A Tip of the Hat to Julia’s Rants…

March 27, 2009

Julia (of Julia’s Rants) has successfully completed her required three pro-Yankee blogs.  I’ll add that she did a tremendous job with her “hat trick”!

 

First, she led off with the Iron Man himself…

 

 

Then, she knocked in Bobby Ray Murcer…

 

 Rich Pilling, MLB Photos via Getty Images

 

Finally, she slammed one out of the park with DJ…

 

 

Three outstanding blogs!  Julia’s debt is paid in full…well, at least, until we meet again in late April!

 

I do want to compliment Julia on her selections.  It is easy to write about past Yankees, such as Gehrig or Murcer.  But it takes courage for a Red Sox fan to write about Derek Jeter.  She could have taken the easy road and wrote about a “safe” Yankee like Jose Molina, Xavier Nady or coach Tony Pena.  She could have written about A-Rod for that matter, since there’s nothing she could say that would be more polarizing than what has already been said about him in the press.  She also could have written about Johnny Damon, a player with obvious ties to Red Sox history.  But she chose to write about one of the most despised Yankees in Boston, and I am very appreciative.  I find Dustin Pedroia to be somewhat similar to DJ.  Outwardly, it is easy to say that Dustin is your least favorite player, a lousy ballplayer, etc., but meanwhile, under your breath, what you’re really saying is ‘Man, this Pedroia kid really has some incredible skills!  Too bad he’s not on my team!’.  I hope the Boston fans can recognize that Derek plays the game the way it should be played, and he is always respectful of his teammates and opponents.  Excellent job, Julia!

 

By the way, it was fun being “teammates’ for a few days…

 

 

But now, we can resume our normal relationship…

 

 

Good times!

 

JULY 21, 1980

 

On this date, the Yankees lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-4.  Tom Underwood was the losing pitcher, and the Yankees lineup looked like this:

 

2B Willie Randolph

LF Lou Piniella

1B Bob Watson

RF Reggie Jackson

DH Eric Soderholm

3B Graig Nettles

C Rick Cerone

CF Ruppert Jones

SS Bucky Dent

 

The opposing lineup included the likes of Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Cecil Cooper, Stormin’ Gorman Thomas, Ben Oglivie, Sixto Lezcano, Don Money, Charlie Moore, and Jim Gantner.  The winning pitcher was Mike Caldwell. 

 

Nothing special about this day, right?  Wrong.  On July 21, 1980, in Vallejo, CA, Carsten Charles Sabathia was born. 

 

Newsday

 

The man destined to open the Yankees 2009 season in Baltimore on Monday, April 6^th, and to throw the first official regular season pitch in the new Yankee Stadium on Thursday, April 16^th (against his former team, the Cleveland Indians). 

 

AP

 

CC will always be remembered in Yankees history as the guy who opened the new Stadium.

 

Audrey C. Tiernan, Newsday

 

So, on a day that resulted in another “L” in the loss column, did the Yankees really lose?  No, I’d say they won that day…

 

I wonder if CC could help open this for me…

 

 

 

Have a great weekend!

 

–Scott

Written by Fid Posted in Dailies Tagged with Bobby Murcer, CC Sabathia, Derek Jeter, Julia's Rants, Lou Gehrig, Red Sox, Yankees