2 Years Ago - #27

(Yahoo!)

Two years ago yesterday, the Yankees finally captured their 27th World Series Championship. Phillies center-fielder Shane Victorino grounded out to Robinson Cano, who fired to first base to secure the 7-3 win and the W.S. title.

I am really amazed how quick two years have gone by. I was of course at the game, if you can remember, and it will always be one of the greatest moments of my life. I was in Section 421, and saw everything, from Matsui's 6 RBIs, to the trophy presentation, and the party that lasted well into the morning in the Bronx.

The entire series was incredible too, from A.J.'s Game 2 masterpiece, Johnny Damon's double-steal, and countless of other great moments, ulitmately culminating in #27.

A lot has changed since that November night. But it is always great to look back on what was an incredible moment in Yankee history, one I will never, ever, forget.

Go Yankees.

Damon and Matsui - Yankees Again??

A couple days ago Michael Kay said during the Yanks-Twins game that both former Yankees Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui had cleared waivers for their respective teams. So it got me thinking - could either of them really return to the Yankees in a waiver-deadline deal?

JD and Hideki have had good seasons so far, as Matsui could be considered as the second-half MVP (he's batting .384 since the All-Star Break). The Yankees bench is already choc full of veteran bats, with Andruw Jones and Eric Chavez splitting the DH duties, struggling Jorge Posada trying to get back into the lineup, and Marcus Thames down in Scranton, after recently signing a minor-league deal.

Clearly there is no real fit for either of these guys, but it is interesting to think about them donning the pinstripes again. There names have actually flown under the radar, and I haven't heard of any teams potentially interested in their services.

Where do you think these guys could end up?

A Tale Of Two Teams - 2009 and 2011.

This year, all we've heard since Cliff Lee spurned the Yanks and signed with the Phillies, is that the Yankees' rotation will be their Achilles heel, and ultimately, the reason they can't win the World Series this year. Well, on the contrary, that, after thinking about it, is truly B.S.

Here is the Yankees' 2009 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP rotation:

C.C. Sabathia - 19-8

A.J. Burnett - 13-9

Andy Pettitte - 14-8

Joba Chamberlain - 9-6

Sergio Mitre - 3-3

Are you kidding me??? That's the Yankees World Championship rotation? Yes, it is. That 2009 team, fueled by a powerful lineup, won 103 games with that starting 5. Of course Joe Girardi went with the three man rotation in the '09 Postseason, but throughout the course of the regular season, we saw Joba struggle horrendously as the fourth starter, and the fifth starter varying, from Phil Hughes, to Chien-Ming Wang, to Sergio Mitre. This was, in no way what so ever, a perfect or great rotation. But did it get the job done? You bet. Best record in MLB. And a World Championship.

Now, two years later, let's see the projected rotation for the 2011 Yanks:

C.C. Sabathia

A.J. Burnett

Phil Hughes

Ivan Nova

Freddy Garcia

When you think about it, is this rotation that bad? Or at least compared to the 2009 Yankees? No. It may be better.

C.C. is almost a lock to win 19 or 20 games, A.J., even if he's average, can get you 12 or 13 wins. Hughes? He won 18 last year, why can't he do it again? And Ivan Nova at least has been a starter before. He won't struggle that much like Joba did, and could win 10 or 12 games. You also can't forget about Freddy Garcia. He's a seasoned veteran, and at time can really be a beast on the mound. I'd take him over Meat-Tray anyday.

And this 2011 team still has a kick-ass offense, which will be the key to a lot of Yankee wins this season. Also add in a better bullpen, with Rafael Soriano and Pedro Feliciano? Certain games can become 6 inning games. Any of the starters give you a nice 6 inning outing. You hand the ball to David Robertson in the 7th. Rafael in the 8th. And a guy named Rivera in the 9th. 

Before anyone jumps the gun, saying the Yankees' rotation is not even close to being championship caliber, think again. Because you'll probably be slapping yourself in the forehead, when the Yankees are the 2011 World Series Champions.

I'm Back.......

Yes, like Brett Favre did, and, well, did again, and again, I am coming back. I'm hoping it can be permanent this time, or at least like it was in 2009. Some called me the reason the Yankees had that great season and won #27. After all, I was, at Game 6.

All jokes aside, I'm hoping to start contributing to the blog more often. It's really blown up in popularity while I've been, well, spectating, and I congratulate Greg, Robert, and everyone else for the great success.

I'm going to be making my picks for 2011, maybe do a couple game summaries (please Greg?), and, god willing, do some postseason work like I did in 2009.

It's great to be back. And I'm looking foward to talking to all of you guys, very soon.

- YB

Video: Obama and the Yankees

(hat-tip to Zell's Pinstripe Blog)

Photos: Yanks Visit The White House

(All pictures from Getty and the AP)

Andrew Marchand has some more details on their visit:

The ceremony at the White House was nicely put together in the East Room due to the rain. President Obama congratulated the Steinbrenner family and then told charitable stories about Mark Teixeira, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter and Joe Girardi.

They were stories that are familiar to Yankee fans, like the fact that Don Mattinglytold Jeter to always hustle because you never knew who was watching.

Two guys who weren't mentioned by the President were striking. If you are known to have used PEDs, you didn't get singled out by the President. So no Alex Rodriguez or Andy Pettitte mentions.

He goes on to say that the Yanks didn't spend much time with the President, and that the team seemed moved by their visit to the Walter Reed Medical Center and the Malone House earlier in the day.

Yanks Headed To Washington

Prior to their series with the pathetic Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees will spend their off day in the Washington D.C. at the White House, where they will be honored by President Obama for winning the World Series last year.

It will be the third time since 2001 the Yankees will be honored at the White House. They were honored in 2001 by George W. Bush that year for winning the 2000 World Series. In 1999 Bill Clinton toasted them for sweeping the 1998 Series. Last April, after failing to make the playoffs in 2008, a small group of Yankees that included Joba Chamberlain and Nick Swisher, took a tour of the White House.

Politics aside, it's gotta be a thrill for these guys to meet the President and hang out in the White House.

I wonder if Obama--a White Sox fan--will put a Yankees hat on for the occasion. I doubt it, he even wore a Sox cap when he threw out the first pitch at opening day for the Nationals this year.

2009 World Series Ring

Here is a look at the 2009 World Series Ring from Getty via Yahoo sports:

More pictures to come later keep an eye out!

UPDATE 8:14: These pictures comes via tweetphoto from Nick Swisher


UPDATE 8:38: These last images come from Yahoo!

That's An Awesome Painting

Check out this painting commemorating the 2009 world champion New York Yankees (hat-tip to Chad Jennings):


I really hope there are cheap prints available for this painting because it needs to be hanging in my room. It was done by Opie Otterstad, and will be one of the 30 or 40 art pieces covering the history of the Yankees that will be on display on Saturday, April 17, at the Pop International Galleries in SoHo.

Yanks To Get Rings On Opening Day

TMZ, of all places, is reporting that the Yankees will receive their rings on April 13th against the Angels. They said the design was being kept a secret, so I guess we'll have to wait until opening day for that.

Yanks Have To Return Some Of Their World Series Shares

From Darren Rovell:

Sources told CNBC that Yankees players recently received a letter from the Major League Baseball Players Association that informed them that there was mistake in the calculation of the World Series championship share.

By virtue of winning, the Yankees divided up $21.2 million. Originally, the Yankees awarded 46 players and coaches full shares, making the full share a record $365,052 (12.25 partial shares were also awarded.)

But the letter told those who had full shares that three people (two trainers and a player) were not allocated their proper share. The result? Those who received full shares are now being asked to pay back approximately $10,000 each.

Here's a quote from the head of the players union:

"There was a mistake with respect to shares, and the mistake wasn't discovered until the money was actually distributed," union head Michael Weiner said. "The union and the commissioner's office negotiated a mechanism whereby it could be corrected. It does require players who received full shares to contribute to a pool that then will be used to reimburse the affected individuals."

Since this is Major League Baseball's fault, maybe they should pay for the mistake. That would be nice, right? But I guess when you're talking about $365K--around $185K after taxes-- having to give back ten (SI is reporting it's actually $15,023) isn't too big a deal.

Is It Too Early To Start Thinking About #28?

If you're a baseball fan, January is the worst month of the year. Normally there is never any big Hot Stove news, and everybody in the Sports world is tuned in to College Basketball and the NFL Playoffs. I'm a football fan, but still, baseball is no where to be seen in the first month of the year. So, do you think we should start looking ahead to when baseball returns and the Yankees begin their pursuit of back-to-back championships? I think so.

During the offseason, the Yankees lost both Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon (so it seems) to free agency. Many were upset with the moves, and personally, so was I. But of course the Yanks had something up their sleeve, and sure enough they acquired Curtis Granderson and Javier Vazquez via trades. They also re-signed Andy Pettitte and brought back Nick Johnson on a 1-year deal. These three guys aren't CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixiera, but they were all very nice pickups for the Yankees.

As for that other team down in Beantown, they signed John Lackey, Adrian Beltre, Mike Cameron, and Marco Scutaro to try and get on par with the Yanks. While those are all nice moves, you still have the aging Jason Varitek, the sluggish slugger David Ortiz, and except for J.D. Drew, you wouldn't really want that outfield on your team. Am I saying they can't win the AL East? Of course they can, but like all teams, they have some weaknesses that may separate them from the Yankees.

Now let's go back to New York. When you mix the newest Yankees in with the Core Four and the likes of Nick Swisher, it’s a match made in heaven. Granderson will hit around .270 and may smash 40 out of the park. Javier Vazquez finished fourth in the NL CY Young voting last season and has thrown 200+ innings the past five years. And we can't forget about Nick Johnson; he's an OBP machine, and while he may not hit for power or average, he'll get on base most of the time.

Right now I say the Yanks will win the AL East again. All in all they are still the best team in the American League and maybe the best team in baseball. Am I going to jump the gun and say the Yankees will win their 28th World Championship this season? No, but I think there's a good chance.

New Must See Yankees DVD

I just bought and watched the new "New York Yankees Season of Pride, Tradition and Glory" DVD. It's basically a 2009 Yankeeography. It's narrated by John Sterling and it's a summary of the entire 2009 season, from spring training all the way to #27. For me it was much better than the World Series DVD, mainly because it was all Yankees and showed all the great moments from what was a fantastic year for the Bombers.

My only complaints are that they sort of breezed through the playoffs and seemed to completely forget the Luis Castillo game. But watching it reminded me just how great a season it was and how much I miss baseball. If you enjoyed the season as much as I did this is definitely a DVD that needs to be added to your collection.

Just Saw The World Series DVD

After the release had been delayed a few days I was finally able to pick up the 2009 World Series DVD at Modell's earlier today. I sat down and watched it tonight and was very pleased.

My only complaint with these kinds of DVDs is that they're never long enough, and the same can be said for this one. Besides that I have no complaints. The DVD had great highlights, good player commentary, and like they always do it gives fans a chance to relive their team's great championship run.

MLB decided to make absolutely no mention of A-Rod steroids troubles, but with all the bad PR baseball has gotten over the whole PED thing I can understand why they decided to leave that out.

The best part of the DVD may even be the bonus features. They include highlights of all the big plays on the Yankees road to #27. Most of the replays are without any kind of play-by-play, which is pretty cool. Here's a list of all of the highlights:

• ALDS Game 2: A-Rod's homer
• ALDS Game 2: Tex's walk-off
• ALCS Game 2: A-Rod's homer
• ALCS Game 2: Yankees walk-off win
• ALCS Game 6: Final out
• WS Game 3: A-Rod's two-run homer
• WS Game 4: Johnny Damon's 9th inning at-bat
• WS Game 4: Damon's steal of second and third
• WS Game 4: A-Rod's RBI double
• WS Game 6: Matsui's two-run homer, two-run single, and two-run double
• WS Game 6: The final three outs
• WS Game 6: Player reactions to the final out

If you're a Yankees fan, and you should be if you're reading this blog, I definitely suggest picking up the DVD. If you have it already, let me know your impressions.

No Yankees Attend World Series DVD Premiere

As you know, last night was the premiere of the 2009 World Series DVD. The main event, complete with red carpet, took place at Manhattan's Ziegfeld Theater. Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi, along with the team's announcers were on hand, but no players decided to show up for the event.

I understand the season just ended and they're all probably on vacation somewhere, but as Neil Best reported this morning, many Giants, including Eli Manning, Michael Strahan, David Tyree, Antonio Pierce, Amani Toomer, Osi Umenyiora and Brandon Jacobs, showed up for the premiere of their Super Bowl DVD.

I'm not really bothered by this, but I guess it would have been nice if someone showed up. Anyway, according to Amazon.com the DVD should be out today. I will be making my way over to Modell's later to see if I can pick up a copy.

Global World Series Ratings Way Up... Thanks To The Yankees

Chad Jennings has the numbers:

• Japan: up 101% on NHK BS
• Panama: up 101% on RPC and 40% on TV Max.
• Korea: up 73% on OBS.
• Dominican Republic: up 46% on CDN.
• Canada: up 65% on Rogers Sportsnet.
• Mexico: up 22% on Televisa.

Not really surprising considering last year's series.

See The Premiere Of The 2009 World Series Video

Yesterday I posted the trailer to the video, this morning here's some info on where you can see a special premiere screening of the film.

On Monday, November 23rd at 7:30 p.m. there will be several screenings throughout the area. If you're in Manhattan you can attend the event at the Ziegfeld Theatre located at 141 west 54th street. There will also be screenings in many other theaters in New York and New Jersey. Here's the full list. Tickets to the event are $30.

2009 World Series Film Trailer

I didn't even know they made trailers for these things, but I guess they do now. Anyway, it looks pretty good. The DVD comes out on December 1st.

Yanks Commemorative Cover Of SI

World Series Ratings Soar

From Maury Brown:

Fueled by outstanding individual and team performances, dramatic come-from-behind wins and the most one-run games in a single postseason, each round of the 2009 MLB Postseason generated double-digit percentage year-to-year increases in average viewership as compared to 2008, capped by the 2009 World Series averaging 19.4 million viewers, a +42% increase over last year and the largest-ever year-to-year gain in viewership (previous high was 36% from 2000-2001, which followed a low viewership showing for the Subway Series).

...

The 2009 World Series will go down in history as the fouth highest viewed World Series of the last decade following 2003, 1999, 2001, and 2004.

Once again, this just proves that the Yankees are great for baseball.