I grew up watching Murph on TBS, he had a pretty amazing run, but I just don't think he kept it going long enough to merit immortality. Sad, because if he had had any protection in those line-ups his numbers might have been even better. The most glaring stat in his body of work, is his lifetime .265 Batting Average.

Looks like the Angels gave the Yank$ a little dose of their own medicine last night (18-8). Boston and Seattle both won to extend their lead, yeah!

Texas 30!!!, Baltimore 3, Bottom of the 9th (First Game of a Doubleheader )

quote:

Originally posted by mark f:
Texas 30!!!, Baltimore 3, Bottom of the 9th (First Game of a Doubleheader )

Look for a brawl in game 2.

quote:

Originally posted by mark f:
Texas 30!!!, Baltimore 3, Bottom of the 9th (First Game of a Doubleheader )

Remember what I said about Saltalamachia after the Braves traded him (about 2 or 3 pages ago)? He was a tremendous part of that ridiculous show of offense.

I couldn't find it, but it's no biggie. The Dodgers scored 13, and they went WOW!, we tied the Rangers! Unfortunately, they misunderstood. However, I'd take 13 any day of the week, except maybe tonight.

Here it is:

quote:

Originally posted by Maximum Jack:

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:
Are the Rangers selling off their entire roster? Lofton, Teixeira, and Gagne? I guess they couldn't dump Sammy Sosa.

Come July 31st there are two types of teams: buyers and sellers. I think they are doing a pretty damn good job of getting some excellent young talent. I especially think Saltalamacchia is going to be an all-star some day.

The Yankees were able to salvage one game in their three-game set against the Angels. Andy Pettite has now won his last five games in a row and pitched another jewel tonight. Although the Yankees didn’t win the series, I am still proud with how they have played. I was lucky to see Monday’s 7-6 tenth-inning loss, which was one of the best games of the year and even though they got blown out yesterday, they re-grouped and handedly won tonight. They were able to pick up a game on the Mariners and Red Sox and are now five back in the East and 1 ½ games behind Seattle in the wild card race.

They now get a day off before heading to Detroit for another four-game series. I hope that they can again get three out of four there and when they get back home, good ol’ Boston will be waiting. There is still a lot of baseball to be played and I am still proud of how my Yankees have played. Everyone quickly points out when they even lose one game but they are still fighting on and the heat is on.

I don't know what it's like being a Yankees fan. I also can't imagine rooting for a guy like Pettite, who has the personality of a parking meter. Either way, if being a Yankees fan is even half as frustrating as being a Phillies fan, then I know your pain FKA.

quote:

Originally posted by P-Bo:
if being a Yankees fan is even half as frustrating as being a Phillies fan, then I know your pain FKA.

I'm no Phillies fan, but believe me being a Yankee$ fan is not frustrating. They've won their division 10 years in a row. The Phills have won the division ONCE since 1984. The Yank$ have 26 World Championships. The Phillies have won 1. The Yank$ have made the playoffs every year since 1995. You guessed it, during that stretch the Phills have been shutout of the playoffs. So no, it's not even close to "half as frustrating as being a Phillies fan."

quote:

Originally posted by Maximum Jack:
I'm no Phillies fan, but believe me being a Yankee$ fan is not frustrating. They've won their division 10 years in a row. The Phills have won the division ONCE since 1984. The Yank$ have 26 World Championships. The Phillies have won 1. The Yank$ have made the playoffs every year since 1995. You guessed it, during that stretch the Phills have been shutout of the playoffs. So no, it's not even close to "half as frustrating as being a Phillies fan."

How would you even know what it feels like to be a Yankees fan? Unless you liked them at first and then flip-flopped to the Red Sox, you wouldn’t. I am a die-hard Yankees fan and they are the first and only team I have ever followed, supported and loved. I’ve pointed out many times that I am a “real” Yankees fan, one that doesn’t just like them because he has to or because everyone else does. I have told the story of when I started to like them countless times and why I still like them. You are one of those people that loves to rag on the Yankees, every time they lose you are on here slamming them and stating how “Woo-hoo Boston and Seattle both gained a game on the Yank$!” That’s good for you; frankly I couldn’t care less with what Seattle and Boston do. All I know is that my team is at the top of their game and pushing straight on. In fact, I would actually prefer for the Red Sox to also make the playoffs and not so we can beat them but so that the best possible teams play against each other.

To answer P-Bo’s comment, it is frustrating being a Yankees fan. You have to deal with such people that love to pin-point all of the Yankees faults but yet remember all of their triumphs. As soon as you admit to being a Yankee fan you automatically get lumped in with all of the other “I like them because everyone else does” or “their uniforms are cool” crowd. You also have to deal with comments and complaints when they do lose. If they win the division but lose in the playoffs then they suck, if they win the whole thing then it’s because “they are supposed to win with that payroll.” It’s a lose-lose situation all of the time.

Either way, I am proud of being a Yankees fan and hope that the rest of the season only gets better.

That's right FKA, unless the Yank$ win 162 games a season, there will be complaints. It's always been that way, and you should know to expect that as a Yank$ fan.

MaxJack was right on the money. You win every time; post season is almost a guarantee. Like shooting fish in a barrell. Where's the fun in that? There's something much more satisfying when you live through the sad, depressing times, the good times are so much better because of it. Every year the Yanks win, they're supposed to. Every year they lose is an enormous dissappointment. I don't know why you put yourself through that.

quote:

Originally posted by Il Mago:
There's something much more satisfying when you live through the sad, depressing times, the good times are so much better because of it.

Live through the sad, depressing times eh? You don’t think it was sad in 1995 (the last time the Yankees didn’t win the division) and lose 3 games to 2 against Seattle in the ALDS? You know, that infamous play where Edgar Martinez doubled home Ken Griffey Jr. in the Kingdome?

You don’t think it was depressing in 1994 when the Yankees were the best team in baseball at 70-44, Paul O’Neill batting .369 and Jimmy Key with 17 wins for it to have ended abruptly with no playoffs because of the strike?

You don’t think it was sad and depressing in 2001 when the Yankees and Diamondbacks participated in arguably the best World Series of all time? It was called the “November Series” and the Yankees still lost in a close seven-game series?

Or how about the 2004 season? You know, the one where the Yankees had a firm 3-0 lead on the Red Sox before they came back to win the series. The one were it seemed impossible? Yeah, that one. I think that was a little bit sad and depressing for Yankee fans.

You guys are crazy to think that it’s all peachy on this side of the tracks. We have our own share of disappointments and let-downs.

Not as sad as having your team go 11 seasons straight with a sub-.500 record, or having them lose 106 games in a single season.

I don't think you're gonna get too many sympathy votes for the poor Yank$, especially when you have to go back more than a decade to remember the last time they weren't in the playoffs.

Yeah I guess so, how foolish of me.

quote:

Originally posted by FragileKidA:
You don’t think it was depressing in 1994 when the Yankees were the best team in baseball at 70-44, Paul O’Neill batting .369 and Jimmy Key with 17 wins for it to have ended abruptly with no playoffs because of the strike?

You don’t think it was sad and depressing in 2001 when the Yankees and Diamondbacks participated in arguably the best World Series of all time? It was called the “November Series” and the Yankees still lost in a close seven-game series?

Or how about the 2004 season? You know, the one where the Yankees had a firm 3-0 lead on the Red Sox before they came back to win the series. The one were it seemed impossible? Yeah, that one. I think that was a little bit sad and depressing for Yankee fans.

You guys are crazy to think that it’s all peachy on this side of the tracks. We have our own share of disappointments and let-downs.

Oh, poor you.

For the record, I am no flip-flopper. I started collecting baseball cards and playing baseball in 1975. The very same year a kid named Freddy Lynn won the AL Rookie of the Year and the MVP. I adopted Lynn as my favorite player and the Red Sox, by default as my favorite team. Little did I know of the heartbreak my adopted franchise had endured up to that point. In fifth grade, I read Ted Williams' My Turn at Bat, which just solidified my love for the Sox and my hatred of the New York Yankee$.

And what do I know about being a Yankee fan? All I know is how nearly every freaking one of you are the most pompous sports-fans on the planet, constantly reminding us of how great your team is. Frustrating, indeed.

quote:

Originally posted by Maximum Jack:
For the record, I am no flip-flopper. I started collecting baseball cards and playing baseball in 1975. The very same year a kid named Freddy Lynn won the AL Rookie of the Year and the MVP. I adopted Lynn as my favorite player and the Red Sox, by default as my favorite team. Little did I know of the heartbreak my adopted franchise had endured up to that point. In fifth grade, I read Ted Williams' My Turn at Bat, which just solidified my love for the Sox and my hatred of the New York Yankee$.

Aw, isn’t that just special? You want to disparage and belittle my few memories of genuine sadness and frustration then go ahead.

I don’t know about being pompous, but I don’t think I have ever been arrogant during the entire time I have ever mentioned the Yankees. If anyone has been pompous and any other like adjective, that’s you. I don’t personally know any Red Sox fans but if they are anything like you, I am glad I don’t.

quote:

Originally posted by FragileKidA:

You don’t think it was depressing in 1994 when the Yankees were the best team in baseball at 70-44, Paul O’Neill batting .369 and Jimmy Key with 17 wins for it to have ended abruptly with no playoffs because of the strike?

Not as disappointed as I was being a White Sox fan. They would have won it that year. I'll take that assertion to the grave!

quote:

Originally posted by Maximum Jack:

All I know is how nearly every freaking one of you are the most pompous sports-fans on the planet, constantly reminding us of how great your team is. Frustrating, indeed.

I think that's a little unfair. I could just as easily say something like nearly every Red Sox fan is a cry baby. Loyal till death, but whiners nonetheless.

Listen, your team is your team, and you'll always defend it no matter how good or bad they are. I know there are a lot of people who only like the Yankees because they're good, and I know FKA is not one of them. I also know it is just as fashionable to be a Red Sox or Cubs fan because of the loveable loser label, and I know Max is not one of those.

Me, I'm lucky to be a White Sox fan. I can stay out of the argument altogether because there was nothing fashionable when they sucked, and there haven't been any converts since they won! But I love them. I love them so much that for my 30th birthday my wife is flying us to Chicago so we can watch one game (with great seats). She knows they blow this year, but she also knows there are very few other places I'd rather be.

We all know people who are fair-weather/fashionable fans, and all we can do is shake our heads and feel sorry for them because they don't know what it is to live and die with a team, especially a baseball team; whether they've won 26 championships in the last 100 years, or whether they've won one.

quote:

Originally posted by FragileKidA:
You don’t think it was depressing in 1994 when the Yankees were the best team in baseball at 70-44, Paul O’Neill batting .369 and Jimmy Key with 17 wins for it to have ended abruptly with no playoffs because of the strike?

Check your facts, FKA. The best team in baseball pre-lockout at 74-40 were the Montreal Expos. The Expos never won a world series, and had that season been played out in full, they may have generated enough fans and money to build a new stadium. Had that happened (which was likely at the time), the Expos may still exist.

quote:

Originally posted by Il Mago:
Check your facts, FKA. The best team in baseball pre-lockout at 74-40 were the Montreal Expos. The Expos never won a world series, and had that season been played out in full, they may have generated enough fans and money to build a new stadium. Had that happened (which was likely at the time), the Expos may still exist.

That's who the Sox would have beat! Pedro was sick and Larry Walker was in his prime.

quote:

Originally posted by PRG:
Listen, your team is your team, and you'll always defend it no matter how good or bad they are. I know there are a lot of people who only like the Yankees because they're good, and I know FKA is not one of them. I also know it is just as fashionable to be a Red Sox or Cubs fan because of the loveable loser label, and I know Max is not one of those.

Two points on this one...

Long point....

Sometimes we all get too caught up in sports until we realize exactly where we stand and come crashing down to Earth. I defend the Phillies and hate support them through thick and thin. I was born outside Philly and love all the pro franchises there. You don't typically get Phillies fans that never lived in the vicinity of the city, unlike the Yanks. Sometime when I see a Yankees fan from, for example, Texas, I get all uppity and call them out. Then I realize that, not only does it not matter who you like, but it also doesn't matter to the teams who like them, on an individual level. I'm not in a Phillies fan club, nor do I own stock in the team. I haven't even been to a game since 1991. My support of the team is for my satisfaction or lack thereof alone. This forum just provides us with an opportunity to share our love of the game and our teams.

This reminds me of people and their musical tastes. Everyone wants to be a fan of the band when they were small and chastise the people who dared to become a fan after they made it big. The Yanks, Red Sox, Cubs, Dallas Cowboys, LA Lakers, and every other team who seems to have universal appeal will always have converts who join the ranks in the best of times. I realize that with music, I'm guilty of the horrible crime of converting to My Morning Jacket, Wilco, Radiohead, and many others after the cool passes were all but handed out. Still, not a day goes by that I don't try to get one of my friends to hop on board. I would hate it though if I couldn't find a single person on Earth who loved at least one of those bands. It just makes it that much more enjoyable to know that I'm not alone in my love for a team, band, movie or anything that applies (except for my wife). Still, I still find myself taking the hypocritical stance of belittling people for liking music that I "discovered". We can all be very silly from time to time but, I'd hope that people catch themselves.

Still long but shorter than the last point, point...

I hate the Yankees. I hate them as much as you can hate something or someone that you don't really hate at all. I hate the idea of them and I hate the way they do business. Part of this is jealousy though and, I must admit, the playoffs just aren't the same without a bad guy. I'd rather see the Yankees, Lakers, Cowboys, and NY Rangers in their respective championship every year as long as I can root against them and have either a favorite team oppose them or a good underdog story to root for (see 2006 Tigers), than to see boring teams who just don't register on my radar slug it out without a true "bad guy" team. I know that the Philadelphia Flyers are that bad guy team for many people and I get shit for rooting for them in Buffalo, much like FKA gets shit here. So to sum up; I'll never root for the Yankees unless the Taliban joins the AL East but things wouldn't be the same without the "Evil Empire".