WHY JETER IS THE PERFECT ROLE MODEL

Now-a-days when you look at the top shortstops and infielders in Major League Baseball, you tend to think of Troy Tulowitzki, Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, Asdrubal Cabrera, Robinson Cano and Dustin Pedroia.

Why does this matter? Well, most of these player's had 1 role model in their lives, it was Derek Jeter. For example, Troy Tulowitzki and Hanley Ramirez wear #2 in honor of the Captain.

Although Derek Jeter may not be a top 5 shortstop in baseball anymore, he has proven that he is one of the best shortstops of all time. He first of all is the Captain of the most storied franchise in all of sports, he has won 5 World Series Championships, he owns a career batting average of .312, and is also a member of the 3000 hit club, and he is 37 years old which is quite young for all of those accomplishments, if you think about it.As DJ is definitely on the decline, he is no longer as feared or good as he once was, but he is still the most respected ballplayer ever; Respected among the New York Yankees, among the entire league, and respected by parents and children around the globe.Figure this, many players respect Babe Ruth a hell of a lot and would wear #3 in honor of him such as A-Rod did with Texas. David Wells worshipped the Babe and wore a number 3 in 9 of the 11 teams uniform numbers he wore while a player. In a much similar fashion, I believe that Derek Jeter's number 2 is on the same level as the great Bambino which is pretty crazy when you think about it. Why? Well, the Babe played well before many of us were even alive. Our grandparents saw him play. On the other side, most of us have seen DJ's career unfold from a rookie into a true leader and World Champion to his 3000 hits, to literally transforming into an icon.Although his career isn't over, here's to you Jeet to a great career. We have loved every moment of watching you from the Jeffrey Maier home run, to the Flip Play, to your full out dive into the stands. But most importantly, your 3000th hit. We appreciate all you have done and will continue to do for us.

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--Will Cohen, BYB Staff Writer

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WHY THE BOMBERS STILL GOT IT

(In Photo: Ron Guidry)
After Opening Day, Old Timer's day is probably the best day at Yankee Stadium during the baseball year. It gives the fans a chance to see some of their favorite Yankee players comeback and play a friendly game with the rest of the old timers. They also saw the Bombers beat the Clippers 2-0 in two and a half innings of entertaining baseball.
(In Photo: Joe Pepitone, Mike Torrez)
Ron Guidry, aka "Louisiana Lightning", started the game for the Bombers. He allowed the first two to reach. But, Rick "Goose" Gossage came to the rescue and made Lee Mazzilli to hit a shallow fly ball into center field, caught by Bernie Williams, and Joe Pepitone grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
(Photo: David Wells, David Cone, Darryl Strawberry)
David "Boomer" Wells started the bottom half of the first on the mound for the Clippers as he faced "Mick the Quick", Mickey Rivers. After throwing one behind Mickey, he forced him to ground to third. You can read our interview with Mr. Rivers titled: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: MICKEY RIVERS.

Then, Boomer faced Bernie Williams--who received another nice ovation from the crowd--drilled a double in the left center field gap for the first hit for the Bombers.

Wells' good friend David Cone relieved him and gave up a big two run homer which reached about the seventh row in the first deck of the right field seats. The crowd went crazy, and rightfully so. It brought back some great memories, and I even got a couple of chills down my spine when he hit that blast.

Final Score: Bombers-2 Clippers-0 in the 65th annual Old Timers Day Game.
(Photo: Ron Antonelli/NY Daily News)
It was certainly an entertaining game to watch. It was great to see Bernie Williams, Joe Torre, and Lou Piniella--who grounded out in his at bat against Jeff Nelson--back, along with all of the other Old Timers who played in this game, and were apart of the on field ceremonies.



--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer




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WHY IS MLB DIGGING AROUND?

Bartolo Colon is under a microscope, literally, in order to figure out why this old guy who is overweight can pitch the way he can. Yes, it’s true, he’s old and overweight, but so was David Wells and everyone just chalked him up as a fat party animal who knew how to pitch. Colon, a quiet guy who is grateful to be back in the major leagues has 4 wins this year and suddenly, the world wants to know why. Unfair.

Yes, Major League Baseball has a right to question why Colon is suddenly the star of the Yankees rotation, but how long are we going to probe into this? It was reported that Colon, while in the Dominican Republic had a procedure where stem cells were injected into his shoulder and elbow. It was done by a doctor that allegedly used HGH on other ball players. The doctor is Joseph Purita.

Major League Baseball is curious as to what is going on here. Is something illegal going on? Bottom line, we don’t know if there is any wrongdoing and the Yankees are really not going to help MLB dig and try to find wrongdoing on one of their ace’s. Ridiculous. By the way, Bronx Baseball Daily, who wrote a great piece about this called CONTROVERSY OVER BARTOLO COLON said it best: “For all their posturing, MLB know Colon is beyond their reach, as well. There is no rule banning the use of stem cells, since it’s considered a medical procedure. And even if Colon did use HGH, he was out of the game at that time, not part of the Players Association.” Thank you for that Rob Abruzzese.

All I can say is pitch on Bartolo. The New York Yankees have dealt with questions before, and when they needed to, they have cooperated, but in this case, it’s a witch hunt and I'm sorry, I don't see wrongdoing as far as I can tell. So let’s play ball and knock off the crap. Everyone wants a Cinderella story, and like I’ve stated so many times before on BYB, Colon is it. Let it happen.

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