I think Michael Cuddyer’s memory is even better:

“In my first game at Yankee Stadium, I played right field. When I took my position for the first time, the right-field Bleacher Creatures were all waving at me. I fell into the trap. I waved back at them, thinking, “This isn’t so bad.” As I did so, about 20,000 middle fingers shot back at me. Only in Yankee Stadium.”

i bet that never happened.  makes a great story, but i bet he got about 3 people giving him the finger.

The cool thing about DeRosa’s story is that it actually did happen, in his first game there:

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2001/B06080NYA2001.htm

I seem to remember hearing that DeRosa story before, and I think he gave the best description of Mo’s cutter: “I started swinging because it was coming in over the plate, and next thing I knew it was almost hitting me in the ribs”

i had to laugh at Mo last night taking the ball from Ransom and refusing to give it up.

i had to laugh at Mo last night taking the ball from Ransom and refusing to give it up.

Can you think of anyone who deserves that ball more than Mo does?

Mo says he’s giving it to the Boss, which seems right to me. Although, didn’t he almost trade Mo for David Wells in ~1995?

Kinda feels like the season ended last night, don’t it?

Kinda feels like the season ended last night, don’t it?

yeah, it really does. 

say what you want about the 2008 yankees (and there is much to say), but they showed up and played pretty well for the final homestand at the stadium.

too little, too late and all that, but at least they gave the fans something to cheer about. 

for everything that has gone wrong this year, they will still win between 85-90 games.

from there, it’s not impossible to jump back into the thick of things next year.

Mo says he’s giving it to the Boss, which seems right to me. Although, didn’t he almost trade Mo for David Wells in ~1995?

My recollection is that the player that Mo was almost traded for was Felix Fermin.

for everything that has gone wrong this year, they will still win between 85-90 games.

I think that’s one of the biggest things to keep in mind.  If you were to go back to March 30th, and be told that Molina would get more PA’s than Posada (290 to 195), Hideki Matsui would miss roughly half the season, and Wang would be limited to 95 innings, and the Yankees would *still* win 85-90 games, would you be complaining about Girardi?

Because all of that did happen.  Additionally they lost ARod for 20 games to injury (and had him playing injured for several more), Jeter played injured for a lot of the first half, Hughes’s cracked-ribs (yes, and ineffectiveness), losing Joba for more than a month to injury, not to mention a bunch of other injuries, big and small (Bruney, Britton, Giese, etc).

I’m sure when SG does a season review sometime in the next month or so, we can take a crack at looking how much injuries (PA or IP by injured players compared to how much they actually played) cost the team.  I imagine it will come out somewhere around 7-9 wins.  You can argue about how much Cashman is to blame for lack of depth, but it’s tough to blame Girardi.

It looked to me like Ransom was just messin’ with Mo a little, pretending to grab the ball back after offering it to Mo.  They seemed to have a pretty good laugh over it.

When your team’s “bad” years are 85+ wins, you’re pretty lucky.  Kansas City hasn’t won 85 games 1989.  Pittsburgh hasn’t finished above .500 since Barry bonds left as a free agent.

YM@#1 I read that and cracked up also

we’re lucky to be fans of a team where you get magic like that even when you’re not winning.

“Kinda feels like the season ended last night, don’t it? “

I feel like there are 2 more games left.  Tuesday and Sunday.  Let’s go Moose!

I feel like there are 2 more games left.  Tuesday and Sunday.

Oh, I think Wednesday’s start by Hughes will be quite interesting as well. 

But yeah, barring Boston making last year’s Mets collapse look like a heroic stand, all that’s really left is Moose getting to 20.

reasons to keep watching (in no order):

1. with matsui done for the year, Gardner should play every day
2. getting a glimpse of Hungry Hungry Humberto
3.  Phil Coke, the greatest left hander in history
4.  Moose, of course
5.  Young Master Hughes
6.  to see if Miranda can get a hold of one
7.  battle for 3rd place
8.  to see our 2009 #3 starter, AJ Burnett
9.  because we are yankee fans, and that is true in 1st place or 3rd place

1. with matsui done for the year, Gardner should play every day
2. getting a glimpse of Hungry Hungry Humberto
3.  Phil Coke, the greatest left hander in history
4.  Moose, of course
5.  Young Master Hughes
6.  to see if Miranda can get a hold of one
7.  battle for 3rd place
8.  to see our 2009 #3 starter, AJ Burnett
9.  because we are yankee fans, and that is true in 1st place or 3rd place

10. We only have 6 games until there’s no more baseball <strike>forever</strike> 6 months. 

I, for one, plan to savor every inning, whether we be in first place or fourth.

Oh, and one more:

11. Mariano Rivera

And we think the NY press is bad!

Faldo assailed after Europe loses Ryder Cup

because we are yankee fans, and that is true in 1st place or 3rd place

This of course is the biggest reason.  The difference between being in a tight race and being out of it is when watching the Giants play, I only flip to the Yankees during commercials instead of after every whistle!

Well, if a player I want to see is up I still flip after every whistle.

1. with matsui done for the year, Gardner should play every day

Eesh. Brett Gardner is a reason to keep watching?

10. We only have 6 games until there’s no more baseball forever 6 months.

Easily the best reason.

Eesh. Brett Gardner is a reason to keep watching?

at this point, it’s a reason.  not a great reason, and i don’t think he’s going to be much of anything, but i’m still curious. 

that doesn’t mean i want him starting in CF next year.

Eesh. Brett Gardner is a reason to keep watching?

Did you *see* him last night, zooming around the bases?

at this point, it’s a reason.  not a great reason, and i don’t think he’s going to be much of anything, but i’m still curious. 

Not bashing the reason, just eeshing that it’s come to this. I do hope Gardner gets the lion’s share of the PT from here on out. Still, as far as young players I want to see, Gardner is last on the unfortunately short list.

Did you *see* him last night, zooming around the bases?

What does him starting have to do with him being on the bases?

Speaking of Gardner, you know how they always talk about Homer Bush when Gardner comes up?

About how Homer Bush would always pinch-run and get big stolen bases?

Well, I looked it up, and guess how many stolen bases Homer Bush had as a pinch-runner for the Yankees?

FOUR.

Three in 1998 and one in 2004.

Of those four, the only one that actually led to a run being scored was in 2004, when he stole second and scored on a Ruben Sierra single to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth.

Otherwise, his three other pinch-running stolen bases led to no runs being scored (I was at one of the games, by the by, against the Angels where he stole second in the bottom of the ninth and the Yankees down a run - they ended up loading the bases with two outs for Jeter - who then grounded out to end the game).

Gardner has already done it three times, with TWO of the three leading to Yankee runs.

Hmmm…upon re-reading that, I don’t know if I got my main point across, which is not that Gardner is better at stealing key bases than Bush was (because, obviously, a runner can’t control whether his stolen base will lead to a run), but rather how skewed people’s memories are, a la Reggie Jackson talking about how much of a winner Scott Brosius was (how FJM has not featured that yet is beyond me).

how FJM has not featured that yet is beyond me

They’ve been slipping lately.

Probably because “The Office” is coming back.

I have an off topic question: Is there any other Major League team that has 3 or more players on their 40 man roster, who have played their entire career for that team, and played at least 10 seasons?

I can’t think of any

There aren’t any.  The Angels have Garrett Anderson and a bunch of guys who they brought up in 2001-2.  That’s closest.

Sox lose.  Yankees live to die another day.

Chipper and Smoltz in AAAA.