WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE FAMILY BALLPARK?

I think I've found the best family friendly ballpark out there, but let me back up and start at the beginning. Look, I’m no tight ass. I like the idea of attractive women at the ballpark, but I’ve noticed over the last 10 years that things have changed fan-wise…and maybe it’s because now my kids are with me to see what I see. Yes, the chanting of “A-hole” when an opposing fan walks down the aisle is the norm, and I can at least tell my kids not the repeat it, but what’s up with the attractive young woman with the low cut shirt showing off her “boys”? What’s going on with women fans holding signs that read “Jeter I want your baby.” My kids can read, and they have questions…. Are you going to answer them? If I knew I was going to teach Sex Ed at the ballpark, I would have brought my former gym teacher along. It’s a little over the top, that’s all.

Look, I’m not judging, I know I have a job to do as a parent. I can choose not the go or explain what true fans are and let them be exposed to all of it to get the “real feel”, pardon the pun. But it’s true, I am a traditionalist and while I love wearing a Posada jersey to the ballpark, I’m not sure seeing male fans rip their shirts off and chanting “RED SOX SUCK” as it’s written on their back really works for me. Yes, The Red Sox DO suck, but the last thing I want to see is my kid doing that at a town football game weeks later. I long for the day when people actually dressed up to go to a ballgame once in a while. Those Sunday matinees with men wearing hats and women wearing sundresses. Yeah, that’s right; I’m actually 102 years old. Look, I’m sounding extreme, and it’s all to make a point.

Whatever happened to the “family” ballpark? What ever happened to bringing the kids to a game at a reasonable price, parking for $6 bucks and having a few hot dogs and a brew totaling $45? At least then you can get a souvenir. But No...

Instead, lately it’s the price of a mini-vacation and my son's asking me “Why is that girl dancing with her bra showing in that man’s lap?” That’s tough to defend; I’m not going to lie. Plus I’d really like to see that, but not with the kids around, maybe on pay per view.

I have to say, Yankee Stadium is not a bad place to bring your kids at all. It’s pretty family friendly and if a fan is unruly, security usually takes care of business right away and kicks them out. But it’s expensive. So, I went for it; I took my kids to a truly family friendly ballpark… Riverfront Stadium in Newark New Jersey...the Home of the Newark Bears. Not sure if you know the history, but the Newark Bears was a farm club of the Yankees in 1937 with names like Joe Gordon and later, Yogi Berra. Later on it was rejuvenated by former Yankee Rick Cerone and they brought in former major league players like Jose Canseco, Rickey Henderson and they’ve had managers like former Pirate Bill Madlock and currently, former Yankee and Expo, Tim Raines. I'm actually very interested in interviewing Mr. Raines because he's had such an incredible baseball career and I hope to have that for my Bleeding Yankee Blue readers.

But back to my point; a Newark Bears game is inexpensive and you see some pretty competitive ball being played. My kid loves baseball as you know and since we’ve been there, we’re looking forward to going back. The park is about as family friendly as it gets and there is plenty to do. If the kids get bored, you can walk around, they have a kids section, the mascots are out meeting the fans and they have something going on almost every half inning games... activities and other fun stuff.

Look, I love being at a pro ballpark, but half naked people and visible tramp stamps are too much to explain to my kids. All I’m asking for is a little courtesy. That’s it. I’m a true fan, I get it, but as I get older I can’t defend you all the time. Hey, that’s sports I guess. It’s just my opinion. But here’s another opinion, for a cheaper cleaner afternoon, check out the Newark Bears next spring, it’s a lot of fun. You can sit back, relax with the kids and you don’t have to worry about boobs, “F” bombs and going broke on a Sunday afternoon.Check out the Newark Bears... That’s the right way to go. Click HERE to find out about ticket information. I'll re-post this closer to the Bears opening day in 2012.

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YANKEE LEGENDS & WIFFLE BALL

If it’s not Little League, it’s wiffle ball, probably one of the greatest yard games ever. The ball doesn’t travel as far as a baseball when you hit it, but there is something about a wiffle ball hit and watching the ball travel that just screams “childhood” all over again.

My son is a baseball animal. It’s all he wants to do. If he’s not playing in an organized game, he’s throwing up a wiffle ball in the backyard and cranking it across the yard. On Christmas, there was a sale at Modell’s, a Yankee sponsor. I bought my kid 12 wiffle balls and a Junk ball bat. When March hit. he got the fever for baseball after a long winter’s nap. He was out there and started cranking them over the fence. He has 1 left. They’re stuck in the evergreen trees, they rolled down the street and into the sewer, and he cranked a few across to the neighbor's yard with what he calls his “power swing.” I just can’t keep up.

Now he has a new thing, baseball stances. You’ve seen the guy on Youtube that imitates the players stances of the Yankees players, right? My son has Robinson Cano down, plus, he can stand there like David Ortiz or even do his best Brandon Phillips. He’s a child baseball scholar at this point. I made a suggestion. Let’s watch video of the greats. We watched Yogi Berra and Reggie Jackson and now he’s trying to perfect them as well. I nicknamed my son “The Show” because as his fall ball league is starting and he’s standing in the batter’s box, he’ll give me a look for a moment and then it’s my chance to figure out what stance he’s doing at that at bat. He’s quizzing me; the freaking kid is quizzing me as I sit in the stands, it’s hilarious.

Yesterday, we were in the backyard hitting wiffle balls. He stood in the worn out dirt spot in the yard and said “Who’s this?” Now, my son is lefty. He stood in the imaginary box, and swung the bat straight through the zone about 3 times and the barrel of the bat pointed at me at the end of each practice swing. He then lifted his back elbow up alittle, the bat was alittle higher than normal and he had some slight movement. His right leg was out a bit and it all looked pretty familiar, but I couldn’t place it. “Who?”, I said. “Paul O’Neill.” I got chills.

I was proud at that moment. Paul O’Neill is probably the most exciting Yankee to watch over the years and being part of 4 World Championship Yankee teams, it hit me, my son has never actually seen Paul O’Neill play. What’s my point? Baseball greats carry over from generation to generation in such a powerful way because, the bottom line is, everybody loves a winner. So, it looks like I’ll be picking up a #21 Jersey this Christmas.

A salute to "The Warrior". Your influence has translated to a 9 year old kid in suburbia USA in 2011. Warrior... meet "The Show."

You can’t beat that... you really can’t.

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WHY I NEED TO MEET SUZYN WALDMAN

It’s a selfish conquest, but important to me none the less. Yes, it’s true, when I finally complete my mission, I’ll get laughed at, picked on and mocked but I don’t care what anyone says… I have the need to meet Suzyn Waldman. Why? Because believe it or not, she is part of Yankees history.

Waldman has been with the Yankees in the booth with John Sterling since 2005 and to be honest, I never thought much of it. But one thing you need to say about Suzyn Waldman, she’s a staple in the Yankee family and has been for years. She’s been doing sports broadcasting for 20 years, and without her around Yankee Stadium, we may never have ever seen Yogi Berra again. What? Wait… you don’t know what I’m talking about? Let me explain.

Yogi Berra, no doubt was one of the greatest Yankees ever, numerous championships and a Hall of Famer. After Yogi Berra and George Steinbrenner had their falling out in 1985 when Yogi was fired as the Yankees Manager, Yogi was pissed because it wasn’t Steinbrenner himself but the GM who gave Berra the message. Berra swore he’d never step foot in Yankee Stadium again, and didn’t for a long long time.

As the story goes, in 1999, Suzyn Waldman was able to get both George and Yogi together for a "sit down". Some real Tony Soprano stuff. The "sit down" was a huge success and Yogi came back on a huge day at Yankee Stadium honoring Yogi. They did it right, Don Larsen threw out the first pitch to Yogi and in Yankee style; David Cone followed that day pitching his perfect game. Bottom line, that chain of events would have never happened without Suzyn Waldman.

Now, you know my feeling about John Sterling and Suzyn together in the both. It’s manageable in my mind but I’ve never loved the duo. Yes, by now, the 2 of them in the booth is a good team, and many of us grow accustomed to them being there, but, let’s not gloss over it. The moment Roger Clemens was in "George’s box" was the day I said loudly, “I have to meet Suzyn Waldman.” No one in any other lifetime could be that excited about Roger Clemens coming back to the Yankees, including Roger Clemens… except of course for Suzyn Waldman. Yes, her excitement was ridiculous, but it was the passion I loved.

Look, she may not be the greatest color commentator in sports, you may not like her, but you need to respect her. Suzyn Waldman has opened doors and mended friendships that no one even knows about. Do you think it would be easy for our favorite Yankees chick Kimberly Jones to just get a job with the Yankees? Suzyn Waldman’s presence before Kim certainly helped. That’s no slap against Kim Jones, she feels the love and she's incredible at what she does. My point is, Suzyn Waldman is a veteran woman in broadcasting and because of her acceptance, more people opened their eyes, more gave other women a chance. You have to love that.

So yes, it’s true, in a sport driven by men; one woman broke through to take a stand and do her job to the best of her ability and helped with a little Yankee history along the way.

Again, you may not care for her style, you may not love her in the booth, but there is no doubt, you need to respect the job she does because… bottom line… no one does it like Suzyn… Goodness gracious… no one.

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WE'RE HAVING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

Hurricane Irene has hit and BYB Headquarters is temporarily closed. As part of our vow to you, we will get back to work as soon as we can, but of course, family comes first. In the meantime, here are some of my favorite posts on Bleeding Yankee Blue...enjoy:



EXCLUSIVE: WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT PHIL RIZZUTO



WHY MANTLE & MARIS ARE STILL INTRIGUING TODAY



WHAT CASHMAN WAS REALLY SAYING



WHY I SMELL A TREND



EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: KIMBERLY JONES



WHY GOD MADE YOGI A YANKEE



WHAT GARDNER TRUMPS CRAWFORD



WHY IT'S MONTERO'S TURN



WHY JETER IS EPIC FOR 1 GOOD REASON



QUEST FOR TURKEY LEGS!



2000's MOST EXCITING PLAYER: CANO OR SORIANO?



WHY IT'S JUST BASEBALL SUZYN



WHY THE 2011 AL MVP PLAYS IN THE BRONX



WHY G.G.S. IS A.O.K



EXCLUSIVE INTERVEW: HIGH SOCKS FOR HOPE



Back soon.



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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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JETER: MR. 3000

(Photo: New York Times)
Derek Jeter has done it. On a hot and humid day in the Bronx, Derek Sanderson Jeter has hit his 3000th hit and what do you know... it's a home run. This guy is destined to be the greatest Yankee of our time.

Jeter is the first ever to hit 3000 hits as a New York Yankee. Here's the Top 10 list:

1. Derek Jeter: 3000
2. Lou Gehrig: 2721
3. Babe Ruth: 2518
4. Mickey Mantle: 2415
5. Bernie Williams: 2336
6. Joe DiMaggio: 2214
7. Don Mattingly: 2153
8. Yogi Berra: 2148
9. Bill Dickey: 1969
10. Earle Combs: 1866

So, to all you haters that continue to tell me that Derek Jeter is overrated, this hits list shows me he's among legends. I'm still not getting that ridiculous argument you have. What else does he need to do? Maybe win a few more championships? Well... he's working on it.Congrats Jeet, I've been a Jeter fan since you began, like many of us fans today. This is extra special pal. Like I said in WHY 3000 COMES BEFORE 28, enjoy this day, all day long and thanks for making 3ooo special for all of us.

By the way Ladies and Gentlemen, you can see some other BYB posts we wrote about Jeter and 3000 below:

WHY JETER IS EPIC FOR 1 GOOD REASON
DEREK JETER: THE MOVIE
WHY WINNING WOULD MAKE 3000 BETTER
WHY IT'S 2994 AND COUNTING
WHY I KNOW WHEN JETER HITS 3000

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THE ART OF ART DITMAR

Speaking to my friend David about Art Ditmar, you'd think he was the shining light and driving force behind the New York Yankees in the late 50's, early 60's. He wasn't, but he was a pretty good pitcher with a couple tough breaks while on the Bombers. The first break was being overshadowed by an already talented rotations during his years in pinstripes. The second was losing 2 World Series starts in terrible fashion, yet, Art Ditmar did what every great New York Yankee does in their career; He tried to compete and tried to win, every time. That's all you could ask for and that's why David loved Art Ditmar so much.

Art Ditmar was a right handed pitcher and quite good, for a short amount of time. More importantly, he was quite consistent which makes for a heck of a pitcher, especially when you are in a rotation that consisted of greats like Whitey Ford, Don Larsen, Bob Turley, Ralph Terry and Bobby Shantz. Yes, Art Ditmar was in rotations with those guys and because of it, he didn’t get to pitch a lot during his stay in New York. He did however get 15 wins, a career high for him back in 1960.

(In Photo: Ditmar, left, Casey Stengel, Bobby Shantz, right)

Ditmar had 3 pitches, his fastball, slider and curveball. His fastball was by far the best of the 3 pitches. During his span with the Yanks, Ditmar won 47 games. Those years were from 1957 to 1961. During that 5 year span, Ditmar was apart of 1 World Championship team, and that happened in 1958 against the Milwaukee Braves. As far as American League pennants are concerned, the Yankees won in 1957, 1958, 1960. In the 1960 World Series though, Art Ditmar started and lost both Game 1 and Game 5 for the Yankees. Those 2 games he put an absolutely horrible display only pitching 1/3 of an inning in Game 1 and 1 1/3 in Game 5. Horrendous doesn’t even begin to describe it. The story goes like this, Casey Stengel wanted Ditmar to start Game 1 instead of Whitey Ford because he thought Whitey would be a better matchup in Yankee Stadium. Read it HERE. We all know what happened, the Yankees lost that World Series to the Pirates 4 games to 3.

Ditmar played 9 years in the Major leagues. During that time, he first played for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1954 and compiled an American League record high 22 losses. After that season, he went to the Yankees and then to the Athletics again, this time to the Kansas City Athletics from 1961 and 1962. His career numbers are 72-77 with a 3.98 ERA and 552 strikeouts.

The most interesting tid-bit I found out about Art Ditmar is something that really isn't about Ditmar at all. It's about Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra. Back in 1954, Art was with Philadelphia Athletics and he defeated the Yankees 8-6 in the last game at Shibe Park in Philly. This was before the team moved to Kansas City. the nugget comes here; In that game, Yogi Berra played his first and only game at third base and Mickey Mantle played shortstop for the Yankees. That's right...Mickey Mantle.

So, while Art Ditmar doesn't have an outstanding career in pinstripes, he sure has a unique one. And while there are thousands of Yankees players over the years, everyone has a favorite or one they loved to watch play. I guess that one for David, was Art Ditmar... and that's alright by me.

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