MLB Mourns Loss of the Boss

On what should have been a slow news day until AFTER the conclusion of the 81st All Star Game, MLB fans around the country woke up to the news that the 80 yr old Boss had passed away of a massive heart attack in Tampa.  The news hit none harder than Yankee Universe who was already mourning the loss of "the Voice" Bob Sheppard.  

George Steinbrenner was celebrating his 37th anniversary as Principal Owner of the New York Yankees.  In January of 1973 Steinbrenner bought the Yankees from CBS for $8.7 million.  A price that today wouldn't even cover a single player's salary.  During his time as Yankee's owner and chairperson, Steinbrenner saw the team win 11 American League pennants and seven World Championships, the most in the MLB.

George Steinbrenner who is famous for fueling the infamous rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox was able to put rivalries aside for the sake of charity.  He was generous donor to many charitable causes throughout the nation and his communities and even donated annually to Red Sox charity the Jimmy Fund.


Various teams throughout the MLB have expressed their condolences for the Boss who is survived by his wife and kids; the Red Sox even held a moment of silence for Steinbrenner at the start of Thursday's game against the Texas Rangers.   

Rest In Peace Bob Sheppard

Long time Yankee Public Address Announcer Bob Sheppard passed away Sunday July 11th at the age of 99. Sheppard's legacy began with Joe DiMaggio and will be carried on for as long as Derek Jeter plays for the Yankees.

Sheppard began his tenure with the Yankees in 1951 and continued with the team until his retirement in 2007 after becoming ill of a bronchial infection. Sheppard's voice also nicknamed "the voice of G-D" can still be heard before each of Derek Jeter's home game at-bats. Jeter plans to continue using the recorded introduction. As an honor to Sheppard Major League Baseball allowed Jeter to use the recording during Tuesday's 81st All Star Game.

The media dining room at the new Yankee Stadium is named after Sheppard who was also an athlete during his youth having played both football and baseball for St. John's University. Sheppard is survived by his wife, sons Paul and Christopher, daughters Barbara and Mary, four grandchildren and at least nine great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be held on Thursday in Baldwin.

Big Papi Wins Home Run Derby

This one goes out to my friends over in Red Sox Nation... how great was it to see David Ortiz win the 2010 Home Run Derby? We all cringed as we saw Papi struggle in April barely securing a spot in the rotation, and now he is the FIRST RED SOX player to win a Home Run Derby.

This was Ortiz 4th attempt at a Derby title. He won the title by besting Hamely Ramirez and hitting 32 home runs during the competition (eight homers in Round 1 and 13 more in Round 2 and 11 in the final round).

During the final round you could seem how calm and collected Papi was; smiling as he swung the bat and knocked ball after ball out of the park. Aside from having a good time batting Ortiz also sat by and cheered on his good friend and competitor Hanley Ramirez. During Ramirez's last at-bat Big Papi even brought Ramirez a drink and wiped off his sweat with a towel.

State Farm donated $573,000 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America at the end of the night.  A total of 12 gold balls each worth $17,000 left the ball park during the event.  A gold ball is thrown when a competitor is  down to his final out.

HRs Fights and Pyrotechnics

What a home stand and it's only day 2!!!
Last night was Pyrotechnics night.  As a tribute to our Vets and many Troops overseas and through the country the Mets provided the many families with free tickets to the game, and recorded video messages from each troop.  At the end of a well fought (literally) game, the Mets closed off the night with quite the Fireworks display.  Courtesy of my Fan Photo boss I got to watch the show from the Pepsi Porch, which was arguably the best place in the house to view!

Now I mentioned a fight... Manager Jerry Manuel was ejected after an exchange in the 5th inning of Monday's game.  The incident began surrounding a pitch that hat been called a foul tip strike.  Reds batter Scott Rolen, however claimed the ball had hit him.  This led to some dialogue between him and the home plate ump followed by a meeting of all 4 umps, which resulted in the call being reversed.
During this time the Mets field had all gathered on the mound awaiting the decision.  After the call got made all hell broke loose; Rod Barajas and David Wright both had to be restrained by their team mates (after seeing the replay both players said they felt the right call was made).  I personally was hoping to see fists fly (although I'm grateful that it didn't happen).  After everyone pulled back, Manuel got thrown out of the game arguing in defense of his team.

Today met fans got yet another treat...  Johan Santana hit his first career HOMERUN!  A dinger just of the right field foul pole.  Fans watched on bated breath as the ball sailed into the outfield, unsure if the release of that breath would be a defeated sign or a celebratory yell.  Lucky for us and Santana it went in our favor!  Johan went on to finish the game him self.  It's good to see that when the Mets can't provide the run support early in the game, Johan can take care of business himself!

Can't wait to see how the Mets close the series... Rubber game tomorrow at 7.  This Met fan is especially looking forward to host the Braves this weekend.  Will we be a first place team come Sunday?

I keep saying I'll on track, then life happens and i forget to post. So here i am a whole month later. posting simply cuz i feel bad. dont really have much to say. just counting down the days til the subway series (6) and enjoying interleague play. Mets seem to be having fun bird hunting against the Orioles. while Boston is just owning Phillie. life feels good right about now.

Undefeated!

No not any of my teams but ME!  So far I have only seen wins!  The sweetest by far came Monday Night @ Fenway.  Nothing like seeing your team dominate at a time when they were in a slump.  Looks like all the Red Sox needed was a visit from little old me!  So I arrive at Fenway at 3:30 and was able to upgrade my Coke Deck Standing Room Tickets for 2 seats in the grandstand behind HOME PLATE!  My man Youk hit 2 homeruns! Sweet Caroline was sung, and Tessie and Dirty Water were celebrated to on the way out the park.

No its time for my rant.  Scott Schoeneweis! why why why!  Just when I was finally starting to recover from the havoc he wrecked as a Mets pitcher, and now he's on the Red Sox why oh why!  At the top of the 9th the Sox were up 17 to 4.  By the time the Scho was done the score was 17 to 8, with bases loaded twice and runners being walked home.  During this process I was completely suffering cuz I knew what to expect, sox fans looked at me like I was a nut.

Love that Dirty Water?

A water main break on May 1 resulted in Bostonians being forced to boil all water before cooking, and scrambling for bottled waters and cans of soda. Not exactly what I was looking forward to Monday morning when I arrived in Beantown.  I got off my bus from NY, hopped on the T unsure of where I wanted to go.  Then I saw a sign about Marine Week (lucky me) and bolted straight for Boston Commons.

It wasn't long before my empty stomach demanded food first Marines later, so I went to Burger King. Not aware of the water main break, I found it so odd when they handed me a soda can instead of a fountain drink, but I shrugged it off assuming the fountain was dry or something and went about with my life.
Next stop Faneuil Hall were I enjoyed my lunch while chatting with some very yummy Marines that thought I was actually a Bostonian, they were quite surprised when I revealed that I was in fact from NY yet still knowledgeable enough to offer a guided tour of Boston. ;)

A dash across the street later I'm shopping in Downtown Crossing hunting for a Sox jersey and  yet all I find is a METS jersey!




 I give up on looking for a jersey, so its Back to the T for me. Destination: UMASS! I'm still blissfully unaware of the water crisis. That is until I arrive on campus. 

So walking around campus I worked up a thirst, it wasn't long before I started noticing the "broken" water fountains. I was soon thereafter alerted to the water crisis after walking past a news stand.  I'm just impressed at how the city seemed to be handling the issue.  Fast food restaurants very discretely served soda cans without interrupting the flow of business.  At Fenway, minus the few PSA everything seemed quite normal.