JETER - THE LAST DAY

EVERYBODY is writing about Jeter this week, so I guess I'll have to put in my two cents - even tho' Annie-O says I haven't stopped at two cents since I was 12.
     I agree that Jeter is Hall of Fame material and on the first ballot. He belongs, not just because of longevity, but because he's produced consistently,  in the field, at bat and in the public eye. No rumors, no embarrassing photos and no police reports.
     Some writers claim he's not a good shortstop, in fact, some even go so far as to say he's a terrible shortstop. Shortstop is a key position. You can't win consistently with a terrible shortstop, but Jeter has five rings and five gold gloves. Explain THAT to me, Mr. Naysayers. I will admit that he never had great range and lately, he's had almost no range, but he has handled everything he could reach, and did it when it mattered the most. Boston had a shortstop that was a better hitter and was considered to be a terrific shortstop, but in a close game against the Yanks, he's the guy I wanted to see handle the ball. Under pressure, because he couldn't do it. Which guy would you rather have?
     One of Jeter's assets was that he was a better hitter under pressure. They used to say that about Yogi Berra, too. A good hitter, but in a critical situation, he became Mr. Clutch. If you check the records, it wasn't true for either one. The truth is, they were the SAME hitter under pressure. Many players wilt under that spotlight, others would produce occasionally, but Derek and Yogi -they performed exactly to their talents and abilities in those situations. That's what made them dangerous. They were calm and cool and waited for the inevitable mistake the pitcher would make and bang! A legend is born.
     I have always had one criticism of the Captain. He wasn't a good captain. It's okay to lead by example, but you need dedicated professionals with you who understand what you're doing and are willing to do what it takes to win. But when you needed a guy to step up in the clubhouse, to kick some butt if needed,  to help rally a team around A-Rod and offer his personal support when A-Rod needed it, Jeter was nowhere to be found. When you watched the Yankees play like second division losers, like this year, someone had to stand up in a meeting and lay it on the line to these self-concerned stars. Again, no Jeter. Apparently, Joe Girardi went off on the team on Thursday, the first time he's ever done that. If Jeter had done that in June, they might be popping champagne corks today. I think Girardi laid off all year in deference to Jeter, waiting for him to take control, but he never did. Maybe that's really the fault of management, who bestowed the title on him in hopes he would grow into it, but it never happened. Let's see who emerges next season. I don't believe Girardi will show much patience from now on.
     But, for now, let's celebrate the career of someone who always played the game the way it should have been played. Someone who gave us those highlight plays - the flip, the dive and the 3000th hit homer.
Thank you, Mr. November.

TWO QUESTIONS:
1) Joe Torre changed a hit to an error on a play that occurred TUESDAY! Why? It changed 4 runs charged to King Felix from earned to unearned. The only difference was that Felix Hernandez was able to lower his ERA back to 2.18, keeping him in the hunt for the ERA title. It played no part in the game, the A's won 10-2. Why was Torre sticking his nose into it? The call of a hit or error is at the discretion of the scorer. It is not a reviewable play by the umpires. Even it Torre says that he "just wanted it right," this is wrong. Is he going to to go back and review every error in the season? No, he's not, just when it suits him. The new Commissioner's first job should be to fire Torre.
2) The season ends today (9/28), yet the first wild card game isn't until Tuesday. The NL WC game is Wednesday and the first playoff game isn't until Friday. Again, why? Wild card games should be on Monday and the first two playoff games for both leagues should be Tuesday and Wednesday. The leagues and the networks continually drag these things out as long as possible, which is why we end up with games that are played at midnight in the last week of October. This is the Commissioner's second job: fire the scheduler.

***THEY SAID IT***
 Might as well get them all out of the way at once:
"Next up, MLB will try to figure out what they have to change to give the Yankees and Derek Jeter a spot in the playoffs."  -- Janice Hough
"TSN (The Sports Network) said Derek Jeter's final game at Yankee Stadium had moments we'll never forget. Probably because they won't ever let us."  -- RJ Currie
"On Thursday night, Derek Jeter played his last home game at Yankee Stadium. The overblown farewell tour ended the only way that it could, with the mayor of New York City presenting Jeter with the Statue of Liberty."  -- Brad Dickson
"During the opening of the U.N. General Assembly, there were 100 representatives from 135 nations in New York City — all here to pay tribute to Derek Jeter."  -- David Letterman
"You have not seen the last of Derek Jeter. When he throws out the first pitch next year at Yankee Stadium and it’s anywhere near the plate, Mets scouts will be all over him."  -- TC Chong

 "Derek Jeter's final game at Yankee Stadium seemed to be in serious jeopardy until the rains serendipitously relented. Or as New Yorkers prefer to spin it, the baseball gods finally stopped crying."  -- Dwight Perry


****In other news  --
"Former Olympic decathlon champ, Bruce Jenner, has had a lot of plastic surgery. When I was a kid, his face was on a box of Wheaties. Now his face isn't even on his face anymore."  -- Jimmy Kimmel

"A man scaled the White House fence and made it all the way to the North Portico before he was apprehended.In keeping with football season, President Obama immediately canned his defensive coordinator.."  -- Dwight Perry

"Michigan pulled a promotion in which people who bought two Cokes got tickets to the Minnesota game. Wolverine fans who a few years ago would’ve swam across Lake Michigan blindfolded for tickets were going: “Uh, I’ll think about it.”"  -- Brad Dickson

 "The Milwaukee Brewers are retiring #1 for Bud Selig. And across the rest of baseball, fans are joining in by holding up one finger."  -- Janice Hough

 CP-











 

DEREK JETER

My wish is that Cp writes often and at length about Derek Jeter. Cp has been a Yankee fan from nearly 70 years. I look forward to his personal stories if he will write them.

As for tonight? Magical.

Michael Kay spoke loudly, “Welcome to Derek Jeter, where fantasy becomes reality!”

Well said.

Zola

Thank you, Bill. Someone did need to say it.

Bill Simmons on Roger Goodell’s most recent press conference –

"I’m just saying it. He is lying. I think that dude is lying. If you put him up on a lie detector test, that guy would fail. For all these people to pretend they didn’t know is such fucking bullshit. It really is — it’s such fucking bullshit. And for him to go in that press conference and pretend otherwise, I was so insulted. I really was."

Remember to try our new and exciting game - 

FIND ROGER.... or the owner of that Washington team

(The game board is displayed on the right side. It only takes a few moments and almost everyone is a winner!)

"AS THE DAYS DWINDLE DOWN..."

Since the Yanks are basically out of it, I can't really call the days 'precious,' so I'll stick with 'few.' Today, we'll get an idea what next season could be like, if there will be a Tanaka or not. The way the team looks right now, next year the Yanks major sponsor will be Bishop's Commons Assisted Living Facility - "You sign 'em, we'll care for 'em."

Does anyone here understand this game?
Yesterday, the KC Royals played the Detroit Tigers in a baseball game under what should have been the standard rules of baseball, however, apparently the umpires weren't aware of all of them.
In the sixth inning, the Royals had Perez on third and Hosmer on second with one out. Infante then lined out to Kinsler at second who threw to Suarez to try for a double play, but the throw went wild. Perez, who started back to third, reversed himself and ran home, but he never tagged up. When the game resumed, pitcher Max Scherzer made an appeal throw to third. The umpire called him safe. Detroit asked for a review, but the umpire said leaving the bag early is NOT subject to review. Detroit said he never tagged. The umps convened a meeting and declared Perez out (we don't know the vote). KC objected because the play wasn't reviewable. The umps decided that the proper call was a missed base, which was reviewable.
I have a couple of questions. If Perez never tagged up but ran straight home, why did they call him safe? How could they call it a missed bag because he was on third and went straight home? So, to recap, the appeal throw should have resulted in an out call, reviews had nothing to do with it, changing the call to a missed bag was only a ploy to hide the fact that the umps either weren't watching the game, misunderstood the rules or made up their own.       Or all three.

Additional Professional Sports Rules.
1) When something bad happens, ignore it and hope it doesn't get found out.
2) If the public finds out, deny that you knew anything about it.
3) If you are accused, lie about it.
4) If they find out the truth, lie harder.
5) If there's no getting around it, apologize that something bad happened, but DO NOT say that you did it out loud. (i.e. - "I'm sorry the woman was hit," not "I'm sorry I hit her.")  

I can't write about this anymore. These people are idiots and don't deserve the admiration they get, let alone the money. Actually, we are the idiots because WE buy the tickets, WE buy the merchandise and WE pay them to sign stuff for us.

Derek Jeter
"...the Yankee organization’s long-established devotion to winning games has been superseded by its effort to cast Jeter in the best possible light, and pretend, with his placement in the field and in the lineup, that he gives them the best possible chance to win."  -- Buster Olney
 Yes, Jeter has remained in the lineup despite his reduced productivity, and Olney is not the only one saying this. But I ask you, what are the alternatives? Brendan Ryan, Stephen Drew?  Jeter is hitting .254 with an OBP of .302. Not very impressive, however, Ryan and Drew COMBINED are hitting .171 with an OBP o .231. Yes, they both offer better defense, but not that much better from what I've seen this year.
You can't really fault Girardi for using Jeter, since he really had no choice.   You can fault Girardi for his misuse of the bullpen - and I do.

***THEY SAID IT***
"On Saturday, Nebraska played Miami at night. It felt like the old days, only Nebraska isn’t No. 1 and Miami isn’t on probation."  -- Brad Dickson
"Roger Goodell and “Purposeful Misdirection” sounds like the name of a bad garage band."  -- Janice Hough
"Jameis Winston’s off-field box score: rape investigation ... stealing $32 worth of crab legs ... yelling vulgarities in the student-union building ... Probably not the triple-threat QB that Florida State football fans had in mind."  -- Dwight Perry
"Yet another incident for FSU pivot Jameis Winston, this time standing on a table and shouting a vulgar internet catchphrase. Embarrassing? Even Justin Bieber is shaking his head."  -- RJ Currie
"The Buccaneers suffered a  56-14 blowout loss on Thursday night football: “It was the most embarrassing TV I’ve seen since ‘Joanie Loves Chachi.’"  -- Mike Bianchi
"For $1,500, USC season ticket holders can run onto the field ahead of the team. Big deal. For $1,000 at Purdue, you can start at tight end."  -- Brad Dickson
"Gatorade has a new commercial honoring Derek Jeter and his retirement. Good thing. Would hate for such a momentous event to go unnoticed."  -- Janice Hough
"Golfer Tiger Woods, who parted ways with adviser Sean Foley last month, says he might serve as his own swing coach for a while.  Tiger to give swinging a try with no adult supervision — what could possibly go wrong?"  -- Dwight Perry

 CP-























 

Press Conference

We have all been slimed by $44 million worth of trash.
Have a goodell day, everybody.

It’s a great day for America everybody.

Tuesday, one of the few nights without an NFL game. Tomorrow, Hump-Day, one more day before the four-game-days in five begins again. Cultural Addiction anyone?

Finally

While Anheuser-Bush InBev awkwardly danced around the issue of their continued sponsorship of the NFL, Radisson immediately terminated their deep financial relationship with the Minnesota Vikings when their corporate log was prominently displayed on the backdrop for the press conference where the Vikings announced that Andrian Peterson would continue to play in spite of his child abuse indictment and the Vikings loathsome behavior in minimizing the horror experienced by Peterson’s two four year old children. It has been pointed out that money doesn't talk, it screams, and everyone understands this except five ideologic lawyers  in AssSnyder Land.

Any one else out there with a pair? Or will the AssSnyders play on?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go Bills. Let the fracking be with you.

Suggestions for an Honorable End to the 2014 MLB Season

1. Derek Jeter gets to pitch to any Rays pitcher of his choice 2. Joe West is tarred, feathered and dumped off of the Skyway Bridge into Tampa Bay as an early retirement gift 3. The Yankees de-pants Joe Maddon as he delivers the lineup card for Wednesday’s game. And I mean the Full Monty. He is, after all, the manager (Ultimate Boss) of a staff that, because of incredible stupidity and lack of talent, does not know how to pitch inside, or just don’t care if they end a career or two.

This is the end:

Fabulous day in the Finger Lakes - sunny, cool and a little breeze. If I can think of anything that positive connected to any professional sport I will let you know asap.

Last record

TWO THINGS

#1 As Annie-O will attest, I have been saying all year that Joe Girardi is not the bullpen genius everyone says he is. I don't understand his penchant for bringing in Betances and Robertson in any game when the score is tied or the Yanks are just 1 or 2 runs behind. To me, it's a panic move, pure and simple. After blowing out Robertson's arm on Friday (35 pitches), a game which the Yanks lost,  he brought him in on Saturday to save the win for the Yanks. But now, when he could have won the game on Sunday, Robertson had nothing. Basically, Girardi lost Sunday's game on Friday night.
When a manager continually makes panic moves like that, Cashman should find a new manager.

#2 There is evidence that Jonathon Papelbon was blowing smoke when he said he was just "adjusting himself," but I suppose it's possible. We've seen players do a lot worse on the field. Remember a few years ago when a player completely dropped his pants to brush off some dirt and straighten his uniform top, all the while standing on first base in full view of the whole stadium.
The real problem here is my old friend umpire Joe West. When Papelbon rushed out to argue being thrown out, West pushed him twice and then grabbed his uniform top and pulled him away. It will be interesting to see how many games West is suspended for accosting a player. My guess: zero! And that's only if Sleepy Joe Torre happens to be told that something happened. West said Papelbon's "...head made contact with his hat." Pretty flimsy.

Sadly, Derek Jeter is not going out with a bang. He's mired in the second worst slump of his career and he doesn't seem to be laughing and joking with the opposing players the way he was a few weeks ago. He definitely looks like the drive is gone.

***THEY SAID IT***
"The Mets are out of the postseason, the Yankees are almost out, the Giants got solidly beaten and the Jets choked. So in New York they’re wondering “When does the Knicks preseason start?"  -- Janice Hough
"Before going to play in the Chinese Basketball Association, Metta World Peace will change his name to Panda Friend. China, if you have an all-name team, I think you just found your captain."  -- Brad Dickson
"Some Roman baubles from 61 A.D. have been unearthed in a British village. Among the more unusual items: Nero’s Formula One chariot-racing trophy."  -- Dwight Perry.
"BC Lions 7, Ottawa Redblacks 5. My dog was looking out the window while I was watching the game. In the third quarter I joined him"  -- RJ Currie
"Many 49ers fans who drove to tonight’s home opener were stuck for hours after the game. As opposed to the team, who apparently checked out after the third quarter."  -- Janice Hough

CP-
 

Jolly Roger Day

It was a great day for America everybody. The national football Lugnuts were busy beating the bejesus out of each other so woman and children across the country were able to rest easy for at least one afternoon.

Meanwhile, the helmeted gladiators provided bloodsport entertainment for their loyal fanatics and fantasy addicts.

RGIII went down for the 161^st straight game giving Kurt Cousins another opportunity to lead the DC AssSnyders to a win over the always-incompetent Jags.

Speaking of incompetent –  Eli Manning continued to lead the Lugnuts in interceptions, although the two he threw today were well below his per-game average. No worries. We expect him to throw more next week. In keeping with the general tendency of playing like crap, the Jints also lost two fumbles to pad their lead in team turnovers.

Go Bills! is the cry heard all over western New York. While the Bills are alone in first in the AFC East for the first time since 1852, expect another cry in December when they play Denver, Green Bay and New England. In the meantime, Go Bills!

Ah, the belicheats. After an opening day loss to the Dolphins – now that’s embarrassing – the cheaters pasted a confused, short-handed Minnesota team to even their record. Speaking about Ray Rice, belicheat owner Bob Kraft said, "I don't think he will play another NFL game," but assured us that as long as his personal loverboy  delivers the money, RG Numero Uno will be around to lie, obfuscate and kiss-a$$ for as long as he likes.

That’s all for now folks. It’s tough to take the smell when writing about the Lugnuts. In the meantime, you can watch the 49ers open their home season in their new $1,200,000,000 (that’s right, 1.2 billion) stadium. The good thing is that it won't cost the 49er ownership or the Lugnuts a dime, thanks to taxpayer financing.

Now that’s a mother-lode – and another type of load as well. 

HAS IT BEEN THAT LONG?

Three weeks and one post in all that time...at least I didn't have to write about the hapless Yankees very much.

** Speaking of which...
They've played 29 innings against the AL's second best team  this weekend and managed only 4 runs, and one of those was a steal of home. That figures out to a 1.24 ERA for the Oriole pitching staff. They're good, but are they THAT good? New York's hitting is non-existent. McCann seems to be swinging the bat like the Yanks had hoped, but the only other players who are doing anything are two guys who weren't even on the roster on Aug. 1st: Martin Prado and Chris Young.
Oh well, since it appears the Yanks are going nowhere, I guess I'll start focusing on my favorite Pro football team, the mighty New York Giants.     Wait...what?                 Oh crap.

** They do things big in Texas.
We stayed in Dallas a week ago, in a hotel directly across the street from AT & T stadium (formerly Cowboy Stadium). It was a Friday night and we noticed the parking lot was absolutely full. The Cowboys weren't playing, so we wondered what was going on. The next morning, the lot was full again. We got talking to one of the other guests who told us that it was a two-day high school football tournament. He said his son was playing that morning and he was glad he was in this hotel because they were charging $40 just to park your car. As he put it, "I guess we can't have Jerry Jones missing any meals."

** Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Why is it that no one in sports. absolutely no one, not players, managers, coaches or commissioners, can tell the truth? Many years ago, there was a movie called, "A Guide For The Married Man."  The plot was how to cheat on your wife and not get caught. One of the precepts was, no matter what happens, deny it. Even if she catches you, deny it. Basically, it was deny, deny, deny. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the mantra of sports personalities.

** From Brad Dickson's 'Bottom 10'
#4 Western Michigan (0-1) The Broncos were idle. The Bottom 10 is the only ranking where teams are awarded points for an open date.
#8 Vanderbilt (0-2) The ’Bilt dropped one to Ole Miss 41-3. You know a team’s season expectations are diminished when fans do the wave after the lone field goal.

** Apparently, the nicest people work in the stands.
Kudos go out to the stadium staffs at Angels stadium and Petco Park in San Diego. These people all went out of their way to help two lost souls who wandered aimlessly until directed nicely to our seats  and even told us to set in a shaded area until our regular seats were in the shade. As one lady supervisor put it, "We older people have to be very careful about too much time in direct sunlight. Let me know if anyone hassles you."
One interesting note: Jalapeno peppers are very big in California. They come automatically with hot dogs, are free in all of the condiment stations.

***THEY SAID IT***
"Will the last NFL player suspended please turn off the scoreboard?"  -- Dwight Perry
"Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?"  -- Jim Bouton
"Before the game, Cowboy quarterback Tony Romo, took a baby from a woman in the stands and kissed it, and then handed it back to the wrong mother."  -- Argus Hamilton
"The Nebraska-Fresno State game aired on CBSSN. Those of you who tried to find it know that “SN” stands for “Stealth Network.”  -- Brad Dickson
" Toronto mayor Rob Ford said he is "cut from the same cloth as Mike Tyson.” Same cloth? Given their respective pasts, I’m guessing it’s checkered."  -- RJ Currie
" Roger Goodell  has been so focused on making it a No Fun League when maybe he should have been focused on having a No Felons League."  -- Janice Hough
"I read that NASA is taking the next steps to send a man to Mars. Late Friday, Roger Goodell volunteered."  -- Brad Dickson
"Why is anyone surprised at Eagles running back LeSean McCoy leaving a restaurant tip of only 20 cents. He’s known for stopping on a dime."  -- RJ Currie

CP- 

Nothing to worry about with this picture, hey Roger?

I’m in love with the NFL definition of an “independent investigation”: hire the favorite law firm of many of the owners, a firm that has done millions of dollars worth of business with the NFL  families, assign two legacy owners within the NFL to oversee the “independent” lawyers and promise to share “a report” whenever the “independent investigation” is deemed complete by the legacy owners.

This "independent investigation" looks and smells like New York Gov. Andrew Como's "independent investigation" into corruption in state government, although they didn't even get to issue "a report" before the gov got all "independent" on his " self-appointed independent commission".

How to link this to baseball and the Yankees?

 LT says not to worry because the real baseball season is over. Jeter's leaving and the the Yankees are really out of it. She says that I need to accept the fact that human evolution has stalled - so football it is for a while.

Keith Olbermann was first out with an appeal for the NFL to clean its management house. That's a tall order for an ownership group that includes men like Ravens owner Steve  Biscotti who, in an interview, said he hears what he wants to hear, and Colts owner Dan Irsay who endangers people every time he gets behind the wheel of a car. We could go on but you get the point. 

NFL owners, their $44,000,000 Commissioner and his organization have doggedly pursued train loads of money at the physical expense of their gladiators, morality and accountability. 

Ali Velshi stepped up tonight and said that this crowd of money men is unwilling to change without real pressure from football fans. The state of professional football may have a chance of self-correction if fans will stop buying tickets, shirts, hats, programs, foam fingers, 
window decals, posters, parking spots.... for just a while. Turn off the cash long enough and oil men Jones and Pegula, Rooney, Mara and the rest of that small, entitled fraternity of NFL owners will begin to pay at least a bit of attention to cleaning up the league. 

Sadly, it appears that most NFL fans can only respond, "Baaaaaa!"

What's That Smell?

With the Washington AssSnyders and the Baltimore Ravens the NFL is the leader in professional sports league sleaze. These organizations have set the bar so low for ethical behavior that it’s unlikely any remaining franchise can sink lower. And the football faithful everywhere ignore the stench and spend their cash.

Buffalo fanatics are dancing in the streets with the announcement of a Pegula purchase.

Cleveland is ecstatic with the addition of a narcissist freshman quarterback.

Dallas ownership is so engrossed in counting the money that they didn’t notice that over half the people attending their home opener were fans of the opposing team.

Foam cheese-hats remain Green Bay’s contribution to American “culture”.

Houston is happy because they own J.J. Watt, the most feared defensive gladiator in the Coliseum.

Goodell is jubilant because it is all about the Benjamins and only the Benjamins.

Looking forward to another fine Sunday?

And Thursday?

And Monday?