WHY I BELIEVE IN THE CURSE

On August 15^th, Sports Illustrated posted a front page cover story about Dustin Pedoria titled “Heart of the Red Sox.” Immediately I joked in my head that this has got to be the curse all over again. You know, that strange "curse" talk about whomever is on the Sports Illustrated cover is cursed afterward? Anyway, I quickly forgot about it and to be honest, I don’t need to read about Dustin Pedoria and the dreaded Red Sox, it’s aggravating to me.

Yesterday I had a doctor’s appointment and I saw the cover again in the magazine rack in the waiting room and I realized something. With the Yankees thriving and the Red Sox imploding, maybe the curse DOES still live, just in another form. Man, I hope so.

I loved “The Curse of the Bambino” and since childhood, I bought into it. It was amazing to me to see that Sox team play some really good baseball, but then, in a flash, it was all gone. Bucky Dent, Aaron Boone, Bill Buckner, Babe Ruth and so on, all great memories for any Yankees fan. It was incredible the way it played out for years. I remember travelling through Boston for games at Fenway and seeing the Reverse Curve sign and seeing it defaced by a desperate fan who took a risk to change the Sox fate... Reverse the Curse it then read. Wow..."It must have sucked to be a Sox fan", I used to think.

I know some Red Sox fans and before the Red Sox won in 2004, they were beaten down, angry and annoyed with the Yankees. They would tell me that the Yankees bought their championships, yet, in 2004, it seems as though the Red Sox did too, weird right? After they won, they'd tell me the Yankees were finished and they’d tell me every year that the Red Sox were here to stay. Yeah, the Yankees made the playoffs every year except for 2008, but we never won again until 2009.

But I realized something important about Yankees fans... one thing Yankees fans don’t do is give up on their team. Do you remember 1987? How about 1988? Those years as a Yankees fan were brutal. We sucked and we had a stretch of sucking, but one thing was certain, Yankees fans never gave up. Yes, the stands were empty, but the fan base was always there. I remember feeling terrible, but I knew we’d win next year, and a year became a decade and suddenly, with Buck Showalter, we had a shot, but fell short against the Mariners in 1995. I remember where I was and I remember the heartbreak.

When Don Mattingly retired, I couldn’t believe it. “What is he doing? We almost made it!” I remember thinking. Well, no one could have predicted 1996 and beyond, but for a die hard Yankees fan like me and so many like me, the Yankees were back and never giving up on our team paid off for 5 more championships. It was beautiful.

Right now the evil Red Sox are imploding and if I can latch onto a little luck and just stare at that Sports Illustrated cover for another 2 weeks, I feel the vibe of the curse all over again. The curse is alive and well Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s just in a different form and while the Yankees are a great ball club, there’s nothing wrong with getting a little help on the side. A little luck, a little curse against the Red Sox. I’ll take what I can get.

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FOR THE LOVE OF MY NEW YORK YANKEES

If there’s one thing I know about Fenway, besides being one of the best historic ballparks in the world, it has some of the most obscene fans ever. Well, Phillies fans are pretty bad, but I don’t think they trained their kids to chant “ARod Sucks... Jeter Swallows.” That may be the most offensive thing you can chant at a ballpark, a park with children present to see a good game between 2 division rivals and history in the making.



I was at Fenway in 2004 and witnessed this exact little spectacle and I will tell you, while the kid had no idea what he was saying, the fans thought it was hilarious and the dad felt like a rock star for 3 minutes, high-fiving fellow Sox fans while his parrot kid was screaming obscenities to the players on the field. You wonder why I call them the evil Red Sox, it’s because that red just makes their fans see red. Next thing you know it’s an all-out assault and it’s sad.In 2007, I was at Yankee Stadium with a friend for yet another Yankees-Red Sox match up. We were in the nosebleeds in right field. Now, if you read WHAT IS A YANKEE GROUPIE? PART 2, I probably fall into “The Possum” category. I'm the guy who’d love to be obnoxious, but the reality is, I have kids, I’m 40 and I just want to see a good game. As I was trying to get through the aisle, I spilled a little beer on a Red Sox fan who tried to back up and let me in get by, but he just slid his legs over and I needed to shuffle past him. Needless to say, beer spilled. He thought purposly, although it wasn’t, but I was glad he thought so. “What the hell are you doing?” he said. “Trying to get by you, thanks for moving,” I snapped back. “You spilled beer on me.” And he stood up and we were face to face. I looked him dead in the eye and said softly “You don’t want to do this here. This is our house, not yours.” Quickly, he shut up and sat back down.



Throughout the game, the Yankees played good ball. At that point the people who sat next to this sad Red Sox fan left and I need to push more buttons…so I sat right next to him. The dude rolled his eyes. The balls on this guy, right? We Yankee fans come into Yankee stadium and we’re threatened? No Way. God forbid I tell him he’s in the wrong house. I slowly became “The Frat Boy” mentality and made sure the world knew there was a Red Sox fan in my section. Luckily, it worked. A few chants and middle fingers later that Sox fan got a taste of his own medicine, he left. The Yankees Red Sox Series to me is always great and always will be. Starting with Babe Ruth, it may be some of the most fun you can have at a ballpark. Through the years, the curse was so great for any Yankees fan and when it “ended” in 2004, I still want to believe. Why? Because for the years leading up to the Sox winning, the curse was a fun little element of the game. These days, the games are still competitive, but I don’t feel like it’s the same. The evil Red Sox are winning more for some reason and I don’t like it one bit.



So, what can we do as the New York Yankees? Win. The Yankees are the greatest team in franchise history; we have the wins, the rings and the greatest fans in the world. The Red Sox have some wins and some fans that were so old they croaked after they finally won in 2004 and then they have the latch-ons; These are Red Sox fans that weren’t Red Sox fans before they won, but they hate the Yankees so they bought a Sox hat. Passion wins every time though, that’s the difference. True fans have passion, Yankee fans have passion. Latch-on Red Sox fans can't name the lineup. What I mean is this; you can wear your stupid red cap all you want, the truth of the matter is, the Yankees are tradition, we have determination and we belong on top… that’s not just a stupid rant ladies and gentlemen, that’s the truth…

• Grady Little leaving Pedro Martinez in too long, was supposed to happen.



• Aaron Boone’s home run was supposed to happen
  
  



• Babe Ruth becoming a huge hitting sensation with the Yankees was supposed to happen
  
  



• Bill Buckner letting that ground ball go under his legs was supposed to happen.



• Roger Clemens and Wade Boggs never winning with the Sox and then winning with the Yankees… was supposed to happen.
  
  

It’s destiny, nothing less. Let’s Go Yankees!

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THE GUMPTION OF MANNY BANUELOS

On Wednesday in Scranton Wilkes Barre, the spotlight was on Alex Rodriguez as he was continuing his rehab en route to his return to the Bronx. He went 1-2 with a two out RBI single, two walks, and a strikeout. But that's not who we were focusing on. Our eyes were all on top pitching prospect Manny Banuelos in his start against the Durham Bulls, AAA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.(In Photo: Matt Moore)

Manny faced off against Ray's top pitching prospect Matt Moore. You can read a scouting report about Moore HERE and his stats HERE. Like Manny, Moore has the goods and will probably be a star in the future for the Rays. Anyway, it's good for Banuelos to be pitching against a guy like Moore. It adds some pressure which is good for young minor leaguers who are trying to accelerate their ascension to the major leagues.



Manny's line looked like this: Four innings, five hits, two earned runs, two walks and five strikeouts on 91 pitches, 56 of them for strikes. Now, that doesn't sound terribly impressive; he had to use 91 pitches in just four innings, but you gotta look beyond the numbers, especially with young minor leaguers.



Banuelos had to throw 41 of his 91 pitches in the first inning. The first two batters of the game reached on singles, then a weak ground ball slid under second baseman Luis Nunez's glove and into center field to drive in a run. Could have easily been a double play, instead the first run scored. Later in the inning there was a ball hit right at A-Rod at third, which was a no doubt about it tailor made, inning ending double play which would have gotten Manny out of the jam with only one run allowed. Instead, the ball went right through Alex's legs--Bill Buckner style--which allowed the second run to score.Of course you can't assume a double play would have been turned, so the run was charged to Manny regardless of the error. It took Manny 21(!) extra pitches to get out of the inning because of the error, which all but killed his outing as soon as it had begun. Manny then proceeded to throw 3 shutout innings, setting down the final seven batters he faced in order without a whimper.



All in all the end result was by no means a terrible outing, but it certainly wasn't a great one either. As I previously said, if Nunez would have played the ball correctly and fielded it cleanly, Manny could have been out of the first inning in less than 20 pitches and he could've gone on to throw 6 or 7 shutout innings. As much as I like to see outings like that from our young studs, I like to see outings like this just as much, if not more. Why? Simple: They prove character.



As the great Yogi Berra said "Ninety percent of this game is half mental." He may have been a catcher, but it's just as true for pitchers, or at least what he was trying to say is true. Look at AJ Burnett, he never developed a strong, resilient mind, and look where he is now. Sure he has the ability to be pretty good and despite recent failures he's put together an altogether average season, but mediocrity is unacceptable for a guy with talent like that. Casey preaches confidence on Bleeding Yankee Blue and you need to have that mentality coming into a ballgame as a pitcher.In his first four starts at the AAA level, Manny has already been screwed over by umps and let down by his defense numerous times, and he's handled it like a pro consistently. Every single time he's faced with adversity derived from elements beyond his control, he's shown an ability to bounce right back and get the job done. That's what separates a back end starter from a front end starter: gumption. Manny has displayed an ace like ability to work out of jams and move on from bad calls and defensive miscues.



It is for that very reason that I couldn't be much happier with Manny's last outing, despite the mediocre end result... Okay maybe I would've preferred a perfect game, but games that help Manny build character are every bit as important as the rest.



In four AAA starts Banuelos' stats look like this: 0-2, 3.48 ERA, 20.2 innings, 25 hits allowed with 21 strikeouts and 9 walks (WHIP 1.65). The hits allowed are a bit much. But remember, this kid is just 20 years old, the youngest player in his league right now. With that in mind he's given more than one could really hope for since his promotion. It will certainly be fun to watch this kid blossom into a future ace for the Yankees, and here at BYB we'll keep you covered along the way.Speaking of future aces, Dellin Betances is expected to take the mound as a SWB Yankee for the first time tomorrow. Look for a rundown on his first start from Grant Cederquist or myself tomorrow evening or Friday morning... Stay tuned.









--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer









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