Big Blue Huddle

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)

Quote from: files58 on October 12, 2012, 11:17:27 AM
The failure to hit with RISP has been a huge issue with this team all year long. As a die-hard fan I find it frustrating and disturbing. I am not blaming Cashman etal., it is tough to put a team together with the pressure of having to always put a superior product on the field. There is a fundamental hitting problem. A few less homers and more doubles and singles would go a long way. Granderson struck out 28.5%, or 1.2 times pergame during the season and in this series 9 times. All those completely non-productive at bats. No advancing a runner, no sac flies, killing rallys, no taking walks to get on base. When a player hits 43hrs and only drives in 106 runs that is a problem. Am I being unrealistic to believe that a power/run producing hitter should have 3-4 rbi for every homer hit? He is Dave Kingman with a glove. Tex refuses to hit the other way. If he did the shift may end. With AROD who knows, has he just lost it, is it his eyesight, reflexes? Swisher is a FA after this season, I don't see him returning.

You just hit on all of it.  Tex is equally as frustrating as Arod, but what a marvelous glove.  After years of watching a scared Giambi not make the 3-6-3 throw I want him at first.  But I can not understand his refusal to to hit the other way.  His average is steadily declining.  Granderson....a waste.  if he has speed he does not use it.  Plays way too deep in Centerfield, and now we get an average in the .230's.  I could live with .260 - .270.  i find it hard to watch Austin Jackson without crying.

The REAL bottom line is our minor leagues are devoid of any discernable potential talent.  How many of them did you see called up Sept. 1. ----2 ----Wow.  Melky mesa, who forgot where 3rd base is...and some lefthanded pitcher that we cut a few days later when we activated Gardner.   I never knew Andruw Jones was so valuable.

Kind of sad that the Oakland A's, a team with less payroll than Arod and Tex combined gave the Tigers such a battle.  We never would have.  This team is a tree with 5-6 good limbs that is rotting from the inside.  And it kills me....52 years a fan.

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.

Quote from: Webster29 on October 10, 2012, 11:19:04 PM
MIKE   YA OTTA LOVE IT    I SURE DO    THEY PULL A ROD FOR PH IN BOTTOME OF 9TH AND HE HITS TIEING HR THEN WINS IT WITH HR IN 12TH   

I did love it....UNTIL THE NEXT GAME last night.   Same situation in the bottom of the 8th with 2 on and a very tough righty on the mound.  Leave him in and another K.  THEN pinch hit for him in the 11 th with no one on.

Girardi makes no sense outside of the blind misguided loyalty he has to Arod, Swisher, and Granderson.....again a combined 1-14 last night.

Hitting is a premium in the playoffs and sometimes you gotta mix it up and look for hitters capable of delivering.  Jayson Nix going 2 for 3 in Game 4 and Ibanez HRs just do not seem to light the candle in Girardi's brain.

At least we will see Ibanez as DH in Game 5, beyond that I have no doubt the lineup will remain with Swisher, Arod and Granderson.  Unless C.C. turns into Game 7, 1962 Ralph Terry the die is unfortunately cast I fear.

Two games in, this is the same playoff Yankees of the last two years......Swisher and Aroid......zip.  Granderson watching fly balls drop as he plays the deepest CF I have ever seen in baseball.

Regular season...all we worry about "is our pitching good enough".  Playoffs...our pitching is fine....but still no ability to manufacture runs.

Game 3 against a right hander, we should start Chavez at 3rd, Gardner is left and shift Suzuki to right.  At best Girardi should drop them to 7th and 8th in the lineup.....not 3rd and 5th.

But Joe will keep doing the same lineup and in 2-3 games we shall be departing for the golf course.

Quote from: bighitterdalama on September 25, 2012, 09:17:20 AM
Bill,

I am surprised. If you had put this up as a question, I would have guessed either National League August/September 1965, where the Pirates, Giants and Dodgers went toe to toe for about two months, or American League East September 1974, with the Orioles and Yankees. The Yankees were eliminated on the next to last game of the season; Doc Medich then threw a no hitter in the final game.

Big Hitter

i was in college that season and it was the first real taste of pennant fever yankee fans had sniffed in a long time.

Medich actually lost the next to the last game that year, pitching a complete game that Yanks lost in the 10 th in Milwaukee.

Pat Dobson and sparky Lyle won the meaningless closer and we finished 2 games behind the hated Orioles with 89 wins. 

That was George's first season as owner and the Yanks wheeled and dealed all year.  Shipped out Horace Clarke to San Diego, Mel Stottelmyre tore his rotator cuff before anyone even knew what that was, Pat Dobson and Sudden Sam McDowell were bought in for pitching depth, Eliot Maddox hit .303 as our new CF.  it was a fun year, and told Yankee fans that George wanted to win.

That will be an interesting voting, given the mets non contention.

As a Yankee fan who is familiar with anti yankee bias in this type of voting, does the same exist regarding the Mets.  Or are they considered benign by the writers ?

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

Since I am a yankees fan, I am a Sox "hater".  It is a tremendous rivalry.  For 5 years, they have been giving away their young prospects (sound familiar) to try and keep up with the Yankees.  Lo and behold, Tampa (how they do it is beyond me), Baltimore (their Daniel Snyder must have drifted into a coma), and even Toronto (devastating injuries the last 2 years) have built teams to challenge.

This is a GREAT move for the Sox.  I only wish the Yanks could jettison the AROID contract, but then NO ONE is that stupid in baseball....unless Angelos comes out of his coma

I thoroughly agree we have given away too many pitchers over the years.

Granderson to me is nothing but an Adam Dunn type who hits 40 points higher.

I guess i should preface all of this with the Steinbrenner's edict of not paying an "over the salary cap fine" after this year.  Roughly 37 million is going to have to come off this payroll, and Cano's contract is coming up.

I really thought with the "core four" success of the 90's the Yankees were finally done with stupid trades of their youth for 30 year old "decent" players...i.e. Jay Buhner for Phelps.

Short of jettisoning AROID (and they ain't NO GM that stupid), this system is going to have to produce.  I keep praying Miami might take Rodriguez if we pony up half his salary (32 million).  We had the perfect out 4 years ago when AROID optioned out of his Yankee contract and we go and pay him even more.  He is no Jeter, he is NOT special.  he is old, breaking down, getting older, and not producing when he is healthy.  His career is going exactly the same as Ken Griffey, Jr. 

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.

Believe it when i see it.

Let's say in his last scheduled regular season start he has 7 innings alloted to take him to his inning limit.  At the end the 7th inning he is pitchng a perfect game.

If they pull him then I wish they would move this franchise to another city....again.  BTW, I live 25 miles from the stadium and have seen this francjise leave twice before.

AGAIN.....rbi single, home run, hit batter....all in 2/3 of an inning.

Dear Mr. Girardi,  do you know the definition of insanity.........?  With the lead in the fifth in a situation screaming for Derek Lowe, we get the side arm twins (whom the league has figured out) and Joba.

We have to carry Repada and Eppley to equal one pitcher and release DeWayne Wise, who was nothing but a positive for us.

I fully expect Tampa to overtake us in September and we can sweat out a 1 game playoff in October.

I, too, think relief is his nitch, BUT, in 2009 I made my only visit ever to the old Stadium with friends from Virginia.  Joba started (against the lowly Padres) and regularly blew 97-99 on the gun and gave up only 2 hits until hitting his 100 pitch count.  Even from the stands it was a dominating performance.

I have always wondered if pitching every 5th day and leaving it all on the mound is not the way to go with him, mentally and physically.