The House That Ruth Built. You have to be a fan to understand. Please read the article below right to rid yourself of any misconceptions about why the Yankees are so successful. Click on Yankees and the YES Network to go to those sites. C'mon...don't be a baby!



Send me an email

Trustbuster? Bust this! - My blog. It's a Seinfeld reference. Go figure.

Coney Island 2000 - A nostalgic trip back to the old neighborhood

Coney Island 2007 - Seven years later. Wow.

The Majambo Song - Majambo is wise. Check it out.

Words of Wisdom

There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life. Frank Zappa


I don't think that Frank Zappa was talking about these morons who hate the Yankees and really can't say why, but here is a good article that explains why Boston fans really are idiots. Click here.



My father was a Brooklyn Dodger fan and he always hated the Yankees. However, when I was a kid he took me to a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium and we sat in the bleachers. I do not remember who won or anything other than the experience of being with my dad and what Billy Crystal spoke of, about seeing the field for the first time in color. I was hooked. I used to ditch high school on opening day to see the Mick play. The Yankees were not very good in the late 1960's. I didn't care. I saw Mel Stottlemyre hit an inside the park grand slam. I saw Mickey hit one out. Then I broke my toe because I got it caught between two subway cars while riding between the cars. Go figure.

When I took my son with me to NY when he was 16 years old, we went to a Yankee game. I wanted to take him, like my father took me. He has been a Yankee fan since he was a little kid. I did at least one thing right.

Mickey Mantle



Try this on for size. When Mickey won the Triple Crown in 1956, there was no live ball, no steroids and no expansion. He hit 52 home runs, drove in 130 runs (RBI) and batted .353. His slugging percentage was .705. I am of that generation that Billy Crystal and Bob Costas spoke about so eloquently. It is not really possible to understand unless you have experienced it. Mickey was larger than life. There was no pervasive media to expose the flaws that are a part of every man. When he died in 1995, I cried. Whenever I see the video clip of his last news conference and he talks about not having taken care of himself and not to be like he was, I get choked up. This was a man who was larger than life in a simpler time. Check out this site to read the Mickey Mantle Eulogy by Bob Costas.

Why it's great
to be Yankee fan

1. This picture was taken on 6/30/02 when all the guys were in NY. You mean to tell me that me driving by Chase Field would be as remotely cool as this?



2. The Mick. Joe D. The Bambino. The Iron Horse. The Scooter. Yogi. Donnie Baseball. Reggie. Thurman. Paulie. Mr. November. Whole names are not necessary to know who these legends are.

3. Mickey Mantle. Joe DiMaggio. Babe Ruth. Lou Gehrig. Phil Rizzuto. Yogi Berra. Don Mattingly. Reggie Jackson. Thurman Munson. Paul O'Neill. Derek Jeter. (For idiots)

4. We can think of clever things to say about an opposing team other than: (insert team) Suck!

5. We don't have to say bad things about other teams because we KNOW that we are champions and we expect to achieve that goal again.

Check out the team with 26 World Championships The New York Yankees.

Yankees' Secret? It's Not Money

By IRA BERKOW

SPORTS OF THE TIMES

Quiz question: When was the last time the steeped-in-dough, green-to-the-gills, competition-slaying Yankees finished in last place? Answer: 1990, when they finished seventh in the American League East, with the second-worst record in baseball, 67-95, just two games better than the Atlanta Braves. Surprised? The Yankees were rolling in filthy lucre then, as they surely are today, but they hadn't assembled the right cast of characters, spending money on free agents who flopped.

Were the Yankees successful simply because they had deeper pockets than anyone else? Money didn't hurt and it is true that payroll disparity between the Yankees and many other teams has become far more glaring in recent seasons. But it is more significant that the Yankees, by 1996, had developed a nucleus in their farm system.

A great strength of the Yankees or any winning team, for that matter is up the middle. And up the middle the Yankees have players they groomed through their minor league teams: catcher Jorge Posada, shortstop Derek Jeter, second baseman Robinson Cano, pitchers Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Ramiro Mendoza and center fielder Bernie Williams.

In the end, it's not just the money, but how your organization manages it from the big club to the Class A team, from owners to players to scouts that matters.

POSTSCRIPT: That the Yankees have deviated from the above plan is precisely the reason they are not World Series Champions anymore. Recent non-moves regarding young talent is a good sign that maybe they realize that they have to return to 1995 thinking.