Well Black Friday always marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, and it usually marks the beginning of the Baseball Offseason as well. Let's get caught up on what's going on.
Derek Jeter Well, these negotiations have pretty much turned "messy" as Hal Steinbrenner forewarned. Word around town today is that he wants $150 million (cue Dr. Evil pose). That's much much more money than Jeter (or anyone else for that matter) is worth at this point. The Yankees have drawn the line in the sand with $45 million for 3 years. I don't understand why they don't sign a reasonable player contract and then do one of those personal services contracts for when he retires. I think, no matter what, Jeter's probably going to be laughing all the way to the bank.
Mariano Rivera There had been talk about Rivera pulling an Andy Pettitte and going year to year, but now he apparently wants a 2-year deal. I don't see why the Yankees don't sign him to that contract right now. The second year is probably tied to the chance to pass Trevor Hoffman on the All-Time Saves list. This deal will probably get down soon, and with hopefully less drama than Jeter's deal.
Cliff Lee And now we move on to the biggest non-Yankee target the coveted left hander Lee. There are conflicting reports on whether an official offer has actually been made, but Cash Money (Brian Cashman, not the rap label) went down to Arkansas to visit with him and his family. It's probably more a matter of years at this point, because Lee's going to want about 7, but he's 32 so he's probably going to have to settle for less.
So that's it for now. But as more news develops, we'll keep you updated.
After last night's Yankee-Red Sox game last night that surely took a few years off my life, the Yankees magic number to make the playoffs is 1. More importantly the Yankees pull within a half game of the Rays for 1st in AL East. A couple of points from last night:
Joe Girardi desperately wanted to win this game. After initially saying Dustin Mosely would start so they could skip Phil Hughes in the rotation. Then yesterday afternoon it was announced that Hughes would take the ball to star the game. Then he brought Mariano Rivera in to pitch for more than one inning for only the fifth time this season.
Speaking of Mariano, he's struggling. In September he's thrown 10.2 innings, giving up 12 hits, 6 earned runs, 3 blown saves and a loss. Hopefully this is just one of those phases that Mariano goes through from time to time, but it's disconcerting that its happening in September.
I don't usually like to curse on here, but the only thing Jonathan Papelbon does better than blowing saves in big games is whining like a bitch.
"It was tough considering the fact that I was not only pitching against their lineup, I was also pitching against the ump. When you do that against this lineup, you are never going to be successful."
He's talking about the 1-2 pitch to Tex, who eventually singled. But you know what Papelboner? Bad calls happen. You still had one out, and the chance to get A-Rod and Cano out, but you didn't. I hope the Red Sox don't re-sign him just so I don't have to listen to him anymore.
Last week the Yankees went on an eight-game winning streak which saw them extend their AL East lead on the Tampa Bay Rays to 2.5 games. Then, the Orioles came to town and took two of three. Then the Yankees traveled to face the Texas Rangers. The bullpen blew the game the first night. Mariano Rivera had one of his three meltdowns he has all year and blow the second game. And Cliff Lee was Cliff Lee and the next thing you know the Yankees are dealing with their first three-game sweep of the season, lost six of their last seven, and enter a three game series with the Tampa Bay Rays who are just 1/2 a game back. The Yanks would be on a seven game losing streak if not for Nick Swisher's walk-off home run on Wednesday.
The rest of the Yankees schedule is against all AL East teams. They have just three games against the Orioles, who are the only team under .500 (and have been playing good baseball since Buck Showalter took over). Over the last seven days the Yankees as a team are batting .236/.337/.303 with one home run and 16 RBI. On the pitching side the last seven days, they have a 4.66 ERA have allowed 44 hits in 46.1 innings, while allowing 25 runs and striking out 36.
Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher are battling through injuries. A-Rod still needs to sit out about once a week. The only consistent pitcher the Yankees have in their rotation is CC Sabathia. If Andy Pettitte returns at the end of the week he is probably only good for about 80 pitches.
The Yankees are staring at a very possible scenario where they back into the playoffs in the wild card spot. The seven games they have left with the Rays are going to be playoff games because knowing the Yankees, they'd rather have the division crown than the wild card. But if they cannpt capitalize on these games against the Rays, you have to wonder, just how far can this team go into the postseason?
So I heard on ESPN Radio today refer to last night's game as "the best win of the season for the Yankees." And you know what? I think I agree. Let's look at the drama the game had:
Down 6-1 in the fifth and Cliff Lee is appraoching double-digits in strikeouts you're starting to think, guess not today. Then, Derek Jeter hits a triple and narrows the gap to 6-2 by scoring on a wild pitch. Suddenly Lance Berkman hits a ground-rule double, and the Yankees have runners on second and third and it's a 6-3 game and Cliff Lee seems human.
But the two heroes of the game last night were Marcus Thames and Mariano Rivera. Thames helped inch the Yankees closer, hitting a solo home run in the eighth, making it a 6-5 game. Then in the top of the ninth with the game tied, Thames, who was batting in the third spot with Teixeira out of the lineup, singled in the go-ahead run, capping a five-run comeback and giving the Yankees a 7-6 lead.
But the drama didn't end there. One night after Mariano Rivera suffered his first loss since May 18, Elvis Andrus led off the ninth with a triple. Rivera had to face Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, and Vladimir Guerrero with they tying run on third, on the road, and nobody out. And he got them all out with ease.
If that's not enough drama for you for that to be the best win of the season, I don't know what is. The Yankees needed to win that game. They had already lost a series to potential ALCS foe Tampa Bay Rays, and were staring at a two-game sweep by another potential ALCS opponent in the Texas Rangers. But the Yankees showed why they are the defending champs and scored in the last four innings for what was, the best win of the season.
Nick Swisher hits the walk-off single to win the game 5-4 in the ninth. What an emotional, dramatic, and key win for the Yankees tonight. They distance themselves to 3 games ahead of the Rays in the AL East and Mr. Steinbrenner and Bob Sheppard are looking down at Yankee Stadium with a smile on their faces.
I'm going to have to admit, I'm still disappointed Derek Jeter didn't come through for the storybook ending in the ninth. He probably had the closest relationship with both the Boss and Sheppard out of all the Yankees. Nonetheless, all the Boss would have wanted is a win, no matter how it got done or who got it done.
Mariano Rivera had an impressive ninth inning where he picked off B.J. Upton and struck out Evan Longoria. David Robertson also had an impressive outing, striking out the side in the eighth inning.
Down 3-1, Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada hit back-to-back homers to tie the game. The Rays were able to take the lead thanks to some misplays by Nick Swisher, but he made up for it tying the game with a monster shot to right field. He later got the big hit winning the game in the ninth.
This game kind of reminded me of the game after Thurman Munson died. Very emotional. Back and forth contest. 5-4 final score, both games won in the ninth. I thought the ceremony was well done, the Bleacher Creature silent roll call, and the PA address system shutdown for the game were go ideas remembering Bob Sheppard and the Boss.
No question it will be an Instant Yankee Classic...probably Monday.
On the Fourth of July 2009, the Yankees defeated the Blue Jays on a walk off single by Jorge Posada. On the Fourth of July 2010, the Yankees defeated the Blue Jays on a walk off single, this time it was Marcus Thames, who came through with the pinch-hit bloop single in the bottom of the eleventh.
It wasn't the prettiest game either. The Yankees had three baserunners thrown out at home plate, including Nick Swisher twice, they blew a 3-1 and 6-5 lead, and even the Blue Jays had trouble, as DeWayne Wise lost a ball in the sun that resulted in an "inside the park home run" for Brett Gardner. It should have been ruled an error, but, whatever.
The most shocking thing was Mariano Rivera blowing his first save in his last 2o chances as he allowed three singles in the top of the ninth for the Blue Jays to tie the game 6-6. You rarely see that from Rivera and everytime he blows a save the talks of is he done usually rise. But after just being named to the All Star team and the fact the Yankees won, there probably won't be much talk of a declining Rivera, because he really isn't declining at all.
It was a hot day and probably frustrating for the fans who stuck out all 11 innings, but in the end the Yankees won and they got to witness the second pie in the face of the season, once again going to Marcus Thames.
I don't know if there are any must win games in June, but with a three-game losing streak and a non-existent offense of late, the Yankees really needed to win this one, and they did.
Phil Hughes got off to a shaky start, giving up a leadoff home run to Jose Reyes and later in the third he walked the number nine hitter and gave up another home run to Reyes, but after that settled down. Hughes was able to go seven strong innings, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out four to earn his tenth win of the season, which ties David Price for the AL-lead in wins. Anytime the Yankees have taken a lead this season with Hughes on the mound, he has held it.
The Yankees offense finally came alive today. Down 1-0 early, they were able to manufacture a run to tie it up. Then they were down 3-1 in the third, and Mark Teixeira hit a home run which may have been the turning point of the game to tie it up at 3. Mike Pelfrey, who had given up four home runs all year and had not relinquished a lead in any of his starts, was tagged for his second home run of the game in the fourth when Curtis Granderson hit the go-ahead two run home run to give the Yankees a 5-3 lead.
Finally to the bullpen. Joba Chamberlain came in during the eighth, and although I'd have liked to see Hughes go out for one more, Chamberlain got the job done and retired the final batter on a strikeout. And Mo was Mo and had an easy 1-2-3 ninth to seal the win.
So all-around a great day and a good win for the Yankees today. They beat a good pitcher and they're going to have to do it again tomorrow when Johan Santana takes the mound against them. Jim and I will be in attendence at the game and will make a post on our experience.
See Ya!
(We've probably used that title before, but it just works).
Let's hope A.J. can go eight and hand it off to Mo, because I don't trust anyone in the bullpen anymore.
Yankees Derek Jeter SS Curtis Granderson CF Mark Teixeira 1B Alex Rodriguez 3B Robinson Cano 2B Nick Swisher RF Juan Miranda DH Brett Gardner LF Chad Moeller C
Player of the Game: None other than Andrew Eugene Pettitte. Pettitte went deep into the game, going eight innings, allowing two runs, and striking out four. Would have liked to see him get the complete game, but Joe decided to go to Mo with a one-run lead.
Play of the Game: Nick Swisher's ninth inning, go-ahead BOMB. That ball was crushed and it couldn't have come at a better time.
Turning Point of the Game: Andy Pettitte getting Joe Mauer to ground into a double play in the bottom of the eighth. With the go-ahead run on third, Pettitte got out of a major jam by getting the reigning AL MVP to ground to short. Pettitte was pumped up and the Yankees took the lead soon after.
Notes:
Kevin Russo continues to make the most out of his time up in the majors, with an RBI double in the fourth. Have to wonder if they keep him around when Granderson returns.
Rivera looked shaky in the earlier game, but he got an easy 1-2-3 in the nightcap. But now is he unavailable for tomorrow? Have to watch the postgame on YES for that answer.
Even though the Red Sox have been playing well lately, it has actually helped the Yankees by beating the Rays, and now they are just only 4.5 games back of them.
An unusual day today in Yankeeland. Last night's game was suspended due to rain after five innings and was continued earlier today before this evenings game. In the suspended game, Derek Jeter hit a solo home run to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. That's the only run scored all game and secured the Yankees victory. Only other thing worth noting is that Mariano Rivera was wild today. I think I counted eight of his 14 pitches were balls. Not a very Mo-like ratio. Anyway here's the lineups for the evening game.
Yankees Jeter SS Swisher RF Teixeira 1B Rodriguez 3B Cano 2B Thames DH Cervelli C Russo LF Gardner CF
LHP Andy Pettitte
Twins Span CF Hudson 2B Mauer DH Morneau 1B Cuddyer RF Young LF Hardy SS Harris 3B Butera C
LHP Francisco Liriano
Lefites Dueling: Andy Pettitte and Francisco Liriano are both having solid seasons and the lefties squeare off against each other today. They faced each other the last time the two teams met and Pettitte won that battle. Gardner Sliding: Joe Girardi inserted Nick Swisher in the two-hole and moved Gardner back down into the ninth spot. It seemed as if Gardner's production had declined since moving into the two-hole. Roster Moves: The Yankee signed Chad Gaudin and added him to the 25-man roster. To accomodate this move Boone Logan was optioned to AAA Scranton and Shane Lindsey was DFA'd.
Player of the Game: Once again, it's Phil Hughes. He went 6.2 IP, allowing no runs on 4 hits and one walk. Hughes is turning into the ace the Yankees project him to be.
Play of the Game: Completely forgot about this before, but I'm adding it now: Joba Chamberlain's under flip and flop. Very impressive play by the big man.
Turning Point of the Game: Brett Gardner's stolen base in the first inning. It put him in scoring position to score on A-Rod's single and give Hughes all the run support he would need.
Game notes:
Yanks were able to pick up the split of the doubleheader, and at least give them a chance to split the series with a win tomorrow.
Hughes has been absolutely amazing so far this season. He hasn't given up more than 2 runs in a start all year. If he keeps pitching like this, the rest of the league better watch out.
Francisco Cervelli continues to step up when called upon. A 2-4 game tonight bumps his average up to .408. It's gonna be tough for Joe Girardi to not give him more playing time, especially with Johnson on the DL, which would open the DH spot for Posada.
Mariano Rivera pitched for the first time since April 30, despite the fact that it was not a save situation.
I started working on this post when the game was 3-0, and this game got out of hand very quickly.
Yankees Derek Jeter SS Nick Johnson DH Mark Teixeira 1B Alex Rodriguez 3B Robinson Cano 2B Nick Swisher RF Brett Gardner CF Francisco Cervelli C Randy Winn LF RHP Phil Hughes
Red Sox Marco Scutaro SS Dustin Pedroia 2B J.D. Drew RF Kevin Youkilis 1B David Ortiz DH Adrian Beltre 3B Jeremy Hermida LF Jason Varitek C Darnell McDonald CF RHP Josh Beckett
Back in Beantown: The Yankees took 2 of 3 from the Sox to open up the season and since the the teams have gone separate ways. The Red Sox have spent their time trying to keep their heads above .500 and hoping Big Pop Up heats up. Meanwhile the Yankees ahve won every series except a road trip to Anaheim and sit 1.5 games back of the first place Rays. Phil Phenom: Phil Hughes enters the game second in the AL in ERA with a 1.44 ERA. He is coming off another strong start where he did not allow a run against the White Sox. Minor League Call-Ups: CF Greg Golson was sent down to Scranton Wilkes Barre and pitcher Romulo Sanchez was called up to take Sergio Mitre's role in the bullpen. Mitre will be making a spot start for Andy Pettitte later in the week. Who's Available?: Jorge Posada is still not in the lineup but he can be ready to pinch-hit. Mariano Rivera is available and expected to close tonight, if the situation calls for it.
The May 3rd issue of Sports Illustrated featured the Core Four on the cover. Let's break down what's happened since.
-Mariano Rivera hasn't pitched since April 30 because of stiffness in his side. -Jorge Posada is out until (probably) Friday with a cramp in his right calf. -Andy Pettitte left his start today after 5 innings and 77 pitches with mild inflammation in his left elbow.
The Yankees won today thanks to the bat of Nick Johnson, and if it weren't for him, they would have lost the game thanks to the incapable arms in the bullpen. Both Joba and Mo were unavailable to pitch today and Girardi had to use four guys to get the last five outs. It's days like todya when you appreciate how good and great Mo has been for over a long period of time. Now, I didn't catch the end of the game because of finals, and I'm glad I didn't, but it sounded ugly.
Over to Andy Pettitte. Pettitte left the game after five innings and went to NY Presbyterian Hospital to get an MRI on his left elbow, which he has had problems with before. The results came back and revealed he has a mild inflammation of the left elbow and will be treated day-to-day. The Yankees are really starting to show their age with Pettitte, Posada, and Rivera all nicked up, rumors of A-Rod with an achy Knee, and Granderson (albeit he is young, 29) on the DL.
The Yankees were blessed with limited injuries last season, and I think that played a huge factor into winning the World Series. It's only May, so the Yankees must be careful with how they handle these injuries, because if they are not, it may come back to haunt them in the long run.
Also, if Pettitte does have to miss some time, it would be the perfect time for Mr. Javier Vazquez to step up his game and redeem his reputation.
So although today was a victory in the standings, the shaky bullpen (outside Mo and Joba) and injuries are the main headlines that will be all over New York as they enter a 3-game set against the Red Sox on Friday.
Player of the Game: Nick Swisher. Swisher has been red-hot of late and continued it that way going 3-for-3 with a double, RBI, and run scored.
Play/Turning Point of the Game: Randy Winn's 3-run home run to break a 1-1 tie and give the Yankees a 4-1 lead and victory. It was Winn's first home run since April 25, 2009.
Notes:
I missed everything after the 2nd inning of this game because I had a final exam. I'm pretty confident I did well on it, and when I got out of there around 9:55 I was surprised to see the game was already over.
CC Sabathia appeared to pitch another effective game. He went 8 strong innings allowing 1 run, he's looked sharp all season so far, and has continued to be the workhorse who can go deep into games.
Jorge Posada left the game early with tightness in his calf. Again, I missed the game and didn't see why or what happened because of this, but it's pretty clear he's a bit banged up.
Anybody know why Mariano Rivera didn't pitch? I read some tweets that he felt tightness or soreness in his side after Friday's game. Let's hope it's nothing.
Player of the Game: AJ Burnett. In his second outing of the season, A.J goes 7 innings and holds the Rays to 2 runs. On back-to-back (belly-to-belly) days, the top two pitchers in the rotation shut down the Rays and win their second consecutive series to start the season. Play of the Game: The Curtis Granderson double play. The sliding catch and then throwing behind Pat Burell to get the out was very impressive. Turning Point of the Game: Jorge Posada's go-ahead home run in the 6th inning off of former Yankee great Randy Choate. The catcher's homer got the Yanks offense going and Granderson, A-Rod, and Swisher helped tack on insurance runs.
While you never want to lose a game, it does happen, so teams focus on winning series. The Yankees have done that so far this season, taking both series on the road against AL East rivals. And the fact that they did it after losing the first game of both series is even more impressive.
With weird off-days and a 10-0 win yesterday, Mariano Rivera came in today despite the fact that it wasn't a save situation. Mo just needed to get some work in, and there's an off-day tomorrow, so it was the perfect situation to let him just throw.
Joba came out of the 'pen as well today for the 8th inning and surrendered a RBI triple to Carl Crawford. Maybe it was because it's been 5 days since the electric performance in Boston or maybe it was because it wasn't as "exciting" a situation. If it was the latter, the Yanks might want to watch that because they don't need Joba making a guaranteed victory a close game with a poor outing.
Curtis Granderson has made a good first impression with Yankee fans, so he should get a warm welcome at the Stadium on Tuesday.
Off-day tomorrow, but be sure to check in because we always have something to say.
Okay, I don't want to make a third post about this, but when Mariano Rivera is firing back at an umpire, it can't be ignored. Today in the NY Post, Rivera responded to Joe Wests' comments about the pace of the Yankees-Red Sox game. Here is what Rivera said:
"It's incredible," Rivera told The Post. "If he has places to go, let him do something else. What does he want us to do, swing at balls? He has a job to do. He should do his job," Rivera said. "We don't want to play four-hour games, but that's what it takes. We respect and love the fans and do what we have to do, and that's play our game."
Good for Mo. He is one of the most respected pitchers in the game, and to basically tell the umpire to shut and do his job while we do ours shut put this to an end. However, it should be interesting to see West's strike zone next time he's behind the plate when Mo pitches. As if his strike zone can't get any smaller.
On an unrelated note...bear with us as we are doing our best to make changes to the layout of our blog. As you may have noticed we have gone through a number of different styles over the last few days and are trying to find something that can fit well for the rest of the season.
Every year since about the sixth grade I have wrote down the list of players on the Yankees and predict their stats for the upcoming season. We'll break it down over the next couple of days before we give you our regular season and postseason predictions as well as our predictions for awards. These are just predictions and don't usually mean anything (last year I wrote that Chien Ming Wang would win 18 games) but it's fun and everyone else is doing it. Today we'll start with pitching.
Starters CC Sabathia-- 18-6, 3.23 ERA, 209 K's A.J. Burnett-- 15-9, 3.75 ERA, 198 K's Andy Pettitte--13-10, 4.03 ERA, 163 K's Javier Vazquez-- 13-8, 3.90 ERA, 185 K's Phil Hughes-- 10-9, 4.23 ERA, 160 K's
According to Joel Sherman, this was Hughes's job to lose since February and he didn't lose it. This ends the spring of speculation about who will take the mound on April 17, the first time the Yankees need a fifth starter.
The next thing that gets talked about any time you mention Hughes or Joba Chamberlain (more on him later) is the innings limit.
Since Hughes has thrown more innings over the course of his career, he will have a higher innings limit than Joba did last year. Initial estimates put that limit at around 170 innings. Girardi said that they have not come up with the plan on how to work around that, but expressed that he would like to do it at the beginning of the season and not the end.
Hopefully Hughes can stay healthy and put up the kind of season we've all expected since that would-be no-hitter in Texas a few years ago. He's going to have a little less pressure on him as the number 5 starter in what is one of the best (and, in my humble opinion the absolute best) rotations in baseball.
Giving Hughes the chance to start this season is not only because the team thinks he gives them the best chance to win this season, but because he could very well slide into the number 3 spot in the rotation next year. Javier Vazquez and Andy Pettitte are free agents after the season so it is unclear whether they will be back. If they do not come back, Hughes will be ready, and without an innings limit.
Now, what does this mean for Joba Chamberlain? When asked if this meant Joba would go to the 8th inning, Girardi said "If he earns it." Ok Joe, say Joba earns it. Then he goes to the bullpen and pitches 80 innings, at the most. Then when Andy and Javy leave, you need two more starters but one of them can only pitch 130. So there's only a couple of options here with Joba.
The Yanks do what a lot of people (including the extremely loud guy on WFAN in the afternoons) want and say the Joba will be in the bullpen and is the successor to Mariano Rivera at closer. I've never been a B-Jobber, but it is an option.
They put him in the bullpen this year, and then stretch him out and go through the Joba Rules all over again next year. I really hope this isn't an option, because I don't know if I can go another 3 years listening about the Joba Rules.
This is the most jarring, but I think it's the best option: Girardi, Cashman, and the rest of the Yankee brain trust goes to Joba and says, "Look Joba, we want you to be a starter, but there isn't the room in the rotation this year. We're going to send you down to AAA so you can throw a lot of innings and work on a few things so you can be ready for next year. And after the minor league season is over, you can come back up here and help us win a World Series out of the bullpen." This has to be the best option. This is the first year Joba has no innings limit, and you're going to waste that in the bullpen? Do I think the Yankees have the cojones to do it? I don't know, only time will tell.
Well, I'm in the same boat as John with a bunch of school work to do in the next week in a half before my spring break. I like to listen to music while I work and it got me thinking about the music they play at Yankee Stadium during Yankee home games. Here's some of the ones that came to mind quickly.
Black Betty- Ram Jam
This one's sure to get the head bopping and the feet tapping, plus you've got to love the hair/beard combo going on there.
Get Ready for this- 2 Unlimited
Much like the next one, I associate this more with basketball, most likely because it appeared in Space Jam. (Awesome movie, and I'm not just saying that because I'm part of a Sport Management Department named after Jordan's agent and executive producer of the film, David Falk. Ask any one who grew up in the 90's, and they'll tell you they love the soundtrack.)
Sirius-Alan Parsons Project
Considering I live just outside of Chicago from 1997-2000, this song will always be the Chicago Bull's intro. ("Annnnnnd now, the starting lineup for yoooour Chicago Bulls... from North Carolina, Six foot Six, Number Twe-nty Three, Mich-ael Jordaaaan.)
For those About to Rock- AC/DC
The guitar part at the beginning and the drums throughout the song make this the perfect stadium song. The lyrics ("For those about to rock") also lend themselves to being used prior to the game.
Cotton-Eyed Joe-Rednex (that pretty tells you all you need to know about the song)
YMCA
I lump these two together because they fall under the "give fans an opportunity to look stupid on the jumbo-tron" category. Some people love them, some people hate them, some people don't really care, but they are played.
The "Yankees Score a Run" Chimes
A lot of fans will recognize the sound, but few know its actually the intro to the song Workaholic by 2Unlimited. (If you don't want to pursue that link, trust me, you are not missing anything.)
We heard this song about a million times during the playoffs last year, and I guess it's possible Derek Jeter can still use it as his intro music this season, so we could hear it some more. Nice beat, solid vocals, and lyrics relevant to the Yankees means this song will be around for a while.
Enter Sandman- Metallica
This one goes without saying, as it's Mariano Rivera's intro music. Hearing the entire Stadium sing along as Mo ran in from the 'pen against Boston to finish off a sweep last season sent chills down my spine. Personally, I think this song is retired from the Stadium whenever Mo hangs 'em up, because there is just such a close connection between the two, you can't have one without the other.
Welcome to the Jungle- Guns 'N' Roses
This is my favorite stadium/arena song of all time, and maybe even my favorite song period. The guitar intro is awesome and the beat gives the fans something to clap along to. I can't remember the first time I heard this song, but I remember it was playing when I was on the line for my last high school track race, and it just got me so in the zone and I ran my best time ever. Then, it furthered cemented itself into my life this year, as it's played before every Syracuse Orange basketball game at the Carrier Dome. And last Saturday, when we had 34,616 people (the largest on-campus crowd ever for an NCAA basketball game) for a win over Villanova it was just breathtaking.
I'm sure I missed a few, especially since I didn't even go into other player's intro music. Let us know your favorite Stadium music, either with a comment or an email.
Oh, and if you don't get the movie reference in the title, I feel bad for you, but I'm sure I'd feel much worse if I weren't under such heavy sedation.
The owners, operators, and writers of the Michael Kay's Successors blog are in no way sponsored, endorsed or affiliated with the New York Yankees or the aforementioned Michael Kay. Because if they were, we'd be on World Series championship #39 by now.
Also, anything written about broadcaster/on-air personalities is all in good fun and meant to be taken as a joke.
matter) is worth at this point. The Yankees have drawn the line in the sand with $45 million for 3 years. I don't understand why they don't sign a reasonable player contract and then do one of those personal services contracts for when he retires. I think, no matter what, Jeter's probably going to be laughing all the way to the bank.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=3ab24806-4e9f-4f7a-aa05-055378c32e61)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=ddecf0f3-bcba-470b-a821-fdd83a07e858)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=83a102f7-1865-4e5f-bdb6-9e4657120622)
Reblog this post [with 
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=34a822e2-7de5-4fbc-9559-d4229d2f37ed)