Saturday, August 21, 2010

Real New York New York Yankees: Eddie Lopat, part 2

Edmund Walter Lopat (originally Lopatynski) (June 21, 1918 – June 15, 1992) was a Major League Baseball pitcher.
Lopat was born in New York, New York. His Major League debut was on April 30, 1944, playing for the Chicago White Sox.
He was traded to the New York Yankees on February 24, 1948 for Aaron Robinson, Bill Wight, and Fred Bradley. From 1948 to 1954 he was the third of the "Big Three" of the Yankees' pitching staff, together with Allie Reynolds and Vic Raschi. He pitched in the All-Star Game in 1951 for the American League. In 1953 he led the AL in both earned-run average and won/lost percentage.
On July 30, 1955, he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for Jim McDonald and cash, finishing out the season and retiring. Over his 12-year AL career, Lopat won 166 games, losing 112 (.597) with an ERA of 3.21.
Lopat managed the AAA Richmond Virginians for the Yankees in the late 1950s, and in 1960 served one season as the Yankees' pitching coach before holding the same post with the Minnesota Twins in 1961 and the Kansas City Athletics in 1962. In 1963 Lopat was tapped to manage the Athletics and continued in this role until June 11, 1964. His Major League managerial record was 90-124 (.421). Lopat stayed on as a senior front office aide to team owner Charlie Finley until the club moved to Oakland after the 1967 season.
He was sometimes known as "The Junk Man," but better known as "Steady Eddie.", a nickname later given to Eddie Murray.
He died at his son's home in Darien, Connecticut, and had been a resident of Hillsdale, New Jersey until his death.
Lopat pitched for five victorious Yankees teams in the World Series during his career, in 1949-1953.

Real New York New York Yankees: Eddie Lopat, part 1

from Raschi, Reynolds, Lopat
an excerpt from the baseball biography project
Eddie Lopat, by Zita Carno
Eddie Lopat, "The Junkman," teamed with fireballers Vic Raschi and Allie Reynolds to form the Big Three starting pitchers on the New York Yankees' five straight World Championship clubs from 1949 through 1953.
He was born Edmund Walter Lopatynski on June 21, 1918, the first of seven children. The family lived on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, later moving uptown to be closer to the shoe-repair shop owned and operated by father John.
Lopat went to DeWitt Clinton High School. The school did not have a baseball team, so he played with outside teams. His usual position was first base. From an early age he had been a Yankee fan, having grown up with the Bombers of 1927 and beyond, and quite often he and some schoolmates played hooky to go to a ball game. He dreamed of playing for the Yankees one day.
While working summers as an usher at Radio City Music Hall, he attended a tryout held by the New York Giants. He was told he wouldn't do; he couldn't make the throw to second base. He went to a Dodger tryout, and they signed him to a minor league contract in 1936. The first thing he did was shorten his name to Lopat so it would fit better into a box score, the way Cornelius McGillicuddy had become Connie Mack.
The scout who used the phrase "good field, no hit" might have been describing Eddie Lopat. After two false starts he was with Greensburg in the Penn State League, but his .229 batting average got him packed off to Jeanerette, Louisiana, in the Evangeline League.
Warming up with a catcher before a game, he put a little something on the ball. His manager, Carlos Moore, noticed this and told him to throw a curve. Lopat did. Moore told him that with the right coaching he would become one of the best pitchers in the league.
Exit the first baseman, enter the lefthanded pitcher. In his first mound appearance, in relief, he allowed just two hits in 6 2/3 innings.
Still, he bounced around the minors for seven years: from Jeanerette to Kilgore, to Shreveport, to Longview, back to Shreveport. In 1939 he started experimenting with a screwball, which would later become his best pitch. And in 1940 he found love; he married Mary Elizabeth Howell, known as Libby. When he was ready to pack it in and return to New York, she persuaded him to give it one more year.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Doing The Yankee Over The Hill Out Of Shape DL Hustle


A closeup still of the video shows Yankee DL hustlers Lance Berkman and Nick Johnson

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Kerwegian Wood


He once had an arm or should I say, an arm more than just good
He's showed us he's not through, isn't it good, Kerwegian Wood?
We needed him to replace 8th inning Chamberlain grief
He's turned things around with great short relief.
On the D-List just biding his time he aged on the vine
He gets strike two and then it is said, "It's time for bed"
He said,  "The inning’s over," and started to laugh.
I said that it wasn’t and curled up to sleep in the bath.
And, when I awoke, the side was retired,
These Tigers were tired.
Isn’t it good?
Kerwegian Wood?

On The Futility Of Rooting For The Mets: While My Guitar Gently Weeps



Being a staunch Yankee fan, I still do not put myself in the category of a met hater. Yet one has to be cognizant of the futility of rooting for this team.
I look at the mets and see that they are sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at their next series and I see they need sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps

I don't know why no one told you
how to convey your love
I don't know how the mets controlled you
they bought and sold you

I look at their game and I notice it's failing
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake they still aren't learning
Still my guitar gently weeps

I don't know how you were diverted
you were perverted too
I don't know how you were inverted
no one alerted you

I look at the mets and see that they are sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at their next series and I see they need sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps

I look from the stands at the play they are staging
While my guitar gently weeps
As I'm sitting here doing nothing but aging
Still my guitar gently weeps

Oh, oh, oh
oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
oh oh, oh oh, oh oh
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
yeah yeah yeah yeah

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The Cisco Kid Ain't No Friend Of Mine



things have changed with Cisco since the beginning of the season
The Cisco Kid ain't no friend of mine
The Cisco Kid ain't no friend of mine
He can't hit curves, his B.A. in steep decline
He can't hit curves, his B.A. in steep decline
Powerless, his balls can't reach the stands
Powerless, his balls can't reach the stands
Opposing runners steal whenever they can
Opposing runners steal whenever they can

Any Runs Today?



Any runs today?
runs for winning
That's what I'm hoping
Any runs today?
Scrape up the most you can
We're chasing the pennant man
Asking you to score some goddam runs today

Any runs today?
We'll cheer shalom
If a Yank crosses home
In the Bronx, U.S.A.
There goes the pennant man
Can't make tomorrow's plan
Not unless you score some goddam runs today

Monday, August 16, 2010

I Remember You


I remember You
You're the heater who made my wins come true
A few seasons ago

I remember you
You're the one that clocked more than 82
When I could throw

I remember too
When I pitched well
And batters fell
Like rain out of the blue

When the year is through
And the Yankees ask me to recall
What led to my downfall
Then I will tell them I remember you

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Kansas City: We Scored No Runs

I'm going to Kansas City
Kansas City here I come
I'm going to Kansas City
Kansas City where the Royals are just bums
We had some crazy luck and missed Greinke there
Yet against some no-name we couldn't even manage one run

They've Got Beginner's Luck



From days of Valentino to Pacino
Or in reverse,  M & M days to the Bambino's
They tell you that a beginner
Comes out a loser
Beginner pitching of rounders
Will be hit by a string of pounders
That's what I've always heard
Would usually in baseball occur
But now I don't believe a word!

For newbies get beginner's luck;
The first time they pitch
Against Yankee white and blue
Gosh they're lucky!

For newbies get beginner's luck;
Yank opponents always smile
It's so weirdly true
Gosh they're fortunate!

This thing we've begun
Confounds the pinstripe pastime,
For this time is the one
Where the first time is the Yankee worst time!

For newbies get beginner's luck;
Lucky through and through,
For the first time they pitch
Against Yankee white and blue

Real New York New York Yankees: Jimmie Reese

Jimmie Reese (October 1, 1901, in New York City – July 13, 1994, in Santa Ana, California) was the adopted name of Hyam Soloman (birth name variously given as Herman Soloman, James Herman Soloman, and James Hymie Soloman), a professional baseball player. He played primarily second base, though he also played a few games at third base.
In order to avoid the brunt of prejudice against Jewish baseball players during that era, Soloman adopted the name of Jimmie Reese, which he used throughout his baseball career.
Although Reese was born in New York City, he grew up in Los Angeles.
James Herman Soloman was born on October 1, 1901, in New York City but was raised in Los Angeles. At the age of 12 he was a batboy for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. For six years he held the batboy job except for a one-year stint in the U.S. Navy in 1918, where he was a mascot for a Navy team that included Lefty O'Doul, Bob Meusel, and Howard Ehmke. Concluding his batboy career in 1923, Reese started his playing career in 1924 as a second baseman for the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League. In 1925 he played 136 games at shortstop and second base, batting .248. Jimmie became the Oaks' regular second baseman in 1926, pairing with Lyn Lary as a double play combination; they became known as "The Gold Dust Twins." In 1927, Reese batted .295 in 191 games and led the PCL in fielding for second basemen (.984) as the Oaks won their first pennant in 15 years.

Real New York New York Yankees: Bob Grim

Robert Anton "Bob" Grim (March 8, 1930-October 23, 1996) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball.
He was born in New York, New York and later his family moved to Brooklyn. He attended Franklin K. Lane HS and is a member of the PSAL Hall of Fame.
He was signed as an amateur free agent by the New York Yankees in 1948. His Major League debut was on April 18, 1954 for the Yankees. He wore uniform number 55 for the Yankees during his entire period on the team. He won 20 games (the first Yankee rookie to win 20 since 1910) and lost only 6 that year, with a 3.26 earned run average, and was voted American League Rookie of the Year, with 15 votes out of 24. He played in two World Series for the Yankees, in 1955 (against the Brooklyn Dodgers) and in 1957 (against the Milwaukee Braves). By 1957, because of arm troubles, he became an exclusive relief pitcher. He has been retroactively listed as leading the American League in saves in 1957 with 19 (At the time, saves were not a regularly calculated statistic). He was an All-Star in 1957.
On June 15, 1958, he was traded, along with Harry Simpson, by the New York Yankees to the Kansas City Athletics for Duke Maas and Virgil Trucks. The A's assigned him uniform number 34.
On April 5, 1960, he was traded by the Kansas City Athletics to the Cleveland Indians for Leo Kiely. The Indians assigned him uniform number 26.
On May 18, 1960 the Cincinnati Reds purchased his contract from the Cleveland Indians. He was assigned uniform number 46 by the Reds.
On July 29, 1960 the St. Louis Cardinals purchased his contract from the Cincinnati Reds. He kept uniform number 46 on the Cardinals.
He was released by the St. Louis Cardinals before the 1962 season, but on April 9, 1962 he was signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Athletics. He resumed the uniform number 34 on the A's, which he had worn earlier on that team.
His final MLB game was played on May 24, 1962. On May 31, 1962 he was released by the Kansas City Athletics. He died in Shawnee, Kansas.

Kansas City Here I Come: When Kansas City Was A Yankee Farm Team, Part 2

Kansas City Here I Come: When Kansas City Was A Yankee Farm Team


I'm going to Kansas City
Kansas City here I come
I'm going to Kansas City
Kansas City here I come
They had a crazy way of trading there and I'm gonna get me one
--------------------------------------------------------------
I'm gonna be standing on the corner
22nd street and Brooklyn
I'm gonna be standing on the corner
22nd street and Brooklyn
With my Kansas City tradee and a wad of Kansas City fake finns
--------------------------------------------------------------
Well I might take a plane I might take a train
But if I have to walk I'm going just the same
I'm going to Kansas City
Kansas City here I come
hey had a crazy way of trading there and I'm gonna get me one
card images from check out my cards
from the baseball almanac
....However, by the mid-1950s the other teams appeared to be catching up to the Yankees. Some teams, most notably the Dodgers, moved quickly to sign the excellent African-American players made available by the ending of the color line in 1947. Some good young players decided to sign elsewhere, not wanting to get stuck in the large Yankee farm system. Other teams became more active on the trade front, and built their own minor-league systems, following the model created by Branch Rickey in St. Louis and, later, Brooklyn and Pittsburgh.
The Yankees won a record five World Series in a row ending in 1953, but they lost the pennant in 1954 to Cleveland. Their dominance of baseball was threatened.
Of course, the Yankees were the richest and most resourceful club in baseball, then as now, and they found a way to ensure a continuous supply of good players. They managed to turn one of their American League rivals, the Kansas City Athletics, into a virtual farm team.
How did this happen? Connie Mack's family sold the Philadelphia Athletics in 1954, and Yankee principal owner Dan Topping arranged for one of his business friends, Arnold Johnson, to buy the A's and move the team to Kansas City. It's still unclear how much influence the Yankee ownership held over the A's, but the two teams then embarked on a six-year series of trades. These trades, as we shall see, almost always favored the Yankees.
The Yankees, in fact, rarely traded players with any other team in this six-year period. From 1955 to 1960, the Yankees gained many outstanding players from Kansas City, and managed to give only marginal value in return. It must have worked, since the Yankees won four more pennants in a row beginning in 1955, while the new Kansas City team struggled to stay out of last place.
Were the A's simply bad traders, or did the Yankees and Athletics have some kind of secret agreement that gave the Yankees their choice of all of Kansas City's good players?

The Third A-Bomb

Was A-Rod's 3rd A bomb, a massive 430 plus footer, an almost exact, to the day, reminder of a possible 65 year old historical event? Is the Kauffman Stadium left field facing west towards Sapparo, Japan?
On the 3rd A-bomb, an excerpt:
The question often arises: did the United States have a third bomb ready to drop on Japan, following the Little Boy uranium device that destroyed Hiroshima on August 6 and the Fat Man plutonimium bomb that destroyed Nagasaki three days later?
In the Spaatz Papers at the Library of Congress manuscript section, there is much radio traffic generated on Tinian in the second week of August. The U.S. Army Strategic Air Forces wanted the third bomb to be dropped on Tokyo as a wakeup call for the Japanese government, which was stalling on agreeing to the United Nations surrender terms. (That this could have been seriously proposed is an indication of how woefully uninformed USASTAF was about the destructive power of the weapons it had delivered to the Empire.) Back came a message, presumably from Hap Arnold, saying that the decision had already been made that the target would be Sapporo in the northern island of Hokkaido.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Joe The Chimp: An Early TV Appearance


Make the Connection
Presented by Jim McKay (July 7-28)
Gene Rayburn (August 4-September 29)
No. of episodes 13
Running time 30 Minutes
Original channel NBC
Original run July 7 – September 29, 1955
Make the Connection was an American game show, sponsored by Borden, that ran on Thursday nights from July 7 to September 29, 1955 on NBC. Originally hosted by Jim McKay (who years later would be best-known for hosting ABC's Wide World of Sports as well as that network's coverage of the Olympics), he was replaced after the first four episodes by future Match Game host Gene Rayburn for the final nine episodes.
The series was a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Production, and as such it had many things in common with the other panel shows developed by the company. Like I've Got A Secret, there were four celebrity panelists who were each given a timed period in which to ask questions. Each panelist that was stumped earned the contestants money.
Rules
The object of the game was for the four celebrity panelists to "make the connection" between two people who would sit on both sides of the host. Like many of its sister panel shows, it also featured the obligatory appearance by a celebrity guest, who would play the game as a contestant.
Betty White made one of her earliest game show appearances as a panelist. White would later be a frequent panelist on every version of the Rayburn-hosted Match Only a handful of the thirteen episodes exist, including at least one McKay episode. GSN has occasionally shown an episode (mostly those hosted by Rayburn) in its "black and white" programming blocks.

Joe-Joes, The Managerial Chimps

As my former PCL teammate and one-time Yank, Lyn Lary said
Tonight was another awful example.  Yanks down 4-3, going into the 9th, facing one of the very best closers in the game in Joakim Soria.  Jeter has a tough at-bat, battles back from 0-2, and grounds a single through the left side.
So...whattaya do??
You have to have to have to have to have to put on a play.
Run him, hit-and-run, bunt.  Something.  Anything.  I don’t care if his Achilles tendon just fell off, you have to AT LEAST have Jeter hopping up and down at first, trying to take a big lead, etc.  The Grandy Man, your .244 hitter, folks, is up next.  Have to put on a play.
So did he?  Nope. No steal, no bunt, no hit-and-run.  Jeter stuck so close to the bag Soria never even had to throw over.   Granderson got a good whack at the ball, flied out to left.  Teixeira got a second chance after the catcher dropped his foul pop, and struck out...and Jeter never moved.
Then—A-Rod hits a bouncer up the middle.  Perfect ball to score a run—if Jetes had been on second.  But he wasn’t.  Instead, all he could do was race to third (no sign of a leg injury there).  Then Cano grounded out.
It was ludicrous.  Girardi’s basic assumption there was that you were going to get at least three hits off one of the best closers going.  Preposterous.  You have to force the play there.  No way you’re getting three hits.  Hell, for that matter they could have easily walked Cano, and just pitched to Cervelli, who was filling in for Posada by then.  
A gutsy team, betrayed by idiots.  Or as a German officer once said about the English, they are lions led by donkeys.  Hee-haw.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Meet The Mets

 with a h/t to nomaas
Meet the Mets, meet the Mets,
Step right up and beat the Mets.
Beat your kiddies, beat your wife,
Guaranteed to have the time of your life.

Because the Mets are really socking them all
Knocking those in-laws over the wall.
East side, West side ev'rybody's coming down,
to meet the M-E-T-S Mets from jail-house town.

Oh the raper and the assaulter and the people on the street
Where do they go? To meet the Mets!
Oh they're smacking and they're fondling when they sit down in their seats
Where do they go? To meet the Mets!

All the fans are true to the orange and blue,_
And their Mets will be glad to beat you black and blue
Give ‘em a yell!_Give ‘em a hand!_
And let ‘em know you're rootin’ to beat someone behind the stands
so hurry up and come on down -
_‘cause we’ve got ourselves a ball club,_The Mets of New York town!_

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Curtis Granderson's New Swing

We've heard about Curtis' new swing. 
But if it involves Kathy Griffin we wonder which side of the plate Curtis is swinging from

In Days Of Old....

Tex misses a crucial series to be at home with his newborn. Swish jokes with Molina after wussing out on play at home. What ever happened to the gas house gang?
In days of old
When the players were bold
And no time was spent with folk
A close play at the plate
Would endanger catchers' fate
Instead of sharing a joke

Happy Timms Are Here Again


Happy Thames (Timms) are here again
The Yanks have won a game again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy Timms are here again
Altogether shout it now
There's no one
Who can doubt it now
So let's tell the world about it now
Happy Timms are here again
Marcus pounded one and it was gone
Mo got the save with one on
From now on ...
Happy Timms are here again
The Captain got some clutch hits again
So, Let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy Timms
Happy nights
Happy days
Are here again!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Jesus Is Coming?


Jesus Is Coming
Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming
Yanks, you'll get some new spark
A much needed jump start
Jesus is coming and the rivals say...
Broken heart, oh broken heart, oh broken heart
Jesus is coming, lose your fears fans
Jesus is coming, lose your fears fans

Oh Captain, My Captain

Yet another GIDP in a clutch situation. Say it ain't so Derek.
O CAPTAIN! my Captain! is your amazing trip done?
The team has weather’d every rack, can the prize we seek be none?   
The rays are near near, the sox I hear, the yank fans all revolting,   
While we eye your un-steady keel, your hitting grim and flaring:   
    But O heart! heart! heart!            
      O the bleeding drops of red,   
        Let not on deck my Captain lie,   
          Fallen cold and dead.   

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Monday, August 09, 2010

The Outmakers



Berkman finally got untracked on Sunday, but he and Kearns failed miserably in the clutch on Monday afternoon
(What they do!)
(“They smile in your face
All they wanna do is to slow down your pace
The Out-Makers. The Out-Makers.
“They smile in your face
All they wanna do is take you out of first place
The Out-Makers. The Out-Makers.
There are yankees who produce and  really care, yeah, yeah
Then there are yankees for who you better be beware, yeah yeah
Somebody's out to ruin your pay day
A few of your teammates sure look shady
Bats are long, clenched tight in their fist
But with holes a mile wide
And with them  they'll surely miss
(What they do!)
(“They smile in your face
All they wanna do is to slow down your pace
The Out-Makers. The Out-Makers.
“They smile in your face
All they wanna do is take you out of first place
a h/t to Lynn Lary
The in-depth stats on Berkman and Kearns are shockingly awful. Neither has been a full-time player this year, but going into Saturday's game, Berkman had 12 double-plays and 70 strikeouts in 298 at-bats; Kearns, 12 and 80, in 307 at-bats. Save for Jeter’s 13 GIDP, they are tied for second on the team. Only Swisher (88), Teixeira (75), and Granderson (71), have comparable strikeouts. In other words, both these guys make an incredible number of unproductive outs. They are out-makers

Something's Coming, Something Yid?: 2


If Jason Hirsh gets called up to the Yankees
Could be!
Go know?
There's someone due any day;
I will know right away,
Soon as it shows.
It may come cannonballing down from Mt. Sinai,
Brisket in his eye
With a bent nose

Go Know?
It's only just out of reach,
Down a block off Brighton Beach,
Under a planted tree.
I got a feeling there's a miracle due,
Gonna come true,
A Yankee Jew?

Something's Coming, Something Yid?

from minor league baseball
The International League announced today that Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitcher Jason Hirsh has been named the League's Pitcher of the Week for the period from August 2-8.
Hirsh's honor represents the fourth time this season the Pitcher of the Week Award has gone to a Scranton/WB hurler, all coming within the last five weeks (Jonathan Albaladejo, July 5-11 and July 15-18, and Tim Redding, July 26-Aug. 1).
Hirsh won a pair of games for the first place Yankees this week, while tying for the League lead with 14 strikeouts. Each win helped put more distance between the Yankees and their opponents in the IL North.

Alexander and Lance Berkman: Separated At Birth, Part 5

When Alexander Berkman witnessed the cold-blooded slaughter of the sailors of Kronstadt in 1921 it put an end to all his doubts about Bolshevism. His place could not be on the side which ruthlessly killed the pioneers of the Russian Revolution, as did the French bourgeoisie the 35,000 men, women and children of the Paris Commune. His book The Bolshevik Myth renders his inner conflicts in an expressive and striking portrayal. It was a terrible shock to Berkman.
When Lance witnessed the the booing he received from disappointed Yankee fans over his .091 BA he was shocked. On Sunday, August 8th he cranked out 3 hits in the Yanks 7-2 victory over the Bosox.
Those boos soon turned to cheers.

Dustin Time

Dustin time you’ve found us Dustin time
Before you came our time was running low
We were lost Andy's groin was tossed
Our pitching staff was crossed nowhere to go
Now you're here, now we know just where we're going
No more doubt of fear we've found our way
For wins came Dustin time
You’ve found us Dustin time
And helped our pennant fight that lucky day

Thank You Blue Jays



Baby lou
Baby lou
Baby lou
I know a team and they're named the jays
They swept the rays, a team from far away
We never thought much of them
But now we can't forget them
That's why the jays are true
ooo ooo ooo___
Blue jays
Yip, yip, yip
Stroking like a blue jay on a spree
Yip, yip, yip
You took real good care of me
Yip, yip, yip
Can't you see how you how happy you have made yankees
Can't you see
Yip, yip,, yip, yip

Sunday, August 08, 2010

Alexander and Lance Berkman: Separated At Birth, Part 4

Cara Berkman and her baseball stud Lance have been referred as one of the most stable and solid celebrity couples, and I have to admit they are and they look unbelievably happy and so in love.

Alexander Berkman met Emma Goldman in 1889 at Sach's Café on Suffolk Street, the unofficial headquarters of young Yiddish-speaking anarchists in New York City's Lower East Side. Goldman remembered him as having the "neck and chest of a giant. His face was almost severe. A determined youngster." "Their love and attraction would become the emotional center of both their lives," wrote historian Candace Falk. Though their romantic episodes were fleeting, they would remain lifelong comrades.

Saturday, August 07, 2010

Lance Says A Little Curtis Prayer

The moment you pick your bat up
And there's a lefty match up
I say a little prayer for you
While pulling my hair, now,
And wanting Ajax back now,
I say a little prayer for you

Win One For The Nicker

Brian Cashman was elected recently to the Irish-American Hall of Fame.
It appears he's morphed with another great Irish-American team leader, Pat (Knute Rockne) O'Brien
Now, a new rallying cry can be utilized for this year's Yankees.

Berke's Law


Audio from illfolks
Hey lover
Let's make the scene
I've got a crazy hifi in my limousine
Birds of a feather
Should wing it together
If we're forsaking love
We're breaking Burke's Law
Hey lover
Let's make some time
If we don't grab this moment
It would be a crime
Love me, admit it
And you'll be acquitted
When we're making love
We're making Burke's Law
It's a law
Without a flaw
It's practically ideal
It's a cool unbending rule
From which there's no appeal
Hey lover
Let's make some sense
If you're defying Burke's Law
You have no defense
Since I'm testifying
My love's undying
Give in, baby give
And live by Burke's Law
I've played my ace now
I rest my case now

Hey Yank fans
Give me some slack
I've got nothing left in my big bat
I'm from the NL
A league that's below level
If you're forsaking wins
We're bringing Berke's Law
Hey Yank fans
You're losing time
If we don't grab this moment
It would be a crime
Don't blame me, admit it
Let Cash be convicted
If you're forsaking wins
We're making Berke's Law

Friday, August 06, 2010

The Berkmans: A Closer Look At Love That Lasts


an excerpt from sports pundits
Cara Berkman has been living in Houston her entire life, that is the place where she was born, grew up, got married and would see her leave her beloved Texas, as her husband has been traded to the New York Yankees.
Before becoming Cara Berkman she was known as Cara Baker to Johnny and Carla Baker, her life has been surrounded by sports since she was born. Her father is Johnny Baker, who played with the Oilers, Frank Baker her uncle with the Yankees, her brothers Jacob (Kansas City Royals) and Joshua (Rangers, Brewers). Her maiden name was the the name her husband got when he was introduced to her by her brother Josh while he was at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Wow, the great Frank "Home Run" Baker finished his tenure with the Yankees with a .288 batting average, 46 home runs and 375 RBIs in 676 games.
That averages out to one home run for every 14.6 games. So, if  the Puma follows suit, he's due to hit one in about 10 games.

Bosox Fans Voted The Best?

According to a Forbes Magazine poll Boston Red Sox fans were ranked the best in the nation. Kind of makes you think that some of the same fuzzy statistics were used as in the case of New York City's hyped test scores

Lance Says A Little Brian Prayer

The moment you call up
Before making one of your signing screw-ups
I say a little prayer for you
While combing your thinning hair, now,
And wondering what Theo did now
I say a little prayer for you

Forever, forever, you'll let the wrong ones depart
and I will hate you
Forever, forever, your legacy is a lingering fart
Oh, then I'd smell you
Remember, remember, the greatness of Stick
To live without you
Would not bring heartbreak a lick.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Alexander and Lance Berkman: Separated At Birth, Part 3

In 1982, Lance Berkman's family moved to Austin, and the boy’s baseball training intensified. Back then, conventional wisdom held that young players shouldn’t lift weights. But Larry, Lance's father, remembered meeting a scout when he was at UT who suggested that arm strength could be built safely and effectively in kids by having them swing a bat at a tire. So he hung a tire from a tree and told Lance to take 100 cuts—50 lefthanded and 50 righthanded—each day after school.
Because tires have more mass than baseballs do, Lance had to drive through the hitting zone with a lot of energy just to complete his swings. This gave him strength other boys did not possess. He also hit off a tee, helping him to hone his mechanics. And mechanics were everything to Lance. He devoted his weekends to his swing—both lefty and righty—throughout his childhood and teens years, spending countless hours in the batting cages when his friends were goofing around and having fun.

When Alexander Berkman started to avenge the Homestead strikers he knew a deed like that could only be paid for by his death and he was ready to sacrifice his young life without hesitation for his outraged sense of justice. Berkman tried to assassinate Henry Clay Frick, steel mogul whose private detectives killed 10 of his striking employees. Alex shot Frick three times and then stabbed him with a curare-tipped dagger before he was overcome by his bodyguard. Unfortunately (and miraculously) Frick survived.
Perhaps if Alexander had practiced on tires, to gain strength like Lance did, he would have succeeded with the stabbing.
No matter how one evaluates his deed, none would doubt his sincerity if one only had the patience to delve into the complicated soul of humanity and guess its secrets. When a person, particularly a young man whose life still has everything to offer, is ready to risk his all without hope of return, he must not be evaluated by ordinary standards. This is a deed which can only be explained when its motives are appreciated. He who does not understand how one could give everything for a cause which bore for him the whole meaning of life, will never understand a person like Berkman. The average philistine who calculates his life by profit and loss, and whose hardened soul cannot understand any action which is not motivated by the desire for profit, will never see in people like Berkman other than brutal force who menace the existence of society. They will never comprehend that it was not crudeness of sentiment that made Berkman commit his deed, but that it was his love for humanity, his respect for human life, that impelled him to take a life. This rare trait was characteristic of Berkman to his very end and was the key to his personality.

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Alexander and Lance Berkman: Separated At Birth, Part 2

William Lance Berkman was born in Waco, Texas, on February 10, 1976.  The second Cynthia and Larry Berkman's three children, Lance had an immense appetite as an infant, slurping down entire bottles without stopping. What intrigued Larry was that his son would then hurl the bottle out of his crib. Lefthanded.
The elder Berkman had been a pretty fair baseball player in his time—good enough to log three seasons at the University of Texas as a walk-on outfielder in the late 1960s. Larry decided that Lance’s southpaw bottle tosses were a sign that he would become a ball player himself.
Alexander Berkman, the son of a Jewish businessman, was born in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, on 21st November, 1870.  At the time the territory was part of the Russian Empire. His father, a wholesaler in the shoe industry, was prosperous enough to be allowed to move to St. Petersburg.
Berkman grew up in comfortable surroundings, that including servants and a summer house. He attended a gymnasium reserved for the privileged elements of society.
On 1st March, 1881, Tsar Alexander II was assassinated. The bomb blast shattered the windows of his classroom. That evening, his older brother, who sympathized with the revolutionists, told him that he had been killed by the People's Will. As the author of Anarchist Portraits (1995), has pointed out, Berkman "was deeply moved by the martyrdom of the populists, five of whom were hanged for their part in the assassination. He was inspired by their idealism and courage, and from that time forward their example lingered in his thoughts." Thus, like his "descendant" Lance, Alexander was a left-winger.

In his 14 years in prison Alexander Berkman wrote "Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist." It is considered one of those rare books which once read is never forgotten. In this book all the suffering and pain of a courageous spirit struggling against great odds is told in a background of drab prison life. Most of those upon whom fate has placed such trials break down under the pressure of personal sorrow.

In his 15 at bats as Yankee, Lance has two singles and one rbi.

Lance Says A Little Jorge Prayer

The moment you suit up
Before you put on your boys' cup
I say a little prayer for you
While watching your ever-graying hair, now,
And wondering how much your skills have worn down, now,
I say a little prayer for you

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Lance Says A Little A-Rod Prayer


The moment you shoot up
Before you put on your makeup
I say a little prayer for you
While Cameron combs your hair, now,
And wondering what bling to wear, now,
I say a little prayer for you

Forever, forever, you'll stay at 599
and I will hate you
Forever, forever, we'll watch your decline
Oh, how I'll hate you
Together, together, that's how it must be
We're stuck for 7 more years with you
Truly a Yankee tragedy for we

Alexander and Lance Berkman: Separated At Birth, Part 1

1. Alexander tried to assassinate Henry Frick
    Lance is attempting to assassinate the Yanks' pennant chances this season
2. Alexander served 14 years in prison at the Western Penitentiary of Pennsylvania in Allegheny for his attempted assassination.
    Lance served almost 12 years in baseball prison with the Astros.

Lance Says A Little AJ Prayer


The moment you start up
Before you even throw your warm ups
I say a little prayer for you
While tearing my hair, out 
And wondering what way you'll allow a blow out
I say a little prayer for you

Forever, forever, you'll put a strain on my heart
and I will hate you
Forever, forever, I hope you will part
Oh, how I hate you
Your failure, Your failure, that's how it must be
To live without you
Would only be heartening for me.

Monday, August 02, 2010

You're In A Trance If You Think Lance....



    You're in a trance if you think lance is the guy
    Who has an eye that lets balls take flight
    Don't be beguiled by the smile of the man
    Who holds your hand in prayers neath the pale moon light
    don't forget it's rays that drive them home
    And in whose wake you're gonna be
    So yank fans it might be 2nd place for thee

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Lance Berkman's New Yankee Prayer Group

When Lance played on the Astros he led a prayer group.  The above is an imagined group encounter he might have on his new Yankee team