If Jose Reyes was on The Yankees…

If Jose Reyes was on The Yankees, he would be the Yankee Centerfielder.

The current Yankee infield is Mark Teixeira (1B), Robinson Cano (2B), Derek Jeter (SS), and Alex Rodriguez (3B).  He is not displacing Jeter from SS.  And there is no way he would displace Cano, Rodriguez,  or Teixeira.

I suppose some Mets fans would argue he’s better than Jeter but he’s never consistently shown it.  Interesting.

It’s time for individual sports records to take a backseat…

Regarding team sports such as baseball, football, hockey, soccer — only:

As fans, we have been pushed to say

• Who cares about Barry Bonds, or Hank Aaron having the most home runs
• Who cares about Roger Clemens having 350 wins and over 4,000 strikeouts
• Who cares that Mark McGuire beat out Sammy Sosa in the 1998 Roger Maris home run chase
• So what — Alex Rodriguez has 500 plus home runs and counting…..

Cheating has taken place and will always take place.

Focusing on team records is, at least, an equal playing field (no pun intended). Think about it.

A-Rod recently admitted using steroids from 2001 – 2003.  Let’s assume that at least 104 players used performance enhancing drugs during that era. Who won the World Series from 2001 – 2003 (Arizona Diamondbacks,   Anaheim Angels, Florida Marlins). Fine.

So we can assume that at LEAST 100 of the 700 major league players “cheated” using performance enhancing drugs.  For round numbers, that’s 14% of the players.  Let’s assume there is an equal distribution of  “cheaters”. 14% of the Diamondbacks cheated. 14% of the Angels cheated. And 14% of the Marlins cheated.

Continuing, 14% of the NY Yankees, NY Mets, and Boston Red Sox also cheated, and did NOT win the World Series.

As a fan, I have no problem with it.  Those seasons were entertaining and fun to watch.  It is an equal playing field because all the teams and players probably had access to the same performance enhancing drugs. Teams made decisions. Individuals made decisions. That was THAT era.

When the rules were set outlawing steriods, the number probably went from 14% to 2% (a guess).  Again, the cheaters were probably evenly distributed amongst the league.

So all the teams and players probably had a representative sample of cheaters.

As new drugs come on the scene, everyone will have access to them. New masking agents come on the scene, everyone will have access to them. It’s illegal but fair.

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The same holds true for football.  As time as gone on, steriods/HGH testing has gotten tougher. People still use then and there is probably an equal distribution amongst the teams and players.

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This may seem like bizarre logic, but it makes sense for the “team results”. Of course it does not help the individual records that are affected by this cheating.

I know it’s not realistic, but perhaps we should come up with an alternative to “individual records”. Perhaps we should discuss using a word like “highlights”.

One of the “highlights” of the 1998 season was McGuire and Sosa competing to hit the most home runs… I know,I know, it’s weak…

(photo nflheadline.com gain-weight-muscle-fast.com)

The top 3 lies of all time – the updated list

We used to joke around that 3 of the great lies of all time were

1. The check is in the mail
2. You can’t get pregnant the first time
3. It’s not you. It’s me.

Recently there seems to be a need to update this list. Here are a few updated examples

1. Read my lips, no new taxes <George Bush>
2. I did not have sex with that woman <Bill Clinton referring to Monica Lewinsky>
3. I did not take steroids or any performance enhancing drugs <Alex Rodriguez, he later recanted>.(Not to stick up for him for his ethics and motives, but it’s kind of interesting how Jose Canseco has NOT turned out to be as big a liar as we thought… right?)

The check is in the mail. I suppose we can keep that one on the list for Bernie Madoff.

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Who can we trust these days?  It has become a sad environment, not just because of the financial problems,  political polarity, etc…  but because of the warranted distrust in the world.  Here is a song that has come to mind. It is not an exact fit  (actually it’s a stretch) , but today, where are all our leaders? Who can we trust? Our athletic heroes?

ARod is back – Notice a difference in the Yankees?

ARod is back. Do you notice a difference in the Yankees? Now they are winning 6-5, 8-6 and the higher scores? He makes the entire lineup better. The Yankees simply need the starting pitchers to pitch OK. Keep Joba and Mariano healthy. And they’ll be OK….. Watch!!!

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(photo images.smarter.com)

Yankees moving Joba Chamberlain to starting rotation — BIG MISTAKE!

The main issue this year has been the lack of run production. ARod and Posada have been out. Many of the other players have been producing below average offensively.(As you may remember, last year ARod single-handedly carried the Yankees through April and part of May. He has already hit 2 home runs in 2 gams… Really 3 home runs but we’ll discuss that on a later date.)

The Yankees will hit this year.

The Yankees moving Joba Chamberlain to the starting rotation is a BIG mistake.

While the Yankees have had a bad year, their pitching strategy has been solid.

• Get the starting pitcher through the 1^st 6 inning. (Mussina is a good example of this.)
• Have Kyle Farnsworth, Jose Veras, or Latroy Hawkins pitch the 7^th inning
• Have Joba Chamberlain pitch the 8^th inning
• And have Mariano Rivera pitch the 9th

• This has worked well for Mike Mussina (until his last start)
• This strategy lets Pettitte only concern himself about 6 innings. (He is getting older)
• Chien-Ming Wang can pitch as many innings as he wants.

This allows the Yankees to also have “starting pitching by committee”.

Why not groom Joba to take over for Mariano?

Joe – Keep Joba in the ‘pen. Don’t move him to the starting rotation!

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(photo:cfs4.tistory.com)

NY Yankees lose to Gold National Majors, Commack North Little League

<Here is a story that iw being written to blow off steam because the Yankees stink. The names of my friends have been abbreviated because I do not have their permission.>

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We had a great Little League team. Gold National Majors. Commack North Little League. Long Island. New York.

We went 14 – 0 in the regular season and won the league championship. It was a great group of guys who were close and did whatever it took to win. (Also, what happened in Gold National, stayed on Gold National. No one ever let it out if someone was wearing a gold thong ;>))

Position for position, and player for player, we were solid. So solid in fact that we would have beaten the 2008 Yankees if we had stayed together. Here is the player vs player comparison.

For pitching,I would put Bill Hou up against Andy Pettite. The edge would be to Bill Hou who was our Randy Johnson of the time. We would then have Brian Sha. play 1B.

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Note: I still don’t feel better about the Yankees… just disgusted with their performance. It was kind of nice to think of those old little league days.

One of baseball’s best home run hitters of all time; Ken Griffey

Chuck is absolutely correct about the focus. on sports

Ken Griffey is nearing 600 home runs and we hear not a peep about it. He has been one of the best all around players in the last 50 years, and if he had not gotten injured, he would be nearing 800 home runs! He is a true role model and drug free!

Meanwhile there has been constant chatter about Barry Bond’s breaking Hank Aaron’s record. The asterisk. Should it count… That is basically focusing on the half empty glass.

We should be taking positive looks on Ken Griffey… and soon Alex Rodriguez… ARod.. as they show how it IS stiill possible to do things the clean, correct way and succeed! (ARod.. get off the 15 day DL asap).

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