Being in Syracuse, I get more news from the Central New York Area than anywhere else, and one of my roommates brought this story to my attention.
Nathan Jones, a fourth grade student (keep that in mind A FOURTH GRADER!) at Van Buren Elementary School was forced to turn his Yankee T-Shirt inside out for the entire day because his teacher is a Red Sox fan, besides being a (insert descriptive adjective here) jerk.
Nathan was then teased by 5th graders and other students for the rest of the day because his CC Sabathia shirt was inside out. After the parents filed a complaint to the school principle, the issue was apparently resolved. The article did not disclose the punishment for the teacher, Peter Addabbo, who has Red Sox paraphernalia in his classroom, according to the article.
While doing some research on the Internet (isn't Google great?) I found Addabbo's school-hosted website, where he can put assignments and tell the parents what the students are doing in class. NOWHERE does he mention, between Math, Social Studies, Lunch, and Recess, humiliating, bullying and harassing his students.
I'm not vindictive or stupid (what if there's someone else with the same name) enough to link to it, but Google-ing his name may or may not bring up a possible Facebook page.
This instantly reminded me of a similar (but even more ridiculous) story from 2006. (Yeah, I wish I could remember important things from 3 years ago, but no, I remember things like this). This one involves a Steelers fan teacher and a Broncos fan student.
But I think this story is a rallying point for the weekend. Let's say the Yankees sweep the Red Sox, clinch the AL East, and reach 100 wins, all while putting a dent in Boston's wild-card lead. Little Nathan would be able to walk into his class Monday (or Tuesday depending on the holiday schedule) wearing an authentic Yankee Jersey (which the Yankees should send him if they hear about the story) and basically flip his teacher off.
I'm going to put off doing my home work for a little while so I can get a blog post in for what is a huge win for the Yankees.
First of all, the win gives the Yanks the series win in Anaheim, the first time they've done that since in forever.
Second, it gives the Yankees a 6.5 game lead over the Angels for home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Third, the Yankees lowered their Magic Number to 5 to clinch the division. Now, if the Royals can finish off the sweep (yes, you read correctly the SWEEP) of the Red Sox, it will be 4.
Fifth, AJ Burnett finally remembered how to not give up a boatload of runs. He went 5.2 innings, which could be better, but he struck out 11 and walked 3 so that drove his pitch count up. The most important thing is he only allowed 2 runs after the Bombers had already spotted him 3. Now if Joba can get back on track we might be a little more confident about the starting rotation headed into the playoffs.
Sixth, Robinson Cano finally got a hit with runners in scoring position! (It's the end of the world as we know it, but I feel fine). His two-out, 2-run single in the fourth inning was the difference in the game.
Seventh, Ian Kennedey returned to the mound after having surgery to remove an aneurysm earlier this season. He pitched a scoreless inning where he walked two (which can be expected in an appearance like that, especially in your home town) and struck out one.
Other notes (Not big enough or related enough to the game to get a number):
Jorge Posada's x-ray on his right foot came back negative. He fouled a ball of his foot last night and did not play in today's game. Girardi said Posada may not play Friday against the Red Sox.
Boston is up 6-2 over the Royals in the sixth inning, so the magic number may stay at 5 heading into a 3-game Battle in the Bronx. I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but how sweet would it be if the Yanks swept the series to clinch the division and reach 100 wins against the Sox? I can't say I expect that to happen, but it would be amazing.
Happy Birthday to the "other" Boss, Bruce Springsteen, who's song Lucky Town came off the 1992 album of the same name.
We'll try to get something out to you tomorrow, so until then...
SEE YA!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I take that SEE YA! back, I just noticed we are at 98 fans on our Facebook page. Come on people, just two of you need to become a fan for us to reach 100. (Well technically 4 of you do, because John and I are already fans, but that's just semantics)
What would do if I said the 99th and 100th fans get fabulous prizes?
If you answered "Call Jim a big, fat liar," you're correct. While we don't have prizes, imagine the pride you'll feel knowing you became our 100th fan. Or you could just do it to make John and I feel good, that works for us.
We're also on Twitter (because at this point who isn't?). @KaysSuccessors is where you can find us.
YANKEES (96-56) Jeter SS Hairston 3B Teixeira 1B Matsui DH Duncan RF Cano 2B Cabrera LF Gardner CF Molina C
Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (11-9, 4.22).
ANGELS (90-61) Figgins 3B Aybar SS Abreu RF Hunter CF Morales 1B Rivera LF Kendrick 2B Matthews RF Napoli C
Pitching: LHP Scott Kazmir (9-8, 5.08).
TIME/TV: 3:35, YES.
Sorry for the late post, sometimes that "going to class" thing gets in the way of the important things.
So the Yankees FINALLY won a game in LA with a sac fly by A-Rod in the 9th inning. And right now it is 0-0 in the 4th inning in a match up of Scott Kazmir and AJ Burnett. The Yankees also clinched a playoff spot.
UPDATE 4:50: This isn't like a Yankees Classic right because I didn't think Cano got hits with runners in scoring position anymore.
The Yankees are officially back in the playoffs! Yes, I know this is very late and that there is currently a game going on in the fourth inning right now. But we've been very busy and these West Coast games during school just make things more difficult. The Yankees magic number is 6 as they are tied 0-0 in the top of the 4th against the Angels at the time of this post.
YANKEES (95-56) Jeter SS Damon LF Teixeira 1B Rodriguez 3B Matsui DH Posada C Cano 2B Swisher RF Gardner CF
Pitching: RHP Chad Gaudin (1-0 3.68).
ANGELS (90-60) Figgins 3B Izturis 2B Abreu RF Guerrero DH Hunter CF Morales 1B Rivera LF Aybar SS Mathis C
Pitching: vs. RHP Ervin Santana (7-8, 5.43).
TIME/TV: 10:05, MY9/MLB Network.
Do you believe in magic, in Greinke's heart?: Zach Greinke is currently shutting down the Red Sox as the Royals are ahead 5-0 in the 5th inning. If the Red Sox lose, the Yankees magic number will drop to 7.
Maybe it's the time difference: The Yankees are 0-4 in Angel Stadium of this season. This is the main reason why the Yankees need to secure home-field advantage.
UPDATE 10:12: So Syracuse doesn't have MY9, it has MY43. While I have an MLB.TV subscription, it says I can't watch because I'm in the Yankees home television market, despite the fact that the game isn't on TV here. So right now I'm listening to a stream of John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman from the Lowe's Broadcast booth. ( I just increased the value of Lowe's sponsorship by 0.000001% by mentioning it on the blog.)
The Yankees can clinch a playoff spot with a win or a Texas loss. Texas is tied 0-0 with Oakland in the 1st inning.
UPDATE 10:30: I am now updated on the personal lives of a couple of members of the Yankees family, thanks to Jon and Suzyn. Hunter Gardner, the son of Brett, enjoys the swimming pool and Ken Singelton is now a grandfather.
And I give Michael Kay crap for going off topic this early in the game? My apologies, Michael.
UPDATE 10:50: IT IS HIGH, IT IS FAR...... IT IS GONE. It's an Arodian home run.
Ok, that makes Jetarian sound good.
UPDATE 11:14: So apparently there is some gimmick where the Yankees and Red Sox radio announcers switch for an inning in one of the upcoming games.
I can only imagine the possibilities for this with TV.
And leave it to Jeter to steal second after picking up his 200th hit of the season.
UPDATE 11:50: Here we go again. Can Mo go 4 tonight?
UPDATE 11:57: So Sterling takes the place of Kay with the broadcaster jinx. They were just talking about how Gaudin deserved to be the 4th starter in the playoffs before this inning unfolded.
And he's also picking up in the "beating the dead horse" department, as he keeps mentioning how Swisher went to the wrong side of the foul pole on Figgins's home run.
I might just see the Yankees through this inning and then head off to bed, cause sleep is at a premium these days.
UPDATE 12:19: Having not been able to watch this inning, I haven't had a complete nervous breakdown yet. But I'm getting close.
I have to be in class in 10 minutes so I'll keep this short and sweet. The Yankees lost 5-2 to the Angels yesterday, in Anaheim, making them 0-4 their this season. They are 5-18 in the last five seasons. They lead the Angels for home-field by 4.5 games and the Red Sox by 5 games in the division. Boston gets to face CY Young candidate Zack Greinke tonight, while the Yankees send out Chad Gaudin against Ervin Santana to try and win a game against the Angels. A win or rangers loss wraps up a playoff spot for the Yankees, but if have to face the Angels in the ALCS, home-field advantage will play a huge role in the series, hence why these next two games are important.
As for the good news, Andy Pettitte did look good going 6 innings surrendering 3 runs. Too bad the Yankees offense couldn't muster anything up.
YANKEES (95-54) Jeter SS Damon LF Teixeira 1B Rodriguez 3B Matsui DH Posada C Cano 2B Cabrera RF Gardner CF
Pitching: RHP Joba Chamberlain (8-5, 4.39).
MARINERS (77-72) Suzuki RF Gutierrez CF Lopez 2B Griffey Jr. DH Beltre 3B Hall LF Carp 1B Moore C Wilson SS
Pitching: RHP Ian Snell (4-2, 4.86).
TIME/TV: 4:10, YES.
Our apologies for not getting a post up last night. We had a "failure to communicate" and dropped the ball on that one.
Key thing: Magic number is 9 and Boston is up 8-2 over Baltimore, so the Yanks need to win if they are going to lower that number.
And last night Doug Marrone and the Syracuse Orange picked up their first season with a 37-34 win over Northwestern at the Carrier Dome.
Now, I've got a lot of work to do before the Giants-Cowboys game tonight, so enjoy the game. I'll be keeping one eye on the score and will post if something big happens.
UPDATE 5:04: Well Joba is apparently doing his best impersonation of a batting practice pitcher. It's a safe bet that this is the last update of the night.
Let's just hope the Giants can beat the crap out of Tony Romo and make me feel a little better.
YANKEES (94-53 First Place AL East) Jeter SS Damon LF Teixeira 1B Rodriguez 3B Matsui DH Swisher RF Cano 2B Cabrera CF Molina C Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (11-9, 4.33).
MARINERS (76-71 Third Place AL West) Ichiro RF Gutierrez CF Lopez 2B Griffey Jr. DH Beltre 3B Hall LF Hannahan 1B Johnson C Wilson SS Pitching: RHP Felix Hernandez (15-5, 2.52). TIME/TV: 10:10, YES.
Will The Real A.J. Please Stand Up? In his 11 wins, Burnett has a 1.71 ERA. In his 9 losses, Burnett has a 7.09 ERA. Which one shows up tonight? More importantly, which one shows up in the postseason? Mo'in Em Down: Mariano Rivera has given up 1 earned run, 15 hits and 32 strikeouts in his last 33 innings. The Yankees have won all those games. West Coast Warriors: They Yankees are 20-12 against teams from the AL West.
Earlier this week, ESPN started a debate about whether Boston in the 2000's or Los Angeles in the 1980's had a better sports decade. While I know why ESPN picked these two cities (they are the locations of their two main studios), I am here to make the case for New York in the 1990's.
I am going to follow the same format as David Schoenfield did in his article.
Winning is everything:
I decided to include the New Jersey Nets and New Jersey Devils into this data. Before anyone jumps down my throat, hear this: East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the Devils and Nets played at the time(the Devils have since moved) is 7 miles from Midtown Manhattan. Foxboro, Massachusetts, where the NE Patriots play, is 22 miles away. And if you want to be a stickler about the name, the New York Giants and New York Jets both play in New Jersey, and the Patriots aren't called the Boston Patriots, they are the New England Patriots.
Table
Team
Titles
Winning Percentage
Playoffs
.500+
New York Knicks
0
0.617
10
9
New York Yankees
3
0.548
5₁,₂
7
New York Giants
1
0.522
3
4
New Jersey Devils
2
0.510
9
10
New York Mets
0
0.494
1₂
4
New York Rangers
1
0.485
6
5
New Jersey Nets
0
0.418
4
3
New York Jets
0
0.406
2
2
New York Islanders
0
0.355
2
1
7
0.483888889
36
43.48389
1- Yankees were 1st place in the AL East at the end of the strike-shortened 1994 season
2- Teams were 3rd best in league in a seaon before Wild Card (4 of Red Sox 5 playoff appearances were Wild Card births)
New York finished with more championships (7 to 6) , and Boston finished with a much better winning percentage (.588 to .480). If you take the best team from each sport for New York, as Boston only has four teams, the championships become tied (6 to 6) and New York closes the gap dramatically in winning percentage (now .588 to .549)
For percentage of playoff seasons, New York comes in at 40% as a whole and 55% with the 4 best teams. .500 or better season break down as 50% for the whole and 75% for the best teams.
Signature Moment
In New Yorksports, there is never a shortage of signature moments.From the Giants winning the Super Bowl in the biggest sporting event since the start of the Gulf War, to Chad Curtis catching the final out of the 99 World Series and everything in between. There are just so many to choose from. You have Dwight Gooden, who overcame drug and alcohol problems to pitch a no-hitter at Yankee Stadium. Then there's the image of Wade Boggs riding the police horse around Yankee Stadium after the 1996 World Series. It's probably got to be the breaking of the only Curse New York has ever had, when the Rangers won the Stanly Cup in 1994 after failing to win one since 1940.
Hall of Fame Careers
These are just the ones we could come up with, and we don't have a research department.
Hockey:
Wayne Gretzky
Mark Messier
Brian Leetch
Baseball:
Derek Jeter
Mariano Rivera
Mike Piazza
Rickey Henderson
Jorge Posada (borderline, probably not, but borderline)
John Franco (borderline, he won't make it until Lee Smith makes it.)
Football:
Michael Strahan
Curtis Martin
Vinny Testeverde (borderline, but he's the 6th on the All-time passing yards list behind Farve, Marino, Elway, Moon, and Tarkenton)
Lawrence Taylor
Basketball:
Patrick Ewing Alan Houston (he seems borderline, but the NBA isn't really our thing, so we're undecided)
Mark Jackson (first time on ballot will be next year)
Greatest Individual Achievement
There are two different types of individual achievements: the ones that can happen on any given day, and the ones that take a career to achieve. In the 90's, New York had both.
The Holy Grail of pitching in baseball is the perfect game. Every pitcher dreams of one day throwing one. While the Mets have not had one since their inception (not even a no-hitter for that matter), the Yankees had 2 in the 90's. In 1998 David Wells blanked the Minnesota Twins and a year later David Cone threw his against the Montreal Expos.
"The Great One", Wayne Gretzky ended his career with the New York Rangers. In his final season, Gretzky set the goal scoring record by passing Gorie Howe. This man was such a great player, they altered the words of the national anthems for him at his final game.
Coaching Titan
There are two men that defined how to coach in their sport in the 90's. The first was Bill Parcells, first with the Giants, then with the Jets. Parcells's "coaching tree" would fill numerous head coaching vacancies around the league. One member of that tree is the hooded, classless, Bill Bellicheat from NE and the current Giants head coach Tom Coughlin.
Then there was Joe Torre. Torre could somehow have George Steinbrennar as his boss, manage the biggest team in professional sports in the largest media market in the world and still maintain an emotionless expression at all times. He overcame the "Clueless Joe" headline, to take the Yankees to 3 World Series before the end of the decade, including the 125-win season in 1998, which is the best baseball team to ever step on the diamond.
Memorable Brawl
This one will go to New York, without even an argument. The brawl between the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks is one of the most memorable of all time. The picture of Jeff Van Gundy clinging to Alonzo Mourning's legs will live on long after he will.
Dramatic Playoff Comeback
The 1996 Yankees were just supposed to be happy to be there. They were playing the Atlanta Braves, with the big three of John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, and Tom Glavine. After getting embarrassed in Game 1 at Yankee Stadium, the Yanks went on to lose the second game at home as well. Down 2-0 and heading to Atlanta, "Joe Cool," as Torre was called, supposedly said to Steinbrennar, "We'll win three in Atlanta and come back home and clinch it in 6." Steinbrennar didn't believe him, but that's what they did. The entire series turned on Jim Leyritz's shocking 3-run home run off of Mark Wohlers. Some could say the dynasty was born on that swing. Even Joe Buck raised his voice a little for the home run call.
So that's the New York side of the debate. I feel it's a pretty good argument. What about you guys? Leave a comment, send an email (MichaelKaysSuccessors@yahoo.com) , tweet at us, write on our Facebook page, whatever, just let us know. We want to hear from you.
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.
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