America's Biggest Small Town

Weirdly enough, for the past few days I'd been thinking about how I missed seeing your pictures on this blog, but I figured that you were too busy. Nice to see you made up for lost time tonight.

Regarding your comment about Mayor Shutterbug: Wait a minute...Rudy Giuliani has a day job? Whatever it is, it mustn't pay too well, since he's seen here moonlighting by taking pictures of people who are actually relevant. LOL!

Burger vs. cheesesteak? As in the shortened form of "Philly cheesesteak"? That's an easy enough decision. When rooting for the Yankees, never eat anything with the word "Philly" in the name.

Wow, I wasn't sure you'd even see my comment about the audio of "Nine Smartest Plays", because I had posted it so late. Thanks a lot for looking into it, and telling us what happened.

Jealous that you were present to soak it all in. Enjoying the scene from the left coast. Delirium, relief, joy -- a load has been lifted. Looking forward to seeing the twilight years of the greatest relief pitcher of all time. I think he may even continue to get better.

Mentioned you in tonight's posting...

http://www.mepreport.com/2009/11/godzilla-saves-new-york/

Had to pop in here once more to share a great joke I just found on Twitter.

How do you tame a Phillie? Pettitte!

Congrats, NY Yankees!

Glad you were able to be there!! Cheesesteak of course. But what's up with Hannity??? Take care, well wishes and Congrats to Yanks and fans....Mets, maybe next year????

Congratulations to the new world champions of baseball. Keith, you may be the only New York fan I'm happy for today, but I am happy for you. Expect to see the Phillies again next year, or at least in less than 69 years. Whenever it is, I'm sure Jamie Moyer will be pitching for us. We're only 25 championships behind the Yankees. Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est!

You know, I'd be inclined to agree with the "baseball erases boundaries" statement, but it creates them, too.
The Yankees/Red Sox rivalry between me and my friends gets pretty nasty sometimes, especially in recent years.



Just sayin'.

Very nice to see you can "cross the aisle" with an adversary. Great work, 150 days till pitchers & catchers!

WHOOPS! I see now, Hannity's the guy taking the picture. My bad. That's what I get for using an ancient laptop with a lousy monitor, last night. Now that I see the picture on my desktop PC, I can see him clearly. :)

I agree - Mariano Rivera's enthusiasm made me smile last night! If I hadn't already liked him, I think that might have done it.

The Mariners almost got Rivera in '96?? Wow... now I don't feel quite so badly about the trades that year. Thanks! Of course, I was rooting for the Yankees last night, so the win was great to see. Still love my Mariners, but I'm glad the Yankees won.

If I remember correctly, when the Yankees got Alex Rodriguez, there was some concern about the fact that he played shortstop. If you already have Derek Jeter, why do you need a second shortstop? But both players hit well, and they seem to have worked things out just fine (obviously).

Have a great day, Keith!

I love the pictures! I love that you were there sitting where your mom would sit. And yes, as much as I have a lifetime history of hating the Yankees, I do very much appreciate, like & respect Mariano Rivera. He IS the greatest closer of all time (and I say that as Padres fan who go to watch Hoffman his whole career).

Ya know, I've always said that politics really is like sports. Some of us are just fans of one side vs another ;-) Therefore, when we have a common team to root for, we come together. There's Yankee fans who I cannot stand to be around during the post season...but who I will embrace again lovingly now that it's done! You and Sean are really quite too cute there at the ballpark ;-)

Keith,

Congrats to you and your Mom who would be as happy about #27 as you are today. (Being an Astros fan from way back, the Phils were always a thorn in my side -- think 1980 -- even though Schmidt and Luzinski were fav players of mine.)

Also, great job on the 9 best WS plays in Countdown too. Wish you and Bob Costas both could work RS games for MLB, as it's very hard to find local BB broadcasters -- in Texas -- who have the deep love you both obviously have for baseball and the knowledge and acumen to share stories.

Play-by-play all over sports has become annoying, boring cheerleading. Storytelling... that's where the love for sports begins for most of us. The best of the best announcers never forgot that.

Thanks again,

Wayne

I could not agree more, Mariano is amazing and seemingly universally loved. Thank god the boss kept him!

What do you think the odds are we can keep Damon & Matsui?
Can we please get reliable pitchers?

Do you think Joba will be allowed to remain a reliever?

Thanks for everything Keith, I have really enjoyed your blog and that show you do as a hobby! :)

Give my best Red Sox hello to Rachel! (who I really enjoy in spite of her fandom for them)

We are all grateful that there is no right wing or left wing in baseball; only right field and left field. The ball field is the one place we can all stand together and agree to disagree about more important things like whether something is truly fair or foul. The National Pastime has found solutions for every major issue of the day.

Health Care- Johnny Damon and Melky Cabrera and every player has a single payer (i.e. the owners) plan

Extended Unemployment Benefits- retired ballplayers have a great package once they are vested

A powerful, organized workforce- the MLBPA is the strongest player's union in professional sports

Equality for all- Baseball is by far the most diverse of all American, professional sports

Immigration- Players come from all over the world to play this game

Equal Rules Under the Law- Four balls = walk; three strikes = out, etc.

Yes, baseball is the greatest game on earth and can settle differences between even the most heated rivals. In the end, after nine innings, there is no wrong or right or left, just the game itself.

I don't HATE Rivera per se, but I think he's overrated. Yes, overrated. HE's so untouchable, but no one ever seems to hold him accountable for losing 2001 almost singlehandedly. Not every save opportunity or close game is equal in terms of difficulty or proving one's mettle. Frankly, I see him come into a lof of games where the Yankees are up by 2-3 runs and the announcers talk about "oooooo, they might have to ask Rivera to get 6 outs" like this is some superspecial, difficult challenge no other reliever has ever done. Please. The issue here is that teams know he's coming in and psych themselves out of the game and in doing so they too are overestimating his actual abilities.

That said, I'm a Mets fan, so I win or lose either way with this Series. Actually, I was rooting for a sinkhole to appear under stadium and take the whole show with it.

As a long time avid Boston fan, I have to agree with you. It was nice in 2004 to finally getting the best of Rivera! Also watching the Diamond Backs in 2001 in the 7th game hit him was a joy! Rivera is the Best Relief pitcher in Baseball history, even if he is a Yankee.
The only other Yankee pitcher I like was Art Ditmar, only because he lived on my street while growing up. And after a game in Yankee stadium I got to meet Micky Mantel, Whitey Ford and amazingly Roger Marris!

minnjeff I have a question.

Why do almost all Mets fans have this obsessive hate of the Yankees? Seems they almost universally despise the Yankees even though we play each other less than one tenth of one percent of the time. Seems to me the Mets issues are much larger than anything the Yankees could ever do to them.

I ask this sincerely with no snide agenda and really hope you can not see it as any kind of attack but a sincere wish to understand.

That said you are wrong Mariano is amazing, don't you see? He HAS ONE PITCH, ONE. Literally the man has a single pitch.

Batters know what is happening and are virtually powerless.

I am very painfully hopelessly aware the Yankees lost in 01, I wanted that win more than tongue can tell (thanks for reminding me of the gut wrenching soul searing pain I feel over that loss) HOWEVER I do not blame Mo, no I do not. He is human, it was inevitable that having the burden WE, the fans and Yankee management put on him to perform day in and day out that eventually he would fail, who can be perfect? No one.

Want to know why I really really wanted that win?

I'll tell you anyway.

It would have given us a record unbreakable in MY lifetime and as I always say when the science shows are talking about the sun burning out or the universe expanding to a point which takes out our solar system (in billions of years I do not care as I am a self centered sob.)

That record being to win the first & last year in a millennium!

How cool would that have been?So cool.

/rant

Sorry

I was at the opening game in 2005 and I remember like it was yesterday the "appreciative" ovation Rivera received. No one expected Rivera to smile and wave back, and we all ended up laughing along with him. It was a moment we talk about often up here. We got such a kick out of his reaction.

The New York Yankees in my opinion do not win 4 out of 5 World Series without Rivera. It's that simple. An amazing pitcher. He is as reliable a closer as we will ever see in our life time. We may never see anyone like him ever again.

shfinn, I agree with Keith that no one in baseball hates Mariano Rivera. But the hatred of Mets fans for the Yankees is not a hatred of individual players. It's a play-hatred whose main purpose is to intensify Mets love. They are what we are not, and for this reason we can never root for them. I tried to define this in an essay I wrote called "Yankee Hatred" which is in a book of mine called Mets Fan. You can read the essay on the web at www.metsfanbook.com/YankeeHatred.html

Hi Keith, I am an enormous fan of yours and I figured all your abscences were because of the Yankees games,, I also know about your father, and I hope he is hanging in there. I have missed you very much and I hope that we will see more of you. I know you are a Yankee fan, so It is nice they won for your sake. They are excellent players, and I felt they were going to win it all in late August, just had that feeling. They just kept coming back and winning. So, you and many others will be sharing the events of tomorrow.
I also want to extend my sympathies about the loss of your mother. I know it can be tough, I had to take care of my mom through strokes, dementia, many falls, and everything,, lost her in 2006. So, I truely sympathize with you.
Sadly, though I will not be sharing, I am a Mets fan and it just isn't in my DNA to root for them whatsoever. Just isn't. Someone asked here why Mets fans dislike the Yankees, well, speaking for myself, it is that I feel that they have had too many advantages and luck over the years, that it isn't fair to other teams, and it is just too sterile for me. I go for underdogs, and the Mets have broken my heart so many times, by tearing down Shea, and so many other things, but it is the Mets I will always be a fan of. I also dislike the sense of arrogance, entitlement and smugness of many Yankee fans. To me, a Cubs fan is the essence of being a fan, since they haven't won in God's knows when. And yet they root for that team amazingly. There is heart there. And even though the Mets haven't won a lot, the times they have won have been so memorable, so beautiful, so special, that they glow in my heart as diamonds. Yankee fans are to me, present blogger excepted, too arrogant and if they don't get a championship, well, it is just too bad.
But, Keith, I am glad for your sake, and I hope if the Mets win you will tolerate it too.
You are greatly admired by me, and I hope you will not be as absent as you have been lately. Laurence O'Donnel is ok, but you are the Main Man.
With respect and affection,
Connie Colvin

Since the Yankees and Phillies are two teams especially disliked by many if not most Mets fans, I was curious as to how the Mets fans of my acquaintance felt about the current World Series. So early on I simply asked these folks who they were rooting for–or if they were avoiding the Fall Classic all together. Obviously this was quite an informal survey and highly unscientific, in addition to the sample size being tiny. Here are the results, anyway [drum roll please]:



Yankees - 67%

Phillies – 22%

neither – 11%




Reasons behind their decisions: A few mentioned wanting to see Alex Rodriguez redeem himself and come thru in the Series; one young lady bluntly stated, “I hate the Phillies, Eagles, Sixers, and Flyers, more than I could ever hate the Yankees.” For some, the NL East rivalry was not enough to stop them from cheering on the Phillies, or disrupt years of an antagonistic tradition when it comes to the cross-town team. And there were those who chose not to take sides one way or the other.



But the strongest response of all was undoubtedly this one:



“Met fans who are rooting for the Yankees are stupid. Any ‘Met fan’ who isn't rooting for the Phillies is not a Met fan. And if I have to explain that to them or anybody else, then it ain't worth explaining.”



Yikes! I’m not getting in the middle of that one. Well, except to say…I disagree.



As a NYer, I’m fine with the cross-town rivalry or even indifference. Cool. Fine by me. But, hate? I could never hate the Mets, for instance. I mean, yeah, I’m still upset with the organization—and a couple of the players—for the handling of the Willie Randolph fiasco, but Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, and Darryl Strawberry are some of my fave all-time players; I’m also a HUGE fan of the ‘86 Mets. (And not just because they beat the Red Sox. But it doesn’t hurt. heh heh) I'm a native New Yorker, and for me to hate the cross-town team is to loathe a cousin of mine just because. That's just me, tho.



(Btw, ESPN has a poll in which 55% of respondents said they hated the Yankees because of the organization's vast financial resources. I guess that's like hating a dude just 'cause he's rich and can afford a nicer house, car, etc.)



Anyway, I sincerely wish everyone's favorite team the best of luck in 2010. (That includes the Mets, but not the Red Sox. hahahahaha.)

dana thanks for the link, I appreciate it. I understand this concept, as a die hard Rangers fan (do they count for the long suffering fan Mets fans feel)? I still chant Potvin sucks.

I have one question. What current dynasty? The Yankees did not make the post season last year and won for the first time in nine years.

Is this the first time a team won the first & last year in a decade and none in between?

shfinn, I do think of the Yankee period since 1996 as a dynasty because it is a period in which they have made the playoffs almost every year and are in a position to win the World Series almost every year. The range of possibilities for the team has been narrowed to an edge at the very top. It would be impossible for Yankees fans now to enjoy an interesting season in which they did not make the playoffs and it is becoming hard for them to consider any season successful in which they do not win the World Series. I don't consider this an enviable fan situation and I'll call it a dynasty, even though they haven't won a long string of world championships (which is almost impossible to do anyway). The natural condition of a baseball fan should be to experience a World Championship every thirty years. Anything much more than that I'll call a dynasty. My link to Yankee Hatred, by the way, is http://www.metsfanbook.com/YankeeHatred.html
I forgot to set it up as a link last time.

> One last photo. Nerd in Action (Contemplating Burger or Cheesesteak):

I hope you're eating healthy. It's very important that you stay healthy, we need you.

In 2007 the Mets collasped at the end of the season. The New York Yankee fans were horrible to the Mets fans. Just horrible. And then, the NYY had a game in the playoffs against the Indians in which Joba Chamberlain was left on the mound as he was being "attacked" by bugs. For some reason which I have never understood, Torre kept Joba in the game. A must-win game for the Yankees btw. Well, they lost the game and went on to lose the series.

I stayed up very very late into the night listening to a New York call-in sports radio program on the radio. The Mets' fans were brutal towards the Yankee fans.

I spent the whole night laughing my backside off listening to New Yorkers going at each other for hours. The Mets' fans I concluded won the night. To them it was payback time. lol

As an outsider, I have to say that I enjoy this rivalry more than any other in sports. It's hilarious.

1948braves, I remember that collapse all too well. And as a Yankee fan, I'm embarrassed about the treatment Mets fans got from (many of) those who root for the Bombers.


Because they were led by Willie Randolph, I was rooting for the Mets to right the ship during the late-season series against the Marlins. The Yankees had already clinched a playoff spot so I turmed my attention to what was going on in Queens that weekend. During that series against the Marlins John Maine gave one of the best performances I've ever seen from a starting pitcher, bar none. Sadly, the next day, the Floridians beat the crap out of Tom Glavine and...well, we all know what happened next.


The following Monday, despite the fact he is an avowed Yankee hater, I offered to take a hardcore Mets fan buddy of mine out for lunch to try to cheer him up. (He was too distraught to accept, tho.) I sincerely wish Mets and Yankee fans could have a civil relationship, despite our differences, but I'm probably dreaming.

A bit of baseball trivia: The Yankees since 1961 have only won a World series with a Democrat in the White House. The streak continues with the Yankees winning the World Series this year with Democrat Barack Obama in the White House. The Yankees last won with a republican in the white house in 1958 when Eisenhower in the white house, 51 years ago. This fact brought to you by http://WWW.DEMOCRATZ.ORG

Also I hope that whoever broadcasts Yankee games will stop showing Adolph Giuliani, as I disapprove of the person. He acts like the most mean spirited fascist I have seen. Giuliani attempted to exploit 9-11 at just about every turn since 2001, never mind his party failed to defend against 9-11.

And another complaint. I hope the Yankees will pull the plug on the PC Richards whistle after each strike out in a Yankees game. Do you realize that years from now when people watch the World Series of 2009 or any Yankees game of 2009, they will hear whistles after every strike out done at Yankee Stadium. Who's the idiot that allows a commercial whistle after each strike out? I refuse to buy anything from PC Richards and any company that advertises on the home plate wall at Yankee or any stadium in the MLB.

I can't believe I didn't know about this blog during the post-season. Oh well, now I know for next year. I did not know that Yankees had to talk Steinbrenner out of trading Rivera to the Mariners in 1996 for Felix Fermin because he didn't think that Derek Jeter was ready to play shortstop every day. What an incredibly huge mistake that would have been! The person who talked The Boss out of that move should get some sort of an award.
As far as baseball erasing boundaries between people of different persuasions, all I can say is that Keith is a better person than I am. I wouldn't care how much of a Yankee fan Hannity is (is he even a Yankee fan?) - if I were sitting near him at a game I'd be happy to tell him what an idiot he is. It bothers me that someone like Hannity had the opportunity to attend a Yankees World Series game while a true fan (from the Bronx) had to sit home and watch it on TV. At least I didn't have to see Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh watching Game 6.....