The Home Stretch

Tomorrow is September 1st which means the push for the post season is in full gear. No more excuses, no more slip ups, it is do or die time for the Yankees.

I have to say that I do feel the Yankees can catch the Sox. Especially considering that the last month of the regular season gives us a chance to beat up on Tampa Bay (twice), Kansas City, Toronto (no fights this time guys) and Baltimore. It by no means will be easy, but if we keep playing the way we did in the series SWEEP against Boston then there is no reason why the last series at Fenway wont be a key match up. Of course before we get to Fenway we are going to have to play Seattle.

Unfortunately Boston has a similarly easy schedule up to the end. The Twins might give them some troubles, but they wont face Bedard in their series against Baltimore this weekend so I'm not too confident the O's can help us out much. As for Seattle, they will match up against the Sox and the Angles. It would be nice if for once the Angels could help out the Yankees. Of course you can't count out Detroit, but a look at their calendar for the month of September has them facing the White Sox twice, Seattle, and Cleveland. They are going to have to really battle it out if they hope to get back to October.

A Brief Note on Yesterday's Game

Unfortunately I have to work for a living so I could only watch the MLB.com gamecast instead of watching the game live. I missed the news that Joba was ejected because I was busy plastering my buddy's office with pictures of brooms (he's a red sox fan). I have to say that while I do think that he should have been warned, I think the umpire was probably right to throw him out of the game. The last thing anyone needs right now are injuries or suspensions from fighting. Given the history of bad blood between these two teams I can see how the umpire was worried about things escalating quickly. Admittedly, if the Yankees had not been winning at the time I may have a different opinion.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Yankees Win!!!

Yankees 4 Red Sox 3

Tied for the AL Wild Card!

Rocket looked decent last night, although I wouldn't say he was great. But really that is all we need him to be, decent. We need a Clemens who is in control and not hanging his fast ball. He isn't the man that he used to be and we shouldn't expect him to strike out 20 batters in a game. So long as he gets it done one way or the other I'm happy.





The Yankees did a good job of stringing together hits last night. In fact Beckett gave up 13, which is the most runs a Red Sox pitcher has given up since Kurt Schilling gave up 13 on April 22, 2004 in Toronto. I wish I could say that it looks like Beckett is falling apart, but he isn't. He just had an off night. The guy is 27 and just entering the peak of his career which means he will only get better. In fact I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he won 20 games next season. But this is a Yankees blog not a Beckett blog so I'll move on.





As I have been saying all season, Rivera is fine. Last night he recorded 4 outs starting in the 8th to earn his 22 save of the season. So please, sports bloggers, ESPN writers, and Yankees haters alike.....RIVERA IS NOT FALLING APART, but if you so choose its a free country...go on with your wishful thinking.





This afternoon Wang faces Schilling. I don't think Schilling is back to his full strength, in fact I think he is just about finished all together. He has a couple of starts left in him, but I wouldn't expect too much. Actually he may be somewhat distracted this afternoon. I've heard rumors that he was the man that Senator Larry Craig was trying to meet with in the bathroom of the Minneapolis airport. Regardless, I do think this afternoons game will be a tight one with a low score. I will of course keep you all updated as best I can.

*I don't know why, but for some reason I feel like that Squirrel that watched most of Tuesday's game is a good luck omen. So today he is watching my blog.

Yankees Win, Mussina Sits

Yankees 5 Red Sox 3

These close games versus the Sox are one of the reasons my hair is turning prematurely grey. I have to say that it still seems strange to me that Johnny Damon plays for the Yankees, but hell, at the end of the day who cares so long as he is hitting home runs for us and not them. If you read my post yesterday you already know how worried I was about this series. Granted, they have only played the first of three, but at the very least we wont go quietly into that good night. Especially with Joba Chamberlin throwing 100 mph at the knees!

Moose takes a seat

It was inevitable I suppose, but now it is official, Mike Mussina is out of the rotation. I was surprised however to hear that he will be replaced by 2006 1st round draft pick and right hander Ian Kennedy. That brings a welcome sigh of relief. We need Chamberlin right where he is for the time being. No need to rush him any more than we already have. Kennedy is slated to start in place of Mussina on Saturday versus Tampa Bay, but the plan is to have Moose continue to throw his usual sessions in case things don't work out.

"We'll skip one start and see what we see," said Torre, who met one-on-one with
Mussina. "It's basically what we're getting from that spot. We'll look at that
first, then see what we do."

It no doubt must be hard on Mussina, but with a little over a month left to go and the Yankees 1 game out of the wild card and 7 games out of first the time for drastic measures had come. Everyone goes through slumps, and that may be just what this is for Mussina. But for the time being I think Torre made the right choice.

So what's the story on this new kid? Kennedy throws an 89-92 mph four-seam fastball that he can touch 94 with, changeup, knuckle curve, slider and has started to throw a two-seam fastball. According to scouting reports the kid has such good control he can put the ball wherever he wants and it makes his 89mph fastball seem much harder.

So we will see what happens on Saturday. Regardless, no matter what happens this season we at the very least know that we are going to have a feared rotation in the years to come. That's something we haven't been able to say for a long time.

It Is Now Officially Moose Hunting Season

This has been such a disappointing year for the Yankees it seems fitting that we get spanked by the Tigers 16-0 right before a series with the Sox. The only ray of light I see is that Seattle also lost so at the very least we stay 2.5 games out of the wild card.

I've said this previously, but I think now there is an increased sense of urgency surrounding Mussina. I really like Moose, and when his stuff is on he can paint the black like no ones business, but I think that its time for him to take a seat. He has allowed 19 earned runs in 9 2/3 innings and has an ERA of 17.69 in his last three starts. That's just unacceptable. But that begs the question who do we replace him with? I'm guessing Torre will go with Chamberlin which I have mixed emotions about. Don't get me wrong, he certainly has the attitude and ability that it takes to be a starting rotation pitcher, but it would be nice to give him a bit more time in the relief position. Unfortunately we don't have that luxury right now.

So now we go into a three game set against a Boston team who is surging with a Yankees team who is again slumping and full of question marks. In any other year this series would have me on pins and needles and I would be analysing every pitcher based on if he could pitch well given the weather conditions or even depending on the strength of the Japanese Yen. This season is different though. I'm not going to say that I have chalked the series (or the season) to a loss yet but to be honest here, that is getting to be something all Yankees fans may have to deal with sooner or later.

Oh well here's what I'm thinking for tonight:

Dice-K vs. Pettitte - advantage Matsuzaka (man that hurt)

Game time forecast - mid 70's, 50% humidity - advantage NY, but only because they are playing at home.

Japanese Yen - Buying of Yen likely to accelerate - advantage Matsuzaka

Final Score prediction - Yankees 10,000 Red Sox negative 30 (they lose points because Ortiz eats an umpire)

Real Final Score Prediction - Yankees 6 Red Sox 8 (ok that REALLY hurt)

Series Prediction - Sox take two out of three (I'm headed toward the light)

Little League World Series

Every year I try to catch the Little League World Series if I can. Considering the Yankees slipped to 7.5 games out of first this weekend it was a welcome distraction. It's amazing how good these kids are.

Both Japan and Georgia's starting pitchers were throwing in the high 60 / low 70's and had some movement on their pitches. Keep in mind these kids are only 12 years old. According the ESPN conversion that would be the equivalent of a 90 mph pitch in the Majors. I remember when I played little league there was one pitcher who could throw in the low 50's. Every time you faced him you feared for your life, closed your eyes, and just prayed that the ball made contact with the bat and not your face. These kids didn't even flinch at a 70 mph slider coming down the inside corner of the plate.

But really the greatest thing about watching the LLWC is seeing just how excited the kids get playing the game. There are no Barry Bonds type attitudes, no head hunting, just fundamentals and pure enthusiasm. In fact, when Dalton Carriker hit his game winning home run last night I was almost as thrilled as when Aaron Boone hit his 11th inning shot in game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. That kid is now an instant hometown hero. It was also nice to see that after the game Georgia went over and hugged the Japanese players, including the pitcher who after giving up the game winning home run collapsed to the mound in tears.* It was the kind of thing that reminds us why we love sports so much.

I did a quick Wikipedia and Baseball almanac search and came up with a list of Major Leaguers who had their own shot at prepubescent glory. Here is what I came up with:

Dwight Gooden - (1979 World Series)

Gary Sheffield - (1980 World Series)

Jason Varitek - (1984 World Series)

Derek Bell - (1980, 1981 World Series)

None of the following former Little League players appeared in the Little League World Series, but they are the only former little leaguers who are also members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame: George Brett, Steve Carlton, Rollie Fingers, Catfish Hunter, Jim Palmer, Nolan Ryan, Mike Schmidt, Tom Seaver, Don Sutton, Carl Yastrzemski & Robin Yount.

*I am really resisting the urge to point out that there is no crying in baseball. I suppose it is ok when you are 12. Or maybe there is crying in baseball in Japan, I'm not sure.

30-3

Wow!!! Yesterday I had my daily baseball email conversation with my friends, one of whom is an Orioles fan. We all agreed that the O's needed to plug a few holes, but that their starting rotation was actually pretty good. I caught a bit of the game after work while playing some pool at my favorite watering hole. To the shagrin of the bartender who had bet on the game, the O's were beating the Rangers 3-0. Imagine my surprise when I tuned in a few hours later and the score was 27-3 soon to be 30-3. That got me thinking, what are some other huge lopsided wins worthy of note. I only had time to come up with three, but I welcome commenters to add some more.

• June 8, 1950. The Boston Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Browns 29-4

• June 19, 2000. At Fenway Park, the Yankees beat the Red Sox 22-1, handing Boston its most lopsided home loss ever.

and the most lopsided game goes to:

• On June 29, 1897, the Chicago Cubs beat the Louisville Colonels by the astonishing score of 36-7

Needless to say it's a pretty rough day to be an O's fan. Everyone and their mother is commenting on it today. Just to add insult to injury ESPN leads with the top 100 worst beatdowns of all time. All I can say is I'm glad it wasn't the Yankees otherwise I would never hear the end of it.

In other news the Yankees won and the Red Sox lost. We are still 1.5 out of the wild card, but at least we picked one up from Boston.

*Picture courtesy of Matthew Bourque

Damn Angels

Ever since 2002 I have to admit that I have been worried every time the Yankees play the Angels. Well, here we go again. Last nights loss puts us 6 games out of first and 2.5 out of the wild card. Sure A-Rod blasted two home runs, but that isn't enough when the score turns out 18-9.


In my opinion Mike Mussina is starting to become a liability. He just hasn't preformed to the level he is capable of in a year when the Yankees need him to be on top of his game. Now I don't see him being designated for assignment or anything like that in the near future, but I can't think of a single argument for extending his contract. I do feel kind of bad for the guy though, he came to New York (well Angelos gave him to New York) to win a ring and ever since he arrived the Yankees have been in a World Series drought.



Speaking of droughts, a number of my non Yankee fan friends ride me for being upset that we haven't won it all since 2000. They say look at all the other teams that have either never won it, or haven't won it since Regan was in office.....or Taft for that matter. I agree to an extent with that. I do think some teams could be due in the coming years. Kansas City, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee to name a few (Chicago winning would take away the teams mystique of lovable losers and they would become annoying just like after the Red Sox won it). But lets be honest here, Yankees fans expect a little more out of their team. That isn't just because we are greedy, but rather the Yankees have a history of legendary players and championships that leave a lot to live up to. The past couple of years have been filled with horrific disappointments that any other fan wouldn't understand. Case in point 2004....you know what I am talking about and that is all I have to say about that. I think I have written on this before, but personally my angst is tied to the 2003 World Series. I was at Yankee Stadium for game 6, I watched a team win it all at my favorite ball park...the problem was it wasn't the Yankees.

There is still plenty of baseball left to play, but I guess the crux of this whole thing is that I am frustrated. I admit that the Yankees are not as due for a championship as some of the other teams, but every year the Yankees fall apart late in the season the fire for a ring echos louder and louder. I'm tired of saying "we'll get em next year."

Ugly

It isn't that often that I actually have the opportunity to watch the Yankees on anything other than MLB game cast. So when I do get that chance to watch them on tv I'm always hoping that I get to see a good game. I got to watch them yesterday, but it sure wasn't a good game.

I just don't understand why the Yankees have had so much trouble with the Orioles this season. Granted Bedard is an amazing pitcher and is going to be one of the best in the Majors for years to come, but the Bombers didn't bring their A game at all yesterday, or the day before. In fact yesterday was just so sloppy it was hard to watch. Hughes couldn't seem to find his control, but even for what was clearly an off day for him he preformed well. That is with the exception of his booted ball on a routine play at first...oh the agony. Jeter had one of the worst games he's had in a long time. He was slipping all over the place and making errors on routine plays. My heart stopped when he stepped on a broken bat and appeared to twist his ankle. He was fine, but I get scared if Jeter so much as gets a planters wart. The only real highlight for the Yankees came when Shelley Duncan smashed a three run shot with two outs in the bottom of the 9th, his 6th of the year. This kid is going to be great. But then, more agony. Mariano of all people blew the game for us. His cutter was hanging like a shirt on a hanger and he just didn't seem to have his normal intensity. I've said this before but I really think that Torre needs to play him more often, including situations where the Yankees are not in the lead. It's getting to be late in the season, and if Rivera is looking that rusty now its going to spell disaster come late September / October.

Somehow Tampa Bay managed to squeeze one out of Boston saving us from dropping down a game, but wow, the Yankees need to regroup and not slide down the slippery slope of mediocrity again.

*Karstens has been optioned off. That's good news, that kid just isn't ready for prime time.

Ouch

For some reason the Yankees have been having some trouble with the O's this year. But last night wasn't just trouble, it was a downright slaughter. We all know that no team can keep winning forever. I had already given up last nights game when I saw that Karstens would go against Cabrera....but damn. Hopefully this will just be a kink. we can't afford to be dropping games to the only team we play in the next couple of weeks that isn't in contention for the post season. Especially when the Red Sox are playing Tampa Bay.

Very Superstitious

Its the 13th of August and that got me thinking about superstitions. Baseball of course is one of the most superstitious sports there is. Superstition instills a sense of confidence that you just can't get from Balco. That's true for the fans and the players. Lately I have been blogging a lot more and the Yankees have been winning. Of course that is only the latest of the traditions I use when watching the Yanks. I've been known to not watch entire at bats (actually I closed my eyes for the entire 11th inning of game 7 of the 2003 ALCS), not finish my beer until the inning is over, or not wear certain boxer shorts during important games. We are all familiar with some of the more universal baseball superstitions, not talking to a pitcher in the midst of a no hitter, not stepping on the foul line, or Nomar's wrist hand wrists action for example. But that got me thinking what are some of the quirkier superstitions the players have. Here are some interesting ones I came up with after doing a quick Internet search.*

Former Red Sox and Yankees’ player Wade Boggs was often referred to as the “Chicken Man” because he ate chicken habitually before every game and would also start wind sprints exactly 16 minutes before each game.

Frank Viola, a three-time MLB all-star and former Cy Young winner had a secret to his success on the mound. He would clean the mound before every inning, kicking up dirt exactly four times. However, if something bad happened, he couldn't do it in repetition of four’s any more, instead he would try three or five.

Roger Clemens always visited Monument Park to touch the head of the Babe Ruth statue before he pitched in Yankee Stadium. Roger Clemens gave each of his children names that began with the letter K.

Joe DiMaggio and Willie Mays would always touch second base on their way to the outfield.

Reggie Jackson had such a great World Series in 1973 that he decided to retain his newly grown moustache in 1974. Rollie Fingers and a few of the other A's players decided to grow mustaches to mock Jackson. As a promotion, A's owner Charles O. Finley offered $300 to any player who grew a moustache.

Jackie Robinson would never step into the batters box until the catcher was in position.

So what are some of your superstitions? I would be interested to know. Hopefully talking about them wont jinx anyone....that is unless you are a Red Sox fan. In that case I've got some black cats, ladders, and broken mirrors for you.

*Full disclosure, I just copied and pasted the ones I found interesting.

http://www.psychologyofsports.com/guest/superstitions2.htm

http://www.thebaseballgod.com/baseball_superstitions.htm

4

Before the All Star break when the Yankees were still 14 games out of first I admit that even I was getting skeptical about thier chances to make the playoffs, much less catch the Red Sox. But today the Yankees are only 4 games back and tied for the lead in the Wild Card. It's nothing short of amazing, but I suppose I never should have questioned that this could happen in the first place.

Not only have we been playing well, we are finally starting to see the young talent come up through the farm system that we have so desperiatly needed for the past six years. There is a lot to be excited about for the future. I've written extensivley about Hughes, and to some extent Chamberlin, but Cabrera, Cano, and Duncan also deserve to be recognized as part of the future of the organization. It's fun watching these guys. They are still excited everytime they hit a homerun, or make a big out.

Speaking of fun (at least from the point of view of a Yankees fan) the Red Sox traditional August meltdown is in full swing. It's too early to tell if Gagne is going to work out for them, but clearly he hasn't found his groove yet. There is still way too much baseball left to be able to predict what is going to happen, but I'm telling you it will be a whole new season psychologically if the Yankees catch the Sox.

Igawa Could Go West

Igawa

The Padres and the Yankees are working on a deal that could send Igawa to Petco Park. In my opinion this is good for Igawa since Petco is a bit more favorable to pitchers and since the smaller market would alleviate some of the performance anxiety. The Yankees would still have to eat the $26 million dollar posting fee but would probably get a relief pitcher if the deal goes through. All in all Igawa still isn't a Pavano-esq disaster since he at least really tried to play. Some people just can't make it happen in the Bronx and I think Igawa is one of those people. No bad blood, I wish him luck if / when he leaves.

I'm sure I'll eat my words on this one somewhere down the road, but I just don't see Igawa maturing into a Major League pitcher. His control issues don't seem to be getting any better, and even his scouting report from Japan had him as maybe a number 4 or 5 starting pitcher. It surprises me that the Padres are willing to take the risk considering what happened with David Wells this season, but then again if he does pan out he'll only cost them $4 million a year.

Hughes and Chamberlin

Wow wow wow

"It doesn't seem like they are fazed by too much," Yankees captain Derek Jeter said, "and rightfully so, they've got great stuff. Joba throws a 100 mph off-speed pitch. That can't be too much fun."

Gag-ne

Ouch. Gagne gave up four earned runs last night to the O's. Regardless of last nights performance I'm glad that Cashman didn't sell the farm to get this guy. He reminds me of Kevin Brown, moments of grandeur, years of injuries. In fact another outing like he had last night and I wouldn't be surprised if he started punching some walls.

PLAYOFFS, YOUR ASKING ME ABOUT PLAYOFFS?

The Yankees are tied for the wild card and only 5 games behind the Sox. In all honesty though, these next couple of weeks are the playoffs. It's going to be one of the most exciting Augusts in recent years.

Around the Horn

The Yankees were off last night so today I would just like to comment on a few random subjects.

Clemens Suspended 5 Games, Torre 1

Give me a fricken break. First of all regardless of what A-Rod did or didn't say two months ago, he was the one who took it in the leg. Clemens didn't start it, Toronto did. Where are the suspensions for the Blue Jays? I guess MLB considers playing baseball in Canada to be punishment enough.* I also don't agree with the idea that Torre has to pay for what Clemens did. Roger has a history of this type of behavior. He doesn't need Torre to tell him to hit a guy, he'll do that with a smile on his face and a broken bat shard in his hand. Torre will serve his suspension today but Clemens will probably appeal it. Do we still have to pay him for games when he is suspended?

Hank Aaron Hates Barry Bonds

Ok, I don't know that for a fact. However considering that he was quoted as saying "eventually, if I happen to see him somewhere, I'd probably say something to him" it doesn't sound like Hank is too fond of the guy. Look, no one likes it when a record they have set is broken, especially such a hallowed one such as this. But when your record gets busted by a cheater, well that's just like pouring gasoline on your wounds.

Roid Rage

Jose Conseco must have spent all the money he made from appearing in "The Surreal Life" on Vh1 because he is coming out with a new book about everyones favorite subject....STEROIDS. Allegedly he claims A-Rod is a roid user. Now I tend to think that he isn't, but as my friend pointed out to me just because the guys head didn't explod like Bonds head did, that doesn't mean he isn't using. Look at Rafael Palmeiro for example, he was never a huge guy (although I have heard stories about him beating the bejesus out of a pinata while on a roid rage).

So if everyone is on the juice what does that say about records and stats? Should we just throw everything out past 1995 and start from there? Or are we so jaded by the whole thing that we just can't trust a players accomplishments anymore without assuming that they cheated? Personally I hope A-Rod is clean and he goes on to break Bond's record. I'm sure he wont be playing for the Yankees by then, but anyone but Bonds is all we can hope for (assuming he is clean).

*Actually I have been to the Former Sky Dome a bunch of times and it is a surprisingly clean and friendly venue.

Bad Blood Doesn't Stop The Bombers

The Yankees won last night and have pulled within 5 of the Sox, but wow, there is some bad blood between the Yankees and the Blue Jays. Fortunately no punches were thrown. The Yankees simply can’t afford suspensions and / or broken hands or faces right now (see the Kevin Brown book now available on Amazon "How to Screw Yourself and your Team"). I have to give Clemens some credit for beaning Rios. It says something about the team that he is willing to defend A-Rod.

But the real excitement last night was Joba Chamberlain, who I have to say looks strikingly similar to Clemens.* The 21 year old rookie made his first Major League start late in the game and was clocked on the radar gun up around 98 MPH. According to the New York Daily News, Chamberlin has a fastball that routinely registers in the upper 90s, a curveball, slider and changeup that he can throw for strikes. So was he nervous?

"Pressure is what you make of it; you've got to understand that it's still 60
feet, six inches, no matter who you're playing," said the 6-2, 230-pound
Chamberlain. "I'm going to give you everything I've got every time I go out
there. I'm going to pull my hat down, get the ball and go to work."

Now that is the kind of kid that the Yankees need.

"I'm ready to explode," he said. "I can't wait to get the opportunity to get on
the mound and finally let it go."

I think I just wet myself. The Yankees are hoping to limit his innings to 130 this year to gradually ease him in. Still, with his performance last night and with the return of Hughes, things are really starting to get interesting.

*Actually I think something happened at the Nationals game last night too, but I forget.

*756*

***************************************************************************************

Sigh

Everyone will be talking about it for the next weeks to come* Is it just me or are you just not that interested? This isn't exciting or favorably memorable to me* Somewhere in baseball heaven the Babe just threw up a hot dog*

***************************************************************************************

Suddenly It's Not Looking So Bad

The Yankees have pulled to within 6 of the red sox and half a game of the wild card thanks to yesterdays win over the Blue Jays. It was a pretty active day for the roster which gave the boot to Mike Myers (designated for assignment), picked up Jim Brower, and optioned off Jeff Karstens to Triple A Scranton to make room for Joba Chamberlin.

It's a good sign to see things so active. The Yankees can't afford to sit on their hands and wait for players to come around at this point in the season. The next three weeks will determine whether the Yankees make the playoffs. With the exception of Baltimore, the Bombers face off against all plus .500 teams....Cleveland, Detroit, Anaheim (fine, the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim) and of course Boston at the end of the month. If the Yankees play .550 baseball in these next few series our chances at the wild card are on the up and up, especially considering Seattle and Detroit don't have it so easy in the month of September.

Assuming we play well in through the rest of August, the red sox should be afraid.....very afraid. Both teams get to coast it in through September, but that last meeting between the Yanks and the Sox could be very interesting.


~~Giambi should be back this week and sharing DH duty with Johnny Damon who will see limited time in the outfield~~

The Push Towards October

With Phil Hughes set to make his much anticipated return to the rotation, the Yankees chances at post season glory are starting to look a heck of a lot better. Seattle forgot about shutting the door to the wild card and now the Yankees are tied at .5 a game out. The question is can we still catch the Red Sox. It certainly isn't out of the question, but the addition of Gange to the sox bull pen is going to make the 7 game deficit a lot harder to close in on.

In my opinion its decision time for Torre. Clemens just isn't living up to expectations. Assuming Hughes comes back strong, it may be time for Clemens to give up his starting role and take a middle relief position. Same goes for Tyler Clippard. Call him up for duty, but ask him to earn his keep by bridging the gap to Rivera.

While still almost in diapers, Sandy Duncan is proving to be a solid offensive presence. Giving him more playing time will only increase his confidence and help him get more comfortable defensivley which could pay off bigtime come October.

Renew Posada's contract. I know he is getting older, but he is a leader and is having a hell of a year. It would be nice to get rid of any distractions as we go into the final stretch.

The gloom that had firmly set over the Bronx for the first few months of the season finally seems to be dissapating. Now more than ever the Yankees need to keep thier focus, and keep the bats hot. If they do the post season could be exciting.

~~Congratulations go out to A-Rod for getting the Monkey off your back and reaching 500 hr's~~

Knocking on the Door of 756*

This weekend Barry Bonds tied Hank Aaron's career home run record. Anyone who has ready this blog with any sort of consistency, or knows me at all for that matter, knows how I feel about the guy. So what I am about to write may shock some of you......Barry Bonds breaking the home run record is actually good for the game.

Lets flash back to 1994. The focus of the entire season was on if the players and owners would come to their collective senses and realize that the game of baseball belongs to the fans just as much as the share holders. They didn't, and the World Series was cancelled and scores of fans, even die hard life long fans felt cheated and left the game in large droves. I include myself in this group. My childhood best friend being an Expos fan, and I a Yankees fan (of course) had dreamed of a day when those two teams would meet in the fall classic. 1994 would have been the year. No doubt ever baseball fan felt a similar sort of heartbreak.

Baseball was in big trouble, until along came Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Ken Griffey Jr. had toyed with the home run record in previous seasons, but in 1997 these two were actually going to do it. For the first time since before the strike fans had something that they were excited about. Regardless of if you were a St. Louis fan, hated the Cubs, or had never watched baseball until that season....everyone wanted to see #62. I remember that night well. I had a date but cancelled it to watch the game. I still don't regret that decision. It was a Renaissance for baseball at a time when it needed it the most.

So we come to today, Barry Bonds, and how he is helping the game just like McGwire and Sosa did a decade ago. Like it or not a run at a record drives huge interest in the game. fair weather fans who might not usually watch anything other than the playoffs or the World Series (and only then if their team is playing) are watching to see what happens. More visibility will inevitably drive more interest in the game, and hopefully help seed a new generation of fans.

Bonds is also making a contribution by throwing steroid use to the forefront of what we consider to be an acceptable trade off. Do we really want to see true athleticism, or are we more excited by seeing chemically enhanced record breaking ? I think that this is a personal question, but morally we all know the answer. We want natural athletes like Griffey, or even A-Rod to own these titles, and not athletes who claim that they never "knowingly" used steroids. Let's hope that when Bonds breaks the record this week the negative example that he has set serves to end what will be known as the steroid era. That would be an even bigger contribution to the game than #756.