I tried out all the time but I never got picked!

Story of my life!

The rest of the Dream team

 

Left Field: Roy White

He was the best player on those old Yankee teams. A good hitter, baserunner and a spectacular fielder. He was all around one of my favorite players.

Centerfield: Jim Lyttle

He only had a short career with the Yankees but he was one of my favorites because I got his bat on Bat Day. I used it to play softball and I have it to this very day.

Right Field: Ron Woods

I mean just look at the guy! You can tell he was a very smart ball player.

Well at least he dove into the stands to catch the ball.

Just sayn'

Pitcher: Stan Bahnsen

A crafty right hander he was the best pitcher on some very bad teams. I saw him pitch his heart out game after game and lose do the ineptness of the rest of the team

He never gave up. A true Yankee.

I still see them......in my dreams......

 Opening day is on March 30th when the Yankees meet the San Fransico Giants. Pretty ironic since the Yankees and the Giants were bitter rivals when they were both in New York City. The Yankees (then known as the Highlanders) were the upstart little team in the Polo Grounds and were scorned by the much more established and storied Giants led by the legendary John McGraw. Now they play in the regular season. Things have sure changed since I was a rabid fan.

When I think back to all the teams and players I rooted for my mind always goes back to the days of my yute. The team I really want to see? Well it is full of people you don't even remember.

First  Base: Frank Tepedino

A Brooklyn boy he came up to bigs after the great old teams were gone. He played for us for a few years and then became a New York City fireman. Served on 911. A hero in several respects.

Second Base: Horace Clarke

The real "Hands of Stone"....fuck Roberto Duran. Perhaps the worst second baseman ever to play for the Yankees. He is a true icon. In fact, these teams are always referred to as the "Horace Clarke Yankees." That's how I feel about them.

RIP Ray Fosse!

 Remember that All Star game when Charley Hustle ran into Ray Fosse and knocked him ass over teakettle to score a run in a meaningless game? All the old timey announcers praised Rose as a throw back to the old days of spit and vinegar. He played the way the old timers did. Plus he bet on the games like Hal Chase and Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker so Rose would fit right in with the Black Sox.

Still and all he really fucked up Ray Fosse. He had a rookie of the year season but most of that was before the All Star Game as he never quite recoverd. He was one of the bright young catchers of the 1970's but he never rose to the level of Thurman Munson or Carlton Fisk. He had a serviceable career though and was the announcer for the A's for a long time.

He passed at age 74 from cancer.

RIP Ray. I think you are heading upstairs because playing in Cleveland was punishment enough for you sins buddy. 

Tom Terrific is dead.....and so is baseball

Tom Seaver was my Dad's favorite player. He was an old time Dodger fan who switched to the Mets as a lot of National League fans did when the Dodgers and the Giants fled to the Coast. Tom was one of the two men he admired most along with Roger Maris even though he was a hated Yankee.

I vividly remember this game as my Dad let me stay up to watch the game with him. One of his cronies was over and they were going to go out but they stayed to watch the game. He let me stay up. He even let me sip from a can of Reingold. I felt bad for him when Jimmy Qualls got that hit in the ninth inning.

The simple please of the game visible on that clip are gone to us now. It's all social justice posturing and political slogans to appease the left wing monster machine..

Tom Terrific has passed away. A lonely nation turns its eyes to you.

But you're dead.

Just like the game.

Mel Gibson: Wordsmith

Mel Gibson is a wordsmith. From the man who gave us the immortal locution "Sugar Tits" comes another gem. Per the NY Post:

“We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends, and Mel Gibson was smoking a cigar,” Ryder, 48, told the news outlet. She added that something came up about the Jewish faith, at which point the “Mad Max” actor said, “You’re not an oven dodger, are you?” — an apparent reference to the way bodies of Jewish prisoners were incinerated in Nazi death camps."

Sandy is gonna have to change the back of his baseball card.

My All Time Fielding Team... Pitcher

The best fielding pitcher I ever saw was Jim Kaat of the Twins. He was like a machine. He didn't come to the Stadium a lot but I saw him make a couple of great plays in person. He was the best fielding pitcher I ever saw.

There was some other pretty good fielders that I could have picked like Greg Maddux and Bob Gibson. The one out of the box pick that I could have made was Jim Abbott the one armed Yankee pitcher. He was a surprisingly good fielder. But I had to go with the best.

My All Time Fielding Team ....Catcher

It wasn't even close as I have to go with Johnny Bench. He was an unbelievable backstop. I saw him throw out a lot of guys and he nursed a shitty pitching staff into the series with the Big Red Machine.

I could throw out some other great catchers like Pudge or Andy Etchebarren or even Jerry Grote but Bench is the Gold Standard.

I do however acknowledge that Mike Piazza holds the record for getting hit in the face with balls off the field.

Still Johnny Bench is the man.

My All Time Fielding Team: The Outfield

It's time for the outfield.

Left field is Roy White.

There are a lot of good left fielders. Yaz for one. Don Buford. Cleon Jones. Ichiro. You usually stuck your worst fielder in left. But I say Roy White play a lot of games. I went to every Yankee home game in 1967 and 1968. Roy White went out and got it. He would dive into the stands and pull home runs away from the opposition. He wasn't as big a name as some of these other guys but he was the best I ever saw.

In center field I have to go with Paul Blair.

Paul Blair was the best centerfielder I ever saw. Smooth as silk he never missed a play. I saw Mickey and Willie Mays but it was at the tail end of their careers. Mickey was hurt and Willie got old. Ken Berry was a damn good fielder as was Amos Otis and Ken Griffey Jr. But nobody was better than Paul Blair.

His best play? When he ran out to replace Reggie Jackson in the middle of the game and Reggie went to the bench and tried to kill Billy Martin. Now that was when baseball was real and not the faggot game it has become today.

Right field would be the one and only Roberto Clemente.

Most of America got to see what a great fielder he was in that famous World Series. But I knew it because I saw him kill the Mets all the time. My Dad was a big Mets fan so he would have the Mets on the TV while I was listening to the Yankees on the transistor radio. I saw Roberto murder them time and again. I even met him once.

I went to this party in New York with a friend of mine and his Dad who was a big shot in this company and they had this company awards dinner. They had a couple of ball players there for a meet and greet. There was Tommie Agee and Bobby Murcer and Roberto Clemente and Manny Sanguillen. Roberto didn't talk much. But he had these very pointy shoes so I bet he got all of the cockroaches in the corners.

Honorable mention to Dewey Evans who was a close second the fuck.

The Hot Corner

Talking about third basemen made me think of one of my all time favorite Yankees. Celerino Sanchez.

He was a dumb Mexican who was called up to play third base because Rich McKinney was a total bust. You see McKinney was traded to the Yankees from the White Sox. We gave up a really good pitcher Stan Banshen for this piece of shit. I was at the game where he made four errors. Four errors. It was my first visit to Fenway Park and I had to hide my head in shame because of this douche weasel.

So they promoted a Mexican to do the work that a white American didn't want to do. Play third base without making an error every other play. Celerino was pretty good. He made some nifty plays in the field and was an ok hitter. He had no power but he put the ball in play. He was very exciting in the field.

He was on of the first minor league players who came up and started out great that I followed with the Yankees. Many others followed. He lost out because the next year we traded for Graig Nettles and he was off the team. Celerino later had a long career in the Mexican league.

I still vividly remember when he came up from the minors. You can't get that excited about baseball anymore.

Damn shame.

My All Time Fielding Team: Shortstop and Third Base

I want you to realize that as much as I love the Yankees I have to be fair and pick the best fielders regardless of what team they are on. (Except the Red Sox or the Mets which doesn't matter because they suck anyway)

Best Shortstop: Ozzie Smith

There isn't even a close second. He is by far the best I have ever seen. Now there are a lot of slick fielders I have seen through the years. Mark Belanger. Gene Michael. Even that punk piece of shit Rey Ordonez. Still none of them could hold a candle to the Wizard of Oz. I once saw him turn four double plays in a double header in Shea Stadium. He was the real deal.

Best third baseman: Brooks Robinson

This is a tough one because I could have easily picked Graig Nettles. Or Clete Boyer. Or Celerino Sanchez. But I have to give the devil his due.

America got to see how good Brooks was in the World Series. Unfortunately I got to see him rob the Yankees all the time. He was the best day in day out. A gentlemen. Somebody you could respect and wished were on your team.

My All Time Fielding Team- First and Second Base

I was listening to a replay of Joe and Evan on WFAN and they were detailing their picks for their all time fielding team. Offensive ability doesn't weigh in as this is strictly about fielding. I thought that was fun and since it would annoy everyone except spinelli I thought I would post some thoughts.

First Base: Wes Parker

The best fielding first baseman I ever saw was Wes Parker of the Dodges from back in the 1960's and '70's, He was a slick fielding first baseman who could turn a game around with his glove. Never missed a throw and could steal some hits from line drives down the line. I have seen a bunch of good fielders from George Scott to Mark Texiera to even Mattingly but Wes was the best by far.

Second Base: Ryne Sandberg

If I had to stop by the snowy woods in the evening to pick a great second baseman I would have to go with the Cubs Ryne Sandberg. I didn't follow him as much as I did the guys in the American league  but he is pretty much the gold standard for fielders. I saw him make a great play against the Mets once that really impressed me.

I pick the best regardless of what team they are on. It's mighty Frank White of me (a joke only Spinelli would get).

Astros beat Yankees? How did George Jetson's Dog get into the American League?

So the Houston Astros beat the Yankees in the playoff's last night. They won fair and square. I still can't get over a team that was originally named after Billy Dee Williams favorite beverage. When I think of the Astos I just don't think of an American League Team. I think of the Tigers or the Orioles or even the hated Red Sox. But the fuckin' Astros. Stop.

When I think of the Astros I think of Harry the Hat Walker as the manager and the Toy Cannon as their best player. Yes Jimmy Wynn was the man back in the day. Of course he sucked when he came to the Yankees. He was past it. But back in the day he put up some impressive numbers.

The Astros had some tough series with the Mets back in the 1980's but I really didn't pay much attention to them. They were an obscure West Coast Team in the other league like the Diamondbacks or the  Dodgers. Who gives a shit about them.

Anyway congratulations Astro guys. Take the mantle of self righteousness of the American league and defend our honor. Against Washington. Hey who is the manager of the Washington team. Ted Williams?

Nah. That can't be right.