This is PAINFUL!

[HorseLady]

3rd inning over, Arizona Diamondbacks are leading 12-0!!!!

What the heck happened to the NY Yankees????

[Dave Schwartz]

Mickey Mantle retired. <G>

[HorseLady]

The Yanks are trying at least.. it's 15-2 now.

Clemens has to do some REALLY good tricks tomorrow night to turn this in our favor...

Mantle's obviously been gone a few years my friend, or was it his spirit that made them win for a few years in a row? :)

[smf]

If Rocket doesn't knock down the leadoff hitter tomorrow nite, I'll be really disapponted. He shaved a couple of Alabama hitters in the 6th of the 1983 CWS final (pitching for TEXAS). The entire plate was his all nite long after that. Nobody dared to dig in on him.

He's at his best when he's mean, and under pressure. Game 7 on the road- it's what he lives for. S/b a great game.

[Dave Schwartz]

HorseLady,

Actually, I have always been a died-in-the-pinstripes Yankee fan. It's just that I am old enough to remember those guys.

I used to be very involved in baseball. One of my old friends was Al Downing (AL strikeout king and rookie of the year in 1965, I believe). Used to come to dinner and always wanted to talk about his hitting. Go figure. And his #1 claim to fame was to NEVER be discussed. (I will leave it to you guys to recall what that was. Hint: It was not anything I mentioned here.)

Anyway, all of my friends are retired now, but I still have many found memories. (Guess I am not old enough for THAT to go yet. <G>)

Dave

[HorseLady]

I actually had a teacher in high school that played for the Boston Red Sox. Chuck Schilling. No relation to Curt Schilling though. He played with Carl Yemstremski (spelled wrong,sorry). So of course the first few weeks the guys in the class would keep asking questions (I had him two years in a row), then finally he could go on with teaching lovely stuff like algebra, geometry, etc. I'd much rather chat baseball than Algebra!

[Tom]

It wasn't that bad - two quick touchdowns and they are right back in it! They better bring Vinnie T from the Jets with them tonight.

I have an idea how to omprove the game overall-get rid of the outdated sccoring of Runs-Hits-Errors and start tracking Runs-Spits-Scratches. Might liven the game up a bit.
~G~

Tom

[HorseLady]

With the way the Yankees played last night, they might need MY Vinny T, although he's only 5, he might play better than the Yanks did....

[smf]

Dave,

Al Downing's moment you spoke of.; Would that be the lollypop curve ball that wound up in the Braves bullpen in left for #715, lol? Caught by none other than Tom House.


Those 60s Yanks had it figured out alright. Who needed Mantle, Maris when you had Phil Lenz, Jake Gibbs and Joe Pepitone, lol?

[Dave Schwartz]

smf,

Yeah, right on the money. Al is such a fine gentleman, although I have lost touch with him over the years.

He used to entertain us with insights into the Yankees of the '60s, those of my youth.

He told me things I would never have believed at the time. Things like Roger Maris being respected as one of the best outfielders in baseball and a far-better fielder than Mantle. (That was hard to swallow as Mickey Mantle was the closest thing I ever had to a boyhood hero.)

I went to high school with Bucky Dent. When he was with the Yankees (then Rangers) I was living in Anaheim. We'd get together and have lunch at the Sheraton with the rest of the team whenever Bucky was in town. Getting to meet those guys on a face-to-face basis was a great experience for my (then) nine-year old son. He was really surprised when he discovered that they were just people like the rest of us, albeit with a few more problems than most of us.

All this stuff brings back fond memories and I wax melancholic. <G>

Dave

[smf]

Dave,

An oldie but goodie in the baseball book category.-'October 1964'. It's a pretty good read by Halberstam. Downing was on the 64 Yanks, I believe he was R.O.Y in 63, perhaps 62. The book also (to me) finally gave Ellie Howard his due credit for his contributions to the Yanks.

I am juuUust old enough to remember Maris' defensive skills. Great arm (!) and better range that you'd think. I never saw him miss a cut-off, and Richardson (and later Javier w/ StL) never had to adjust position to get his relay off to 3rd or home.

Go Yanks, and good luck Roger!

[NoDayJob]

LOVE THOSE DIAMOND BACKS.....GO BABY GO! -NDJ

[Dave Schwartz]

smf,

I believe you are right about the ROY. When I think about it 1963/64 sounds better, but '62 is too early. Makes more sense. See what I mean about the memory going? <G>

Dave

[NoDayJob]

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW YORK YANKEES AND THE ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS FOR ONE OF THE BEST WORLD SERIES IN DECADES. INCREDIBLE! THEY ARE BOTH WINNERS IN MY BOOK. -NDJ

[PaceAdvantage]

I agree. Great show by both teams, although I was sure disappointed in the end result......

[Tom]

Everyone in NY was yelling Yankees! Yankees!
I was yelling Yank him! Yank him! (refering, of course to the pitcher). Where was the bullpen last night?
What a let down after the two super comebacks last week.

Tom