Big Blue Huddle

This is especially for my good "friend" Jamie, whose Dad  had season tickets at old Yankee Stadium in 1965 and took him to the games.

While this is from Youtube....I have the attachment (224 MB) if anyone would like it.  Just let me know.

As an overview the Giants were 2-10-2 in 1964 and 1-12-1 in 1966. 

Enjoy.

1965 New York Giants Team Highlights

Okay, so 7 of our 8 starters from last year are hurt or gone.

The pitching staff, if it holds true to form, should be well above average.  This year it will need to have stretches of dominance.

Count me as one lifelong Yankee fan who is glad to see all this happen.

The "Core Four" from the mid 90's were the foundation of this team.  What in the heck have Yankee scouts been doing for the last 20 years ?

Joe Girardi will have to manage the REAL game of baseball this year.  Hit and run, steals, hitting behind the runners, bunting, advancing runners.

I rued the day we traded Austin Jackson, Phil Coke, and Ian Kennedy for Curtis Granderson.  My brother, also a devout Yankee fan LOVED it.  Extolled the virtues of this lefthander star.  He admitted last August...."you were right".

Granderson is a great guy, well spoken, a true gentleman. But he has holes at the plate that average pitchers exploit.

Mark Texeira(sp.) is the 2nd most overpaid player in baseball.  The finest DEFENSIVE first baseman I have ever seen, he has obviously hit that age where his hitting skills are on the decline.   And four years left on his contract.  Of course, we will never know if he could have mitigated this decline by adjusting to hitting the ball the "other" way against the shift that almost every opponent throws his way.  His abject stubborness to be a dead pull hitter is maddening.  Personally, I hope he is gone for the year.

Speaking of which....AROID.  Injuries, declining production, head case, steroids....reads like an ala carte menu.  If the Yankees had any balls, they would challenge his contract (HE is the most overpaid player in the league).

Jeter....what is not to love.  I pray for his health quickly because I want that run on the Hit record.  The romance of baseball needs him so we can FORGET Pete Rose totally.

Gardner, with good health, will be an All Star.  He should be in CF for the next 10 years.

And that brings me to the GREATEST mystery of the Yankee roster....Eduardo Nunez.  Tall, slender, very fast, and a butcher in the infield.  They sent him down last year when he was hitting .290.....right after Gardner's surgery.  GREAT, I thought, they are finally going to teach him the outfield where his assets are best utilized.
Then, I read an interview with Cashman just before spring training where he states the Yankees have ONLY considered him as an infielder and will work to correct his problems.

HISTORY Mr. Cashman.  Look up Mickey Mantle and Bobby Murcer.  Between screwing around in your marriage, getting blackmailed, and jumping out of planes...spend a little more time paying an open minded interest to your organization.  Okay, I know that was a semi-cheap shot.....but I find Nunez  as an infielder an insult.

Ichiro...no problem...love him...and he never cracks a bat or has it splinter.  There IS a reason for this for whoever is interested.

Catching....well, let's see...Yankee propaganda has told us for the last 5-7 years we have 3-4 catchers of promise in the pipeline.  Cervelli is servicable and more importantly, very likeable.  Austin Romine...always injured.  Chris Stewart makes Jake Gibbs and Frank Fernandez look inviting.

And last but not least....Robinson Cano.  Five years ago I thought he was just plain lazy.   Then watching him everyday, I discovered he is the MOST effortless fielder and hitter I have ever seen.  It is all natural ability.  The man should be a triple crown threat every year....period.   Another dead pull hitter who needs to make the "shift" adjustment when necessary.  But hands down the most talented Yankee and if/when so inspired the best player in baseball.....even if 3-4 times a year he forgets how many outs there are when on the basepath.

All that said, I told my brother last year "Third Place" after watching all of their spring training games.  "The slide has started."  Little did I know Baltimore would phoenix from the ashes and that Toronto would get decimated by injury like no team I have ever seen.

This year.....I have no idea.  Romance tells me the pitching staff will be sterling, the lesser players will use their maximum ability and Girardi will truly "MANAGE" this bomberless team to a lot of 3-2, 4-1, and 2-0 wins.

You see, I LOVE the romance of baseball...there is nothing like it.  Ron Guidry, Mo Rivera, Brian Doyle et al.... it has always had a grip on me.

about the 1990 NFC Championship vs. San Francisco and Super Bowl 25.

He makes a great point in this about "icing" the kicker by calling timeouts.

Enjoy OUR History...and come back....more stuff coming.....and please feel free to leave your rememberances.

This should be a "must see" section for all, especially our younger fans.


012112 Matt Bahr New York Giants.wmv

He was a stud.....

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1206057/index.htm

of the NFL season (28 minutes).  Some great clips of Fran's first year and Homer...narrated by jack Whitacre.

2nd part is the highlights of Super Bowl II...narrated by William Woodson, a legendary voice over man filling in for an unavailable John Facenda.

A very nice trip down memory lane with some great clips of Unitas, Sayers, Fearsome Foursome, Starr, Lombardi.

Enjoy !!!

Superbowl II - Green Bay Packers Vs Oakland Raiders (1967)

I have been following this closely for the past 2 years projection wise.

First off, let me state Derek Jeter is a SPECIAL player, the likes of which comes along very seldom in all of baseball.  Unlike football with its juiced up offenses and give up defenses, the game remains largely unchanged except for the emphasis on relief pitching and the DH in the past 40 years.  Records are achieved on mostly level playing field for the most part.

Given continued good health and minimal decline in his skills (which I realize is a HUGE given), he has a good shot.

Standing at 3304 hits right now and assuming he gets 200 hits next year (the last year of this contract), he will stand in 6th place, just a few hits behind Tris Speaker's 3514.  With a new 2 year contract in hand and 180 hits each of those 2 seasons he will have reached roughly 100 hits behind Hank Aaron for 3rd place, passing Speaker and Musial in the process.

At that point he will be 41.  One more year of 160 hits or so and he will be solidly in 3rd place, but basically looking at almost 2 more full seasons to pass Cobb at 4189 for 2nd place.  And then he will be 44, looking at the next season when around 100 hits will bypass Rose.

I can not imagine he will still be playing the field for more than 50-60 games once he passes 41, he will be used mostly as a DH.

SO MY QUESTIONS ARE......1. Is his hidden ego driven enough to want and pass Rose ?  2. Would he stay when most of his play will be at DH after the next couple of years ?  3. How will the Yankees handle  his contract...or do they ?

MY ANSWERS..........1. Yes, this would be an achievement that will last the ages, who wouldn't take a shot given the assumption Jeter has retained most of his hitting skills (see Arod for reverse example) and relative good health.  He is a baseball player, born for this task.    2. Yes...most of his career has been while playing an exemplary shortstop so nothing to be ashamed of in that respect.  He did not build a whole career off of sitting on the bench and going to the batters box 4-5 times per game every night.  3.   As long as his salary demands are reasonable the Yankees HAVE TO, they could never let him walk l'est be forever thought of as baseball scrooges.  The Yankees are TRADITION....the flagship of baseball...and the money is really secondary to the continued microscopic exposure they receive on a daly basis, which is part of what makes them so valuable.

The only fly in the ointment I see is the sad fact that I believe this franchise is headed for a downward turn in field performance.  Minor league system is threadbare thin.  Rapidly aging performers (who also fall  into a category of underperformers) like Arod, Granderson, and I fear Tex...along with a front office edict of no more wild spending and luxury tax bites have us on a slowly downward spiral.  I do not see Jeter sticking around and playing on a version of the 1982-1994 Yankees.

What a load of crap that he had no business commenting on................


http://sports.yahoo.com/news/cashman-not-surprised-cabrera-colon-163003464--mlb.html


What self-serving comments designed to make him not look like the boob he is by jettisoning both players. A great GM for finding fill in pieces, terrible at addressing the root of the Yankees problem...too many high priced stars who are not Superstars, and every MAJOR trade he makes lately he gets fleeced....Granderson for Austin Jackson and Ian Kennedy...and Pineda for Montero...a young everyday guy for a pitcher who declined BADLY the 2nd half of last year and then comes up injured. Meanwhile Montero gets his seasoning in Seattle, and we can watch another Jay Buhner in the making.
It will be real interesting to see what he does to get the Yankees UNDER the the cap as mandated by the Steinbrenners next year. Is anyone stupid enough to take AROID off his hands even if we pay half of his 32 million dollar salary ? And Cano's payday is coming up soon and the Yankees can not afford to lose him. Plus no guts in returning Joba to the minors and letting him start over from the ruination of his career thus far. He is a "deer in the headlights" this year....6 plus innings...15 hits, 4 walks, and just languishing and sinking further. Return him to the minors (AA) and leave him alone for a while and forget calling him up in September. Maybe reconsider him next June if he is pitching to potential.

This is a great piece from Sports Illustrated which will give the reader a great insight in hindsight as to what happened after such a great run of teams from 1956-1963.

Although very young, I lived through those years and it actually strengthens your resolve and character as a TRUE fan of a team.

Enjoy...............

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1076326/1/index.htm

And the reason I would never let Brian Cashman do anything but pickup fillin players (which he is surprisingly good at).

3 years ago....basically the Yankees gave up AUSTIN JACKSON (22 at the time and the jewel of the farm system), phil Coke (a pedestrian LH relief pitcher, serviceable at worst) and IAN KENNEDY (24 at the time, a 1st round pick and another pitcher we fast tracked the same time as Joba, got frustrated when his initial success didn't last and then banished to the mnors until the trade).

We got Curtis Granderson....period.

I am not going to spout out stats, you can click and see beside each players name.

First GRANDERSON http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7455  .....a very educated, well spoken CF who is an asset defensively in what at times has been a very challenged outfield (especially since we gave away Melky Cabrera, a defensive demon and clutch hitter who blossomed these last 2 years).  Curtis is a Strikeout king at the plate.  Yes, he does hit with power, and he hits with power against lefties, but he is a basic .240-.250 hitter, who this year will strikeout about 200 times.  UGHH.

Compare to AUSTIN JACKSON   http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/8412  who is basically 6-7 years younger.  On his worst day he is the equal of Granderson defensively.  Offensively, you can see the difference.
What in the world was the rush to get Granderson when the jewel of your farm system was major league ready.  Yes, he has had a few growing pains, but look at the numbers. they are growing and who knows what the ceiling is.  granderson is basically same old, same old as he was in Detroit.  Why do you invest in drafting and grooming a player through the minors and ditch him at the very moment his time has seemingly arrived.

Now, as if straight up, that is not a bad enough trade, lets talk IAN KENNEDY  http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/8099   Fast tracked with Joba in 2007, he was entertainingly effective enough that the Yankees slotted him as their Number 5 starter in 2008.  They jumped him 2 levels of the minor leagues basically.  Then he started abysmally, and was relegated to the minors and ignored.  Then in 2009 he was bought up in August, pitched 1 very effective 8th inning to bridge a big win against the Angels, and was shuttled back down.  Thank you very much Ian. 
And since the off season trade that year where he landed in Arizona, he is 41-24, including a 21-4 record last year.
I am not even going to bring up Phil Coke, because he is the kind of lefty reliever that hangs around baseball and pitches into his early 40's.  We have one now in Repada, and they always seem to be available.

I am stunned we never gave away Derek Jeter, but thank God Cashman was not in power at that time.

I have watched all 4 of his appearances since arm and ankle surgery....he looks like a deer in the headlights.  The reports on his minor league rehab appearances, throwing 99.  In these 4 appearances with the big club, i am seeing straight (no movement) 94 and a slider that rarely has good bite.

I have maintained to those who would listen that fast tracking he and Ian Kennedy (another story that sends me in a rage) we retarded greatly their development and Joba in particular has never become comfortable and confident pitching at the Major League level.

To me, it is time to send him to AA (not a typo) and let him finish out the season and teach him (if possible) some mastery of pitching.  Of course it would really help if the Yankees figure out if is he a relief or starting pitcher.  It looks like they have have settled on relief pitcher, but who knows how the front office and managerial winds truly blow.

I woud be interested in others opinions on this matter.

needs no introduction...but notice there were lots of BIG plays besides Tyree's catch and Plax's TD.

The drive did not start out all that well either ......................

And as has been, in my opinion, ludicrously debated on the main board, there is no way you worry about time management in this kind of situation....you have to SCORE....and then let the D take care of business.

We sure didn't rush 3 on Brady on his last drive.

Super Bowl XLII - New York Giants vs New England Patriots - THE COMPLETE LAST DRIVE

To me, this play was as big as Plax's TD.  3rd and 11 with 45 seconds left.

Gee, do you think we were concerned with leaving as little time on the clock as possible for Brady ??

Hell no, we were concerned about scoring...and let the D do their job...as it should be.

steve smith-the forgotten catch.wmv

A play every Giants fan should know about -- by our 4th best LB on the team at that time -- how is that for LB 

depth.  On the bench for that game Pepper Johnson -- our 5th best at the time.

Enjoy....

Gary Reasons THE HIT

Now you can watch a year later -- see previous post -- and see what can happen.

Part 1 --  NFL - 1984 New York Giants @ New York Jets [1/2]

Part 2 -- NFL - 1984 New York Giants @ New York Jets [2/2]

Don't know how long this will stay up on Youtube before the "police" have it taken down.

A good look at our emerging defense and a rememberance of how great teams are built...this was not a great team...3-12-1...and we almost got stuck with Howard Schnellenburger.

Still, all in all, a nice nostalgic look athe beginning of the Parcells era.

I believe if you understand the past, you can see and chart the future.

Plus you can watch 2 wastes of #1 draft choices -- Gordon King and Butch Woolfolk....and watch Joe Morris languishing on the sidelines not getting a chance.





Part 1 -- NFL - 1983 New York Giants @ Atlanta Falcons [1/2]

Part 2 --  NFL - 1983 New York Giants @ Atlanta Falcons [2/2]

still bothers me...a lot.

What a bunch of cheap shot artists lead by head skunk George Allen, who wondered why he was never considered all those years we needed a coach.

1963 Giants at Bears - 1 of 2


1963 Giants at Bears - 2 of 2

1962 Packers at Giants - 1 of 2


1962 Packers at Giants - 2 of 2

remember it like yesterday.

Tucker Frederickson's best game ever as a Giants.



Giants Redskins (1970)