I’M BACK!!!! Hello my fellow Yankee Fans; I am back, and raring to go. First allow me to explain. The reason for my long absence from the world of weekly blogging, without going into to much detail, on July 31st my beautiful wife and I became the proud parent of a bouncing baby girl. Now so ya know because I don’t talk about my private life too much here, I now have a grand total of three kids. Those of you reading this that have kids know that a new born alone can basically take over your life for a time. So that’s where I have been. Things at the old home steed have started to calm down some, and I now find myself able to start Blogging again. So hopefully I’ll be able to post a new blog every Sunday once again without any interruption, of course as we all know life is full of unexpected surprises. I make no promises other then I’ll do my best to have something new posted every Monday or at least have a guest blogger if I can’t do it my self.Ok now that my excuses are out of the way lets recap the last half of the season and the winter off season as best as I can.
First and for most we have to give our Yankees credit, they made an AMAZING come back in the second half of the season. They almost found a way to take the AL East from Boston. In the end Boston’s lead and a few badly timed loosing streaks cost us the AL East for the first time in 10 seasons, but (on a happy note) we did manger to win the Wild card and make the playoffs. Not that it mattered much the Indians (with some help from those DAM MIDGES with their LUCKY charms!!) made quick work of us in the ALDS then managed to choke against the Sucks in the ALCS. What really bothers me is that we COULD HAVE BEATEN BOSTON in the ALCS had we gotten past Cleveland. We owned them last season even with us 
loosing the first three series against them including a sweep in Boston. The Yankees managed to win every series after that against the Sucks and even swept them in the last home series of the season. Had it been the Yankees in the ALCS we would not have choked with a 3-1 lead, I have no doubt about that. Unfortunately the Sucks once again have a WS trophy in their position. It just goes to show you that if you want something done right you simply have to do it yourself. 2008 will be a different year for the Yankees and Boston will not be celebrating a WS win so long as they have to get past the Yankees in the playoffs.
Now this second half surge was fueled by YOUTH of all things for the Yankees. Leading the charge was the ever impressive Joba Chamberlend out of the BP and virtually solidifying the setup roll for Mo. Behind him we had Phil Hughs FINALLY making the major league team and showing us why teams have been falling all over themselves trying to get the Yankees to trade him. Then there was Ian Kennedy. This was another kid like Joba that started the season in single A ball and was pitching for the Yankees by the end of August, and doing a dam fine job. The rest of the notable Youth movement are some familiar names; Wang who won another 19 games for us and was a Cy Young contender for most of the season, Melky Cabrea who once he got regular playing time starting in mid June managed to drive in 73 runs and score 66 runs in 150 games. Due the math folks that means in 150 games Cabrea was responsible for at least 139Yankee runs, and remember he was not getting full time play until mid June so how many of those 150 games was he in there simply as a pinch runner before he was given real playing time. Obviously Robie Cano is included in this category as well who although he had a slow start still managed to finish the season with a 300+ batting average and almost 100 RBI’s. A few honorable mentions belong to Armas Remerez, and Rus Olendorf out of the BP. At times these 
kids looked unbelievable and other times their inexperience was very obvious. In both cases the learning experience alone can only make them strong and I believe we will have two very strong arms out of the BP this year. Then there was Chase Wright and Tyler Clippered. Both had a few early games where they were impressive, both eventually hit hard times. Clippered was traded over the winter for a young arm in the BP. I hated seeing him go because this kid has talent but we did get a good return for him and if he pans out he can always come back down the road. Personally, I hope the kid sets the baseball world on fire. Wright on the other hand could very well be damaged goods. Joe Torre in one of many questionable moves last season left Wright in a game not after 1 not 2 not 3 NOT EVEN 4 HRs but after 5 HRs against the Red Sucks. Even then he did not go out to the mound. Wright was left out there to stew and did to his credit eventually get out of the inning. I’ll just never understand why Torre or Guidry for that matter was not out on that mound talking to this kid and calming him down after at least the second HR. The result of this was his confidence was destroyed. Now hey he is in the majors and he should be able to bounce back but still it was pretty obvious the manager left him out there to die. Hopefully he can move past this and eventually become a strong prospect for the Yankees again. Time will tell. Personally the kid has great stuff; he just needs his confidence back. Joe Gerardi the new Manager of the Yankees has a decent track record dealing with young pitchers. So I’m hoping he is a positive influence on Wright; if he makes it back to the majors in 08.Now this Off season also included the release of Senator Gorge Mitchels report on Performance enhancers in baseball. I’m not going to go to much into detail on this one today I’ll give you the Cliff notes on my thoughts. First the report itself is lopsided unfair and Biased as hell. I mean GIVE ME A BREAK, the main source if this investigation comes from a former NY Yankees trainer and former NY Met clubhouse attendant. So it should not surprise anybody that most of the accused are current or former NY Yankees and a few Mets scattered in there as well. Lets be clear about something thou, Gorge Mitchel is a DIRECTOR for the BOSTON REDSUCKS, so it comes to no surprise to me at least that ONLY ONE Red Suck was named in his report and AMAZINGLY enough it’s was basically a no name that’s not even on there roster any more. Gage-Me was also named
but he was barely a Suck so to me he doesn’t’ count. Then there is Clemens, a guy that has pissed off the Red Suck Nation more then any player named Bucky Dent or Aaron Boon.(And that’s saying allot!!) So is it any wonder he was named in this report? His accuser Brian Macnamie has an inconsistent story, a record of LYING to get him self out of trouble, and an extremely shady past. Clemens for his part has come out swinging and many would say that it’s all ego because he wants to save his legacy. This very well could be true and it could cost him dearly in the end but if you ask me Clemens is fighting too dam hard and with too much passion to be lying. He has done what MANY accused have not done. He has filed a lawsuit against his accuser. When asked about testifying to congress he response in short is “Bring it on”. He has confronted his accuser and stated time and time again “All I want is the truth” Now I get that this could be a HUGE scam on Clemens part. He could be lying and to be honest when it was first reported my thought were simply that he was lying. As the weeks have gone by Clemens anger, and pursuit to clear his name and how STRONGLY he is attacking it leads me to believe that he may be telling the truth and that he may not have ever taken Roids or anything else for that matter. I could be wrong and many will believe that I am. Hey I’m cool with that. Your welcome to believe anything you want but my gut is telling me Clemens never used. I hope I’m right even if I personally can’t stand Clemens as a ballplayer (Great talent but I hate his Ego). Andy Pettit was also named in this report and he has come forward and said “yes the report is true I did this” he also said he was sorry if it upset any of the fans that he did this and swears he only did it the one time (2 shots). On one hand I’m angry with Andy for using what he was doing was wrong and did it anyway. I can however respect Andy for simply coming right out and in no HGH, even if I understand his desire to get back in the game he still knew uncertain terms saying YES I USED HGH. To me that was a classy thing to do. He did not come out and say I did something and I’m sorry for that something, it’s a distraction that something Blahh Blahh Blahh. Unlike another Yankees caught using Performance Enhancers 
(Jason Giambi) at least Andy can be straight forward with the fans about his mistake. On the subject of Giambi I’m done bitching about his former Roid use. He has done his time and has been paying the price for it the last 4 or more season. I’m not talking the media, the fan jeers or mine, and others bitching and screaming for his departure from the Yankees. Nope I still don’t’ like the guy as a Yankee, and can’t wait till he is gone. His fielding ability has gone from poor to god awful in the last three seasons. Oh sure, we have had a few streaks of greatness from him but the guy can’t field to save his life. His power is slowly going, going, gone, and his batting average every season keeps getting smaller. Every year there is a NEW set if injuries, to his formerly roided up body. In the end Giambi is more of a hindrance and detriment to the Yankees, but it has nothing to do with his admission or lack of admission to using Roids. It’s does have a connection to his usage. The Yankees seem to have caught on to Giambi’s uselessness by decreasing his playing time and it is a matter of time before he is traded or just released by the Yankees. I mean at some point we have to cut our losses and with a Log jam in the Outfield we need more playing time for Damon, Matsui and Abrue at DH because all 3 of them AND Melky can’t play in the OF- We need Melky n the lineup! For those of you that are fans of Giambi, hey look if you like the guy by all means more power to ya. Just understand I don’t’ have to like him, and I’m not the only one that sees how he has been hurting the Yankees with his poor seasons and persistent injuries. It’s simply My Opinion. The way I see it many Fans hate A-rod, I personally have no beef with him. I think he is an amazing player that just needs to keep his mouth shut avoid the media like the Plague and just as Boca in the movie Mr 3000 said “Just do your thing baby.” Now many will disagree with me. Hey that’s cool, I never said I was right but I never admitted to being wrong, and I most likely never will.Well this has gotten longer then I wanted it to be, so on that note Ill be signing off. Next week ill talk Santana and why I’m happy the Yankees never made a trade for him. After that I plan to go more into detail on Clemens and the Mitchel Report, The Youth movement of the Yankees, and our off season moves or lack there for of. I also will be Posting my annual Spring Training how too Blog, with lots of info on where to go who you might see and when the best times are to go.
Until Then
The Yankee Fan
