World Series Fun 2015

  

 When you think of playoffs, what comes to your mind? Do you feel excited? What about stressed out? Whether the Giants or Yankees are in the playoffs, I get superstitious. I will not move from my seat until something good happens. When the Giants won Super Bowl 46, they had to beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship. As my wife stepped out to the movies, I had the place to myself. When she came back, the game was in overtime. I was sitting at the edge of “my chair” and told her not to talk to me. As we know, the Giants would win. For New York Mets fans, this has been an exciting time. The Major League playoffs have been exciting. Did you know that only 2 of 10 playoff teams have won a World Series in the past 10 years(Yankees in 2009, Cardinals 2006 and 2011)? This World Series will be a good series.

     The Kansas City Royals have been back to the Promised Land. The last time we had back to back pennant winners were 2010-2011 Texas Rangers.  Even with the loss of Greg Holland, the Royals still have the best bullpen out there. That is there strength. If their starting pitching can get through 5 innings and they have a lead, forget about it. Wade Davis is just that damn good. Their offense his pretty good looking too. They have a National League style offense. Lorenzo Cain is pretty good in the leadoff spot. The lineup can do anything from bunt to steal to popping a few home runs. Their weakness is the starting pitching. If Johnny Cueto and Yordano Ventura pitch lights out, then you are talking about something else. Kansas City will not go quiet into the night like the Cubbies. Besides, the Royals have a better defense!

   The last time the New York Mets played in the World Series, they played my beloved Yankees in 2000. They ended up losing in 5 games. When it comes to the Mets, it’s quite interesting to be honest with you. Everyone knew they had an unreal, young, freakish starting rotation. If anything, people knew that it help them contend this season. Even going into the season, their bullpen was average. We then saw the suspension of Jenry Mejia which certainly did not help them. On the other hand, Jeruys Familia has been lights out as their closer. Throughout the first 4 months, their offense was just anemic. No one was really hitting(including Daniel Murphy!) The Mets acquire Yoenis Cespedes on July 31. That trade ignited the Mets offense.

   American League playoffs seemed to be a bit more entertaining. Both Kansas City and Toronto were down in their respective ALDS series. It looked like we were going to have a Texas team in the World Series. All of a sudden, the best 2 teams in the AL played like the best 2 teams in the AL and forced game 5’s. Both teams won to set up the ALCS.  Mets-Dodgers was definitely exciting. It went the distance. We had the Chase Utley situation. With the Cubs beating the Major League best Cardinals, everyone was thinking “Back to the Future II.” It was supposed to be the Cubs year. The Mets certainly derailed those plans.

    What I would like out of this World Series is a good fight from both teams. If you want my guess, I think it will go the distance. I will not predict a winner because my winner usually loses in the big spots. As a New York fan, as well as for my wife and father-in-law, I could say that I am routing for the Mets. Honestly, I want good baseball. We will get great baseball like we did in last year’s World Series. Everyone enjoy!!!

Yogi: He's our Bear, So Lovable

 

   Hey everyone!!! I’m sorry for such the long the delay between my posts. Between the Jewish holidays  and making up for lost time at work, it has been hectic. Even in the midst of these amazing baseball playoffs, I will be talking about something else. As not only a big time Yankees fan, but a huge baseball fan I will be writing about the loss of Yogi Berra. Honestly, I should be ashamed of myself for not writing about this quite some time ago.  Yogi Berra is one of the all time greats. He ranks higher amongst all time catchers than he does amongst all time Yankees, how astonishing is that? In my opinion, he is the number 1 greatest catcher, slightly ahead of Johnny Bench, of all time. He is the number 5 all time, behind Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, and Mantle, on the Yankees all time list.

     Many people may disagree with me about Yogi being ranked ahead of Johnny Bench as the greatest catcher. Besides for being the best “Bad Ball” hitter of all time, who else wins 3 MVP awards while playing with greats like Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams? It certainly was not Bench. He also caught pitchers like Whitey Ford and Allie Reynolds. Allie Reynolds pitched 2 no hitters in 1951 and guess who caught him? If you guess Peter Lawerence “Yogi” Berra, then you guessed correctly.

   Almost every baseball fan knows that Yogi has won 10 World Series, the most by any player. Did you know that is more World Series wins than the Padres, Mariners, Blue Jays, Royals, Rangers, and Astros combined? They only have 3 World Series wins combined (’85 by the Royals, ’92 and ’93 by the Blue Jays). He won 3 while playing with Joe D and 7 while playing with the Mick. When you play with those legends, it’s easy to overlook someone of Yogi’s stature.

     Yogi seemed to be the quintessential team player. When asked to move around positions, he did as needed for the team. When Bill Mazeroski hit his infamous Game 7 World Series home run, it was Yogi looking at the ball sail over the outfield fence. Elston Howard was behind the plate. What really bothers me is the that fans decided not to honor Yogi at this year’s All Star Game. Everyone fan base got to vote for their “Franchise Four” and Yankees Nation got theirs correct. Fans then got to vote for the top 4 Living Legends. At the time, Yogi was still well and alive. The fans voted Johnny Bench, Sandy Koufax, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron. Not to sound biased as a Yankee fan, but Berra should have been there instead of Bench.

    Everyone knows that once Yogi retired in 1963, he immediately started his managing career. In 1964, he managed the Yankees to the World Series, but they lost in 7 games. He was immediately fired after the World Series. After being let go, he managed the cross town Mets. In 1973, he also led the Mets to the World Series, but lost to the super hot A’s. He was fired after that World Series. What boggles my mind is why was he fired after taking his teams to the World Series? He obviously knew what he was doing. After 1973, George Steinbrenner bought the Yankees and hired another Yankees great Billy Martin. Yogi was immediately named onto Billy’s coaching staff. People had an obvious amount of respect for Yogi when it came to the game of baseball.

    Yogi will always be missed. Even though I never got to see him play, my dad is always telling me about how great it was to watch him play growing up. When they show clips or classic games on YES of Yogi, it shows his passion and intensity for the game. If people want to learn to play the game better, learn from Yogi. While listening to the Michael Kay Show on ESPN, interviews with past players about Yogi showing up at spring training were just phenomenal. Anyone who was around to see Yogi at any stage in his life, should truly feel grateful.