With the season breathing down our collective necks, I wanted to combine two of my favorite things: the Yankees and NOFX. I thought I’d compare the Yankee World Series champion teams (of my lifetime) to the punk band’s albums. (Yes, I’m that bored.)

I wrote a similar post using Morrissey/Smiths lyrics last year at another site to get psyched for the season and the Yanks led the AL in wins and made it to the ALCS, so why not have another go at it? » Continue reading “This Ball Club Ain’t Your F***ing Industry! Actually…”

(Syndicated from The Yankee Analysts)

A few guys that have worn the #25 for the Yankees have had special moments during their time in Pinstripes.

For instance, the man who currently dons that uniform number for the Yankees, Mark Teixeira, had his lone special playoff moment, so far, in October 2009 when he hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to seal a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

In order to even get to that moment, Teixeira was instrumental in guaranteeing the Yankees a chance of even making it to extra innings when he opened the bottom of the ninth with a single. The Yankees found themselves down 3-1 and the Twins were looking to tie the series 1-1.

After Teixeira’s single, Alex Rodriguez stepped in and took the fifth pitch he saw out to the Yankee bullpen to tie the game.

The teams held each other scoreless until Teixeira led off the 11th inning with a line drive home run to left that bounced off the top of the wall and into the seats. It gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead in a series they would go on to sweep in three games.

Next up, we have the man who wore the number before Teixiera, Jason Giambi, who had his special moment within the first two months of joining the team.

It was a rainy Friday night in May in the Bronx and the Yankees found themselves down three runs in the bottom of the 13th inning against the Twins. The game was tied 9-9 going into the top of the inning when Sterling Hitchcock gave up three runs to give Minnesota a 12-9 lead.

The Yankees came up in the bottom of the 13th against Mike Trombley and twelve pitches later was walking off the field a loser.

Shane Spencer singled to lead off the inning, Alfonso Soriano flied out, Derek Jeter hit a single and Bernie Williams walked to load the bases. Giambi stepped in and took the first pitch he saw into the right field bleachers for a walk-off grand slam. The Yankees won 13-12.

Joe Girardi wore #45 for the first half of the 1996 season. He switched to #25 when Cecil Fielder came over in a trade with the Tigers, letting Fielder have the number he had worn with the Tigers.

Girardi’s moment is one that is always referenced when talking about the late 90′s Yankee dynasty. At the time it happened it just seemed like an ordinary  triple but because it put the Yankees on the board first and they were able to hold on to a 3-2 victory to secure a win in the decisive Game Six of the 1996 World Series, it became the stuff of legends.

It is shown over and over and over again when those years are referenced along with Charlie Hayes catching the pop up in foul territory to end the game and the series.

And finally, we have Jim Abbott, who wore #25 in 1993 and 1994.

There are a few reasons why Abbott’s moment was special. One, he was born without a right hand and was able to make it to the Major Leagues and pitch. Two, he made history.

On September 4, 1993, I was in my den, watching the Yankee game with my father. It was a Saturday afternoon for me. I was newly 19-years-old and recovering from being out late with my friends the night before. In fact, I watched the game in my pijamas.

And why is this game so special? It’s because Abbott, the pitcher born without a right hand, pitched a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians.

It wasn’t an overpowering performance by any means. Abbott walked five batters and only struck out three but he able to do something that hadn’t been done by a Yankee pitcher in 10 years. Dave Righetti had pitched the last Yankee no-hitter on July 4, 1983.

I remember the last out of the game, Carlos Baerga hit a grounder to short, Randy Velarde scooped it, throw the ball to Don Mattingly who pumped his fists in triumph when the ump signaled the last out. I also remember the look of relief and joy on Abbott’s face when realizing just what had happened.

Moments like these are what makes being a baseball fan so special. You never know what can happen.

This is going to sound a little silly but I like to tell people that Derek Jeter and I grew up together. Sure, he was in Michigan while I was growing up in a suburb of New York but we are the same age – exactly two months apart – and we did, in a sense, grow up together. It just happened later on in life.

And I proudly watched as the “kid” who was the same age as me became a Yankee legend.

***

On Opening Day 1996, a young shortstop was inserted into the starting lineup for the New York Yankees. The Yankees hadn’t had a lot of luck with the shortstop position in recent years and this rookie was only in the lineup because Tony Fernandez, who was supposed to be the Opening Day shortstop, was injured.

After a home run and a jump throw to nail a runner at first helped lead the Yankees to victory, on a blustery day in Cleveland, a legend was born.

Not bad for someone who regarded as the fourth best young shortstop in the mid-1990s. Alex Rodriguez of Seattle, Nomar Garciaparra of Boston and Rey Ordonez of the Mets were the other players in a crop of young shortstops that were expected to outlast and outperform Jeter. A couple of them may have outhit Jeter in some categories – power numbers especially – but no one, not even the biggest Yankee haters, can deny that Jeter has remained consistent throughout this career.

» Continue reading “Happy 38th Birthday, Derek Jeter!”

Remember my post the other day about how a lot of my relatives were born the same year the Yankees won the World Series?

Well, the Yankees always seem to win a World Series when the Kentucky Wildcats win the Men’s Basketball Championship. It’s happened in 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996 and 1998. And now, the Wildcats are one just win away from another title after defeating Louisville 69-61 in the NCAA Semifinals tonight.

Now, I know their head coach John Calipari isn’t very likable, in fact, he’s pretty smarmy but if rooting for the Kentucky Wildcats is in the best interest of the New York Yankees, well then, I urge you all to root for the Wildcats.

So…

GO KENTUCKY!!!

As everyone knows, the New York Yankees are the winningest team in baseball history with 27 World Series titles. So if you were born in the late 1930′s, 1940′s, 1950′s and early 1960′s there is a good chance you were born the same year the Yankees won a World Series.

The long running joke in the Gotsulias household is that I am the lone member of my immediate family born in a year that the Yankees didn’t win a World Series Championship. What’s worse for me? They were stuck playing in Shea Stadium that season due to the renovations happening in the Bronx at the old Stadium.

Were the Yankees terrible the year I was born? Not at all, they finished second in the American League Eastern Division with a record of 89-73.

» Continue reading “Did The Yankees Win the World Series The Year You Were Born?”

Sweeny Murti of WFAN has reported that Jorge Posada will be announcing his retirement in the coming weeks. While this isn’t shocking – the Yankees made it pretty clear that they would not be pursuing Posada this offseason – it’s still a bit of a bummer for Yankee fans everywhere.

Last year we had to deal with losing Andy Pettitte to retirement and now it’s Jorge’s turn.

One positive is that Yankee fans didn’t have to see Posada play for another team. Another positive, at least for me, is not having to hear the “Hip Hip Jorge” chant anymore. It’s okay the first few times but when Posada is having a long at bat and the people won’t stop doing it, it would make me wish he’d just strike out.

Posada had a pretty amazing career, He was a five time All Star, a four time World Champion, and in 2007 became the only Major League catcher to hit .330 or better with 40 doubles, 20 home runs and 90 RBIs in a single season.

» Continue reading “No More Hip Hip Jorge Chants At Yankee Stadium”

The Day: October 31, 2001
The Event: Game Four of the 2001 World Series
The Participants: The New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks
The Setting: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

So, where were you on October 31, 2001? I was lucky enough to be in Section 16 of the Upper Deck at the old Stadium. As a part of my ticket package at the old place, I had four tickets to one game of each round of the playoffs – I miss that package so much.

I was with my best friend, my brother and my father who were also with me during the previous round – we went to Game Four of the ALCS against the Seattle Mariners. That game featured the first playoff walkoff home run I had ever experienced in person thanks to Alfonso Soriano.

Little did I know when I walked into the Stadium Halloween night 2001, that Soriano’s home run would trumped by two improbable blasts.

» Continue reading “October 31, 2001: The Bamtino and Mr. November”

Do you remember where you were when Joe Girardi hit the triple heard around the world? Or where you were when Charlie Hayes caught the foul pop up to clinch the Yankees’ 23rd World Championship and first since 1978?

I was in Old City Hall in Oswego, New York, with my friend Brenda, sitting in front of a TV in the bar on two lawn chairs with our own personal pitchers of beer -it was college and I was a heavyweight drinking champion.

The whole game was intense and by the time the ninth inning started, a sizable crowd of mostly boys had gathered around us and when the final out was made I jumped up out of my seat and into the arms of some guy whose name I never knew. He spun me around like they do in the movies and we all celebrated…for a long time.

It was also the night Daylight Savings was ending and the clocks were being pushed back so we had an extra hour of drinking time.

Before heading to another bar, Brenda and I went to my off campus house so I could grab one of my Yankee hats to wear the rest of the night. While I was there I decided to call my mom. I was drunk and delirious and I was thrilled that my Yankees finally won a World Series. Within about ten seconds she informed me that not only were my dad and brother were at the game but that my dad wanted to fly me down for the game and that she thought it was ridiculous for me to do that. Before she even finished telling me the story, I hung up on her – fifteen years later I am still bitter about missing the chance to attend a World Series clinching game.

Fuming, I left the house with Brenda and we walked toward the main street of Oswego, Bridge Street. People were beeping their horns and yelling out car windows. It was a Yankees celebration and it was awesome. We made our way down Bridge Street to our final destination, the Woodshed Tavern. I sat the head of the bar and because of my Yankee hat I had – at one point – four freshly opened Labatt’s Blues in front of me. I took turns drinking out of all four and yes I finished them, remember I was a lush.

Every once in a while a “Let’s Go Yankees!” chant would break out and we’d slam our bottles on the bar instead of clapping. That was so much fun. And because of that extra hour, we all got extra drunk.

That World Championship was extra special for a lot of reasons. It was the first full year of Derek Jeter’s career, it was Joe Torre’s first year as manager, it was the year Dwight Gooden threw his no hitter and with all of the health problems that Torre’s brother Frank was battling, the title seemed even sweeter. Personally it was the first one that I could actually watch and understand what was happening – I was only three and four years old respectively in 1977 and 1978.

So Happy Fifteenth Anniversary to the 1996 Yankees. Thank you for that season and for starting the dynasty that would last into the 2000s.

*We’re coming up on some pretty important Yankee anniversaries in the coming days and Spreadin’ The News will have you covered.*