The world is not a prison house but a kind of spiritual kindergarten where millions of bewildered infants are trying to spell God with the wrong blocks. ~Edwin Arlington Robinson
Since I spent yesterday gushing about Derek Jeter, I suppose I need to defend myself. Some readers are probably thinking - this guy's a Red Sox fan, how can he like Jeter? This is why: First and Foremost - I'm a Baseball Fan. Think about the athletes we have idolized over the past decade or so - Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Jose Canseco, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Lebron James, Brett Favre, Michael Vick, Ben Roethlisberger, Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong...Among this pack of losers Jeter has emerged as a freakin' Saint! No steroids, no rape accusations, no animal cruelty, no egotism, no perjury! He has kept his nose clean and done his job. The dude's a shortstop. Other than catcher, that's the most physically demanding position in baseball. The 5 players who have played the MOST games at shortstop: Omar Vizquel, Luis Aparicio, Ozzie Smith, Cal Ripken Jr. and Derek Jeter. Out of this group, no other shortstop has more hits while playing the position or has played more games at short for one team than Jeter. Most Boston fans HATE Jeter simply because he's so damn GOOD. He's done a lot of damage against the Red Sox over the years...
Let's turn the clock back to 1997. The two BEST shortstops in baseball were Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra. Jeter and Nomaaah were putting up BIG numbers. Boston fans LOVED #5.
In 2002 owner John Henry and the management team of Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino took over the Red Sox. They hired Theo Epstein as GM. In 2003 Epstein tried to trade Manny Ramírez to the Texas Rangers for shortstop Alex Rodriguez. The MLB Players' Union wasn't too keen on the deal and put the kibosh on the trade. Naturally, the Yankees swooped-in and worked-out a deal for A-Rod. Nomar got all bent-out-of-shape when he realized he was almost replaced by A-Rod. Epstein, then, tried to unload Garciaparra to the White Sox for Magglio Ordóñez. That deal fell through too. So, now Nomar's really pissed! Fast forward to Canada Day 2004. The Red Sox are in the final game of a three-game series against the Yankees. New York has won the first two and are looking to sweep. Nomar is in the final year of his contract. He hates the Boston owners and Epstein. He tells management he can't play - he needs to rest his injured Achilles' heel(appropriate) - he sits! He's moping in the dugout. The Red Sox and Yankees are tied 3-3 in the 12th inning. Derek Jeter goes after a Trot Nixon pop-up with runners on second and third. He runs, full-nuts - flies over the photographers' well and into the stands and makes the catch. He emerges from the seats, bleeding from the chin. The catch ends the 12th inning. On his way to the hospital the Yankees rally past the Red Sox 5-4 in the 13th for the sweep. By the end of the month Nomar is a Chicago Cub!
Which inspired Yankees' fans to make heartfelt videos such as this...
Sometimes, despite how much it hurts, you just have to tip your cap to the enemy.
OK. Some things are just meant to be. Derek Jeter's second at-bat. Every member of the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays standing at the top of the dugout steps. Every fan standing at Yankee Stadium. Derek Jeter hits a home run for his 3,000th hit!!! Freakin' amazing!!! ONLY one other player has ever cranked a dinger for his 3,000th hit - Wade Boggs! ONLY Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron and Robin Yount made it to 3,000 at a younger age than Jeter, who turned 37 on June 26. ONLY three other players, Honus Wagner, Cal Ripken Jr. and Robin Yount, have recorded 3,000 hits while playing most of their careers at shortstop. The HBWHOF tips the cap to Derek Jeter. ...and I liked the big smile from Minka Kelly too...
It's Saturday afternoon. I've got four Sportsnet channels and they're all showing the Yankees vs Rays game. Do you know why? 'Cuz Derek Jeter is 2 hits shy of 3,000 hits. He just came up for his first at-bat and hit a nice single. Bottom of the 1st inning and Jeter's sitting at 2,999 hits! Geez, do ya think the people in attendance at Yankee Stadium are a little pumped now? What amazes me about Jeter approaching 3,000 hits is this: Wrap your head around this stuff...The HBWHOF has always believed that there are certain milestones which are automatic tickets to the Baseball Hall of Fame - 500 home runs, 300 wins as a pitcher and the 3,000 hit club. In the long history of baseball ONLY 27 players have made it to 3,000 hits. NO Yankee has ever made it to 3,000 hits!! Think about THAT!!! That's freakin' insane - think about all the great Yankees over the years - Babe Ruth(2873), Lou Gehrig(2721), Joe DiMaggio(2214), Mickey Mantle(2415), Yogi Berra(2150) - not one made it to 3,000? Think about the greatest hitter who ever lived - Ted Williams(2654)!!!! Jeter's probably going to get his 3,000th hit today and punch his ticket to the Hall of Fame...and, deservedly, the Big Apple will become a huge Jeter Lovefest. Good for him. I'm a Red Sox/Tigers fan...and I can't stand A-Rod...but I respect Jeter. The guy's a great ballplayer and a class act...plus he has an incredibly impressive track record with Hot Chicks...
On Friday night, the Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals 6-4. Rick Porcello got the win. Porcello pitched 5.1 innings, gave up 6 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk and added 5 Ks. Is it just me, or is Jose Valverde turning into Todd Jones 2.0??? Papa Grande loaded the bases with two outs in the 9th. Like Jones - he feels the need to take fans on a roller-coaster ride of emotions before he saves the day! Magglio Ordonez cranked a 2-run dinger to get things rollin'...
Big Papi doesn't like getting yelled at - apparently! The Red Sox scored 8 runs in the 1st inning and went on to smoke the Baltimore Orioles 10-3. Ortiz connected on a 3-run dinger in the 1st inning. In the 8th inning, Orioles reliever Kevin Gregg decided to stir things up by throwing three inside pitches at Ortiz. On the 4th pitch, with the count 3-0, Big Papi hit a pop-up and, as he started toward 1st base, Gregg yelled something at him...the Large Father immediately charged the mound and exchanged missed haymakers with Gregg. Both benches and bullpens cleared but nothing exciting happened. Gregg and Ortiz were tossed, along with Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Baltimore reliever Jim Johnson. Boston manager Terry Francona could, later, be seen laughing with the umpires. Tito enjoys seeing the Large Father go nuts!!
I haven't mentioned the tragedy that occured the other night at Rangers Ballpark. A father died while trying to get his young son a foul ball. I love baseball. I love taking my kids to ballgames. I love being a dad. I wasn't going to even mention this senseless tragedy. It's one of those awful things that happen and make you ask 'Why?' Here's the story: FAN'S PURSUIT OF GIFT FOR SON ENDS IN TRAGEDY By Jeff Passan - Yahoo! Sports
The closest I came to catching a baseball at a major league stadium was the year SkyDome opened. I was 9. Mauro “Goose” Gozzo, a rookie pitcher for Toronto, was trolling around the outfield during batting practice when a man standing next to me shouted for him to throw him a ball for his son. Goose obliged and fired a strike. Emboldened, I asked Goose for a souvenir, too. His next throw didn’t quite reach the stands, even with my lean over the rail. My mom extracted me before Goose could try again. There is something magical about a baseball, a 5¼-ounce orb made of rubber, cork, yarn and leather, that excites grown men as much as it does children. People catch balls while holding babies, sacrifice $10 beers in pursuit of them, fight and claw for their possession. Everyone in the stands who catches a ball thrusts it into the air. It’s a trophy. Sometimes the applause is polite. Other times the whole crowd cheers. The pursuit of a ball inside a stadium is noble. It’s especially so when a father tries to fetch a ball for his child, like the man next to me at SkyDome did, and like a man at Rangers Ballpark did Thursday night. His name was Shannon Stone. He was a firefighter from Brownwood, nearly a three-hour drive from the stadium in Arlington. He wore a white T-shirt and a blue Texas Rangers hat. His 6-year-old son wore a red T-shirt and a red Rangers hat. They sat in the left-field bleachers together. In the second inning, Oakland A’s outfielder Conor Jackson(notes) hit a screaming foul ball down the left-field line. It caromed toward Josh Hamilton(notes), the Rangers’ left fielder. Hamilton picked it up and threw the ball toward the stands. Players do this hundreds of times in a season. It’s part of baseball’s charm. Show up to a stadium, take home a piece of the game. Hamilton’s toss came in short. It didn’t stop Shannon Stone from stretching to grab it. I’m almost certain, in fact, that the moment before Shannon Stone fell 20 feet and suffered injuries that would kill him, he was indescribably happy. He was going to grab a baseball from Josh Hamilton, a man who hauled himself from the depths of drug addiction to not only return to baseball but win the American League MVP award last season. Once Stone had that baseball, he was going to hand it to his son. And for the rest of his life, his son would have a story to tell about the time his daddy reached over a railing and snagged a bad throw from Josh Hamilton, one of the most talented players ever to wear a baseball uniform. Instead, he watched his dad die. He saw Shannon Stone secure the ball in both hands but lose his balance in the process. The man next to Stone reached, in vain, to grab his leg. Stone fell head first 20 feet. When paramedics arrived to stabilize Stone and take him to a hospital, the relief pitchers in the A’s bullpen overheard the conversation. “Please check on my son,” Stone said. This is unfair. It’s so very unfair. It’s unfair to Josh Hamilton, a decent man and a father to three daughters. He tried to do a good deed. That’s all he tried to do. It’s unfair to Shannon Stone, a firefighter for 18 years who just wanted to make his kid’s night. It’s most unfair to that son. He will grow up without a father. I have a son. He is 3. I’ve taken him to a few ballgames. He likes the hot dogs and fireworks. He wants to know the players’ names. He asks who is nice and who is mean. And when I’m going down the scorecard, answering his questions, he interrupts me and asks to get ice cream. One night on the walk back from the ice cream shop at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., my son asked to sit in a seat down the right-field line. We moved to the front row. A foul ball ricocheted toward us. My son loves foul balls. When one goes into the upper deck, he’ll crane his neck behind him in case it falls. He always asks me to get one for him, and I tell him I’ll try, and here was my chance. Someone closer beat me to it. That always happens. The next time we go to a stadium, I’ll try again. Maybe for the first time in 30 years I’ll get lucky and a ball will come toward me or a player will toss it in my direction. If I have to lean a little to grab it, so be it. When I pass it to my son, and he lifts his prize, and the crowd around us applauds, his smile will light up the stadium. He’ll know it was a gift from a dad who loves him more than anything, a gift fathers hand to their sons at ballparks every day. A gift Shannon Stone, a dad who caught a foul ball for his son, never got to give.
The Texas Rangers have set-up a Memorial Account in Honour of Shannon Stone - the father that lost his life trying to get his son a foul ball. If you're a baseball fan, or a father, or you've got a few bucks to spare - help this family out. Here's the link: TEXAS RANGERS MEMORIAL ACOUNT
V-Mart's NOT going to the All-Star Game. Chicago White Sox 1st baseman Paul Konerko received 8.4 million votes to capture the American League spot in the All-Star Game Final Vote. Victor Martinez came in second. Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino received 9.2 million votes to capture the National League spot.
Smokin' HOT British model Rosie Jones is obviously vying for a spot in an upcoming RACK-OFF! She tried, and succeeded, in capturing my attention by TWEETING this impromptu RACK-OFF! photo...
Ho-hum. Wake is 2 wins away from his 200th career victory. On Wednesday night, Tim Wakefield pitched 7 innings, allowed 3 runs, 1 walk and 7 Ks with his knuckleball. The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 6-4. Wake gives it everything he's got! It's all about maximum torque...
The Tigers avoided a sweep by defeating the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Orange County of California of the Pacific Rim 5-4. Miguel Cabrera hit his 18th homer along with 2 RBIs and V-Mart added 2 RBIs too. Hopefully V-Mart goes to the All-Star Game. The dude's hitting .323 with 6 dingers and 48 RBIs. Fan balloting ended at 4 PM today.
Dick Williams died today. Williams managed the Red Sox' 1967 "Impossible Dream" team. He took Carl Yastrzemski, Tony Conigliaro, Rico Petrocelli and the boys all the way to the World Series. The '67 Red Sox won the American League Pennant but lost Game 7 of the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals. Dick Williams went on to win 2 World Series Championships with the Oakland Athletics in 1972 and '73. He also won the National League Pennant with the 1984 San Diego Padres. Williams managed the Boston Red Sox, Oakland A's, California Angels, Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners during a 21-year career. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008. Williams passed away in his Las Vegas home from what was believed to be a brain aneurysm. He was 82.
This week's RACK-OFF! is gonna SPICE things up! Cuz it's between a couple of former Spice Girls - get it? It's a RACK-OFF! between Geri Halliwell(Ginger Spice) and Victoria Beckham(Posh Spice). Let the battle begin... Make your choice in the box in the upper, right-hand corner.
Geez! As soon as I begin to expect certain victory from Justin Verlander - he gets outpitched!! Verlander pitched 7 2/3 innings and gave-up 7 hits, 1 run, 2 walks and notched 8 Ks. He, then, got tossed from the game after yapping at umpire Joe West on the way to the dugout. Angels starter Dan Haren pitched a complete game, 2-hit shutout with 9 strikeouts! Oh well, ya can't win 'em all...
As you already know, both the Red Sox and Tigers lost on Monday. This, my friends, is the Hot Baseball Wife Hall of Fame. We don't deal with losers. We're all about WINNING. As a result, there will be NO needless rehashing, nor analyzing, of yesterday's losses. The HBWHOF will concentrate on victory.
That is why - tonight, at 10:05 PM - you need to tune in to the Detroit Tigers vs Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Orange County of California of the Pacific Rim game. Be not afraid, for Justin Verlander will take the mound and lead his charges to certain victory!
If you're a Tigers or Red Sox fan - you're overjoyed that Interleague play is done! The ONLY good thing to come out of that ordeal is this pic: Jesse Jane & Janessa Brazil at the Cubs vs White Sox game...
Alex Avila, his battery mate Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera and Jose Valverde were all selected for the 2011 American League All-Star Team. One more Tiger can make it in...with YOUR votes. Click here: Vote for Victor Martinez!
The HBWHOF went to the ballgame Saturday night. It was an adventure! It was Parrothead Night - non-stop Jimmy Buffet music and Floppy Hat Giveaway...
First Mrs.HBWHOF and I met Tigers legend Willie Horton...
So I had to rock my Floppy Lid and take my pic by Willie's statue...
Being a great lover of mascots of all shapes, sizes and denominations - we got a pic with National Coney Island's Mr. Pop...
...and, of course, Tigers' mascot PAWS - who was dressed-up for Parrothead Night...
They had a couple bands performing Buffet tunes for the masses...
We watched a bit of the Giants' batting practice...
More Willie...
We grabbed some drinks and went down to our seats and this was the temperature at gametime...
Max Scherzer was definitely NOT on his game! Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Crawford homered right away and the Tigers were down 5-0 after the 1st inning. Scherzer pitched 2 innings and allowed 6 hits and what ended-up being 9 runs - because, in the 3rd inning, with baserunners on 1st and 2nd and nobody out, this happened...
The game was delayed 2 hours and 36 minutes which provided ample time for restless players and fans to mingle...
Folks, the HBWHOF is HARDCORE! No little rain delay is gonna stop me from watching a ballgame!! Once we got back in our seats, most of the original crowd of 38,983 had gone home - and the temperature had dropped significantly...
The Tigers started-up right where they left-off! Scherzer was gone. Brayan Villarreal came in and promptly served-up a Grand Slam to Miguel Tejada. The score in the 3rd - 10-0 San Francisco! The scoreboard got messed-up by the storm...
Barry Zito pitched 6 scoreless innings...and, amazingly, came back to pitch after sitting through the almost 3-hour rest between pitches...
Mercifully, in the 7th inning with the score 15-0 Giants. Zito was taken out and replaced by Guillermo Mota who served-up dingers to Jhonny Peralta and Brennan Boesch who cranked back-to-back jacks to make it 15-2. Boesch's home run went a freakin' mile - halfway up into the bleachers!! Ryan Raburn had an RBI single in the 9th to make it 15-3.
Really enjoyed my Canada Day! Beautiful day and I was lovin' Kate Middleton'sCanada Day lid! That chick's got it goin on...
The Red Sox beat the Houston Astros 7-5. Tim Wakefield's knuckleball was floating up to the plate like a beachball. Wake gave-up 11 hits and 5 runs in 5 innings and Boston still emerged victorious! The Red Sox scored 6 runs in the 7th inning and Adrian Gonzalez hit the go-ahead two-run double for his major leauge-leading 73rd RBI.
The Detroit Tigers lost to the San Francisco Giants 4-3. In a Battle of the Closers...Papa Grande made more mistakes than Brian Wilson. Giants closer Wilson blew a save opportunity for the 2nd straight day. Magglio Ordonez hit him up for an RBI single in the 8th inning. San Francisco then scored three runs in the top of the 9th to go ahead 4-1, but Wilson couldn't close it out. He had to be pulled with 1 out - the bases loaded and the score 4-2. Wilson then had a major meltdown in the dugout - grabbing a Gatorade cooler and throwing it to the ground, beating the bejesus out of it with a bat, before he finally settled down enough to witness Jose Valverde and Brayan Villarreal issue bases-loaded walks to lose the game!
I'm headed over to the game tonight. Hope the rain holds off! Giants vs Tigers at 7:05 PM. Barry Zito vs Max Scherzer. Parrothead Night - non-stop Jimmy Buffet tunes & Floppy Hat Giveaway! So the HBWHOF will be rockin' this sweet lid...
