Dec
25
Christmas Day Open Thread
By
Barring some unforeseen baseball news, this is going to be it from us for a while today. Enjoy the holiday. We’ll be back later tonight.
Merry Christmas to all from the three of us here at RAB.
61 Comments»
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who do you think will hit the first home run in the regular season at yankee stadium?
who do you WANT to hit the first HR?
Who knows, after all, in 40 years the Aflac question in the middle of the 4th inning, the question “Who hit the final home run at the original Yankee Stadium?” “Why the legendary Jose Molina of course!”
Johnny Damon on the second pitch he sees.
I like the Damon leadoff job idea
If it were Molina that hit the 1st HR…it would be classic, Last and 1st, what are the odds?
Another way to look at it is; A-Rod will end with more HRs than anyone in the majors…why not him? 27/09.
Love the Molina!!
Would this get him a plague in centerfield?
Hopefully they never put a plague in centerfield.
I feel a plaque might be more acceptable.
is molina coming back,,,yanks just signed cash fro thr sox…..snother point woundnt a 14-14 giving us 200 innings be a perfect fit a 5th with an injury prone starter (aj) and a guy on a pitch count (joba.
if they dont get petettiel=, at least get freddie garcia
Molina is coming back, he’s under contract, Cash was to a minor league deal
While that would be cool, there’s one reason why this wouldn’t be good: I’m sure Posada will be catching the home opener, and if Molina is catching, it would probably mean that Posada’s hurt, which I really hope doesn’t happen.
Jeter would be cool…how about Jorge?…or even Teixeira? Personally, it doesn’t matter to me as long as he’s wearing pinstripes.
Love to see Jeter tank one.
Jeetz needs the first hit, HR, and run 4sure
by the way Matt Cassel may have taken the cake for best season before FA ever, in any sport
I hope the jets sign him if favre retires
not a bad plan… even if Favre doesn’t retire.
Good luck fitting him under the salary cap, the Jets blew their free agent load last off-season. Also, the Patriots will probably franchise him and then trade him away to the highest bidder. Vikings?
farve’s and coles’s leaving = $17M. more than enough, when draft picks are included
Vikes, could be, chances are they want a win now QB (not that Cassel couldn’t be) but they’d rather go after someone like McNabb or Derek Anderson who might be available.
Else Lions could be interested or the Bears, or perhaps Parcells & the Dolphins, why Pennington has been good this year, not necessarily the franchise going forward.
Santa should of brought you some ginseng for Christmas because you aren’t thinking straight. Derek Anderson is a garbage quarterback, he had a fluke season putting up above average stats against the leagues worst passing defenses. McNabb is a has been, he couldn’t be successful with a great HB in Philly why would he be in Minn. Best available QB whether it be through trade or FA will be Cassel, and even though he’s good he won’t instantly put a team in contention, there are a lot of pieces working for him in NE that won’t be working for him in his next destination.
You are saying that Derek Anderson played all 16 games against the worst passing defenses in the league? Come on, give the man some credit. The word out of Cleveland this year was that he wasn’t the problem. I’m pretty sure Braylon led the league in dropped passes.
Minnesota has a better record than the Eagles do with two terrible quarterbacks, so that’s why he would be successful in Minnesota. McNabb has never been the problem in Philly; Westbrook could never stay healthy. Minnesota has a much better defense, a better running game, and a better offensive line. All they need is a quarterback to put them over the top.
Come on, atleast have some reasoning before you go on a rant like that…
I consider the threshold of a good game out of a quarterback to be a QBRat of 80+. Now if thats my unit of analysis, Anderson played 7 games with a QBRat of at least 80 last year. In those 7 games he played teams who’s combined records were 38 wins and 74 losses. I wouldn’t consider that a good QB. look at his ratings in the rest of the games, he had a QBRat of 70-80 in 4 games, one in the 60s, and four games in the 50s. I don’t think my arguement is that bad, and I wouldn’t call it a rant either. As for McNabb the Eagles are a better team, playing in a tougher division than the Vikings. I can’t sit here and say that the Vikings, who are a fringe playoff team in a week NFC North (Packers 5-10, Detroit 0-15) are a better team than the eagles, who are 8-6-1 in the NFC East, playing much tougher competition. The eagles are a better team than the vikings, you just said that the vikes need something to put them over the top, if mcnabb can’t put the Eagles over the top, and the only thing that the eagles don’t have is a good WR, then how can he put the vikings over the top when they are a weaker overall team than the eagles.
RAb day at the Stadium April 3-4? I’m sure all the tickets will be sold out ASAP, but we can at least tailgate and watch the game at a bar, since its such a historic thing.
I like Arod for the first homerun.
http://i24.photobucket.com/alb.....picbp0.gif
http://i168.photobucket.com/al.....ervert.jpg
you manimal, lmao
Anybody get anything good for christmas?
Pineapple core-er. Crazy little device that hollows out a pineapple and keeps the outside in tact to fill with delicious tropical drinks afterwards. Very few things on earth can beat some fresh pineapple I love that ish, has some fun side effects too if you know what I mean.
Nice. I got a camera. Sports related stuff, I got giants underwear(which are now deemed to be lucky and will be worn every sunday), yankees practice uniform/Spring training jersey.
AH, yo is the spring training jersey navy blue with the number on the back? Ive wanted one of those
finally got a new giants jersey… the plaxico one wouldnt cut it anymore…
Christmas: My Grandmother used to listen to the Yankee broadcasts of the 20′s & 30′s on the kitchen radio with Babe Ruth, Lou Gerhigh, Lefty Gomez, etc. My Dad grew up watching Mr. Clutch, Tommy Heinrich. He told me of all the games he skipped school for to watch Joe D., Yogi, Mick & Scooter play. Now I can keep my sons up with stories of Captain Thurman, Donnie Baseball, Bernie Williams and now Captain Derek.
Thank you, Santa Claus, for making me a Yankee fan!
The first game I ever saw was back in ’48.
In 1948, Joe “D” had more RBIs’ (155) then he did games played. Tommy Clutch was the 2nd best hitter on the team. And only one guy on the team had more strike outs then walks. Talk about lack of power, Tommy and Joe were the power on that team…somewhere around 60/70 HRs between them, not much help from the other guys. Good days to skip school and slip into the games. I’ll bet you had some good stories told to you, by your Grandmother and Dad. 27/09.
How about CC for the first home run maybe they wont us a DH the first game
absurdly ridiculous haha
Merry Christmas, everybody. Got some sweet Yankees shirts for the Holiday and I gave my dad (a carpenter) a tape measure with a Yankee logo on the front.
Is your dad’s name Joseph by any chance?
Haha, if only.
Do you think its asking to much to have CC hit the first home run and the first no hitter on the same day? I mean we did just give him $161 mil. Happy Holidays!!!! Cant wait for april!!!!!
Old Ranger,
My Mom used to get so angry at my Dad keeping me up all hours of the night talking about the old Yanks. My favorite story was about how Tommy Clutch (my Dad’s all-time favorite) beat out a third pitch strike for a single against the Dodgers in the WS, the Yanks pull out the game and beat the Dodgers in five. My Dad turned into a kid every time he told me that one.
We never hear about Tommy Heinrich any more, but says here (on my Dad’s word) he was the greatest clutch hitter in Yankee history. Its an honor hearing from another Tommy Clutch fan.
Thanks.
the guys at nomaas are at the photoshop again..
http://nomaas.org/
I’m still on the fence about whether I’d prefer Pettitte or Hughes as the fifth starter. Pettitte really improves our depth, which I like a lot, but I’m not too crazy about the idea of Hughes spending a large chunk of the season at AAA.
With Joba’s innings limit and AJ Burnett coming off a year in which he threw 200+ innings, it seems pretty likely that there’ll be significant innings for Hughes in the bigs, even with Andy. And having Phil around would mean Andy could take a DL stint to rest his elbow if it acts up again, like it did last season.
Manny hits the first home run in the new stadium, CC throws one hundred pitches of shut out ball, Joba strikes out the side in the eigth and Mo shuts the door by sawing off three bats.
That’d be horrible. It’d mean the Yankees bought a $25MM DH and are playing him in LF while they’re wasting one of the most promising young starters in baseball by using him to shore up a bullpen that was one of the league’s best in 2008 — despite having several promising relief arms in AAA.
and what was in your dinner tongiht?
I think maybe his mom bought the wrong kind of shrooms.
ugh give up the joba 8th inning stuff already
if you get a chance,,,check out the boton globe particulary the texeria poll.
it is hilarious,,,they act like they smend no money.
what about making a move on smoltze as a back-up to hughes in the rottation
Why would Smoltz sign to compete for a rotation slot when there are almost certainly teams out there who could offer him a guaranteed job?
And even if he would…no. The Braves aren’t interested because he really couldn’t pitch any more at the end of last season. I think smoltzy might be done :-/
It was a great career, though.
What is the address of the new park, anyway? 161st & River Ave is going to be a trivia question come April.
Anyone notice how everyone who comments over at the lohud blog seem to be drinking massive amounts of cool-aid?
There’s also a clutch of people over there who are Yankee fans (or at least claim to be), but seem to hate every single thing they do…any contract they hand out is too big or too long, any young player they choose to put on the roster is too unproven, and any low-reward signing is the most moronic decision the team has ever made, even if it’s a very low-risk choice.
ANy chancse that the angels and dodgers both decide they dont want manny and he doesnt want to go to the nats and the yanks swoop in in january to sign manny to a 2 year 49 million dollar deal.
deal nady for pospects
let petitte walk and sign garcia as a backup for hughes/
hell, everone hate the yankees as is…just go with it
also check out this link, especially the pollle section and you will get a laugh. seems like the yankees fanns and bost fans are polar oppositie – boston half full and the yankees half emplty
http://www.boston.com/sports/b.....es/?page=2
So…the Yankees are trying to get more athletic and improve on defense. You want them to ditch a RFer in his prime (on a one-year commitment) so that they can make Manny the second-highest paid player on the team and force Johnny Damon to CF — a position he was moved from because he’s not that good at it any more and breaks down when he plays out there too much.
And you want to ditch a one-year commitment to Pettitte to sign Garcia, who has yet to show he’s back after major shoulder surgery, and isn’t as good as Andy even when at full strength?
no way he’ll get that kind of money, not if the angels and dodgers both turn him down.
If his price comes down significantly, the Dodgers will certainly get back in it, and I betcha the Mets would too. Hell, the Nats could get in on it. He’d put butts in the seats.
Besides…he whined his way out of Boston because he wanted to make more than 20MM per over more than two years. Do you really want Manny on a contract he feels is beneath him? He’ll be campaigning for a raise or extension before June. ESPECIALLY if he’s on a team with guys that the Yanks just paid full pre-recession market value for.
I must say, I like what the Yankees have done so far this off season (how can you not really) but I think now is the time to stop. Not because I don’t want Andy back or would not like a power hitter in centre but because:
1) Adding anyone more now would cripple their payroll flexability at the trade deadline. The Yankees have a history of being a landing spot for salary dumps and having some payroll left will allow that opportunistic trend to continue (The Sox have plenty payroll flexability at the momnet)
2) I like that there are spots available for young players. It’ll be fun to watch the competiton in spring and it will alllow the Yankees to develop players in the majors. Getting that right is the key to being able to get players like Tex, still keep a solid team around him and keep the payroll under 200m.
3) The team is in my opinion good enough now or at least good enough that it’s not required to spend 10m on Andy.
If they are going to do anything now (and I don’t think they need to), they should lock Wang into a long term deal or trade one of the 3 players hitting free agency after the season for a longer term solution. Other then that, save the money and wait for the right opportunity to spend it.
They will have a number of holes to fill next off season.
They will have a number of holes to fill next off season.
Nope. Corner OF definitely, and CF if Gardner didn’t turn out to be serviceable AND Jackson isn’t ready yet. That’s one, maybe two spots.
Backup catcher, if you consider that a “hole” could also be on that list. Regardless, it’s not expensive to fill. DH can be a combo of Posada, perhaps Juan Miranda, and maybe some righty with power that they pick up somewhere. Certainly not something they NEED to go out and get someone for.
However…even with a rotation “filled” by CC, Wang, AJ, Joba and Pettitte, there would still be starts up for grabs, and probably a fair number of them. Hughes can build innings in AAA, come up to fill in for some long stints, and then get a full time job next year, if he earns it. If Kennedy and/or someone else starts pushing their way up by the end of next year…trade Wang to fill a position player need, let Hughes and Joba move up a slot, and fill the 5 hole from within.
That, to me, seems like the right way to do things. Wang will get you something nice, provided he’s healthy. If Hughes and Joba are fulfilling their potential, you have the depth to let him go.
Why would they trade a cheap, young, proven pitcher. Makes absolutely no sense for the Yankees to trade Wang and that’s a pretty idiotic idea.