed themselves to their limit...We had two kids at our school that required arm surgery,but one of them wasn't even a pitcher...Sometimes,it's just a risk you take,like in dirt-biking,skateboarding,girl-chasing....
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tom Strange
pitch counts for kids? the surgeon on the program (he's the Red's doctor) suggested pretty firmly that "6 times the kids age" is a good limit... so keep an eye on young Simon Junior and his tell the other kids dads...
my brother was scouted through high school... was a great pitcher... and then a high school coach ended it for him... it wasn't his elbow, it was his shoulder, and the coach kept making him throw to "work it out"... the continued "work" ended his dreams... and he was good...
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tom Strange
who made this damnable schedule?
we start the season with 20 games in 20 days...
Link to comment
Share on other sites
hiway29
Maybe I'm just getting old. I'm one of a rare breed that grew up rooting for both the Yankees and the Red Sox. While I was always a Yankee fan, I rooted for the Sox when they were in the series, and feel that last year was a great 'storybook' achievement from them.
But I'm sick of the whole thing. I know it's only some fans, but whenever I see close ups of fans in Yankee Stadium or Fenway, it makes me wonder what the hell I'm doing being part of it. The incident with Sheffield last night crystalized it. While it was not the worst infraction I've seen a fan make, it was an intentional swipe at Sheffield, which is something I've rarely seen at any game. The ensuing shouting match was a study in human nature, bordering on hatred in the faces of some of those yahoos.
It's never smart for a player to acknowledge a fan. I was at the Dodger game last year when Milton Bradley went ballistic, and threw the bottle that was thrown on the field back in the stands, and while it was 'exciting' for a couple of minutes , it really put a wet blanket on the game.
Anyway, I'm finding that I just don't enjoy these Yankee-Sox matches any more, and it's got nothing to do with who's winning. It's just ugly,like going to a Raiders game when they were in LA.
OK I've vented. So I'm an old fart who wishes things were better. I know this crap has been going on forever, I just don't have any use for it anymore.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
mstar1
Now that has got to be the rarest of a rare species...
I watched the game last night and still don't know exactly what to think....The fan reached over the wall ( yea thats wrong) and it looks like his arm brushed up against Sheffield (not exactly the uppercut that was portrayed in the papers and on Sportscenter), while Sheffield was fielding the ball.
Sheffield, with the ball still in play, takes time to push the fan before throwing the ball in, playing Variteks double into a triple. Then returns to yell at the fan with security jumping in.
The fan got ejected for interfering with play but not arrested. Its hard to tell from the video if he did anything outlandish (which if he did ban him for life), or if Sheffield overreacted from being taunted all night by the rightfield fans.
Ive been watching these games (Sox vs Yankees) for about 40 years, there is alot of emotion, alot of history, some bad blood, some great baseball and more than a few real idiots in the stands both in Yankee Stadium (Riot Police during last years playoffs) and Fenway. There is very real electricity and excitement in the stands and wannabee fans and bandwagoners (usually well juiced)get carried away
I can understand why people in other places are getting tired of the over hype by the national media that has jumped on the bandwagon the last few years, which to a certain extent fuels the fire...
I don't know what the answer is...I have taken serious abuse in Yankee Stadium for wearing a Red Sox hat....banning alcohol sales during these games might be a start....at least in the stands...
I dont think you can take away 100 years of history, or competitiveness on the field quite so easily.
Try not to get too turned off in spite off all that, it is still great baseball-its only April 15th and 3 games have already been decided in thye ninth
Link to comment
Share on other sites
mstar1
This has had a few days to blow by now -Ive watched the video's (heck you can't get out of the way of them) and the shame of the thing is that it overshadowed a great game...
....and the media focusses on the occurences that happened for about 3 seconds...There were no blows exchanged, unless you count Sheffields push or the one idiot reaching over the fence...the vid shows the fans and security getting between Sheffield and House and stopping anything before it got out of hand.
I think part of it, a great part of it, is that the national media (ESPN in particular) has jumped so much on the RedSox/Yankees bandwagon the last few years, that they will go to great lengths to promote it and create a story even if nothing much exists, and that is what can be sickening.
The part they missed and haven't been reporting on is that the Red Sox played well, beat Randy Johnson, and hit 3 homeruns in the process of doing it, which has alot more implications than a short shouting match.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
simonzelotes
I didn't think that whole thing was a big deal at all,Mstar...I have to admit,as a fan,I think the last thing on my mind would be taking a swipe at a guy chasing a live ball,but if it was like a White Sox-Twins game,I doubt it would have been so blown out of proportion..
On a lighter note,I see Steinbrenner is really ....ed about the Yanks 4-8 start...My God,you would think it's a Yankee birthright to be in first place or something..It's still too early yet to tell who's going to be good and who is simply off to a good start...Like,I don't think the Marlins will be able to keep up with their pace of complete games that their pichers have been throwing...Nomah...Where are you?...You're wearing a Cub uniform...batting third,according to the box scores...Isn't there a bat in that dugout to your liking?...
Link to comment
Share on other sites
mstar1
I was wondering if that was some sort of record Steinbrenner going ballistic and its only the second week of April...
I think that they start too early. When I was a kid it seems they didn't start until the 10th or 15th and filled the middle of the year with Sunday doubleheaders....this April 1st business--then everyone has an opening day Hollywood like ceremony--while they are still basically getting into shape makes the opening 2 weeks sort of a circus...glad that's all over and we can get back to baseball.The Sox seem to be settling in with a 4 game ministreak--with the new guys Wells and Clement picking up their first wins here
I'm home, playin hookey watching MLB's only morning game of the year (11AM start), Schilling has struck out 10 through 5--I guess that heroic ankle is healing up OK.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.