Tag: New York Yankees

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New York Yankees

Oct 31 in Sports History: Byung-Hyun Kim Part I


In 2001: The Yankees gave a still-grieving New York something to cheer about in Game 4 of the World Series. Trailing in the series two games to one and 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, Tino Martinez forced extra innings with a two-run shot off Arizona Diamondbacks’ reliever Byung-Hyun Kim. The game went beyond midnight and beyond October, where Derek Jeter’s solo homerun in the bottom of the 11th inning tied the series for the Yanks and earned him the nickname “Mr. November.” If New York, Arizona and the rest of the country who bothered to stay up that late thought they saw an unbelievable, once-in-a-lifetime comeback, they had no idea what was in store the following night.
(…to be continued)

In 1988: The Hoosier Dome hosted the first-ever Monday Night game in Indianapolis between the Colts and the Broncos. In a strange, Halloween-charged atmosphere, the Colts raced out to a 45-10 halftime en route to a Monday Night record 55 points in the 55-23 victory. Eric Dickerson ran for 159 yards and tied another Monday Night record with four touchdowns while John Elway and the defending AFC champion Broncos turned the ball over six times.

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College Football

Oct 20 in Sports History: The first AP Poll


In 1936: The first Associated Press poll ranking the top college football teams in the nation was released. Minnesota was the first no.1 with LSU, Pittsburgh, Alabama, Washington, Santa Clara, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Nebraska and Pennsylvania rounding out the top ten. The AP poll, a collection of sportswriters across the country who vote on the top 25 teams each week of the college football season, determined national champions for years. It is still used today to rank the teams but is no longer considered in the BCS formula to determine who plays in the national championship game.

In 2004: The Boston Red Sox became the first team in baseball history and only the third team in sports history (it happened twice in the NHL) to come back from a three games to none deficit in a seven game series to win. Having been completely dominated by the New York Yankees and down to their final at-bat in the fourth game, the Red Sox began a remarkable comeback by winning the two longest games in postseason history in Games 4 and 5 at Fenway Park, and then going back to Yankee Stadium to take the final two to complete the turnaround. Boston swept St. Louis in the World Series to win their first championship in 86 years.

In 1993: In one of the wildest games ever in the World Series, The Toronto Blue Jays out-slugged the Philadelphia Phillies in the fourth game 15-14 at Veterans Stadium. Already delayed by rain, the game took four hours and fourteen minutes to complete, the longest ever World Series game. The Phillies overcame a three-run first inning deficit with four of their own in the bottom half and eventually carried a 14-9 advantage into the eighth inning, where the Blue Jays scored six times to win. The game featured 32 hits, 14 walks and it set the record for most runs combined in a World Series game and the most runs by a losing team. Oddly, the Blue Jays did not hit a single homerun despite scoring 15 times.

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MLB General

Oct 19 in Sports History: When Kenny Rogers sucked


In 1999: Current postseason hero Kenny Rogers wasn’t so much in Game 6 of the 1999 NLCS. With the Mets attempting to come back from a 3-0 series deficit to force a seventh game, Rogers walked in the winning run in the bottom of the 11th to give the Braves their fifth pennant of the decade. The Mets had fought back with a dramatic game-winning grand slam by Robin Ventura in Game 5 and overcame Braves’ leads of 5-0 and 7-3 in Game 6 to force extra innings. Rogers’ walk of Andruw Jones was the only series in history to end on a base on balls.

In 1981: Rick Monday of the Los Angeles Dodgers was the hero in the NLCS with a dramatic, two-out, solo home run of Montreal’s Steve Rogers to give the Dodgers the pennant in the deciding fifth game. The game was played in what was believed to be the coldest temperatures ever for a postseason game, and it was quickly dubbed “Blue Monday,” due to the facts that the game was played on a Monday and Rick Monday (who coolly stopped two morons from attempting to burn a flag in the outfield a few years earlier) almost single-handedly knocked the Expos out of their only postseason appearance.

In 1987: Billy Martin was hired by George Steinbrenner to manage the New York Yankees for the fifth time. Martin replaced the fired Lou Pinella, whom he had spent the entire season criticizing from the broadcast booth. Pinella, in a strange twist, was named General Manager. Martin lasted until halfway through the 1988 season when he was fired and replaced by
Lou Pinella.

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MLB General

Oct 18 in Sports History: 3 for 3 on 3



Mr. October

In 1977: Reggie Jackson of the New York Yankees tied Babe Ruth’s record by blasting three home runs in a single World Series game. Jackson only saw three pitches the entire evening in Game 6, but he drove each one farther than the last. When it was over, the Yankees had defeated the LA Dodgers 8-4 to win their 21st championship, Jackson was named MVP and became forever known as “Mr. October.”

In 1997: The worst World Series in history opened on a warm, bandwagon-y Miami evening as the Florida Marlins – with a powerhouse tradition all of five years – entertained the suffering-for-eons Indians from Cleveland in cavernous Pro Player Stadium, the football home of the Miami Dolphins. Marlins owner Wayne Huizenga purchased a fine National League pennant winner with the likes Devon White, Kevin Brown, Moises Alou, Gary Sheffield and Al Leiter. With the exception of a fine Game 7 won by Florida, each game tried to top the last in terms of uninspired play, poor pitching and sloppy defense. It was the lowest rated World Series ever up to that point as fans didn’t feel like tuning in to watch two football cities struggle at baseball in snowy weather. Heaping insult upon insult, Hanson sang the National Anthem to open the series. All of the aforementioned players were jettisoned by Huizenga for financial reasons within a few months of winning the series.

In 1920: An interesting little battle which would’ve seriously altered baseball history took place in a meeting between divided American League owners. Wanting American League president Ban Johnson out of office, the owners of the Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox and Tigers threatened to jump to the National League if the remaining owners who wanted Johnson to stay on did not join their movement. Both sides eventually agreed to replace Johnson – who they felt was doing very little to help put and end to the gambling that was destroying the game (re: Black Sox Scandal) – with Kennesaw Mountain Landis, baseball’s first commissioner.

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New York Yankees

And this suprises you because?

High and Tight posted this cartoon from the New York Post that mocks Corey Lidle’s lack of flying skills. It’s in completely poor taste but they seem to think that the Post had sunk to a new level of low or something?

We have stayed away from the Corey Lidle tragedy — mainly cause we don’t handle tragedy well — we prefer arrests and trashy chicks but it’s worth noting that the NY Post is a piece of trash that you should only read if you want to laugh at the New York Knicks.

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Pittsburgh Pirates

Oct 13 in Sports History: Pirates win the World Series


In 1960: In perhaps the greatest Game 7 in sports history, Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski hit the first series-winning, bottom-of-the-ninth homerun in 57 World Series’ to defeat the heavily favored New York Yankees. With the score tied 9-9 at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field, Mazeroski connected off a 1-0 Ralph Terry pitch and drove it over the left field fence to give the Pirates their first title since 1925. Overlooked was the fact that the Pirates spoiled a remarkable comeback by the Yankees in the top half of the inning. Trailing 9-7 after unknown Hal Smith’s three-run homer in the eighth, the Yankees rallied behind Mickey Mantle and Bobby Richardson to tie the game. Maz trumped them all with his famous blast in the ninth, and sent jubilant Pirates fans onto the field and into the streets of Pittsburgh in celebration. It was one of the most contrasting World Series’ ever, as the Yankees won their games by scores of 16-3, 10-0 and 12-0, while the Pirates won the closer ones, 6-4, 3-2, 5-2 and 10-9. According to baseball library.com, Game 7 was the only WS game in history in which no strikeouts were recorded by either team. Mazeroski, known more for his defense than his bat, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001.

In 1982 After 70 years, the International Olympic Committee posthumously restored the two gold medals Jim Thorpe had won in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. Thorpe had easily won gold and set records in the pentathlon and decathlon. He was stripped of his medals, however, when the IOC discovered that the had been paid to play minor league baseball, which compromised his amateur status. Thorpe, a Native American, was widely considered the greatest athlete of his generation. Not only did he dominate the Olympics, but he also played professional baseball for the New York Giants, Boston Braves and Cincinnati Reds. He was an All-American running back in college, played pro football for the Canton Bulldogs and was even the first president of the National Football League. olympic.org

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MLB General

Oct 11 in Sports History: Don Zimmer charges the mound!



Ole!

In 2003: In Game 3 of the ALCS, several brawls broke out as the Yankees and Red Sox showed the world that – gasp – they might not like each other or something. In the fourth inning, Pedro Martinez threw a pitch over Karim Garcia’s head and words were exchanged. When a Roger Clemens pitch sort of came a little inside to Manny Ramirez the next inning, Manny went ballistic and both benches cleared. That’s when Don Zimmer, all of 72 years old, charged Pedro like an extremely pissed off, chubby, white, pale bull, and Pedro game him an “ole” into the Fenway Park turf. It was both hilarious and embarrassing to watch at the same time. The Yankees won the game 4-3.

In 1972: The Cincinnati Reds became the first team since 1912 to win a series when coming to bat trailing in the bottom of the ninth inning. Behind 2-1 to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fifth and deciding game of the NLCS, Johnny Bench tied the game with a solo homer off Bob Moose. Two singles and a wild pitch later, the Reds were celebrating a trip to the World Series with a 3-2 win in the game and the series.

In 1992: Deion Sanders did double duty as he suited up for a pro football game with the Falcons against the Dolphins, then took a jet to Pittsburgh in time to join his Braves for Game 5 of the NLCS. “Prime Time” was a two-time loser that day, as Miami defeated Atlanta 21-17 and the Pirates staved off elimination against the Braves 7-1 as Deion watched from the bench. Sanders was criticized on the air for playing football by CBS analyst Tim McCarver. Neon got his revenge by throwing water on him in the locker room during the celebration after Game 7.

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New York Yankees

Steinbrenner not senile – decides to keep Torre



Torre gets the thumbs up

Yankees fans rejoice (well, not really as you got knocked out of the first round of the playoffs), King George has decided that Joe Torre isn’t the problem behind his $200M choke. The New York Post is reporting that Steinbrenner felt Lou Pinella was close to a deal with the Nationals and also didn’t want to pay Torre $7M to lounge around in the sun so after a couple of days of deliberation, he has decided to keep Joe Torre.

We secretly were hoping that Steinbrenner would fire Torre so that the Yankees would implode next year. Hell, imagine if the Yankees missed out on Lou Pinella and had someone like Dusty Baker coaching them. That’d be high comedy. A $200M payroll with 20 wins. But alas, it seems the Yanks will retool their lineup and come out firing in 2007. Check out the links below for reaction from around the blogosphere.

Links:
[NY Post]: HE’S JOE-ING NOWHERE

[Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon]: A. Rod, Tigers, and Torre

[Dan Shanoff]: Can We Stop the Torre Talk, Now?

[Into the Woods]: Where do we go from here?

[Baseballistic]: Yankees Problems Aren’t Torre-Ential — They Start Upstairs
[Working Life]: Wait ‘Til Next Year–With Torre

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MLB General

Oct 10 in Sports History: World Series edition



unassisted triple play

In 1920: An amazing trio of firsts occurred in the decisive Game 7 (of a nine-game series) of an otherwise drab World Series between the Cleveland Indians and Brooklyn Robins. In the first inning, Cleveland’s Elmer Smith hit the first grand slam in World Series history. In the fourth, the Indians’ Jim Bagby became the first pitcher to hit a home run in the WS; and in the eighth, little-used second baseman Bill Wambsganss converted the first (and only) unassisted triple play in World Series history to help the Indians take the Series 5-2. It was a bittersweet moment for the Indians; while they were celebrating their first championship, they were still mourning the death of Ray Chapman, who died earlier that summer as a result of a Carl Mays bean ball.

In 1926: While Babe Ruth was always considered a World Series hero for his feats in the postseason (pitching 29-plus scoreless innings for the Sox, calling his shot against the Cubs), he was actually a huge goat in the Yankees’ loss to the Cardinals in the decisive seventh game. Trailing by a run in the bottom of the ninth at Yankee Stadium, Ruth reached first off a walk from a very hung over Grover Alexander (who won Game 6). With two outs and the slugging Bob Meusel at the plate with a 3-1 count, Ruth inexplicably took off on an attempt to steal second base without any type of sign from the coaches or manager. He got a horrible jump and was easily pegged for the final out of the series. Ruth was roundly booed, criticized and mocked in the newspapers for losing the series for the Yanks.

In 1904: Citing that the American League was a minor or “junior” league, New York Giants manager John McGraw refused to meet the Boston Americans (who had defeated the Pirates of the NL in 1903) in what would have been the second World Series. Arguments over rules, potential gate shares and personal animosity between McGraw and AL president Ban Johnson also led to the cancellation of the Series. Besides 1994 — when a player’s strike wiped out the postseason — it was the only time a World Series was not contested.

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New York Yankees

Odds and Ends: Joe Torre expected to be fired



Dead man walking

As soon as Robinson Cano grounded out to end the game and the series, you knew it’d be about 5 seconds before a NY sportswriter put the finishing touches on his “George Steinbrenner thinking about firing Torre” article. (By the way, do you think A-Rod was secretly praying that Cano would not get on base so he wouldn’t make the last out?) Indeed, a report came out just hours later in the NY Daily News that Torre would be fired and be replaced by Lou Pinella.

As of Monday, no news has been announced about the fate of Torre but Steinbrenner issued a statement saying that the season was a “sad failure” and sources have told the NY Post that George is leaning towards firing Torre. If Torre does get fired, we’ll have to agree with the guy from Freakonomics blog and Salon’s King Kaufman about how silly it would be.

In other news…

[ESPN]: Culpepper, Saban had heated argument Friday

[Soccernista]: Team’s fans beat the crap out of them at the airport (video)

[Mike Tyson’s World Tour]: Tyson explains his World Freakshow Tour

[Wizard of Odds]: Spurrier Throws Assistant Under the Bus

[Hockey Rants]: Michal Handzus Needs Your Help

[USA Today]: Steffi Graf pays $360,000 for Agassi’s rackets