Tagged: Kerry Wood
Black Friday Deals
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving surrounded by family, friends, and yummy food! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of year, and after Thanksgiving it gets even better. I LOVE Black Friday. It’s the kickoff to the Christmas season, and it’s the perfect time to shop! I have my eyes on a pair of boots that are on SUPER sale. I also want some sheet music. It seems that the prices of everything drop dramatically today.
If only.
Material things that I desire like boots and sheet music only go so far in achieving happiness. What really makes me smile are the people in my life. I am truly thankful for the people who make my life worthwhile: my family, friends, and my beloved New York Yankees.
I’m know it sounds silly, but I’m worried that some of the Yankees who’ve been a part of my life forever will not be in 2011…like Derek Jeter.
Derek Jeter is breaking my heart. Now I’m not sure if any of it is true, but I’ve heard a lot about the whole contract thing, and I can’t believe this is the Derek Jeter I’ve grown up watching. This Derek Jeter supposedly turned down the Yankees’s fairly generous offer of 3 years, $45 million, and may want something along the lines of 6 years, $150 million. Whoa.
Throughout his many years in pinstripes, Derek Jeter has been portrayed as a “good guy.” He’s a real team player, and he is the Yankees. I’m just baffled now. How could he be this greedy? Maybe he’s not the guy I thought he was…this is heartbreaking.
Money is the name of the game. And I guess it really does change people. This is Jeter’s first opportunity to be a free agent, and he’s surely trying to make the most of it. But if he really is this great team player everyone says he is, then wouldn’t he understand that he’s not worth $150 million, and that he should just accept what the Yankees offer (because it will be way more than any other teams anyway), because they have other things to do this offseason? Like signing this guy?
Meanwhile, I’m a little annoyed at the Yankees for not bringing back Kerry Wood. They let him go, and I thought they would offer him arbitration, but they didn’t. I think they are crazy for letting him go. He had the lowest single season ERA out of ANY Yankees reliever in their history last year. What more could they want from him? I say, give Kerry Wood whatever money he wants, because unlike Derek Jeter, he proved that he was worth it last year.
Hey, maybe if we’re lucky, these guys will go on sale for Black Friday…
If only…
A Week of Winning!
But I guess it could be worse. I am not taking science or math this year because my math teacher scarred me for life last year. And this year, I actually like all my teachers. I’ve had them all before. Some of them are very fun to talk baseball with. And, oh yeah: IT’S SENIOR YEAR. I should enjoy this.
Even though I haven’t blogged recently, I have watched all the games. My boys are making me so proud. So far, the heroes for this winning streak are Curtis Granderson and Marcus Thames for their hot-hitting, and the bullpen, which has done an absolutely fantastic job.
Yesterday’s 7-5 win over the Blue Jays was the typical win of this winning streak.
Pitching Analysis: After beasting in the bullpen, Javier Vazquez was inserted back into the starting rotation. I had a feeling he would be….suckish. Javy tends to give up the longball. The Blue Jays tend to hit the longball. The wind was making it easier to hit the longball. Add all that up, and it wasn’t going to be a pretty day for Javy.
Weather-wise, it was a beautiful day…but not for Javy.
Javy did give up the longball. Homers by Overbay and McDonald gave the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead. Vazquez didn’t even get through 5 innings, and he allowed 5 runs.
The bullpen again had a lot of outs to get, and they did another amazing job. The combo of Dustin Moseley, Boone Logan, Joba Chamberlain, Kerry Wood, and Mariano Rivera shut the door on the Blue Jay batters’s faces. They allowed 0 runs on 3 hits, and struckout 5. THEY ARE BEASTS!!!
Offensive Analysis: Despite being down 3-0, the Yankee bats weren’t ready to give up. They had that rally in them. And the rally all started thanks to my sweet Francisco Cervelli â„ In the 3rd with 1 out, Cervelli hit a ball in the left-center gap. And he hustled. And because he hustled, Francisco Cervelli had himself a double. That ball never made it to the wall. Many guys would have just settled for a single. But not my Cervelli. And that’s why I love him.
Then Brett Gardner walked (the 9th straight game he did that!), and Derek Jeter ripped a double, scoring Cervelli. Inching closer, it was now a 3-1 game.
After Mark Teixeira walked to load the bases, a struggling Robinson Cano stepped up to the plate. He hit a ball back up the middle, and it found grass! 2 runs scored on Robbie’s game-tying single.
The Yankees went ahead in the 4th. Cervelli doubled with a man on and 1 out, then Gardner drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI groundout. A wild pitch let another score, making it 5-3.
And finally, in the 7th, the Yankees had their share of the longball. With 2 outs, Cano singled, bringing up Hank Aaron Marcus Thames. He had a few good swings earlier in the game, but didn’t have a hit to show for it. Until this:
I love my Marcus Thames!!!!!
That made it 7-5 Yankees. And that’s the final đ
Another win, another series win, and another game gained on those Pesky Rays. The heroes for this victory, the 8th in a row, are the bullpen, for cleanly eating up all those innings. And Marcus Thames, for turning into the Home Run King. Hank Aaron who? Hahaa…The other hero is my Francisco Cervelli, because he started the rally. And just cuz I love him â„
Oh, Francisco….too cute for words.
The Somebody Needs a Hug goes to Javier Vazquez. Javy, your confidence has taken a rollercoaster ride throughout the entire season. I don’t want you to lose it after 1 icky start. You were great out of the bullpen, and that was no fluke. Believe in yourself!
Yankees, the season is winding down. And you are still leading the AL East! Congrats on everything you have done so far. Please just keep it up. Go as far as you can this season, because I need to keep seeing you.
I love you! GO YANKEES!!!
Grandma Makes Me Laugh
Since the last few Yankee games have been abysmal, I don’t want to talk about them. They are making me angry. I need a few laughs. So today, I’m going to talk about someone who never fails to make me laugh. She is a die-hard Yankees fan just like me. She’s my Grandma.
My Grandma is 86 years old. And she’s kind of Italian. And she’s lived in the Bronx her whole life. She does a lot to make us laugh, but the main thing she does is butcher words. Like when she says “toast,” she actually says “toes.” Or “dollar” is “dolla.” She never puts the “r” on her words. And sometimes, when she hears people actually put the “r” on the words, she says things like, “Oooh they talk with the ‘r’.”
Throughout the many years I have known my Grandma, and the many Yankee games we’ve watched together, I’ve noticed something: She butchers everybody’s name. And what’s really funny is that she actually says these things!
Here is a chunk of the Yankee roster – the way Grandma pronounces it:
–Â Mariani Rivera
Mariani, Grandma? Really? Must you make EVERYBODY Italian? How about Mariano? Or if that’s too complicated, why not just call him Mo?
–Â CC SebastianÂ
Look at CC…he’s obviously disgusted this “name.”  Sebastian…where is that from? Okay. Grandma’s niece’s son is named Sebastian. But really, there is no excuse for that.
–Â Robinson Canoe
 
I guess this one was easy to mess up. But really? CANO.
–Â Kerry Woods
  
Again, this one is probably easy to mess up. But somtimes, I think she tries to mess them up. Kerry WOOD…is it really that hard?
–Â Derek Jeetah
Grandma never pronounces the “r” on the end of Jeter’s name. It’s just “Jeetah.” It rhymes with “cheetah.”
–Â Austin Sterns
I think Grandma only said this one once, but that’s because I corrected her right away. Kearns…Austin KEARNS.
–Â Curtain Granderson
 
Okay, this one isn’t really fair. Grandma just got tongue-twisted when she called him “Curtain.” But she still said it. Me, my little brother, and my Grandma were all watching the game one night. Me and my brother left the room for a minute, and Grandma shouted “HOME RUN!!” We asked, “Who, Grandma who!”
“Curt..uhhh…Cu…Curtain…oh, ah fanabla.”
She didn’t need to explain any more. We got it. Through our frenzy of laughter, we explained, “CURTIS!!!! CURTIS GRANDERSON!!! Aahahhahaaa….you just called him CURTAIN!!!!”
– Nick Swiffah
This one is everyone in my family’s favorite. She messed up the mess up. “Swiffah?” How about “Swiffer?” Or better yet, NICK SWISHER!!!!
      
This one has a little story. It happened one night during the offseason of 2008. It was dinnertime, and everyone was coming into the kitchen. We left the YES Network on as always. News of the Betemit/Swisher trade was just released.
Grandma just found out about this trade. She didn’t know who the guy was that the Yankees just got. So she shouted, “ROBBIT, (“Robbit” is my older brother, Robert. We all call him Bobby. She calls him “Robbit,” as opposed to “Robert” or Bobby.”) ROBBIT…”
“Yes Grandma?” Bobby asked.
“WHO’S….NICK….SWIFFAH?”
Bobby was silent, confused like the rest of us.
“Who?” He asked.
“WHO’S NICK SWIFFAH?” Grandma tried again.
This time, Bobby went to the TV to see for himself. The headline “Yanks Trade for Nick Swisher.”
“GRANDMAAA!!!! It’s NICK SWISHER!!!!”
She didn’t have time to respond. We all started laughing at her. But she was a good sport about it, as always. “Oooh!” she said. Then she joined in with laughs. To this day, we still remind her of this one. And she never got it wrong the right way again. Now she calls him “Swizza.” Then I say, “No, Grandma…Nick SWISHER.”
I don’t think she’ll ever get it right.
What the Bombers are All About
Yanks Even Series in Tampa Bay
Last night’s game 2 win insured that the Yankees will leave Tampa Bay in first place where they belong. Ahh…that’s so comforting. I didn’t see game 1 of this series, and I’m glad I didn’t. I would have gotten too angry that they lost 3-2 and got just 1 hit after the first inning. But I don’t have to think about that, because game 2 had the desired results: Yankees win. It was another close game, but this time the Bombers came out on top 5-4.
Pitching Analysis: I’m so happy the trade deadline is over and Javier Vazquez is still on the team. I was afraid he would be dealt for someone like Jayson Werth. Thank GOD that didn’t happen. Javy has had the lowest ERA of all Yankee starters since May 12. I hoped this trend of success would continue last night. Javy battled, but he was good. He gave up a few leads, but managed to limit the damage and keep the Rays from a big inning. Vazquez threw 6.1 innings and allowed 4 runs on 8 hits.
The bullpen was absolutely FABULOUS last night. The combo of David Robertson and Boone Logan is proving to be very effective. It almost reminds me of the Philthies Coke and Hughes last year. These guys are the new bridge to Mariano – sorry Joba. And Chan Ho, I’m sorry you were DFA’d. I hope someone picks you up, just not the Yankees đ
Robertson and Logan did their jobs and got the ball to Mariano, who of course picked up his 22nd save of the season.
Offensive Analysis: The Yankees played catch-up all of last night. Curtis Granderson’s sac fly in the 2nd tied the game at 1. In the 6th, the Yanks were down 3-1. Derek Jeter led off with a double, and Mark Teixeira hit an absolute BOMB for a 2-ruin homer to tie the game at 3.
The Yanks fell behind once again, and once again the home run gave them new life. Nick Swisher crushed a hanging curveball for a solo home run in the 7th, tieing the game at 4. The Yankees kept on fighting back. I didn’t think it was possible for them to lose, but it seemed odd for them to win, because they never had the lead.
Swish, running with his head down after his home run…just like a good little Yankee đ
In the 9th with the score tied, the Rays brought out their big All-Star closer, Rafael Soriano. Robinson Cano, who already had two doubles, stepped up to the plate with 1 out. He is SUCH a beast. Is there anyone this guy can’t hit? He proved to me once again last night that he is a magical player. Robbie’s home run off Soriano gave the Yankees their first lead of the night, 5-4. That was all they needed.
Thank you, Robbie â„
What really annoyed me was in 6th inning when Matt Joyce hit a homer to give the Rays a 4-3 lead. He was SO obnoxous. He did the “drop” with his bat, and just stared at it before finally performing his home-run trot. He was really showing off, and it was uncalled for. He should have just put his head down and ran, because that homer meant nothing: they LOST. I mean, who does he think he is? He has 5 homers this year. And he’s really tearing it up with a .230 batting average. Wow, he’s good. He and the Rays are ridiculous. They think who they are. But who are they? They need to show some class out there on the field. They really are the opposite of the Yankees. The Bombers had 3 home runs last night, and you didn’t see them showing off – even though Tex, Swish, and Cano are legit good players. No. They don’t do that because it isn’t right. The Yankees just drop the bat, put their heads down, and run. When they get back to the dugout, THEN they celebrate.
That’s what the Yankees are all about: class. They are the best team, and they don’t act obnoxious about it. Those pesky Rays aren’t the best, so why do they act like that? The need to stop being so cocky, because they haven’t proven anything yet. They didn’t win anything.
The heroes for last night’s Drama Club win are the new and IMPROVED bridge to Mariano, Mr. David Robertson and Mr. Boone Logan. You two are adorable, and you really make me proud. The other heroes are the 3 homer-boys from last night, Mark Teixeira, Nick Swisher, and Robinson Cano. I’d like to thank you guys for your performance and behavior on the field. You make me proud in both respects.
I’d just like to welcome Lance Berkman, Austin Kearns, and Kerry Wood to the Yankees. Guys, you will love it here. The Yankees know how to win. Sorry that you have to shave your beards and cut your hair, but I don’t think that’s a big price to pay. You guys are Yankees!
Hello, Mr. Big Puma. You will love the Bronx Zoo đ
Live, Eat, and Breathe Yankees 