I have been very busy recently. I have been looking to make move to California to hold Wine History classes. I am trying to figure out the details and am planning to get much more involved with photography.
That being said I have been following the Yankees on a daily basis. Most days I listen or watch the game. I have been impressed with Brian Cashmens ability this year to supply depth to the bench and the pitching looks promising as well if they can retain quality outings from Mitre and Gaudin.
I do not choose to hide that the Yankees are my favorite team. One of the reasons is the history of the team. The names of all the folks that have their numbers retired and so many great players over the years. This being the year of the inagural season of the New Stadium has brought great satisfaction. Derek Jeter is poised to break Lou Gehrig's all time Yankees hit record and he could not possibly be more deserving. He has put up MVP numbers and has been as consistent as he always been. It strikes me that when we watch Jeter that we have some insight to the older players and the way they played the game.
To me the yankees stand for something--tradition. Tradition is the hallmark of history in that in keeps the history alive and well. Traditions allow the Yankees to remain the same despite the changes from year to year or old to new. Derek Jeter has been the bridge from the old to the new along with Mariano Rivera, Any Petitte and Jorge Posada. These players were on the teams that one the World Series titles and now they are leading the path with a strong mix of youngsters that already are becoming the players that will possibly become Yankees legends of the future. Baseball is time honored and cyclical and there within is ritual.
The Yankees seemed poised for a potential World Series run this year and restoring what many fans feel is the natural order of the baseball world. Of course the other fans will all disagree and will count on the Yankees slumping at the right time in the playoffs and reveling in their disappointment. Still there is something fresh and different about these Yankees. They are more akin to all the teams before that won the World Series in that they have depth and diversity. They lack the weaknesses of the failed team since 2000. Still questions exist about Joba Chamberlain and a new set of rules. AJ Burnett is somewhat inconsistent as he has tended to be over the years dominant at times, but wild with a tendency towards walking people and giving up homeruns. Sabathia is dominating now in August, but can he handle colder weather in October.
The one great lesson from history is that it is set to repeat itself. In baseball once the first World Series has been won by a team they have a chance to repeat history on a yearly basis. The Yankees have been blessed with a tradition of repeating this favorable history. Number 27 would be very special indeed. My money is they wine is this year, however in baseball loss can always be followed by redemtion and this current Yankees ball club is young and should be in close contention each year to wine the World Series for at least the next 6 or 7 years. it is highly possible that they win multiple times much in the same way they did from 1996-2000 or in the '20, '30s, '40s, '50, '60s, and late '70s. This run could very well start in 2009 and run through 2015-2017 with numerous World Series in that time frame. This seems reasonable with the cadre of young players and superstar signigs through that period. The question for me is how long can Derek Jeter continue to play. At 35, jeter looks young and spry this season and is in great shape. It seems plausible that Jeter could get resigned to a deal taking hime through his early 40s. That would exure holding the core group of players together in the infield. With young pitching being the focused. The Yankees will have to trasition some of their aging stars into either more veterans or young talent, but it is the Yankees and they are not afraid to use their pocketbooks if needed to get top talent and retain it. However, Cashmen's in house approach seems to be working.
As long As Girardi gets one series in next 2 years he should be set up for a long terms deal to continue to manage the Yankees. In my opinion he has done an excellent job. I think Torre was great, but all in all Girardi's youth brings fire to this Yankees team and that is what they need to get them over the humb. Torre may very well win a World Series soon with the Dodgers as they have really been building a great club. Girardi knows of the pressure of being the Yankees manager and he has handled the pressure by infusing a passion for play that included fun. The game needs to be fun to be played well and to avoid discouragement that comes with baseball being a game where loses are going to happen and so are some extended slumps. The Yankees have been able to put off their early season woes and grow in strength. They have filled their holes that were gaping at the beginning of season due to injuries.
They need to take it one game at a time and be proud of the traditions and play with joy in their new home. As always it will be exciting to watch.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The History of Baseball
I am a baseball fanatic. It may seem strange that someone who operates a nightlife and wine business would be so involved with baseball. The truth about baseball is we can never be sure who will be passionate about the game. It is something that attaches to us in our youth and won't ever let go. Of course we never want it to let go because it offers comfort and is one of the very few constants in life.
I have been passionate about baseball as long as I can remember. I even hope to become more involved in the business of baseball in the future. I have taken classes on baseball's long and storied history and spent countless hours since my boyhood studying every imaginable statistic.
I start watching with the first pitch of spring and end with the last pitch of the World Series on a yearly basis. This year we were lucky enough to witness an extra treat with the World Baseball Classic that reminds us that baseball is no longer just America's Game, but it is a worldwide phenomenon. Baseball has been growing and by all indications will continue to grow worldwide in the future. Japan repeated at the World Baseball Classic, and while the USA team was much improved, their WBC still ended in bitter disappointment. The Netherlands were the surprise team upsetting the Dominican team, not once but twice. It shows that heart, desire, and a little bit of luck sometimes triumphs over talent and a large payroll.
Speaking of large payroll--The Yankees are my favorite team. My baseball world circumnavigates around the Yankees every season. I used to get small season ticket packages and make the time and the money happen. I have been fortunate to always luck out with tickets, partially because I am not opposed to buying only one ticket and going to the ballpark alone. It is much easier to get one ticket. I have seen great playoff games this way I would never have gotten into trying for two seats. I always seem to make plenty of friends at the ballpark once I find my seat. I am not opposed to going with friends and often go in small groups of friends. This is what is great about baseball it can be enjoyed either way. Since, I have been doing research in the South I have yet to really see New Yankee Stadium. I am excited to go and experience it for myself, but I am saddened at the loss of any old stadium, let alone Yankee Stadium, which as meant so much to me and harbored so many fond memories.
One of the great things about being in the South or any more rural region is the abundance of minor league baseball. Small size cities are really large towns, but there is something pure in minor league baseball as you know the players are either there purely for the love of the game, or are career minor league players and are in every sense of the word "professional", or they are too young to be spoiled by the excess, or are too old and just can't or don't want to give up what they have known their entire life.
I understand not wanting to give it up. Last year I found myself teaching my niece to play softball for the first time, and I was playing on the hillsides of my farm. At the same time I was studying the history of baseball and preparing for a class I was taking on the subject as part of an additional degree program. I read about how people played in the early days of the game, in hillsides and pastures, on uneven ground, with makeshift balls and bats--but that is not all it was also played in urban centers and pickup games of various fluidity that sometimes resembled our game and sometimes not so much as the rules often changed with early variations. I have been thinking of joining a team again, I always could hit just about anything thrown at me. I was always patient and had a high on base average and batting average. When I was younger I had great speed. My fielding needed some work, but I think I was somewhat like Paul O'Neil and I would imagine myself at the plate even though I was supposed to be running down fly balls. I think I would make a switch to first base if I were to play again, this way I would keep in the game while playing the field. I haven't been able to locate a team close enough to where I am currently, but maybe in the next year I will be somewhere else.
Baseball is both rural pastoral as well as urban. Baseball can be all things, it contains all the elements of human drama, the ups and downs over a long season and there is after all a finality to it that is a reflection of life. Towards the end all we have is the memories, but the memories linger on and on forever.
All Rights Reserved All Images and Materials Copyrighted 2009.
I have been passionate about baseball as long as I can remember. I even hope to become more involved in the business of baseball in the future. I have taken classes on baseball's long and storied history and spent countless hours since my boyhood studying every imaginable statistic.
I start watching with the first pitch of spring and end with the last pitch of the World Series on a yearly basis. This year we were lucky enough to witness an extra treat with the World Baseball Classic that reminds us that baseball is no longer just America's Game, but it is a worldwide phenomenon. Baseball has been growing and by all indications will continue to grow worldwide in the future. Japan repeated at the World Baseball Classic, and while the USA team was much improved, their WBC still ended in bitter disappointment. The Netherlands were the surprise team upsetting the Dominican team, not once but twice. It shows that heart, desire, and a little bit of luck sometimes triumphs over talent and a large payroll.
Speaking of large payroll--The Yankees are my favorite team. My baseball world circumnavigates around the Yankees every season. I used to get small season ticket packages and make the time and the money happen. I have been fortunate to always luck out with tickets, partially because I am not opposed to buying only one ticket and going to the ballpark alone. It is much easier to get one ticket. I have seen great playoff games this way I would never have gotten into trying for two seats. I always seem to make plenty of friends at the ballpark once I find my seat. I am not opposed to going with friends and often go in small groups of friends. This is what is great about baseball it can be enjoyed either way. Since, I have been doing research in the South I have yet to really see New Yankee Stadium. I am excited to go and experience it for myself, but I am saddened at the loss of any old stadium, let alone Yankee Stadium, which as meant so much to me and harbored so many fond memories.
One of the great things about being in the South or any more rural region is the abundance of minor league baseball. Small size cities are really large towns, but there is something pure in minor league baseball as you know the players are either there purely for the love of the game, or are career minor league players and are in every sense of the word "professional", or they are too young to be spoiled by the excess, or are too old and just can't or don't want to give up what they have known their entire life.
I understand not wanting to give it up. Last year I found myself teaching my niece to play softball for the first time, and I was playing on the hillsides of my farm. At the same time I was studying the history of baseball and preparing for a class I was taking on the subject as part of an additional degree program. I read about how people played in the early days of the game, in hillsides and pastures, on uneven ground, with makeshift balls and bats--but that is not all it was also played in urban centers and pickup games of various fluidity that sometimes resembled our game and sometimes not so much as the rules often changed with early variations. I have been thinking of joining a team again, I always could hit just about anything thrown at me. I was always patient and had a high on base average and batting average. When I was younger I had great speed. My fielding needed some work, but I think I was somewhat like Paul O'Neil and I would imagine myself at the plate even though I was supposed to be running down fly balls. I think I would make a switch to first base if I were to play again, this way I would keep in the game while playing the field. I haven't been able to locate a team close enough to where I am currently, but maybe in the next year I will be somewhere else.
Baseball is both rural pastoral as well as urban. Baseball can be all things, it contains all the elements of human drama, the ups and downs over a long season and there is after all a finality to it that is a reflection of life. Towards the end all we have is the memories, but the memories linger on and on forever.
All Rights Reserved All Images and Materials Copyrighted 2009.
The Nightlife Sommelier
Monroe (The Nightlife Sommelier) welcomes everyone to the blog. Please visit http://www.thenightlifesommelier.com for more information concerning Wine, Beer, Spirits and Food Tasting Events and Classes.
All Rights Reserved by The Nightlife Sommelier, LLC. All Images and Materials Copyrighted 2009.
All Rights Reserved by The Nightlife Sommelier, LLC. All Images and Materials Copyrighted 2009.
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