Trials and Tribulations of being a Sports Fan

My fiance thinks I'm ridiculous, and probably rightfully so. When it comes to sports I wear my emotions on my sleeves and take things way too seriously, I'll be the first to admit that. When you are a sports fan, be prepared for one thing, much more failure than success. I guess you can equate it to being a Major League hitter, even a great one. You will fail much more than you succeed.

I was at a bar once maybe about 2 or 3 years back and was having a discussion about how many championships I've seen my teams win. It didn't take long to come up with the answer, at the time the number was at four, and it was all because of the Yankees. My other two teams the Magic and Jets have just one championship combined and that was the Jets in Super Bowl III in 1969 and I did not get to witness that. The Magic have been close twice, with two Finals appearances, one back in 1995 when they were swept by the Rockets which included the Nick Anderson game, in Game 1 where he missed 4 consecutive free throws to ice the game thus blowing that game and maybe the series with 4 failed strokes from the free throw line. That was easily one of the toughest defeats I've witnessed in my history of sports watching. The second was last year when they lost to the Lakers in 5 games. The closest the Jets came was a 10-0 lead early in the 3rd quarter in Denver against the Broncos back in January of 1999 in the AFC Championship game. They started turning the ball over like crazy, Elway and Terrell Davis did their thing and the Jets lost that game 23-10, thus ripping my heart out and leaving me wondering when I would see them reach the pinnacle. Well, I'm still waiting ten years later and obviously I'll still be waiting after this year.

So all this was leading me to think while sitting in front of a bucket of Budweisers at the bar that day and watching the Giants and Bills play, a game the Giants won to start their run as they were getting ready to go on their eventual Super Bowl drive. What is the percentage of times my teams have actually won it all? How far back should I go to calculate this? I won't start in 1980, that's the year I was born. I go back to my first real memories of sports. I remember being a kid watching the Bears and Pats in the Super Bowl back in the 1985 season. I remember the Mets/Red Sox World Series back in 1986. I remember trying to watch as many Yankee games as I could back around that time and I remember sitting in front of the TV in my Jets uniform and helmet every Sunday.

So it's 1986, that's the year I will start. Now that is only for the Yankees and Jets as the Magic franchise was just in the early founding days, thanks to Pat Williams down in Central Florida, getting the ball rolling on that. So that's 24 seasons I've watched each the Jets and the Yankees, giving me a grand total of 48, and I'll count this season for the Jets already being a failure, they obviously aren't going anywhere. The Magic started play in 1989 but I didn't become a fan till they drafted Shaq in 1992, prior to that I had no team that I followed in the NBA. So that's 17 seasons of Magic basketball that I've been watching, zero championships. Oh boy.

So let's do the math. 48 seasons of Jets and Yankees and 17 seasons of the Magic, that's a grand total of 65 sports seasons that I've invested a lot of time, energy, emotion and passion into. I'm going to break down the percentages in three ways; playoff berths, conference/league championships and World Championships. The New York Yankees obviously lead the way with 14 playoff births, 7 League Championships and 5 World Championships. The Orlando Magic have had 11 Playoff births, 2 Conference Championships and 0 World Championships. Then there are the Jets, oh man, don't get me started on the Jets. They always will find a way to break my heart. 7 Playoff births, 0 Conference Championships and 0 World Championships.

So going back now, combined, that is 65 seasons, 32 playoff births. So 49.2 percent of the time I do at least witness my teams making the playoffs, the Yanks boost that but let's not forget from 1986-1994 I didn't witness the Yankees make the playoffs at all, so it wasn't always like it is now. There have been 9 Pennants/Conference Championships in 65 seasons, that would put it at 13.8 percent of the time I've witnessed that. Now comes the bottom line, what it's all about. Being able to see your team celebrate to Queen "We are the Champions". It's been a grand total of 5 times in 65 seasons, that's 7.6 percent of the time.

It's really interesting to go back and think about things like this, do it with your teams and see where you stand. I have one thing to say in closing, thank god for the New York Yankees.

By Vinnie Ferrarini

Red Sox, Yankees and Angels for Holliday

Truth be told I'm not the biggest Matt Holliday fan. He has spent his career in the NL playing in the hitter haven known as Coors Field for the Rockies. He than came to the American League and spent a little over half a season with the Oakland A's. In 93 games he only hit 11 HRs and it started to look like he was going to struggle to even get to 20 HRs and 100 RBI, all of a sudden on came his deal to the Cardinals. He spent 63 games with St. Louis where he hit 13 HRs and drove in 55 Runs and hit a robust .353, 67 points higher than he hit in Oakland. So when you look at his overall numbers from 2009, they look good. I for whatever reason still remember that guy struggling in Oakland; especially the first couple of months of the season. I was doing the I told you so, and spouting off at the mouth about how much Colorado and a weaker NL made Holliday better than he actually was.

So now into the offseason rumors have it he wants Mark Teixeira money, which is not going to happen. However, it does look like he will be one of the most coveted bats out on the market and the race has apparently come down to three teams according to John Paul Morosi of Fox Sports. It's going to come down to the Angels, Red Sox and Yankees. I'm not so sure how much interest the Yankees do have, but it would be pretty interesting seeing him in that lineup and then if you also bring back either Matsui or Damon to go along with him, that lineup gets even more impressive. I really think it's just one of those deals where the Yankees are said to have interest because hey, they are the Yankees. Plus they'd love to simply drive up the price on Holliday for the Red Sox.

I personally still see him ending up back in the NL, but I'm torn on how good of a fit it would be in New York with the Yankees, but on paper especially if you also bring back Damon or Matsui, that lineup would be looking pretty fat if it wasn't already robust enough.

Trade talks continue to swirl around the Detroit Tigers who are interested in cutting payroll during these tough economic times which have hit the city of Detroit as hard as any other city. We've already heard Curtis Granderson's name on the block and the Cubs, Angels and Yankees are thought to have interest in the Tigers Center Fielder. Now on the block could be Magglio Ordonez and according to Joel Sherman of the NY Post the Yankees could look at both of these players if they choose not to bring back Matsui and Damon. Sherman points out that if they brought in these two it would be cheaper than the 2009 contracts of both Damon and Matsui. My thoughts here though are that if we keep Damon and Matsui this year it probably would be for less than we paid last year for both of them. Ordonez's contract is a bit pricey if he meets certain incentives on his contract. He's due 18 Million for 2010 and if he meets the following incentives: 135 starts or 540 PAs in 2010, or
270 starts or 1,080 PAs in 2009-10 combined; he will be due 15 million for 2011. A lot of money to take on for someone who had a subpar 2009.

I would be all for Granderson, but I'd take a pass on Ordonez.

By Vinnie Ferrarini

A Pair of Gold Glovers

The American League is announcing the winners today for the 2009 Gold Glove winners. It appears two Yankees are going to be on that list. Derek Jeter who had one of his best defensive years this season. This would mark Jeter's 4th Gold Glove award. His prior gold glove awards came in 04, 05 and 06.

It also appears that Mark Teixeira won his 3rd Gold Glove overall his prior two came in 2005 and 2006 with the Texas Rangers.

Rounding out the rest of the AL Gold Gloves, in the outfield Torii Hunter, Ichiro Suzuki and Adam Jones are the recipients.

In the infield along with Jeter and Teixeira, Placido Polanco gets the nod at 2B and Evan Longoria gets the nod at 3B.

Now that Mike Mussina is retired a new pitcher has taken the crown in the AL and that man is Mark Buehrle. At catcher Joe Mauer took home the award.

Congratulations to both Jeter and Teixeira.

By Vinnie Ferrarini

An October into November to Remember

It took 15 games in 29 days, 11 wins and one dream reached for World Series Title number 27. Nine long years, I know fans of the Cubs, Indians, Pirates and Mets just to name a few, don't want to hear about nine long years. However, this is the Yankees, and by our standards it was a long time.

The heartbreak and heartache of 2001, 2003 and most notably 2004 can be eased quite a bit. The first round exits of 2005, 2006 and 2007 and the first postseason absence since 1993 in the year 2008 is now erased from our recent thoughts. Of course there was no postseason in 1994 but the Yankees team of that year was destined for a postseason birth and had the best record in baseball behind the Montreal Expos, yes the Montreal Expos!

So let the bashing begin. Let the haters break out of the wood work. The title was bought, purchased, whatever they want to say, let 'em say it. Bottom line is this, for the first time in a long time, the money was spent wisely. Every single person on this roster from Alex Rodriguez to CC Sabathia to AJ Burnett down to Jerry Hairston had their hand in this one. It was a total team effort and nobody can deny this team their destiny this year which was on Joe Girardi's back the whole time. Maybe next year they will honor the number 28 when it's on his back, we shall see.

Oh how sweet it is. The team that is loved to be hated so much. Your World Champion, New York Yankees for the 27th time.

By Vinnie Ferrarini

Clueless Joe

The Yankees came into Game 3 of the American League Championship Series in the drivers seat. 2 games to none lead. 3-0 lead in the game. Andy Pettitte on the hill trying to get Vlad Guererro who is representing the tying run at the plate with 2 outs. Out comes Joe Girardi, the first of many trips he made to the mound, home plate, umpire as well as making walk after move after replacement that just made him look ridiculous. Vlad proceeds to hit a game tying 2 run HR after Girardi trots back to the dugout possibly breaking any rhythm that Andy Pettitte may have possibly had. I'd love to blame Andy, but on this night I'm blaming Clueless Joe.

Sure, Joe lost our DH in the 10th inning when he took Damon out of the game in left for Jerry Hairston Jr. I do understand being concerned about Johnny's arm, but then we lose our DH who is due up 3rd in the next inning thus hindering our lineup severely in a tight October matchup and a chance to take a strangle hold on this ALCS.



The worst blunder of all though, his handling of the pen. He's done it all postseason, trying to matchup and get the right ingredients like a mad scientist. David Robertson who has been one of his best weapons out of the pen down the stretch, was removed from the game in the Bottom of the 11th after retiring the first two hitters with ease and it appeared this game was headed for the 12th. Joey G wasn't having that. Clueless Joe was checking his handy dandy notebook and for whatever reason, after checking his notebook once and than twice he decided to call upon Aceves out of the pen. I'm not killing Ace here, he's been solid all year, a good long man to come in when your starter wasn't able to give you what you want and you don't quite want to go to your big guns yet. However, he's a contact pitcher, you can even say he's pitched to a lot of luck this year having a very low BABIP to help him to his success found out of the pen this year. Robertson is a power, low contact guy who in my mind you would trust more in that spot. Not this Joe, this isn't your everday average Joe, this is Clueless Joe. In comes Ace........Game, Set, Match. Let's hope it doesn't cost this team a trip to the World Series.

By Vinnie Ferrarini

A Magical Night in The Bronx.

Watching the game last night, knowing there was impending rain in the forecast, I was just hoping that they would be able to get 9 innings in and not have to experience a suspended game as was the case last year in the World Series between the Phillies and Rays. I was checking the radar all day, hoping the rain would hold off. As it turned out, not only did they play 9 innings, they ended up playing 13 innings and maybe in the process bringing over some of that old mystique and aura over from old Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Cano tripled in a run, that was the only productive thing he did all night though. Later on he did his best to try and aid the Angels to victory with his glove. Derek Jeter hit his 19th career postseason Home Run, now he stands behind only Manny Ramirez and Yankee great Bernie Williams on the all time list. We all know how skewed that list is though, as the players today have the additional games that players of the past did not have with the addition of the Championship Series and then later on in 1995 the Division Series.

A.J. Burnett was cruising through 4 innings, throwing first pitch strikes and avoiding the pitfalls of the usual problems he falls into. However, in the 5th inning he hit a wall. There he was, seemingly dealing and dominating early on, he now got into trouble with his control again, and started falling behind hitters, walking batters and hit a couple of batters in the process. With 2 outs and a 2-1 Yankee lead in the 5th, Vlad Guerrero was up with the bases loaded and 2 outs. A.J. had two strikes on Guerrero and like he should he tried to entice the free swinging Guerrero with a curve ball down and away, problem was he threw about a 58 footer down and away and it gets away from Molina and a run scores and we now have a tie game. Frustrating, but Yankee fans have become acustomed to this with Burnett. All in all though, Burnett did his job. He pitched 6 1/3 innings and only gave up the 2 runs and once again added to the string of excellent starting pitching the Yankees have gotten this postseason.

In the 7th with 1 out, Cano botches a routine ground out off the bat of Izturis after which Girardi came out and pulled Burnett who left to a standing ovation but then left some Yankee fans scratching their heads when the choice was Phil Coke. Now Girardi mixed and matched all night, by the end of the game Chad Gaudin was a lonely man sitting in that bullpen by himself. Coke came in and walked Figgins to the anger of this Yankee fan in particular. However, Coke did rebound and got Abreu to chase a 2-2 slider in the dirt and he couldn't hold his swing, this was a huge strikeout. At this stage it was another move, as Girardi called upon the lost one, Joba Chamberlain. The Yankees botched the handling of Joba all season from my perspective. After allowing an infield single to Hunter that loaded the bases it was time to face Vlad Guerrero, who despite bad knees and a much slower bat, can still obviously be a threat to get a hold of one and give the Angels a 4 run lead with the pond full of ducks. After Molina and Joba couldn't come to an agreement on a 2 strike pitch and chatted about it, by the way it seemed like Molina spent most of his night running to the mound and trying to make sure both he and the pitcher were on the same page; Girardi marched out and also joined the conference halfway between the mound and home. The meeting worked, Joba threw a slider that Vlad whaled at and missed for strike 3 as Joba pumped his fist and screamed on the mound right before he headed back to the dugout much to the pleasure of starting pitcher A.J. Burnett.

The Yankees defense was shaky on the night. Cano made two errors on routine plays that gave the Angels a chance to cash in, luckily both times the Yankee bullpen managed to work around the errors. Jeter also booted what was a possible double play as well, and all runners were safe. The Yankees behind the pitching of Phil Hughes and Mariano Rivera worked around it and bailed out the poor defense behind them.

In the 11th the Angels plated a run on Chone Figgins first hit of the postseason and all of a sudden the stadium was shocked. Chone Figgins fist in the sky looking into his dugout was screaming in joy, much to the displeasure of this obnoxious Yankee fan. I didn't care too much for Figgins at this moment in time, I wanted so bad to see him standing at 3B in the bottom half of the inning watching another Yankee walkoff. The Angels now had a 3-2 lead and were going to hand over the ball to their closer Fuentes. Fuentes was brought in and had the tall task of replacing Francisco Rodriguez, who came on the scene late in 2002 and helped lead the Angels to their first World championship. Fuentes did have 48 saves on the season, but he did blow 7 saves; including one at the Stadium during the regular season. So by no means was he automatic on the year. Alex Rodriguez came up in the 11th and due to some pinch running earlier in the game, he was followed by speedsters Guzman and Gardner who came on in pinch running situations earlier in the game. It was clear, it was up to A Rod, and the buzz in the air at the New Yankee Stadium felt like those vibes you would feel on those October nights of past. A Rod was down in the count 0-2, but you still had a feeling something good was going to happen. A Rod got an 0-2 fastball out over the plate and with that sweet stroke he has he sent the ball just over the head of Abreu (who for once in his life actually made a halfway decent effort at a ball hit towards the wall) and it just cleared the wall in right to tie the game. It was a magical moment, you truly felt like the ghosts were alive and mystique and aura was happening at the new house in the Bronx.

The Yankee bullpen did their thing. Seven Yankee pitchers in all came through those bullpen doors and although it was not always easy, thanks in part to some spotty defense, they did the job. Another big game for David Robertson; with his new found control, has become a huge part of this bullpen. There were many nerve racking moments, but you just felt, with the 15 walkoff wins during the regular season and the one prior in the ALDS in Game 2 against the Twins, you just knew they were going to find a way to get it done. In the 13th inning, Girardi used his next to last man off the bench to pinch hit for Freddy Guzman. Up to the plate came 12 year veteran Jerry Hairston Jr., finally getting a taste of postseason action after a July 31st deal brought him from the Reds to the Yankees. What a move it was. Brian Cashman took a lot of heat for not dealing for a starting pitcher, but let's be honest, there wasn't much out there. Hairston came up in the 13th and ripped a line drive single into left center. Gardner follows with a sac bunt and Cano was intentionally walked. This setup Melky Cabrera, who got his share of pies to the face during the regular season. He hit a hard ground ball in the hole between 2B and 1B, Izturis got to the ball but foolishly tried to spin and get Cano at 2B as opposed to getting the automatic out at first. The throw to Aybar covering 2B was wide and Hairston turned on the burners in those veteran legs of his. Figgins scrambled for the ball and couldn't pick it up cleanly initially, thus eliminating any chance of getting Hairston at home and in he came sliding across home plate for the win and the recipient of the proverbial pie to the face in another walk off win for the Bombers.

What a night, the ghosts were alive and well and the new house in the Bronx is feeling more and more like home after each passing game, especially the first 4 games it's seen this October where the Yankees are now 4-0 at home in the postseason and their lone road game was a victory once again in dramatic fashion over the Twins to finish off the sweep in the ALDS. However, there is still a lot of work to be done. Do not expect the Angels to go lay down as they head back home for the next 3 games. Even if the Yankees do end up getting by the Angels to win the Pennant, the ultimate goal will be the 27th World Series crown, anything short of that is simply a failure at this point. To this point, they look primed and ready for the challenge. What will happen next this October or even into November at the new house in the Bronx?

By Vinnie Ferrarini