Do they Relize It's Just A Kids Game??

Yankee Joe: Hello my fellow Yankee fans. It’s been a few Weeks since I posted a New Blog. Sorry about that life gets the better of me at times- I suppose. I have been keeping up with the Yankees Spring Training and I have to say I’m very happy with a lot of what I have been seeing.


Disco: Hey there Yankee Fans. Can you believe it? I’m still here. Yankee Joe has allowed me to continue to assistant coach this mind blowing Yankee Blog. I’m so excited!!! HEEEE HEEE!! We have been very busy and no I did not keep track of the Spring Training games. I’m just waiting for the season to start so I can kick everyone’s butt in Yankee Joe’s Fantasy Baseball League.

Yankee Joe: First and for most Robinson Cano, is having a PHENOMINAL Spring. He is currently hitting .447 with 1 HR and 11RBI’s. If Robbie can carry that into the regular season he should have one hell of a year. Bobby Abrue is showing signs that he might not have his typical slow start. He is hitting .467 with 2 HR and 3 Doubles and 8 RBI’s. Abrue notoriously is a slow starter, but with a good spring under his belt we could get a great start out of him. A-rod is hitting the ball well too at a .500 clip with 3 HR’s and 8 RBI’s. Jeter has struggled at the plate hitting .242 with 0 HR and 0 RBI’s. I would not be too concerned about the Captain thou. He will bring his A game to the regular season, I have no doubt about this. Shelly Duncan has also had a good spring, hitting .333 with 3 HR and 11 RBI’s. Giambi is hitting .407 with 1 HR and 6 RBI’s. If I had to choose between the two I want Duncan playing first on opening day, for no other reason then Giambi in the field is a guarantee of two things. Plenty of Errors at first base and an eventual injury that will plague him all season and bring his offensive numbers down. The way I see it keep Giambi at DH and as a Pinch hitter TO HELL with the paycheck, I’d rather see us win games.

Disco: Did Jeter struggle last year? I thought spring training games were just practice. I’m lost. No worries here. It is just practice right?

Yankee Joe: Pitching wise everybody in the Projected Starting Rotation has had good and bad games. Wang was beat up in his first spring start then threw two very strong games in a row. In his last outing he was once again throwing batting practice to the other team. To be fair in the last game Wang was experimenting with a slider and changeup, and really only struggled in one inning. I’d prefer he working on new pitches now in the spring. Work the kinks out and maybe start the season with some more options in his pitching arsenal. Phill Hughes up until his most recent start has been nothing short of un-hittable. In his last outing thou he seemed to be making up for lost time and gave up plenty of base hits including a few HR’s. Again I would not be concerned, it’s spring training and I’d prefer he got hit hard now then latter once the season starts. If what we have seen most of this spring is any indication, Hughes could very well have a hell of a season ahead of him. Andy Pettit has spent most of the spring season dealing with Performance Enhancer scandals and nursing injuries. When he has pitched he has looked very sharp thou. Hopefully Andy can leave all the troubling news and injuries behind him in Florida. Ian Kennedy has had a good spring. In 9 innings of work he has a 3.00 ERA and has looked sharp most of the time he has pitched. As our likely number 5 starter I believe he is going to seriously turn some heads this year, although I would not count on more then 12 wins from him for the season he has a lot of work to do still. My bigger concern pitching wise is Moose. He has looked TERRIBLE all spring and I just don’t know WHY the Yankees having him in the rotation. If Moose can’t cut it as a starter then he has to except the BP roll as a long reliever and spot starter. Moose has however taken on the roll of working with and teaching the young pitchers in camp. If anything Moose’s value to the team this year may be measured more in how well these young arms pitch rather then how well he pitches.

Disco: When we went to spring training practice, Moose appeared to give the younger pitcher pointers but he seemed to be struggling when he threw. Maybe he is a future pitching coach in the making. A good Teacher/Coach can be inspiring for a young Student/ Player.

Yankee Joe: Now before I call it a week I’d like to talk a bit about Little League Baseball. See both my two sons this year are playing in the local Cal Ripken League. My Youngest son who will be turning 7 in a few moths is in T-ball. My oldest son who just turned 10 is in Minor Leagues where the kids play all the positions including pitcher. For my youngest son this is his first experience at little league baseball, and his coach this year although a very nice person is just not very good at the job. It’s hard to watch him with these kids. He has no interaction with them and most of the kids look bored most of the time- generally not having any fun. I look at other coaches and they interact with their kids teaching them and generally have fun. Personally I think my son’s coach is new to all this and really does not know what he needs to be doing. He seems to be simply going threw the motions. Again it’s nothing personal about him he is a very good person and means well. It’s just very obvious by how my son approaches playing and the other kids on the team that they really aren’t having the fun that they should be having. Hopefully before the season ends that will change, but to be honest from what I have been seeing it’s not likely to happen any time soon. Keep in mind we are talking about T-ball here so nobody is keeping track of the scoring the kids all get to hit each inning and chaos generally ensues every time a ball is hit. (Imagine a ground ball to the first basemen and the ENTIRE infield and half the out field go running to field it) My son for example loves to slide into the bases. ALL THE BASES!! See he will get a hit run to first and slide (Or basically flop on top of it) into first base. He then, proceeds to slide into second then third then home. I think I might have caught him sliding into the dugout as wellJ My point hear is these kids are to young to be taking any of this serious and this is supposed to be fun for them.

Disco: Little League is so much fun to watch because it is just a Game to the kids and they want to have fun. When the whole team follows the ball it takes all my strength not laughing hysterically. There have even been some occurrences where everyone tackled the ball like in football, just to get the ball first. Sometimes I think if the Major Leaguers and some over zealous fans remembered that it is just a game they would enjoy the game more.

Yankee Joe: Then there is my 10 year old son and his coach. Let me tell ya my son’s coach is STERN, and does not like to see goofing off. Now don’t’ get me wrong at this age I don’t’ mind seeing this at all. Here’s the thing thou as stern as this coach is he also knows when and where he needs to do this. He reminds these kids all the time that “Hey this is all supposed to be fun!!” and more importantly he has passion for the game and is actually teaching them about the game while having fun. He has a VERY GOOD balance. In their first 5 games thou the team has yet to win a single game. Unfortunately these kids have not quite come together as a team, and tend to make a few mistakes that cost them some runs during the games. What I really love about this coach is that he never really keeps track of the score. We parents all know it’s getting ugly but the coach who probably has figure it out as well is more concerned with how the kids are playing the game and making sure they don’t’ get to down on them selves and are having fun. Don’t’ get me wrong he wants them to win, it’s just not the most important thing he worries about and if you ask me that makes him an EXCELENT coach. Now if only the same could be said about a few of the parents. I swear some of these people don’t’ realize the pressure they put on their kids. One dad in particular spends half the game screaming at his kid. Between this dad and his wife their kid is berated with a steady stream of advice and criticism. I just don’t’ understand how this kid puts up with it. At one point during a bad play the dad stood up swore out load and started pacing around like a wild beast. I calmly looked over to him and said “Hey relax it’s just little league baseball”. He gave me the look like I had lost my mind smiled and said “O Right that makes it better”. He then proceed the rest of the game to tell his kid (And a few others on the team) that they better start playing like the guys in the big leagues who make millions if they want to win. I Just don’t’ understand this mentality at all. I mean it’s baseball, and yes this is competition and we want to see our children win and play well. At what cost thou?? The chance that we might make playing the game they love so much a miserable experience. My oldest son who absolutely LOVES the game of baseball is needless to say not the best player on the field. Actually, truth be told at the start of the season he was struggling A LOT. He has in a short time come a long way but still has a lot of work to do. The thing is I don’t envision him as some great ball player playing in the majors in a few years. If that happens that would be great I know it would make him happy. For me I don’t want to expect that kind of thing from him, all I want is for him to enjoy the chance he has to play the game he loves. If he can’t enjoy himself then he will grow to hate the game and I just could not bear to be the one responsible for that. It’s not about how well he plays the game that makes me proud of him. It’s the fact that he goes out there to play it every time, and no matter how much he struggles he still gives it everything he has because he LOVES to play. Parents who don’t see this in their kids and constantly push their kids take all the fun out of playing the game. When you do that you’re going to push them away from wanting to play the game, because you made them. For all those that may read this if you have kids and they play Little League baseball or ANY Sport for that matter. No matter how badly you want them to win, no matter how much they struggle. PLEASE for the love of the game JUST LET THEM BE KIDS and have fun. The truth is no matter how much the pros get paid or how big and exciting the Majors become. Baseball is still just a kids’ game and it should REMAIN that away. So please don’t’ take the fun away from your kids and ruin the experience of the game. If you let them just have fun and leave the coaching to the coaches, I promise you they will love this sport for the rest of their lives.

Disco: These kids just want to play the game. Our oldest son’s Coach Is the greatest. He has shown our son the encouragement he has needed to try hard and practice more. It is very frustrating to watch a parent yelling at his kid, “Do it like the Major leaguers!”, when most of the kids are still figuring out how to read the coach’s signs and how to do a double play. I don’t see Derek Jeter’s parents telling him how to play while he is fielding a ball. Remember it is just a game. Let’s them have fun.

Disco: I’m not sure what Yankee Joe will talk about next week but if he lets me I will still be here putting in my two cent as Assistant Coach to the most mind blowing Yankee Baseball Blog you ever read. See ya!

Yankee Joe: Next week?!?!? Hmmm Lets see the season is fast approaching so Id say next week Ill lay out my Predictions for next year. Ill give ya Details on who will win the East Central and West in both leagues and of course where the Yankees fall into that. So till next week I plan to feed the two Geriatric Hamsters that power my Crystal ball some extra special kibble. Maybe this year ill actually get a few right.

Till Next Week.

The Yankee Fan (And Disco)

Spring Training Part 2

Welcome back my fellow Yankee fans. Well if you read last week you know me and my wife (AKA Disco) collaborated with some insight on spring training. Well this week as promised we plan to give you our very own and quite unique perspective of our Spring training Experience.

Yankee Joe: So because my two oldest kids are playing Little league baseball we could not make our trip up to Legends Field until Sunday the 24th. Not that this matters much and in the end it worked out nice as Saturday turned out to be on the Rainy side. So Early Sunday morning we loaded the kids our selves and provisions (Sandwiches, Drinks, Digital Camera, balls and Pens) into the Family truckster and motored our way up to Legends Field. We arrived around 11am and were able to find some seats on the third base side of the field. At the time these were great seats, because the sun was still behind the clouds and when the players came out we would be less then 3 feet from the players. About 11:45 after the grounds crew finished touching up the field the Yankees came out to the field. They all gathered in right field and begin stretching and calisthenics. As I mentioned in my previous Blog Legends Field is comprised of three fields. The Yankees were practicing on two of the fields. On the Main field A-Rod, Melky, Posada, and Giambi worked out on. On field two Jeter, Abreu, Cano, and Matsui worked out on. The rest of the team and spring training invites moved between both fields threw out the work outs. We spent most of our time on the Main field but did manage to catch some action on the Secondary field as well.

Disco: YES, we loaded up our children, two boys (9 & 6) and one girl (almost 7mos.) and fought the 45 minute traffic to the beautiful Legend Fields. Now if you have kids, you would know that traveling with kids can be frustrating but we are very lucky to have 3 wonderful kids that played with their toys during the trip. Once we get to Legend fields the best place to park is in the Buccaneer parking lot acrosse the street from Legends Field but we have to walk up a very long steep ramp/ bridge crossing the street below. It is difficult to get a close seat with a stroller so we decided to carry our 7mos daughter now weighing 16lb., 7 oz. Can you say ouch? Our backs hurt from trading off carrying our child. Yankee Joe likes to sit by third base but I prefer to sit near the first base line because it’s near the Yankee dugout and normally where they sign autographs.
Yankee Joe: After calisthenics they brought out the batting cages and the team started batting practice. On the main field Moose, Edwar Ramerez, and Russ Olendorf were throwing batting practice. Edwar looked extremely impressive, and seemed to have a pretty good handle on his fastball. Last year if you all remember Edwar struggled because he could not complement his killer Change-up with his fastball. If what I saw Sunday is any indication he may very well have a fantastic season because his fastball looked amazing with some seriously scary movement on it. I swear Mo may very well may have been teaching him the cut fastball if I did not know better. We also got our first look at Jonathan Albaladejoe who we got when we traded Tyler Clipperd to the Nationals. I’ll be honest I was not impressed with this kid at all. For starters he seemed to be a bit out of shape to me, and if batting practice was any indication he is going to give up A LOT of hits. Then again this is just spring training but considering Clippered possible up side I’m expecting A LOT from this kid, so I hope my first impression of him is wrong.

Disco: Remember Yankee Fans, I don’t know anything about baseball but Man did Edwar look good out there. He had great form and control but seemed to just lack the experience. To quote Yankee Joe “He is all done cooking, he just lacks the seasoning.” Ross Ohlendorf was not even close to being as impressive as Edwar but seemed to get the job done. So I’m told by Yankee Joe, Jonathan Albaladejo is a pitcher the Yankees recently received in a trade. Well the Yankees need to send him back because he is out of shape and could barely throw a pitch. It is just Spring training, he could shape up. Darrell Ranser appears to have the experience, control and great form. I personally think this guy could be a great relief pitcher but according to Yankee Joe he normally starts. Yeah you never know they could always change it.

Yankee Joe: Ok so about 1pm the sun finally came out. On the upside we did not have to worry about rain washing out the workout. On the down side this IS FLORIDA so being in the sun is not always a good thing. Needless to say we moved from the third base side of the field to the first base side. There was more shade over there and we could still get close enough to the field. Not long after we got there my wife points out to me that A-Rod’s wife and daughter are sitting behind home plate. About a minute later Alex comes walking out of the dugout, and heads straight over to his wife and daughter. They exchange Pleasantries for a few minutes, and then A-Rod goes back to work. Not long after this Alex’s wife and daughter left their seats and never returned. A few fans that saw this commented that it must be a publicity stunt because he has done it before. My thoughts were that this is Alex’s wife’s way of telling him she made it to the field. You have to figure Alex leaves for work A LOT earlier then his wife and kid would like to be out of their rented Condo. So it’s more likely Cytha (Alex’s wife) takes her time getting to the field. When she gets there they head to the seats behind home plate to let Alex know they are there. Once he sees them he comes over says hi to his daughter and wife spends a min or two with them then goes back to work. His wife and child at that point head to the air conditioned Suites (Yes even Legends Field has those) so they can be comfortable, and wait for Alex to finish workouts.

Disco: Alex looked great out there. It was so sweet to see Alex lean over and kiss his daughter. We got some very good pictures of Alex with his daughter and wife. During practice Alex was fielding first base, I wonder if they are considering changing his position. Hmm, think of the possibilities. Ladies, DEREK Jeter, WOW! Dam he looks good!!! He has toned up and fielding like the MVP that we know he is. All I can say is WOW!! DEREK JETER has left me speechless.

Yankee Joe: So we spent the rest of our time on the first base side of the field. The sun was just too damn hot and normally at the end of practice, fans can lineup next to the dugouts and normally get an autograph from a player. At some point I decided to go grab some drinks for the kids and my wife, thankfully the concession stand was open unfortunately at this time A-Rod decided to go visit the fans on the first base side and sign some autographs. When I returned with drinks in hand fans were racing to the first base side of the field to get an autograph. So I quickly put the drinks down where we were standing and grabbed both kids and the balls we had brought (and a pen) and headed into the frey. Now you have to understand I have only dealt with autographs in two situations 1) at the end of practices, and 2) on the second and third practices fields. In both situations security had things well in hand having the fans lineup to get autographs. This was not he case with A-Rod on the main field. People were leaping over seats climbing over other fans and generally shoving their way to the front to get an autograph. Security I believe was caught off guard because they could do nothing to retain order during any of this. Remember I was with my kids and because we were already on the first base side we were able to get close to field level right away this however turned out to be a bad thing. As fans started piling onto this small area that A-Rod was walking down signing autographs I found my self trying less to get up to the gate where Alex was walking by and mostly trying to keep both my kids safe as other fans shoved their way past, threw and yes OVER us. At one point a barely grabbed my son out of the way before some idiot bulldozed over him. When I made a comment to the guy he gave me a eat shit and like it look and proceed to shove the next person out of his way. I had not noticed it but we had worked our way to the edge of the dugout and in doing so also moved practically in front of the field. WE were inches from Alex and an Autograph but at the same time the crowd was getting dangerous. I grabbed my youngest son and picked him up because I was scared he would get trampled, my oldest son I stood behind and managed to keep a few fans at bay as he waited for another fan to step out of the way. This VERY kind gentlemen and his wife explained they already had an autograph from Alex and were just trying to get a picture. Once he got that picture he planned to move and allow my son to take his place. His wife helped me by positioning her self next too me allowing us to make a small pocket for my oldest son to stand in and not get trampled. If it was not for these to very kind people this situation could have become VERY dangerous for my kids I can’t express how grateful I was for their help. Once Alex walked by us Fans started yelling for him to sign what they had. Another women who ended up standing next to me, also saw my predicament. She was at the time trying to get Alex to sign her jersey. He had already done so and when she realized she would not be able to leave where she was she offered to take my son’s balls and ask Alex to sign them. Unfortunately for my oldest son he was bumped by the crowd and he dropped his ball momentarily. I had already handed my youngest son’s ball to the women, and Alex was busy signing it while I yanked my oldest son up off the floor (Ball in hand) before he ended up getting trampled. At this time Another fans directly behind me came flying forward, he managed to catch his balance as I stepped in front of him to keep him from landing on my son. I at the time gave him a piece of my mind. Truth is the poor guy had been shoved, and had no control of what had happened. I Honestly wish I could apologize to him because he truly felt bad, so if you happen to be that guy and are reading this I was that guy that gave you hell for nearly landing on his kid. I know you did not do it intentually and thank you for putting up with me at that time. Also I want to thank the women that got the ball signed for my youngest son. He is THRILLED to have an autographed ball from Alex you really helped make his day. Lastly THANKYOU to the couple that helped me keep my kids safe. With out you I’m scared to think what could have happened. Ladies and gents the moral to this story is if you have kids save the autograph hunting for the end of practice or the secondary field. During practice if a player is signing have your kids stay behind and take your chances by your self. Most of the fans trying to get autographs are complete idiots, but there are a few as I have pointed out that are good people. My point is be careful and leave the kids in their seats they will be safer at least during workouts on the main field. On the secondary field things aren’t as bad but they can get rough at times as well.

Disco: People are just crazy about A-ROD, unfortunately they almost squashed my children. Crazy is not always good. Thanks to those that helped protect my children!!

Yankee Joe: So my oldest son was very disappointed about missing his chance to get A-Rod’s autograph. Unfortunately nobody on the main field was going to stay after and sign so as we were getting ready to leave my oldest son was feeling pretty upset. As we were getting ready to head to the parking lot another fan came by and said Giambi was signing autographs on the secondary field. So with a look to my wife who basically said “Go!!” I handed my daughter off to her and grabbed my oldest son and we headed to the secondary field. Giambi was there sure enough along with Jason Lane and they were both signing autographs. We managed to get both of them to sign his ball and basically made my sons day. Now I’ll admit I’m pretty hard on Jason through out the year considering his injuries batting average and the whole Roids thing. Something I will give him credit for thou is that he has always been all about the fans. This man signed Autographs for a good 45 minutes and would not leave until he had signed one for every last person. He also took a minute to ask my son if he played baseball and basically have a quick conversation with him. Not a phoney one a REALL conversation. I may not be a big Giambi fan but I will say this he is a good person when it is all said and done regardless of what mistakes he has made. This does not mean I plan on going easy on him mind you but I will say that I have a bit more respect for the guy after seeing him deal with the fans.

Disco: I personally did not care for Giambi due to the Roids thing but after seeing him with my son, I believe him to be a good person. Giambi gave out autographs before and after practice. When I saw him practicing on the small field I caught a small bit of his conversation with the hitting coach and my impression is that he is a good guy. I hope he does well this season.

Yankee Jo: Ok well that pretty much wraps up Spring Training for us. After getting Giambi’s and Lane’s autographs we hit the gift shop bought some pennants for the kids, and headed home. While in the gift shop I was hoping to grab a Joba Rules T-shirt. Unfortunately it was priced out at nearly 30 dollars. Hey I love my Yankees but 30 bucks for a T-shirt is a bit to pricy for me.

Disco: We are going, going, gone! We are out of the park! Let’s Go HOME!

Till next Week

The Yankee Fan (And Disco)