What Is Wrong With Alex Rodriguez?


The numbers don't lie. Alex Rodriguez is having trouble in the clutch again this season. What are those numbers? ONE 9th inning RBI all season? It's the end of August and he has ONE 9th inning RBI!

A-Rod is really trying his best out there but what happened to the A-Rod we got last year? The one who hit 8 9th inning HR's? The guy who hit 2 walk-off HR's in the first month of the season in 2007? I don't know. Maybe it's the huge contract he got in the offseason, maybe he's comfortable now, maybe he's distracted by all the off field stuff. Nobody knows for sure but A-Rod himself.

On Saturday afternoon Rodriguez had a chance to redeem himself and his team. On an afternoon where his team blew a four run lead, Alex came up to the plate in the bottom of the 9th inning, two on, no outs. All he needed to do was get a single and tie the game. The sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium were on their feet in support of their third baseman. Alex had everyone holding their breath because you just knew he had to get a hit here and save the Yankees when they needed him the most. He was due for a big hit. He got the count to 3-2 and on the sixth pitch of the at-bat he hit a ball hard to third, Toronto third baseman Jose Bautista made a nice scoop, ran and stepped on third then threw over to first to just barely complete the double play. A-Rod failed. As he has in big moments all season, Alex was left pondering what had just happened. One pitch later, the Yankees lost a game they were firmly in control and once again Alex's failures were the focal point.

"I hit it hard and he made an unbelievable play," Rodriguez said. "I don't know how he made it. It leaves you speechless. Everything about the at-bat was great except the results. Sometimes you need a break, you know? This one hurts a lot."


A-Rod and the Yanks have not gotten the breaks this season. A season that is seemingly dying a slow death. The double play in the 9th inning marked the 11th DP he's hit into this month, that's an astounshing stat. The guy can't get a hit when they need it the most. I feel bad for him, he works his butt off and he wants to show everyone why he is quite possibly the greatest player of all time, but he can't seem to deliver the big hit. It can't be a mental thing because we saw last year how great he was in the clutch. Baseball can be a humbling game, even for it's best player. Maybe he's putting too much pressure on himself, maybe we, the fans are. Nonetheless more Yankee losses like the one today send the Bombers home for good at the end of the season. No October stage, no postseason lights, no nothing...just a longer vacation into the cold winter air.
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Yanks Lose Another Heartbreaker

The Yankees are finding new ways to lose. This time, they found a way to blow a four run lead on an afternoon where the offense showed up and scored some runs, not to mention a decent outing by their starting pitcher Darrell Rasner.

The game slipped away from the Yanks in the top of the 7th.With the Yanks up 6-3 and Toronto had a man on first base and no outs. A groundball was hit to Robinson Cano, he fielded it, and flipped it Derek Jeter at second. Problem was, Cano's flip was erratic and got away from Jeter. This puts runners on 1st and 3rd with no outs. A walk later loaded the bases, and Joe Inglett singled to center. This shaved the Yankee lead down to 6-5. In the top of the 8th Brian Bruney gave up a single to Vernon Wells, next up Adam Lind facing Damaso Marte. Lind gets a base hit to right. Edwar Ramirez then comes in to try and calm things down. He gives up a hit to Jose Bautista and the game is now tied at 6. Next batter Greg Zaun hits a slow grounder that went all of about 75 feet got the go ahead run in for the Blue Jays. Rasner left with a 6-3 lead, now going into the bottom of the 9th the Yanks were down 7-6.

Jeter leads off with a single and Bobby Abreu walks to start the 9th. Here comes Alex Rodriguez, chance to the hero but he failed in another late inning spot. He grounded into a double play, his 11th this month! Next up Cody Ransom flew out to left leaving Abreu at second and the game was over. Heartbreaking loss to say the least for the Yankees.

The bullpen that had been so good last night, let the Yanks down today. Bruney, Marte, and Ramirez all pitched in Friday's 2-1 win. The difference between last night and today was Mariano Rivera. Girardi could've gone to his closer today but it would've marked the 3rd straight day in which Joe would've called upon Rivera to get more than 3 outs. At some point you got to let the guy rest. Now we see why Rivera is so valuable to this team. Maybe if he comes in in the 8th inning, the Yanks don't give the game away.

Up 6-2 in this game, the Yanks MUST win this game. It's just another bad result in a season full of them. At some point the Yanks will be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs if things keep going this way. Time is running out, 27 games left and 6 out. Time is not on the Yankees side.
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Yanks Go To Mo In Time of Need

How great is Mariano Rivera? We have said this many times before but he's as close to a sure thing in baseball as you can get. He's quiet possibly having the best season of his career.

With the Yankees in state of urgency as the season winds down, each game is a must-win. How badly do the Yanks need to win games these days? Rivera has pitched more than one inning in five of his last six appearances. That's a strecth that is usually reserved for October.
"You don't want to do it for a long time," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We're very careful with how we use him. Mo, obviously, is so economical with his pitches. We would never abuse a pitcher."

Rivera allowed a hit last night to Vernon Wells with one out in the 9th inning that ended a streak of 27 straight hitless batters. He's been the most reliable guy on the team. Ok maybe if you bring him in in a tie game you get a different Mo, but when he's in a save situation, you pretty much know the game's over. He has 32 saves for the season.

He's the best in the business at what he does. The best ever in history. I have no problem with Girardi using Rivera as much as he has in recent times. He's managing as if every game is the 7th game of the World Series. The Yankees are in crisis mode and need to do whatever it takes to win. If that means Rivera comes in for more than 3 outs to get a save, then so be it. These are tough and challenging times so do whatever you need to win.
"We need to win," Rivera said. "It's not like playoff-type, but we still need to win. You have to prepare yourself for that situation. If I have to go four or five outs, that's OK."
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Pavano Pitches Yanks To Another w


The Yanks got a big win last night as they defeated the Blue Jays 2-1. Clutch hitting and clutch pitching delivered the "W" for the Bombers.

Carl Pavano pitched 6 strong innings to record his second win of the season. Joe Girardi mixed and matched his bullpen in the late innings in a game the Yanks had to win. Mariano Rivera came on for a 5 out save and the rest was history.

"The biggest thing, obviously, is that I haven't been here for my teammates. A lot of these guys don't even know me because I haven't been around the team that much. To come in here and do my job is all I ever wanted to do. It's better late than never."


With 28 games remaning in the regular season, the Yanks still find themselves back 6 games in the wild card. The Yanks face another must win this afternoon as they face lefty John Parrish. If they can somehow get through today's game with a win, tomorrow's matchup against Toronto ace Roy Halliday doesn't look oh so bad.

The time is still ticking and there's still a heartbeat in this team, the time is now to win some games.
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Yanks Sweep O's, Get Ready for Boston

The Yankees took out their brooms yesterday in Baltimore as they completed a 3 game sweep of the Orioles. It got a scary towards the end in the ninth as the O's had the tying run on 3rd base with two outs but Mariano Rivera struck out Nick Markakis to end the game.

Robinson Cano went 4-for-5 with a HR,two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored. He hit the go-ahead HR in tghe top of the 7th to break a 7-7 tie. Cano called it the biggest hit of the season for him. Johnny Damon added a 3-run HR while Bobby Abreu added three hits.
“Being able to sweep Baltimore definitely puts us in a much better situation against Boston,” Damon said.



Boston comes into town on Tuesday to start a huge three game series with the Bombers. Their lead on the Yanks is five games in the wild card.

The Yanks blew a five run lead in this game. Yesterday's starter Darrell Rasner had his shortest outing of the year: 3 1/3 innings, eight hits, five runs allowed (three earned). It was a sharp contrast to his last outing in Toronto on Tuesday against the Blue Jays where he went into the seventh and gave up only one run on three hits.

Rivera entered the game in the eigth and was asked to get a four out save. Rivera up for the challenge excelled in making manager Joe Girardi pleased with his decision to bring in his closer early. With two oouts in the ninth Rivera walked Brian Roberts on four pitches. Roberts then stole second and an erratic throw by Pudge Rodriguez led to Roberts also taking third base on the play. With the tying run 90 feet away Rivera caught the outside corner on Markakis and the Yanks were on their way home with a sweep. It was their first road sweep of the season.

The Yanks have Monday off before their big series with the Red Sox. Let's see if the momentum stays with the Bombers against Boston.
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Playoff Watch: Yanks 6 Out Of Wild Card

The countdown to October is here, a week earlier than usual but the time is now to watch the scoreboard. 34 games remain for the Yankees on the 2008 season. Here is how they fare in the race for the Wild Card.




Carl Pavano goes for New York on Saturday against Baltimore.
Boston sends Jon Lester to the mound against Toronto.
Chicago sends ex-Yankee Javier Vazquez to the hill against Tampa Bay.

Time to keep track of the opposition, the Yanks put themselves in this position, lets see if they can grind it out and reach October.

Yanks 2nd Half Record:18-15
My Yanks 2nd Half Prediction: 39-27
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Abreu and Yanks Down Birds


The Yankees mounted a late inning rally last night against the Baltimore Orioles as they won 9-4. Bobby Abreu went 5 for 5 and homeruns by Robinson Cano, Jose Molina, Cody Ransom, and Xavier Nady all contributed to the victory.

Mike Mussina wasn't able to further along his quest for 20 wins for the first time in his career as he went six innings and allowed four runs and left when Baltimore had a 4-3 lead.
"I kept us in the game. We were never out of it,” Mussina said. “We got the at-bats we needed in the end.”


Moose entered the game with an 11.29 ERA against his former team entering last night's game so giving up four runs was an "accomplishment" on his part.
“To hold them to four runs the way I pitched the last two times against them, this was pretty good,” Mussina said. “If you can hold them to one run an inning, it’s not as demoralizing to your team. We were able to stay in and come back and win it.”


He now is 0-2 with 8.49 ERA against the O's this season in three starts.

Derek Jeter recorded his 2,500th hit of his career with a hit in the first inning. That puts him with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig as the ONLY men to have at least 2,500 hits all as a Yankee. When asked about how he felt about his latest accomplishment, Jeter responded:
“It means we won the game today. I guess if you play long enough, you’re bound to get some milestones. More importantly we won. We needed this game.”


The Yanks didn't pick up any ground on the Red Sox and remain six games out of the wild card. Saturday, the Yanks send Carl Pavano to the mound....OMG hold on to your seats, we're in for a ride.
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A-Rod and Yanks Give Royal Beating


On a bright Sunday afternoon the Yankees were the Bronx Bombers again. They hit 4 homeruns and scored 15 runs against the Royals at the Stadium in the series finale and took 2 of 3 this weekend.

The Yanks were down 3-0 quick after Mike Mussina gave up 3 runs in the top half of the 1st but New York answered back in the bottom half of the inning. With 2 men on Alex Rodriguez came to the plate and drilled one out to left center tying the game at 3. A few batters later, the X-Man, Xavier Nady hit one off the right field foul pole to give the Yanks a 4-3 lead. In the the 2nd, Jason Giambi and his new 'stache hit a grand slam into the bleachers in right that busted the game wide open. Later in the game new-comer Cody Ransom hit a 2-run HR, his first as a Yankee and the Yankees were well on their way to victory. Final score, 15-6 Bombers.

Mussina settled down after the rough 1st inning and pitched well. 6 innings, 3 hits, 3 runs, a quality start for Moose, who now ups his record to 16-7 on the year. The 266th win of his career which ties him with Bob Feller on the all-time win list. 20 wins in a season is looking very possible for Mussina, a feat he has never accomplished. He's got around 7 starts left.

"That would be pretty cool," he said, "Twenty wins for the first time at 39? But who knows? With only 33 or 34 starts, it's tough now to win 20 games."

A-Rod hit his 28th HR of the season and 546th of his career on Sunday. He went 3 for 3 and recorded 5 RBI. Most importantly to Yankee fans, he finally hit a HR when they needed one, when he tied the game at 3 in the 1st. Derek Jeter went 4 for 4, raising his season average to .295. The Red Sox got pounded by the Blue Jays at Fenway so the Yanks picked up ground in the wild card, which they now sit 5 games back. 37 games left, not much time to get things turned around, but certainly anythings possible.
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Yanks Down Not Out

In the last 14 years or so there has never been such a sense of panic around the Yankees like there has been lately. At this time of the year the Yanks usually go on a roll and make things happen and get themselves in a position to make a serious run at October.

This season was no different. They came out of the All-Star break with an 8-game winning streak. The Yankees were alive and well. A few weeks later, they're left for dead.
Losing 11 of their last 16 would do that, especially an inconsistent team like the 2008 group we have in the Bronx. I've gone on the record as saying this team needs more than luck to make it to October...a point I can't stress enough and it's as realistic as I can be with this team. But they have shown if everyone does their part, this team can go on a roll in a hurry.

Over at Peter Abraham's Yankee Blog Yankee Blog he made some great valid points.

But there are 41 games left, not 14. Mark my words, at some point in the next six weeks they will get within a few games of the wild card and everybody will have hope. This team is inconsistent; they’re not terrible.

The next nine games are against Kansas City, Toronto and Baltimore. If the Yankees can roll a 7-2 or even a 6-3, those games against Boston Aug. 26-28 will have some meaning.

Maybe Joba comes back. Maybe Phil Hughes will be Phil Hughes. Maybe Moose and Pettitte stay solid. Maybe Giambi and Abreu go on a salary drive. Maybe A-Rod stops popping up with men on base. There’s still a chance.

Now that assumes they don’t quit on Joe Girardi. The Yankees have a lot of kids, soon-to-be-free agents and veterans and at some point they’ll get tired of the team meetings, optimistic patter and lineup changes.

Sitting Johnny Damon the other day and playing Justin Christian because of his 23 at-bats against lefties raised a lot of eyebrows.

Girardi was tightly wound when the season started. What’s he going to be like now?

You have every reason not to believe. But there are still a few reasons to hang in.


Peter is ever the optimist but he is also very realistic with his reporting and his views, which both make his blog a huge success. I believe the guy knows what he's talking about so there should no more frantic thoughts for the time being.

The Yanks have been decimated with injuries left and right. Yes, I know every team has to deal with injuries but they lost their ace, another ace-in-the-making, a slugger and thier clubhouse leading catcher. That's just the beginning of the list of guys lost to injuries but we all know the rest of that list so there's no need to go into that again. The Bombers may have one more run in them before its all said and done with in 2008 so let's try to give them the benefit of the doubt. They return home this weekend for what should be a pick me up series, take the ball and run with it for the remainder of the season. The Colorado Rockies won 21 of 22 games to make it all the way to the World Series last year, the Mets had a 7 game lead with 17 games to go and they lost it. Now, you can not tell me with 41 games to go the Yankees don't have a chance. I think it's a big fat chance but it's there nonetheless. Don't give up on them just yet, they'll be one more ride.

Yanks 2nd Half Record: 14-12
My Yanks 2nd Half Prediction: 39-27
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Yanks Confident? Jeter:"They Better Be"


When the leader of the team speaks, you listen. When it comes to the Yankees, when Derek Jeter speaks, you listen to what he says. The captain of the Yanks spoke about the current state of the team. This should tell you enough...

“It was a bad trip, you can’t sugarcoat it,” he said. “We need to fix some things.”


He was then asked if his teammates were as confident as he is, he responded...
“They better be”.


The Cano's and Cabrera's better have a fire in them in these last 40 games or else heads are going to roll. Alex Rodriguez said it best the other night. he was asked if time is running out on the season and the Yanks' chance at making the postseason, he replied "Yep". That tells you all you need to know. A-Rod hit the go ahead homerun in Tuesday night's game in the 12th but the Yanks couldn't build on it in Wednesday's game in which they lost 4-2 and dropped the series.

The Yanks finish thier 10-game road trip 3-7. Horrible. Will the Yankee Stadium faithful give them support and love or are they going to let the Bombers hear it for stinking it up across the country? They open a three game set with the Kansas City Royals on Friday night. This is a good time to win three games in a row...because time is running out.
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What Was Girardi Thinking?

You know some things just boggle the mind no matter how hard you try to understand it? Last night Joe Girardi did a mind boggling thing. He sat down Johnny Damon in favor of Justin Christian. Yes, you read that right. Why he would make such a move when the Yankees DESEPERATLY need a win? Especially against a team that they need to pass in order to gain control of the wild card.

Girardi's explanation:
“The turf sometimes can beat up his body,” Girardi said before the game. “We’ve got three days in a row with a short turnaround on Wednesday.”

His replacement Christian, went 0 for 4. Girardi then added this to reassure all of us why sitting Damon, who leads the American League in hitting was the right move to make..
“It’s tough, but the other thing you have to deal with is Johnny’s shoulder’s banged up,” Girardi said. “There’s a lot of things that go on that make the lineup the way we want to. That’s what I chose to do.”


Interesting. I'm speechless. If I was the manager of the Yankees, I'd have Damon out there until his arm fell off, even then I would still have him at DH if he could swing a bat. 43 games remain and the Yanks are now 5 out of the wild card. This ship is sinking and sinking fast, at this point you need to do whatever it takes to win. So what if Damon if a lefty and the opposition throws a lefty to the mound, who cares if you play 3 games in a row with the last game being a quick turnaround?? Who cares?! You must win now. At all costs. There is no excuse for this move.

Once again, the Yankees lost and that's now 4 in a row and 11 of thier last 16. The Titanic that is the New York Yankees are starting to sink as we speak, it seems it's only a matter of time before it's all over. I hope this season turns arounds quick, it has to...doesn't it?
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The View Frome Home: A-Rod's 7th Inning Baserunning Miscue


Situation: Top of the 7th inning, 1 out, scored tied 3-3.
At Bat: Xavier Nady, 20 hits in his last 45 at bats, 13 RBI

Alex tried to steal third base but was thrown out. This was an interesting play. If he makes it, all the Yankees need is a fly ball and they take a 4-3 lead. If he's out, then it costs the Yanks a runner in scoring position with a red hot batter at the plate. The play was close enough to go either way but A-Rod was called out. Not a bad play in my book because I like the aggressiveness but it's also something you can second guess.

Here's A-Rod's take on the play:
“I’m always looking to make something happen. They have such a great bullpen. You can’t sit around and wait for things happen. … I was safe.”

Joe Girardi's take:
“I believe he was safe, so I don’t have a problem. Alex is a very smart base-runner, he knows exactly what he’s doing. He just didn’t run recklessly, he studied the pitcher. I turned him loose.”

Again, not a bad move by the Yanks, but it led to them losing an important runner in a crucial time in the game. If they get a 4-3 lead, Mariano Rivera comes in to start the 9th in a save situation (if the Yankees held the Angels scoreless in the 8th). I, personally would've held A-Rod at 2nd base. If someone like Jose Molina was up at the plate then I'd let Rodriguez try to swipe 3rd.

The breaks just haven't gone New York's way the last couple weeks.
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When It Rains, It Pours - Anaheim Edition


This 10-game road trip has been a disaster for the Yankees. They are 2-5 through the first 7 games, they have lost 3 games in the AL East to Tampa and 1.5 to Boston in the wild card. Not to mention, they lost their ace-to-be Joba Chamberlain.

What's interesting to note is that the Yanks had a lead in each of the 3 games against the Angels this weekend and could not hold any of them. Ian Kennedy got rocked again Friday night and said..

“I felt like I made some good pitches,” he said. “I’m not too upset about it. … What was it, a bunch of singles and three doubles? I’m just not real upset about it. I’m just going to move on and I’ve already done that.”
...wow, did he really say that? That earned him a first class ticket back to AAA Scranton. Good move by the Yankees. He later apologized for those comments, but come on you got to be smarter than that.

Saturday, Dan Giese pitched 6 solid innings giving up only 1 run, but the bullpen blew up thanks in part to an 8-run 8th inning. The first 6 runs came before the Yankees recorded an out. Ouch! Joe Girardi was asked how he felt watching that 8-run 8th unfold...

“What do you think? You think it’s fun watching that crap?” Girardi snapped. “Silly question.”
...I agree.

Sunday, the Yankees were again ahead in the score, but could'nt hold on. This time a baserunning mistake by Alex Rodriguez in the 7th ended a chance at a rally that could've broke a 3-3 tie and a walk by Damaso Marte in the 9th to the 9th place hitter set up the game winning single by Chone Figgins. Those two plays sealed the Yanks' fate this weekend.

"We had a lot of opportunities. We have to blame ourselves," said Abreu, who grounded to second with the infield in and a runner on third in the fifth inning. "I wish I had an explanation. I don't think we understand what's going on."

The Yanks have a chance to redeem themselves with 3 games against the Minnesota Twins. A team they trail in the wild card by 2.5 games. It'll be worth watching to see how the Yankees respond to being swept this weekend in Anaheim. 44 games left to go.


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Quite Frankly: The Yankees Need A Little Rocky Balboa In Them

Now what I saw yesterday was just down right terrible. The combination of Edwar Ramirez, David Robertson and Jose Veras did their best Kyle Farnsworth impression. They blew a 3-1 lead and most importantly, they blew a solid performance by Dan Giese. That's something the Yanks can not afford to do given their situation. With 45 games to go, the Yanks must win the games their pitchers allow them to win.

During the 8-game winning streak a few weeks ago, everything was clicking on all cylinders. The pitching, the hitting, the bullpen, the defense, the clutch hitting. Now, the Yanks have lost 9 of 14 and are really pushing towards the possibilty of no postseason. While everyone, myself included wait for the Rays to fall on their face, it doesn't appear thats going to happen anytime soon. Time is running out. The past few seasons, this is usually the time the Yankees go and make up their ground and win the games they need to. That's not happening this season. The heart of the team seems to have fallen once Joba Chamberlain went down. Ian Kennedy doesn't seem to be the answer either as he pitched poorly once again. Granted he did face the best team in baseball but nothing in his approach gave you any sense of encouragement for his next start or two. Phil Hughes is on his way back and I hope he becomes "The Franchise" once again and lives up to his expectations.

Expectations need to be met now, the Yankees are always in a win now mode, just look at the trades they made last month. That tells you the Yankees want to win and will do anything they can to do just that. Now, four games out of the wild card, there should be no cause for concern but after seeing the 7th and 8th innings of yesterday's game, there certainly is a lot to worry about. Joe Girardi and his troops have time to turn this around, but the clock is ticking...they better start doing whatever it takes to win. The last winning streak showed what the Bombers are capable of. The loss of Joba put the Yankees down but they're not out. Here's one of my favorite quotes:

"..it ain't about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done." - Rocky Balboa


Yes that is from the last installment of the Rocky series, but there's much truth to it. Rocky was an underdog in most of his fights and eventually came out on top. I realize he lost his last fight in the last movie but he gave it his all. I want the 2008 Yankees to do the same no matter what their situation is. I think it's time for Girardi to be as encouraging as Mickey was for Rocky. Something has to work...but it needs to be done.... time is running out.

Yanks 2nd Half Record: 13-9
My Yanks 2nd Half Prediction: 39-27
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Chasing 800


Chasing 800 follows the chase of Alex Rodriguez and his pursuit of the All-Time HR record, currently held by Barry Bonds (763). Many people believe Alex Rodriguez ro be one of the best players to ever play the game and believe his talent has endless possibilities. A-Rod is on his way to baseball immortality if he has stays healthy. The feat..800 Career HR's. A feat that no man may ever approach. But Alex is in a class of his own. Here at Chasing 800, I will follow his pursuit at sports' most prestigious record.

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Frank Negron Jr. I follow the beloved New York Yankees on the website www.HotStoveNewYork.com and www.OnTheBlockNY.blogspot.com. My work can be found there as well as here. I will give you my thoughts on A-Rod, the Yankees and his pursuit of 800 that will be exclusive to Chasing 800.


Chasing 800 is under the Chasing Records family tree. It came about as a result of
the Chasing74 concept started in April of 2007. Alex Rodriguez hit 14 HR's in the month of April, thus setting up his memorable MVP season. As a result, we thought it would be a great idea to promote the single season HR record and link up with a charity through the Full Focus Scholarship Fund. A-Rod finished with 54 HR and his 4th MVP season, and we were able to build a strong NY baseball fan-base on our Sports Talk Forum and on MySpace. We have also been mentioned on the Michael Kay Show of ESPN Radio. We now have a very loyal fanbase and want to expand so anyone and everyone is included in "The Chase." Please join us to witness a once in a lifetime performance.

Any questions, comments or suggesstions for Chasing800, Frank, or the Chasing Records family, please feel free to contact us and be heard. We hope you enjoy Chasing800!
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Old Timer's Day Remembers The Good Times

Yesterday was a special day at Yankee Stadium. It was the 62nd Old-Timer's Day and more importantly, it was the last one at this stadium. It's always a special event and always a joy to watch guys from back in the day don the pinstripes one more time to bring back the memories of some of the greatest moments in Yankee history.

With all due respect to everyone else, there is no organization that can assemble the quailty of players and memories like the Yankees can. Old-Timer's Day lets you remember and relive the greatest moments, it never lets you forget them.

A nice addition this year was the 1996 Yankees. 13 members of that championship team were on hand for this year's festivies. At least one player from each of the last 16 world championship teams was represented. Here's a list of players.

Jim Abbott
Luis Arroyo
Steve Balboni
Jesse Barfield
Don Baylor
Yogi Berra (HOF)
Paul Blair
Johnny Blanchard
Ron Blomberg
Wade Boggs (HOF)
Scott Bradley
Dr. Bobby Brown
Homer Bush
Andy Carey
Chris Chambliss
Horace Clarke
Jerry Coleman
David Cone
Ron Davis
Bucky Dent
Al Downing
Brian Doyle
Dave Eiland
Tony Fernandez
Ed Figueroa
Whitey Ford (HOF)
Oscar Gamble
Joe Girardi
Rich “Goose” Gossage (HOF)
Eli Grba
Ken Griffey, Sr.
Ron Guidry
Rickey Henderson
Arlene Howard (widow of Elston)
Helen Hunter (widow of Jim)
Reggie Jackson (HOF)
Tommy John
Pat Kelly
Jimmy Key
Gene “Mickey” Klutts
Johnny Kucks
Don Larsen
Al Leiter
Graeme Lloyd
Hector Lopez
Kevin Maas
Jill Martin (widow of Billy)
Tino Martinez
Bobby Meacham
Ramiro Mendoza
Gene Michael
Rich Monteleone
Diana Munson (widow of Thurman)
Jeff Nelson
Graig Nettles
Paul O’Neill
Gil Patterson
Joe Pepitone
Tim Raines
Bobby Richardson
Mickey Rivers
Cora Rizzuto (widow of Phil)
Buck Showalter
Charlie Silvera
Bill “Moose” Skowron
Aaron Small
Luis Sojo
Mike Stanley
Darryl Strawberry
Wayne Tolleson
Jeff Torborg
Mike Torrez
Tom Tresh
Bob Turley
David Wells
Dave Winfield (HOF)
Gone but not forgotten: Bobby Murcer


An unbelieavble group of players and accomplishments. As always the loudest ovations went to O'Neill, Martinez, Wells, Strawberry,and Berra. One man who got a loud ovation and rightfully so deserved it was Willie Randolph. After disgracfully being dismissed as Mets manager earlier this summer, Randolph made his first public New York appearance. It was a nice show of support from the Yankee Stadium crowd. Met fans may feel differently about Willie but as the saying goes, "Once a Yankee, Always a Yankee". This is not a knock on other fans but Yankee fans show their respect to players who put their all into being a Yankee and wore the pinstripes with pride. Derek Jeter always says he plays for the greatest fans in the world. Boy, is he right.

"That was awesome," said Tino Martinez, "Willie deserves it. That's why these are the best fans in the world. You want to applaud them for doing that."


I can't help but be at awe at the players that the Yankees bring to the Stadium every year. It's simply amazing. The tradition of the Yankee organization is one that gives you goosebumps. I remember where I was for the last 4 World Series wins. It's great to see the players that remind me of those good times.

It was another special moment in the House That Ruth Built. There seems to always be a magical moment going on, that's what Yankee Stadium is all about and that is what is being celebrated this year. A good show by the Yankee organization yesterday. It makes you feel proud to be a Yankee fan and while other people will say what they want about the Yanks, NO ONE can do what the Yankees did yesterday and NO ONE has the history that the Yanks do.

I really hope the Yankees can honor Bernie Williams before the end of the season. There's 20 home games left, let's hope we get to see NO. 51 one more time. That would be another memorable moment in a season full of them.
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