Shades of 2003
ByI vividly remember Opening Day 2003. I was a sophomore in college, and on the night of the Yanks’ first game against the Blue Jays, I was in the middle of a rehearsal with my jazz group. When rehearsal ended, I had a phone call from my parents with some terrible, terrible news: Derek Jeter had been involved in a bad injury.
As the news unfolded over the next few days, the prognosis was not good. Jeter has dislocated his shoulder in a collision at third base with the catcher. He would not play again until May 13.
At the time, an injury to Jeter and a lengthy stay on the DL seemed unfathomable. How could the Yanks stay afloat with Erick Almonte filling in? Well, the team, behind some very solid pitching, went 25-11 without Jeter.
Flash forward to this weekend when Alex Rodriguez announced his intention to go under the knife. As Tyler Kepner noted, this injury had 2003 written all over it. The Yanks would be without one of their leaders for the first month of the season, but it will all be okay.
While a lot of crazy columnists wrongly feel the Yanks will be better off without A-Rod, the team can weather the A-Rod-less storm for a few weeks. As they did in 2003, they can lean on their pitching to bring them through April, and when A-Rod returns, well, the team just gets that much better.
I remember I was driving home from somewhere with my dad and we were listening to the game on the radio. We were very bummed on that ride home.
If the pitching holds up, they should be OK.
Is there any way we could get an overflow for the Open Thread? The original doesn’t load for me anymore…
Use this post. We’re working on that problem.
And to think… this is just a meaningless spring training game.
Very impressive. When I first went to the post there were 2 comments. I went to bring out the trash, hit refresh and there were 89 comments.
Meaningless!?!?!?!… teh Joba’s career was on the line after those first 2 starts!!1!
The bullpen’s cold embrace was just about to take hold
If you would have told me that Eugene Kingsale would break the RAB servers, I’d have looked at you like you were crazy.
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
OH MY GOD DID I JUST SEE HENSLEY MEULENS?
Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens is a coach of the Dutch WBC Team? This shit keeps getting better and better.
Wow. When I was a kid I went to Albany to see the AC Yankees quite a few times, Bam Bam was one of the best players to watch. And I’ll never forget watching Brien Taylor. Damn, what a shame.
How can baseball fans not be into the classic. These games are amazing!!!!!
The first part was supposed to be a question.
Seriously. That game was better than any WS game we’ve seen in about six years.
My wife was sitting on the edge of her seat for yesterday’s and today’s games (PR/Netherlands and DR/Netherlands) and she hates baseball.
Here’s the thing, though: that game, while exciting as all balls, wouldn’t have been as good had it been DR v. USA or DR v. PR or US v. Japan.
Nothing rocks like an unheralded underdog. The Netherlands may be the best thing to ever happen to the WBC.
I did enjoy Adam Dunn JACKING that ball into right field the other day. As he was rounding the bases, all I could think was “Suck it, Riccardi.”
LOL me too, I thought he was trying to find his suite with that jack.
And he did it in Riccardi’s house too.
Yes, Ryan, that was the point.
/jerk
It was in the mold of when Clemens looked up into the owners box in his return to Fenway. Dunn’s HR haven’t been quite as good, but up there
After his 16th K. That was sweet. He struggled thru the first, and then was completely dominating for the next 7 innings. He put on a show that day.
steroids
I remember SO vividly watching that Jeter injury on TV as it happened during dinner (I was sitting in “your” seat), I was traumatized.
Damnit, I wish I could’ve watched the WBC game…sounds like it was pretty unbelievable.
Not to rub it in, but it really was. It was crazy!
amazing. goood for them. and hey now we gte robbie and marte back a little sooner plus its always fun watching reyes mope on a bench after an awful loss
That was a shot at Jeter.
Well said Ben. What a game that was!!? Who would’ve thunk it?
Wow, good for the Netherlands. I’m pleased for a variety of reasons that they won.
1. We get Robbie Cano back in ST now – this is definitely the biggest reason I’m glad.
2. It was a straight up great game and I love watching underdogs win (except when they play the Yankees)
3. You’d this this will help increase interest in baseball in Europe. That’s gotta be a good thing, right?
Shades of 2003?
More like shades of 1939 http://www.theyankeeuniverse.com/?p=1424
Way to hype it, Willie, way to hype it!
You’re like the Flavor Flav of Yankee blogs.
Do you play the jazz flute Ben?
Tenor sax.
The jazz flute is baby making music.
Ben is not a little fairy boy.
I dabble.
tonight we have a very special treat. mr mike pop is oging to play the yazz flute for us. come on mr pop.
What a play from Cuba!!
Francesa made a comment yesterday with regard to how A-Rod would be treated if the Yankees played really well during his absence, obviously overlooking the Yankees’ record during Jeter’s extended absence in 2003.
wow that 463 was insaneee
what a ridiculous dp turned by cuba
While A-Rod is clearly the single most important player on our team, the third base position (even when manned by Rodriguez) won’t ever have as much of an impact as that night’s starting pitcher. Our starting rotation is beastly, and we even have something pitching-wise than we didn’t have in 2003 – a well-managed bullpen (!!!!!!!). If you compare this team to what we had last year, which still won 89 games, its not-even-close. Teixeira himself is a freaking 7 win upgrade if we believe what the numbers tell.
Eugene Kingsale redemption. And the fact that anything Dutch broke the game thread is a bit insane
and could you imagine the reaction from yankee fans to Cashman promoting Almonte to Jeter’s spot if baseball blogs were as popular as they are now?
back then, shit just happened and teams dealt with it by compensating in other areas. the team survived b/c they had Clemens, Pettitte, Moose, and Wells. just like the 2009 yankees will survive b/c they have CC, AJ, CMW, Pettitte, and Joba.
no one spent 2 weeks whining that they didn’t have a slightly better backup who would be worth 1/2 a win more over that month.
Great post.
I wasn’t able to waste nearly enough time talking about things I had absolutely no control over in 2003 though.
The internet is a series of tubes.
Crashed thread on 300+ comments for WBC/ST game. Looks like RAB servers are in spring training too, Joba Beckett dual against the Sox couldn’t handle this
At no point did the server crash. We’re having some caching/load average issues. Better to find out now than later.
Well no crash is good, and that’s why there is preseason, get all the kinks out
I wander if Lou Piniella watched Marmol implode closing tonight….
Probably, but it really doesn’t matter, I don’t see them putting Gregg in the 9th over Marmol, and I don’t see them making Marmol a starter again.
Wow, 100 to 77? Not even my guy on MLB 09 The Show can do that!!!
check out the Brett Marshall interview on NoMaas. dude is just hilariously confident. love it.
i bet he has many leather bound books.
Nice interview by Marshall
ben what instrument did you play?
Tenor saxophone.
nice. do you still play?
Unfortunately, I haven’t had time in a few years. I still have both of my saxes though. One day, I’ll break ‘em out again.